Getting To Know Some Travelers In Ireland
By Annie Budiongan
My three year term here in the only Columban parish in Ireland, St Joseph’s, Ballymun, Dublin, gave me a great opportunity to get a glimpse of the life and culture of Travelers, an ethnic minority with their own history, value system, customs and a nomadic tradition, part of Irish society for centuries. Their distinct culture can be seen in their dress, language, accent, family structures and use of symbols. According to the Department of the Environment there were about 28,000 Travelers inIreland in 1999, nearly a quarter in or near Dublin, the capital.
Albania is a small country in South Eastern Europe known not only as the birthplace of the parents of the Blessed Mother Teresa but also because of its extraordinary history. The Albanian people and the Church suffered severe religious persecution under Communist rule. By the 1980s, albania had become the most isolated country in the world. In 1995, the Maryknoll Sisters found their way there. Here Sister Lourdes shares with us their experience in the land tha once was declared by Communist dictator Enver Hoxha as 'the world's first completely atheist state.‘
The author is a Misyon promoter. Here she shares her struggle to grow into the post-Vatican II way of living our faith.
People say that what you are now is what you were before. Based on experiences that molded me and influenced my behavior, I agree.