On the Edge of Human Trafficking. Young Africans Conscripted into the War in Ukraine: What Drives Them to Leave Their Country? What's Really Happening? Young Africans at War: An Alarming Reality. Recruitment Methods and Deceptive Pathways. Structural Causes and Responsibilities of African States. The Role of the Church and the Call for Youth Protection. 1. Young Africans at War: An Alarming Reality. They left to study, work, or simply seek a better life. Today, they find themselves on the front lines of a war that isn't theirs. For several months, testimonies have been coming from Kenya, Cameroon, Togo, and even the Ivory Coast...

Forgiving offenses received, but also forgiving ourselves. May Lent bring us face to face with our fragility and the need to be loved. 1. Lent as a time of grace. 2. Forgiving offenses received. 3. The gift of self-forgiveness. 4. The mercy that renews life. 1. Lent as a time of grace. Lent is an invitation to pause, breathe deeply, and look within ourselves. It is not just a period of fasting or penance, but a time when the Church calls us to recognize our fragility and open ourselves to...

A letter of the alphabet to then think of a word that reminds us of the works of mercy. This Wednesday, we have the -S. Roberto and Gabriella Ugolini, fidei donum of the Diocese of Florence who returned from Anatolia, have chosen to share the word "Scuolina" with us for this column. To enter this alphabet, we have chosen the letter -S. For Gabriella and for me, Roberto, this letter has a very special meaning, referring to an organization born just over fifteen years ago in Turkey. Why Turkey? Because we lived there for 21 years as Fidei Donum of the Diocese of Florence...

Pope Leo XIV's Message for a Lent that "makes our ears more attentive to God and to the least of our brothers and sisters." In his Message for Lent 2026—titled "Listening and Fasting. Lent as a Time of Conversion"—Pope Leo XIV invites the faithful to experience the forty days preceding Easter as an authentic journey of spiritual renewal, capable of placing God and His Word back at the center of personal and community life. For the Pontiff, Lent is above all a time of listening: of listening to the Word of God, which alone can guide the human heart beyond...

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday inaugurates Lent, a time of conversion and preparation for Easter. Through the imposition of ashes, the Church invites us to rediscover the essential, practicing prayer, fasting, and charity. It is a reminder of human frailty and Christian hope: a forty-day journey to renew the heart in love. Read more Saint Gertrude Comensoli Saint Gertrude Comensoli was a mystic and founder, driven by an ardent love for the Eucharist. She founded the Sacramentine Sisters of Bergamo, dedicated to perpetual Eucharistic adoration and the education of youth. The...