Amidst the challenges of unemployment and a lack of qualified employees in rural areas like Venilale, the school offers hope to the younger generation, particularly for younger girls.
Catholic Mission’s National Director, Fr Brian Lucas, expressed enthusiasm for this year’s theme, saying, “Pope Francis has given us a powerful and inspiring message. It is an invitation to walk together on the path of peace, hope and creation.”
Facing the distressing situation in Syria and Turkey, Catholic Mission is taking action to support missionaries who are providing vital emergency support and pastoral care in this time of suffering.
Nilan is currently a seminarian at St Aloysius Seminary in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.
Thanks to the support of Catholic Mission, he is able to continue his journey to become a priest with the objective of dedicating his life to serving others.
The carnival, usually held in May, was moved to October this year, a shift that meant it coincided with Catholic Mission’s annual Socktober schools engagement initiative.
Pope Francis, in his 2022 World Mission Sunday Message, invites everyone to answer the call to be missionary, sharing that “Mission is carried out together, not individually…”.
Socktober cultivates the passion of students, engages their local community, and takes action against poverty through the world game of soccer. It challenges students and their families to kick goals for good.
Catholic Mission is currently supporting a range of mission development programs in Ethiopia addressing malnutrition, the lack of access to education for young children, and the vulnerable position of women in society.
Catholic Mission is launching its Workplace Giving campaign, “Together, we can reach out and give life”, to promote supporting mission programs through payroll deductions.
They make up less than two per cent of the population but run more than 430 schools, most of them in poor, regional areas: the head of the Ethiopian Catholic Church, Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, says it is support from Catholics in places such as Australia that makes a brighter future possible.