"Caritas et Amor
... in the footsteps of Love"
In the words of Rowan Hand.
This is the simplest and most courageous of stories. It is a work of reportage, what these eyes have seen, what these ears have heard, what these hands have touched. Nothing complicated, just the tale of ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things.
The men and women I report on between these covers are the Fathers of the Society of African Missions and the Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles.
In an age in which evil can prosper, good priests and sisters of the Catholic Church are doing today what Jesus asked of them two thousand years ago, to care for the poor and vulnerable. And dear "Francis the Good" has refocused that command to love in asking them, to mingle with the 'sheep' of the flock and to be as they are.
At the start of my voyage, I described myself as an "optimistic agnostic". The Wexford SMA Tom Curran used to joke, "You may well be an optimistic agnostic in Ireland but I think you're more of a pessimistic Christian in Africa."
I knew well what Tom meant, for in our part of Africa danger is never far away and the closeness of the good God is often your unseen shield, indeed your only safeguard.
Today, as a result of what I have seen and what I have discovered on my personal voyage of spiritual discovery, I know that the message of Jesus, "Caritas et Amor" is the very best story in town.