Please join us for “The Amazon: our Common Home”, a compelling event series that brings the Amazon to Rome for the bishops’ synod on the Amazon. Across eight countries with approximately 400 indigenous communities and millions of people, the Amazon is a place where the Creator’s glory is revealed.
“Living Franciscan humanism in today’s European context: Go and repair my house” was the topic of the VII Continental Meeting of JPIC European Animators.
In the retreat house “Porziuncola” in Malta, there was the meeting of 25 brothers working for the animation of the values of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) in the European continent. The meeting started with the celebration of the Eucharist, presided by Br. Richard Stanley Grech, OFM, Provincial Minister of the Province of St. Paul in Malta.
We hope that we can count on your support to help carry this initiative, to have your bell(s), … ring in your towers, belfries, carillon, churches, communities, institutions – a call or another sign – on Friday 4 October 2019 at 14.00 hrs. to give a hopeful sign of prayer, peace and reconciliation among all people of goodwill throughout the world.
Almost more than half a million migrant workers, who live in and around the city of Chennai, are unskilled workers. Migrants who come to the city of Chennai are typically at the receiving end of misplaced bias, such as loud, sexually open, dirty and so on. In workplaces, migrant labor is often deprived of the most necessary and essential of amenities such as a clean toilet, drinking water, and a place to rest. It is perhaps not news that migrants are taken for granted and the accounts show that there is a long way to go before migration with dignity is achieved.
The aim of these camps is to lead young people to an encounter with God through Sister-Mother Earth, by means of Franciscan spirituality and the values of JPIC. To achieve this the young people are brought into an environment which promotes more direct contact with nature and for this reason the site for the camp is carefully selected.
The Franciscan Province, “Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe” of Central America, Panama and the Foundation of “La Santa Cruz” in Haiti, has the JPIC Commission in the Province, which consists of a friar appointed for animation and coordination in each region of the actions of JPIC, together with the Franciscan Family. The Province has an evangelization project that includes four points for JPIC animation. They are, firstly, JPIC in initial and ongoing formation (formation program), secondly, JPIC in each evangelization settings (parish, rectory), thirdly, JPIC in the schools of the Province, and fourthly, JPIC office in each country. Even if there are JPIC teams of the Franciscan Family in some states of Central America, it’s essential to have an office in each state.
From September 1 to October 4, Christians around the world celebrate the Season of Creation. Some of us pray, some of us do hands-on projects, some of us advocate.
A cycle rally was organised by the friars in Chennai, South India on the 7thof July for the cause of water and land, and around 250 children and youth had participated in this event. They covered up around 20 km of distance in and around Madhavaram, Chennai and the neighbouring area holding posters with slogans “Save water and it will save you later; No water no life; Water is life, Treat it Right; Reuse the Past, Recycle the present, Reduce pollution in the future…”
The tragedy of Venezuela happens at all levels: social, cultural, political and economic. However, in the face of so much human pain, we choose to focus on various action alerts. We decry the ecological destruction and its impacts on our suffering people. We deplore a decline in the public services, the high cost of economic activities, and poor public administration. Besides the corruption in the regions, the rural populations living far from the capital are the most affected. Unlike the outside areas, the city of Caracas enjoys the nearly uninterrupted public services. Over the years, numerous official grievances have been made by the environmental groups, indigenous communities and other entities about the excessive growth of illegal mining in the Amazon.
Br. Joseph Nangle belongs to the Order of Friars Minor (OFM) and has served as a missionary in Bolivia for over 15 years, was another 12 years the co-director of Franciscan Mission Service and last Thursday he was arrested, along with 70 other Catholics, for protesting against the immigration policy of the government of Donald Trump. Brother Joseph was kind enough to answer some questions for pazybien.es and highlights the serious situation in which migrants live due to current measures in place by the US administration