“An earthquake can bring so many things to collapse in a matter of seconds. Homes, places of worship, schools—even our sense of security can suddenly become fragile. Yet, amid the devastation caused by the earthquake that struck Flores on August 15, I witnessed the emergence of a remarkable spirit of solidarity: people began helping one another with generosity and without holding back. Many started sending food, distributing medicines and offering their time as volunteers. Government agencies, healthcare workers, humanitarian organizations and local Catholic communities mobilized through their respective networks. Amid the damaged physical infrastructure, another kind of infrastructure was already at work: a network of kindness”: this is the reflection shared with Fides by Siprianus Hormat, Bishop of Ruteng, on the Indonesian island of Flores… 

The official death toll across Flores has reached 100, including 48 women and children. More than 1,600 people have been injured, many suffering serious trauma caused by collapsing structures. The number of displaced people—those forced to leave their homes—has exceeded 180,000. They are living in makeshift camps, stadiums and town squares… 

The earthquake swarm, which has recorded more than 2,000 aftershocks, continues to fuel fear among the population, while humanitarian agencies are reporting shortages of essential supplies, including drinking water, adequate sanitation facilities, blankets and waterproof tarpaulins for shelter. Particularly concerning is the situation of isolated mountain communities, as landslides and road closures have severely slowed the work of rescue and civil protection teams…  

The Bishop continues: “We usually think of resilience in terms of earthquake-resistant buildings, roads, electricity and hospitals. Yet communities also possess an infrastructure that is not made of concrete: trust, habits of mutual assistance and the ability to connect needs with resources. This strength is known as ‘social capital.’ Its meaning is simple: men and women make sure their neighbors have food; people lend their vehicles, and volunteers reach places that are difficult to access. Previous studies have shown that the difference in the speed of recovery among communities affected by disasters lies not so much in the extent of the damage or the amount of aid received, but in the strength of the social networks that existed before the disaster. Resilience, in other words, is built beforehand. Charity is not just a beautiful noun; it is a verb: to lift up, support, heal, listen, connect and accompany.” 

The Bishop stresses that “good intentions alone are not enough: kindness also requires organization. Aid must reach those who need it, needs must be clearly identified, and resources must be directed to those in distress.” 

In this context, Siprianus Hormat has been personally involved, tirelessly traveling throughout the diocese to visit makeshift camps, remote communities and hospitals. “This experience,” he says, “has reshaped my understanding of episcopal ministry. A Bishop, as the person responsible for a community, must make decisions and connect needs with resources. He is not a solitary hero, and there is something he cannot delegate: presence. I went to meet people affected by the earthquake. There are moments when presence cannot be replaced by a phone call; moments when people who are suffering do not need a speech, but simply a Pastor who is willing to be there.” 

“After several visits, I received messages from people expressing their gratitude for my presence. I had done nothing extraordinary. I had simply been there, to offer a word of comfort and consolation, to say and show that God does not abandon us. We live in an age when presence can easily be replaced by a message of empathy. Yet human suffering cannot be fully understood through a screen. Presence is not primarily about being seen by those who suffer, but about being willing to see those who suffer.” 

…The question I carry with me is: ‘What is this life I have been given for?’ To be present is a responsibility. And this responsibility concerns everyone: each of us has something to offer—our skills, our time, our authority, or simply two hands ready to work and join in prayer. All of this acquires social meaning when it becomes a means of sustaining the life of others.”…  Article from FIDES missionary news service of the Pontifical Mission Societies.  

Over the past 30 years, the Missionaries of Mary Queen of Heaven (MQHM), a religious community of nuns founded in 1996 in the Archdiocese of Cebu, have rescued and rehabilitated hundreds of women and girls who survived sex trafficking, prostitution and child abuse.

According to estimates by major international organizations, between 60,000 and 100,000 children in the Philippines are forced into prostitution or sex trafficking every year. According to the Philippine Department of Justice, sexual exploitation is the most widespread form of trafficking. Among identified victims nationwide, women and girls account for the overwhelming majority of cases. At the national level, more than 70% of trafficking convictions are specifically linked to commercial sexual exploitation.

Sister Corazon J. Salazar, founder and Mother General of the Missionaries of Mary Queen of Heaven, together with six other nuns, established the community to respond to one of the most tragic consequences of poverty in the Philippines: the sexual exploitation and trafficking of young girls. Through their apostolate of mercy and compassion, the nuns are committed to restoring dignity, hope and a future to girls and young women who have suffered abuse and exploitation.

Their mission has two main dimensions. First, they rescue girls and young women, from the age of eight onwards, from prostitution and human trafficking, offering them a safe home, care and loving attention. Second, they provide educational assistance to survivors and children from impoverished rural communities, helping them break the cycle of poverty through education and training.

The Missionaries of Mary Queen of Heaven run the “House of Love” in Tuburan, near Cebu, for the rehabilitation of survivors of prostitution and women and girls who have fallen victim to sex trafficking. Nearby, they operate the “My Bonita Girls’ Home” in Purok, in the municipality of San Jose, which assists minors who have suffered abuse…

“Many women have taken part in rehabilitation and employment programs and are now reintegrated into society,” said Sister Corazon J. Salazar, Mother General of the Missionaries of Mary Queen of Heaven. Both centers offer rehabilitation and counseling programs, education and vocational training to prepare survivors for reintegration into society.

The program also includes the “Regina Coeli Education Assistance Program”, aimed at supporting people living in poverty in rural areas and protecting them from illegal recruiters who operate in their communities, promising fictitious jobs to deceive parents and persuade them to send their children away with them.

