The OLA Blog
Stories, reflections, and updates from our mission and community life. Here we share reflections, insights and experiences, believing that the simple act of sharing can inspire, connect, and open hearts.
Early years of the Mission: Sister Boniface (Thérèse Henner)
It is a well-known fact that the early years of the Catholic Missions into West Africa were a dangerous time to be a missionary. The presence of deadly diseases such as malaria and yellow fever in British West Africa led to the deaths of many Europeans in the late...
Discussing the 2024 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report
Despite initial technical difficulties preventing the live broadcast, the panel discussion on the 2024 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report went ahead and was made available for viewing immediately afterwards. This is the third year we have hosted an informal...
The Erosion of Patience in a Fast Paced Word
Our Monday prayer this week focused on patience, and to our surprise, it garnered more interaction and a higher reach than many of our previous Monday prayers. This unexpected response led me to reflect on the concept of patience and why it seems to resonate so...
UCESM Assembly Urges Enhanced Lay Collaboration in Church Mission
Our Congregational leader, Sr. Mary T. Barron, recently attended the 21st General Assembly of the Union of European Conferences of Major Superiors (UCESM) in Vranov, Czech Republic. The assembly, held from April 15 to 19, 2024, brought together representatives...
OLA Remembrance Day 2024
This past Saturday, 20 June, marked a significant milestone for our community as we gathered for the first public Remembrance Day and Blessing of the Graves at Ardfoyle since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our last Remembrance Day, held in 2022, was open...
PRESS RELEASE: Ireland Remains at Tier 2 in Important 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report
PRESS RELEASE by Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission The National Rapporteur on Trafficking of Human Beings has today responded to the US State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) as...
The Role of Women in the Church – A Personal Account
The primary task of the people of God is to bear witness to God’s great deeds. We read from Acts 1: 8 ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem … and even to the ends of the earth’. In...
Her Body is Not a Battleground: Sexual Violence in War
There are stories so harrowing that they seem almost impossible to tell. Stories of darkness so profound that they defy our understanding of what it means to be human. Sexual violence as a weapon of war is a grim reality that lurks in the shadows of conflict,...
The Preciousness of Life Amidst the Shadows of Tradition
Salamatu Jalloh was just thirteen, her life a budding promise of potential. Yet in January 2023, her story ended tragically, her lifeless body discovered wrapped in a pink and blue shroud on the earthen floor of a remote village in north-west Sierra Leone. Salamatu's...
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