From the Editor: Nowhere to Lay His Head
Home. For most of us, that word conjures up a place of love and safety. But statistics show that for some 150 million people worldwide, like the man on the cover, home is non-existent. This issue of Maryknoll magazine, titled "Nowhere to Lay His Head," offers a glimpse of the reality of the homeless and how people of faith, including Maryknoll missioners, are...
Missioner Tales January/February 2020
I was part of a pastoral team that had the responsibility for the parish of Capinota, Bolivia, which consisted of about 30 villages, many of which were nestled in the thinning air of the Andes Mountains. One day to guide us to the isolated village of Calacaja, the campesinos brought a mule for me to ride up the mountain. At first, riding went fine, but after a while...
Empowering People in West Papua
A Maryknoll priest and volunteers work with the Asmat indigenous people in Indonesia Story and photos by Joshua Ever since his arrival 40 years ago among the Asmat people of West Papua, Indonesia, Maryknoll Father Vincent Cole has had a clear mission to these indigenous people. “My job as a missioner is to promote a critical appreciation of their own culture in the...
Amazon Synod Gives Voice to the Forest and its People
Assembly addresses key issues for Pope Francis: Care of creation and cry of the poor and the displaced By Barbara J. Fraser, Catholic News Service Poor people from the Amazon have shown that God’s creation must be treated “not as a resource to be exploited but as a home to be preserved, with trust in God,” Pope Francis said as he celebrated Mass to mark the end of...
Walking with the Homeless
A Maryknoll deacon partner takes ministry to the streets in Washington state You could say I’m geographically disabled,” says Athena, a 40-something African-American with blonde hair. “That means I’m homeless. I have been sleeping outside for about six years. There was a bad incident, which kind of snowballed, and now my kids are living with my mom.” Mike, a jittery...
Building Homes in Panama
A Maryknoll sister helps families go from shaky shacks to solid houses Before the crack of dawn, Maryknoll Sister Nena Heramil laces up her blue sneakers and heads to the city’s train station. Her journey involves five transfers, including a train and three buses to the outskirts of Panama City, and then she starts walking uphill. As part of the pastoral social...
Building Community with Homeless in El Salvador
Maryknoll lay missioner’s Catholic Worker house helps Salvadoran homeless put lives back together As María, Óscar Ulysses and Tim Ross make their rounds with a thermos of coffee, dozens of egg sandwiches and small pouches of cold drinking water, they are warmly greeted by the homeless people of downtown San Salvador, capital of El Salvador. Many of the area’s...
They Are Not Alone
Los Angeles Church community reaches out to homeless Jose Lopez was 7 years old when he came from Mexico to Los Angeles, Calif., with his family. He went to school and to Mass on Sundays with his mom. But everything changed when he turned 14 and got involved with gangs. “There were a lot of gangs and I don’t know why it appealed to me to talk to them. I was...
Young, Homeless and Trafficked
WEB-ONLY FEATURE: For homeless children and youth, streets are a dangerous abode Queen’s fortunes changed literally from one day to the next, leaving her with no place to lay her head. For Isabella, homelessness unfolded over time, a train wreck in slow motion. Isabella was 7 when her stepfather started abusing her. By the time she was 12, she had developed...
Volleyball Values
WEB-ONLY FEATURE: In a remote Andean town, a Maryknoll lay missioner helps his indigenous students build their future By Giovana Soria and Meinrad Scherer-Emunds Last February, when teachers at Colegio San Juan Bosco divided coaching responsibilities for the different sports teams, no one wanted to take the girls’ volleyball team. “They always lose, and they’re not...