Cebu province has historically been considered a critical area, serving simultaneously as a point of origin, transit and destination for victims of domestic and international trafficking, due to strong tourist flows and poverty in the surrounding rural areas.

During a recent visit to the “House of Love”, one of their facilities, Archbishop Alberto S. Uy of Cebu said: “Seeing the ministry of the Missionaries of Mary Queen of Heaven firsthand deeply moved me. This is a work that gives life.” Article from FIDES missionary news service of the Pontifical Mission Societies.   

Every year, bishops across Nigeria sit across from young men who want to give their lives to God and the Church in the Catholic priesthood. They are young men whose pastors have watched them grow in faith for years before recommending them for holy orders. The bishops listen carefully. And then, more often than the bishops can bear, they have to look a man in the eyes and say: I believe your calling is real, but I cannot accept you. There is not enough room, there are not enough funds, you will have to wait…   

It is not that the young men have been found wanting. It is that the dioceses do not have the money to send them to the seminary, to feed them, to house them through the years of formation that the priesthood requires.   

Fr. Augustine Ikwu, a priest from Nigeria involved in priestly seminary formation, said, “In many dioceses of the world, the Church prays for more vocations. In Nigeria, we pray for the resources to welcome the vocations God has already sent.”   

The Nigerian bishops suffer watching the need in their dioceses for priests grow greater every year, seeing communities go without the sacraments, and knowing that the men who could serve them are out there, willing, eager, and unable to move forward to answer God’s call. This is the quiet crisis hiding inside one of the most Catholic countries in the world today: only about 5% of the young men who knock on the doors of the seminaries can be accepted due to limited resources.   

Fr. Ikwu adds, “One of the saddest responsibilities we face in Nigeria is telling a young man with an authentic vocation that we cannot admit him; not because he lacks faith, character, or ability, but because we simply do not have the space or resources to form him.”   

Nigeria is, by nearly every measure, one of the most vibrantly Catholic nations on earth. Some 94% of Nigerian Catholics attend Sunday Mass. In the Diocese of Nsukka alone, the number of priests more than doubled in ten years, surpassing 400 priests in 2024. And yet, for all this abundance of faith, the seminaries can only house and train a fraction of the men who discern that Christ is calling them. And while this crisis unfolds quietly inside seminary walls, outside those walls, the situation is anything but quiet.   

To become a Catholic priest in Nigeria’s missionary dioceses is not a path toward comfort or security. Priests across Nigeria have to be prepared to defend the faith even unto death. Seminarians are reminded that kidnapping, persecution, and killing are not hypothetical ideas. They are realities. Five Catholic priests were abducted and killed in the early months of 2026 alone.     

This is the context in which young men discern their vocations. They are not fleeing poverty by seeking the seminary.  Rather, they are walking toward danger and making of their lives a true sacrificial offering. The priesthood in Nigeria is on the frontlines. And the young men still come, in numbers that far exceed what the Church can receive.      

Fr. Ikwu, speaking about the impact of [The Pontifical Mission Societies], said, “When Catholics across the world support the missions, they are not merely funding buildings or institutions. They are helping to form future priests who will preach the Gospel, celebrate the sacraments, educate children, comfort the suffering, and bring hope to countless communities.”    

Every Catholic who sits in a comfortable pew, in a country where churches are not burned, and where priests are not abducted, is invited to a simple two-fold invitation: pray for the missions and support them financially if you can.  


Article by Michael Mitchell, TPMS-USA World Mission Sunday Director.  

Six years after the explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, the call for justice continues to rise from the grief of the families of the more than 220 people who lost their lives. 

Every year on August 4, Lebanon observes a national day of mourning in memory of the victims. When Pope Leo XIV visited the port for a moment of silent prayer and met with some of their relatives during his Apostolic journey to Lebanon on the fifth anniversary of the tragedy, he sent a message reaffirming that "death does not have, and never will have, the last word." 

Entire neighborhoods of Beirut were devastated by the blast that struck the city that evening in 2020. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, homes and buildings were destroyed, and economic losses were estimated at between 10 and 15 billion US dollars. 

Lebanon continues to face new crises and displacement from the south caused by Israeli military operations in Lebanese territory. Although many families have returned to their villages following the ceasefire, many others have remained in the north because their homes were destroyed.  Infrastructure severely damaged and insecurity persists. Over the past year, around one million people from southern Lebanon have been forced to leave their homes. 

Hosted by relatives or in schools and other facilities, these families remain heavily dependent on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs. 

In this context, the Pontifical Mission Societies in Lebanon, led by their National Director, Father Georges El Ters, together with a group of volunteers, prepared and distributed 100 food parcels to support displaced families from Aïn Ebel.  

In the predominantly Christian village of Aïn Ebel, near the Israeli border, much of the population has chosen to remain despite isolation, shortages of essential goods and the continuing military tensions. 

"In cooperation with the Deputy President of the Municipality of Aïn Ebel, Mr. Ayman Barakat, on Saturday, August 1, the Lebanese Pontifical Mission Societies prepared and distributed food supplies at the aid distribution center in Raouda, based on the lists of names drawn up for the beneficiary families," Father Georges told Fides. 

The initiative, he explained, was intended "to bear witness to the Church's closeness to the most vulnerable and to support communities affected by the conflict." 

"We are deeply grateful to the Pontifical Mission Societies…, whose generous support made this initiative possible," the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Lebanon concluded.  

Article from FIDES missionary news service of the Pontifical Mission Societies.  Please remember the Pontifical Mission Societies of the Diocese of Ogdensburg INC. when writing or changing your will.