Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary/Loreto

08/12/2026

Today, on International Youth Day, we celebrate and amplify the voices of youth. Our CJ network recently participated in a global youth project on the UN Sustainable Development Goals looking at the barriers and opportunities faced by young people around the world.

These are the top 5 messages they shared with us:

1. The urban–rural divide is the most consistent structural inequality young people identify
2. Affordability is a universal barrier, but what it costs to survive differs enormously by country
3. Gender is a cross-cutting dimension that advanced economies largely overlooked
4. Young people everywhere feel excluded from the decisions that shape their lives — but express that exclusion differently
5. Emerging technology — especially AI — is entering youth conversations about sustainability, but unevenly

Read more about their findings:

https://ibvmunngo.org/youth-voices-for-sustainable-development-report/

https://ibvmunngo.org/2030-generation-youth-led-european-event-on-the-sdgs/

In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, establishing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to secure the prosperity of people and the planet. With just four years remaining until the 2030 deadline, progress remains critically insufficient. This report — Y...

08/12/2026

International Youth Day 2026 recognizes that while young people’s lives are shaped by different national and local realities, their aspirations are remarkably similar. Across countries and communities, young people seek dignity, opportunity, meaningful participation, decent work, quality education, and a sustainable future.

This year’s theme places particular attention on young people living in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), who often experience overlapping challenges linked to poverty, climate change, geographic isolation, limited economic opportunities, and unequal access to digital technologies. At the same time, these young people continue to demonstrate resilience, leadership, and innovation in advancing sustainable development within their communities and beyond.

Source: https://social.desa.un.org/issues/youth/events/international-youth-day-2026

08/11/2026

On July 23rd, six candidates for the position of the next UN Secretary-General took the stage together for a rare public Town Hall, livestreamed though Bloomberg News and UN WebTV for the world to watch.

UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock opened the event by calling the role of the Secretary-General “the face and custodian of the house of humanity”. Now more than ever, the world needs the UN to be an institution built on trust, moral courage, and the strength of multilateralism. The new Secretary-General will shepherd the UN into its next era.

Read more about the candidates and selection process: https://ibvmunngo.org/choosing-the-next-steward-of-the-house-of-humanity/

On July 23rd, six candidates for the position of the next UN Secretary-General took the stage together for a rare public Town Hall, livestreamed though Bloomberg News and UN WebTV for the world to watch. UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock opened the event by calling the role of the Secr...

08/10/2026

In May, grade 5 students at the the Loreto Primary School, Strand in South Africa participated in a special visual arts project, looking at examples of traditional African body adornment (before Colonialism), and at contemporary typically African fashion styles. Learners had the opportunity to act as fashion designers to come up with an outfit for their figure.

Read more about the project here and see some of the sculptures students created: https://ibvmunngo.org/modern-african-lady-paper-sculpture-loreto-primary-school-strand-south-africa/

The 10- to 11-year-old learners in grade 5 created beautiful three-dimensional sculptures in Visual Art this term. They looked at examples of traditional African body adornment (before Colonialism), and at contemporary typically African fashion styles. Learners had the opportunity to act as fashion....

07/31/2026

July 30th is the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons!

Today we highlight the risk of scams at trafficking in persons. Transnational organized crime groups are trafficking and exploiting thousands of people and forcing them to take part in industrial-scale financial fraud operations. This is a growing form of trafficking in persons for forced criminality, closely intertwined with cybercrime, financial fraud, money-laundering and corruption.

We are especially aware of the role emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) and artificial intelligence (AI) play in human trafficking, especially in recruitment and exploitation. Traffickers manipulate social media, dating apps, and fraudulent job postings to exploit victims. AI intensifies these risks by enabling large-scale, automated recruitment.

Through our global network, the Congregation of Jesus (CJ) works closely with communities on the ground to eliminate human trafficking by strengthening prevention efforts, providing care and rehabilitation, and supporting the restitution of rights for victim-survivors.

Read more about our efforts to end human trafficking here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/112HQi7GdxyBKi9A41vAQ9ghx05VRZaM3/view

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07/31/2026

A fake job offer can become a trafficking trap.

Criminal networks lure people with promises of legitimate work. Instead, many are trafficked into scam operations, where they are stripped of their freedom and forced to carry out online fraud under threats, violence, debt and fear.

Preventing this crime requires stronger oversight of recruitment agencies, safe labour migration pathways and greater awareness of deceptive recruitment practices.

This World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, let’s shine light on the many human trafficking victims trapped behind scams.

07/31/2026

One person loses their savings.

Another loses their freedom.

Behind some online scams are people trafficked into scam operations & forced to commit fraud.

On this year's World Day to , let’s raise awareness on victims trapped behind the scam.

07/31/2026

Not everyone behind an online scam is there by choice.

This year's World Day Against Trafficking in Persons shines light on victims who were trafficked into scam operations and forced by organized criminals to carry out cyber-enabled fraud.

07/31/2026

On this World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, we shine a light on people trafficked and forced to commit online fraud.

Stronger cooperation is needed to protect victims and dismantle the criminal networks behind these crimes.

07/27/2026

Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (May 2026), was written to address artificial intelligence — but its deepest concerns are the same ones that animate the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda: human dignity, justice, and a future where all people thrive, not just the powerful few.

The encyclical opens with a choice founded in Scripture: build a new Tower of Babel, driven by pride and dominance, or rebuild Jerusalem “brick by brick,” as Nehemiah did, through patient, shared responsibility. That image could describe the choice facing the international community as we enter the final four years to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We have finite time to work together to make as much progress as possible on the SDGs and we must make the choice to tackle the pernicious social, economic, and environmental challenges collectively “brick by brick” to build the future we desire. We must also resist the urge to immediately jump to the “beyond-2030” planning (possibly a new Tower of Babel), diverting precious time, energy and resources to a future conversation rather than remaining steadfastly in the present and working to resolve immediate needs and dismantle the structural barriers in front of us right now.

Read more: https://ibvmunngo.org/new-encyclical-to-give-new-life-to-sustainable-development-magnifica-humanitas-and-the-final-years-of-the-sdgs/

Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (May 2026), was written to address artificial intelligence — but its deepest concerns are the same ones that animate the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda: human dignity, justice, and a future where all people to thrive, not just the powe...