Christmas in ‘Paradise’

Christmas in ‘Paradise’

Columban Father John Boles celebrated Christmas Mass in ‘Paradise’ last year. It was not the future paradise we all aspire to but something from the past – a 4,000-year-old temple in Peru. People often boast about having celebrated Mass in churches that are...
“Keep on Walking”

“Keep on Walking”

Columban Fr Dylan Tabaco tells Fr John Boles how he thought he knew all about walking, until he came to Peru and met someone who’d walked across half a continent. The Covid-19 pandemic may have brought hardship and tragedy to countless numbers throughout the world,...
Memorial plaque to commemorate Andrea in Peru

Memorial plaque to commemorate Andrea in Peru

A memorial plaque commemorating Andrea Xiomara Alvarez Rojas will be officially unveiled at the Manuel Duato Special Needs School in Peru on the Feast of the Lord of the Miracles. The plaque recognises Andrea’s role in raising donations which helped finance recent...
Building work at Manuel Duato special needs school

Building work at Manuel Duato special needs school

Columban missionary Fr John Boles has sent some images of the recent building work underway at the Manuel Duato special needs school in Lima. According to Fr Boles, the work is progressing thanks to recent donations received from Columban benefactors, particularly...
Fr John Boles mourns the passing of Andrea

Fr John Boles mourns the passing of Andrea

I am writing to you from Lima with the sad news of the death of Andrea Álvarez. She was the severely disabled girl in Peru that I wrote about in my article, ‘A Life for Andrea’, which was published in the May/June 2020 issue of the Far East magazine, and which...