Requiem For A Rainforest
A word from the Editor Fr. Niall O’ Brien mssc
Recently I read a very beautiful book called Vanishing Treasures of the Philippines. In 1907 we had a rainforest cover of 70%. By 1992 it was down to 8%. And the sound of chainsaws still goes on. There are also maps of the island of Negros, equally depressing, showing a few tiny green spots in the north and in the far nothing else. Sad, sad. And still they chop with government approval. A future generation will surely weep over this and wonder what was wrong with us.
From time to time we come across a book or document, from another age, which moves us. One such Brazilian document that moves me profoundly is known as the Book of Slave Marks. It is a register of more that fifteen hundred slaves, their baptismal names, nation of Origin, sex and approximate age, as well as the marks with which they were branded and the part of the body on which these marks were inflicted.
Q. To begin, could you tell us a little about your personal background? 
In 1987, my Dominican Superior invited five sisters to apply for the missions so I immediately applied but I did not get a positive response, instead I was assigned to help in the novitiate for almost three years. I resigned myself to the Will of God, but I made a secret promise to him: “Yes, I will forget this desire. However if there will be an opportunity to work in the mission one day, I will never say no.”
you send us your questions and let us together find the answers to our question.