Madrid, Spain (4th-6th November, 2024). The Franciscans of Spain and Portugal held their interprovincial training days on the theme of Friars Minor in the Care of Creation and migrants.
These days are part of the ongoing formation of the Friars Minor whose main objective is the study, awareness and updating on various topics of interest. The more than 30 participating friars from the four Franciscan provinces of the Iberian Peninsula were joined by a Franciscan married couple from Pamplona and two friars from the Custody from Morocco.
On the first day, Br. Joaquín Zuberó, OFM, Minister Provincial of the Immaculate Conception Province of Spain, offered the words of welcome in the meeting room of the spirituality house of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd, the place of the meeting.
Thereafter, Br. Daniel Rodríguez Blanco, Director of the General Office of JPIC, presented what the last two General Chapters and the Plenary Council of 2018 have pointed out regarding the Care of Creation and the work with migrants and refugees. In addition, he quoted some letters or reflections from Br. Michael Perry, former Minister General and Br. Massimo Fusarelli, Minister General.
The next three presentations of the day revolved around the Care of the common home. Br. Vicente Felipe presented the relationship that this has with the Franciscan minority, whilst Fr Jaime Tayay, SJ, presented the challenges of the Encyclical Laudato si’ to consecrated life. Finally, Fr. Martín Carbajo, online, reflected on the Franciscan contribution to integral ecology.
During the morning of the second day, the president of the Diocesan Commission for Integral Ecology of Madrid, Carlos Jesús Delgado, offered valuable suggestions for ecological conversion. Before the group work, Fr. Daniel N. Rodríguez Blanco presented the work carried out by the Franciscan Network of the Mediterranean.
The second part of the interprovincial days was dedicated to migrants and refugees. There was reflection on the political, social and human opportunities, as well as the challenges for the Church offered by human mobility. The third and last day was to approach concrete experiences of work with migrants and refugees carried out by Mercedarians, Capuchins and the Juan del Castillo Foundation.
After the evaluation, the days corresponding to 2024 were concluded, in which the cry of the earth and the cry of migrants and refugees were present.
