Faced with so much to say about Oscar Romero and Paul Vll, I turned to St Teresa. It seemed she was saying: keep it short and focus on what made their hearts burn as for the disciples today in the hope that our hearts would also burn when confronted with the word of God. We cannot relegate the lessons of any hero to the abstract or superficial. In lieu of platitudes, and avoid domestication, we need to make a living, active tribute to such peacemakers, whistle-blowers and prophetic voices who call for peace and justice, sound governance and responsible use of power. In both Oscar Romero and Paul Vl – there is a clear message: solidarity with the ‘poor’ must take centre stage.

The name Diego Garcia sounds more like the name of a person rather than of an island part of the Chagos Archipelago situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean. This 44 square kilometres (17 square mile) atoll has been considered as one of the most valuable pieces of real estate on Earth because of its very important geostrategic location. Probably few have even heard of it. The footprint-shaped atoll lies in the middle of the Indian Ocean, at the tip of a chain of coral islands whose tropical beauty belies a difficult history.

On December 1, 2018, St Mary’s Catholic Parish, Erskineville, hosted a visit by a very unassuming Sr Patricia Fox snd (Sister of Sion). This event was organised by Action for Peace and Development in the Philippines and Migrante NSW. More than 40 people attended made up of religious people, parishioners and people from the Filipino community.