Manila Archbishop orders prayers for rain amid El Niño threat

Inquirer.net - Nov 5, 2026

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula has ordered all parishes and communities in the Archdiocese of Manila to pray for rain amid the threat of a strong El Niño that could bring prolonged drought and water scarcity. In a circular released on Thursday, Advincula directed churches to include the Oratio Imperata ad Petendam

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Manila Archbishop orders prayers for rain amid El Niño threat

Nov 5, 2026

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[FRIENDS OF KOREA] An American teenager in Seoul in 1967

Nov 5, 2026

[FRIENDS OF KOREA] An American teenager in Seoul in 1967

I was 13 when our family of 10 (mom, dad and eight kids ranging in age from 1 to 15) arrived at Kimpo Airport in August 1966. We arrived a bit prior to the first volunteers of the Peace Corps K-1, because our school started in early September. The older kids attended Seoul Foreign School (SFS) in Yeonhui-dong, behind Yonsei University. In fact, the founders of our school were some of the same missionaries who founded Yonsei, such as the Underwoods, the Allens and the Avisons. Today, there is a statue to Horace Grant Underwood in front of one of the Yonsei buildings. Being born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and at our young ages, none of us kids were very familiar with the outside world, so when Dad (Kevin O'Donnell, the first Peace Corps country director for Korea) told us he got a new job and we were going to move to Korea, we thought he said Berea, a Cleveland suburb near the airport, and wondered why in the world would anyone want to move there. He said, "Not Berea — Korea. It's a foreign country over by China and Japan." This got most of us quite excited, but my older sister wa

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