Susan Gunn is director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Leo XIV reiterated the importance of dialogue and his hopes for a just and lasting peace in the region. “In addition, the questions of prisoners of war and the need to assure the return of Ukrainian children to their families we...
By Ann Hayden, M.M. Sunday, December 7, 2025Is. 11:1-10 | Rom. 15:4-9| Matthew 3:1-12 Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths: All flesh shall see the salvation of God. — Luke 3:4-6 Pope Leo XIV, in his recent Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te, said “Love for the Lord, then, is one with love for the poor. The same Jesus wh...
In Kenya, where I am serving as a Maryknoll lay missioner in the HOPE Project, I met a widow named Lucy. After the death of her husband in 2020, Lucy was left to care for three children with barely any means. Her youngest son, Athman, is now 13 years old but is only in sixth grade. He fell behind because he was in and out of school, depending on wh...
A Maryknoll seminarian reflects on his visit to the Vatican for the Jubilee of Seminarians. I am grateful that I was able to attend the Jubilee of Seminarians, along with my fellow Maryknoll seminarian Samuel Mutuku, last June 23 and 24. Rome’s summer heat was unmerciful, but fortunately most events were held indoors. The main gathering was the m...
By Gina Christian, OSV News (OSV News) — As Pope Leo XIV urged in Turkey last week that “the future of humanity is at stake” with ongoing conflict in the Middle East and days after a United Nations Security Council endorsement of a U.S.-backed peace plan, Catholic leaders warn that conditions in Gaza remain grave, especially as winter approac...
Immigration — and what is happening right now to immigrants in our country — is something we simply cannot be silent about. We received various letters and comments on my interview with Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, in our Fall issue of Maryknoll, and some of them, both pro and con, are printed in our Readers’ Responses. Immigration...
A journalist uncovers new information in the murders of four churchwomen, including two Maryknoll sisters, in El Salvador. For those of us who went to Central America as young reporters in the late 1970s, as bloody civil wars were erupting in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, one of the biggest challenges was to find some fixed compass amid alm...
A Maryknoll priest spends a lifetime in mission accompanying the people of El Salvador and honoring their martyrs. In the city of San Salvador, a street mural portrays a memorable Mass. One side of the painted altar shows images of devastation. On the other, vivid colors bring to life a thriving community. A quote on the altar cloth reads, “Guard...
On June 22, the Maryknoll Sisters Center stirred with joy as Felista Wanzagi and Esther Warioba made their final vows at the Annunciation Chapel in Ossining, New York. To the tune of a song in Swahili, Sisters Wanzagi and Warioba processed to the altar, adorned with Hawaiian garlands and wearing dresses that represented their mission journeys. Sist...
A Maryknoll priest and his partners in mission assist migrant fishers in Taiwan. Gerald Mustago left his home in the Philippines eight years ago to become a fisher in Taiwan, home to the world’s second largest deep-sea fishing fleet. “I couldn’t make enough money to support my wife and children, so I came here to work on the fishing boats,”...
A Maryknoll sister reflects on her work with migrant children and families. My commute each morning begins before dawn. Usually I welcome the darkness, which provides coolness, stillness and time for reflection. I make my way to the clinic where I work supporting at-risk moms and babies in a rural, underserved, predominantly migrant farmworker town...
A Maryknoll missionary disciple reflects on his story of migration and service. One day while I was studying law at the University of San Carlos in my native Guatemala, there was an evacuation order during final exams due to a bomb threat. Everyone left the building in dismay. Days later, 10 student leaders were kidnapped. Five were murdered and th...
Maryknoll lay missioners in East Africa lead a course in nonviolence and conflict resolution. Joanne Blaney and I, Maryknoll lay missioners, were invited to Northern Uganda last year by the Archdiocese of Gulu. Much of our work took place in the shade of huge, leafy mango trees laden with ripening fruit. The Gulu area is largely populated by a...
