It’s safe to say that here in Scotland we enjoy our tea—I know I do. While advertisers down through the years have tried to sell it to us with the use of cartoon characters and chimpanzees—both real and of the stuffed variety—they needn’t have bothered as Scots drink an average of four cups a day, which equates to a whopping 22 million cuppas consumed and that’s not even accounting for flavoured teas! However, what most people might not be aware of is where their tea comes from or what the lives are like for those whose job it is to get it into our shops and our homes.
Sri Lanka is one of the biggest tea producing nations in the world and is also our focus country for this year’s World Mission Sunday. The Missio Scotland team were fortunate enough to visit Sri Lanka this year and gain a greater insight into this industry and the country as a whole. The first stop on our was to the Diocese of Kandy, a rural diocese where many of the tea plantations in the country are located. In fact, we were taken into a factory where the tea leaves are processed before we arrived at our destination of Talawakelle and even the humidity outside that those who pick the tea have to contend with wasn’t a patch on the searing heat inside the factory itself… .
Full article at the following link: Supporting the children of St Patrick's College
When we speak about the work of Missio Scotland and our Pontifical Mission Societies partners throughout the world, the same words and phrases always seem to crop up, most notably ‘universality,’ ‘solidarity’ and ‘brothers and sisters in Faith.’
The universality of our faith, to some extent speaks for itself, with around 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide, making it the biggest religion on earth.
Within that universality, there has to be solidarity, something Pope Francis has stressed on many occasions, such as during his World Day for the Poor message last year when he said: “The sense of community and of communion as a style of life increases and a sense of solidarity matures. “As members of a civil society, let us continue to uphold the values of freedom, responsibility, fraternity, and solidarity, and as Christians, let us always make charity, faith and hope the basis of our lives and our actions.”
At their best, there are no greater examples of solidarity than those which exists between families and Fr Basil Rohan Fernando, the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Sri Lanka, was quick to point that out when he heard that Missio Scotland would be supporting projects in his country… .
Full article at the following link: A loving bond built between Scotland and Sri Lanka
Pope Francis has always been fulsome in his praise for women’s role in the Church—and has appointed several to top Vatican roles—the family and in wider society. The Holy Father has described them as ‘a gift’ and spoke of their own gifts of ‘delicateness, sensitivity and tenderness.’ He has also made mention of their ‘indispensable contribution to society,’ in which they show a special care for the ‘weak and unprotected,’ while also praising their moral principles that ably allow them to transmit the Faith.
Unfortunately though, this love and respect isn’t always in evidence and that includes in our focus country for World Mission Sunday this year, Sri Lanka. While the country boasted the world’s first elected female Prime Minister in Sirima Bandaranaike in 1960—entering into politics after the assassination of her husband Soloman—women have little representation in government there today. Sri Lanka actually ranks lowest for women’s participation in politics among South Asian countries and women have never exceeded 6 per cent representation in parliament… .
Full article at the following link: Sewing the seeds of love and hope
