Dominican Republic. JPIC and Franciscan formation converged in the experience of the twelve brothers who make up the Novitiate of the Franciscan Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Central America, Panama, and the Caribbean. They participated in a workshop on Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC), led by Fr. Daniel Nicolas Rodríguez Blanco, OFM, from the JPIC General Office of the Order of Friars Minor.
The novice friars, from five countries, shared a space for reflection, dialogue, and fraternal work aimed at discovering that JPIC, more than an area of activity or a specialised task within the Order, is a transversal dimension of the spirituality and way of life of the Friars Minor.
JPIC and Franciscan Formation: A Cross-Cutting Dimension
The workshop articulated diverse experiences and content that allowed participants to move from their own history to reality, and from contemplating that reality to taking action.
The starting point was the conviction that, to hear the cry of the poor and of creation, we must also learn to listen to our own history and recognise how God has made himself present in it through people, events, encounters, and processes of reconciliation.
Within this framework, “The Forgotten Leper” allowed participants to revisit a fundamental event in the conversion of Saint Francis of Assisi: his encounter with the lepers. The experience helped them to ask themselves who the forgotten lepers are today, what realities we prefer not to see, and how encountering those who live on the margins can also transform our own lives.
Laudato si’ and the Cry of the Earth and the Poor
Another resource used was the documentary The Letter, linked to Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato si’. Based on the stories and issues presented in the documentary, the novices discussed the socio-environmental crisis and the profound interdependence between the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
This reflection also included an exploration of the Assisi 2025 Declaration, Article 1 of the General Constitutions of the Order of Friars Minor, and other elements of Franciscan spirituality. These elements helped them understand that the commitment to justice, the building of peace, and the care of creation all stem from the same evangelical profession.
This experience was expressed in the words of one of the novices:
“JPIC is more than just an initiative: it is experience, witness, denunciation, and charity.”
An experience nourished by the charism received from Saint Francis and called to become visible in every brother who desires to be a sign of peace and hope amidst wars, hunger, migration, and despair.
JPIC Novitiate Manifesto 2026
As part of this JPIC and Franciscan formation process, the novices also undertook a fraternal reflection on some of the social and environmental situations in the Province’s territories.
This discernment culminated in the drafting of the JPIC Novitiate Manifesto 2026, with the motto:
“To be brothers to all, walking in love and joy.”
In the Manifesto, the brothers acknowledge, among other situations, the reality of migrants in the provincial territory and, particularly, the situation of Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic, often affected by discrimination, xenophobia, and racism.
They also expressed concern about the normalisation of drug use among young people and the criminal structures linked to its trafficking, gambling addiction, the social and environmental consequences of mining, femicides, and other situations that violate human dignity and the integrity of creation.
From Analysis of Reality to Commitment
After acknowledging these realities, the novices were invited to ask themselves: What are we committing to?
In this way, the Manifesto became a communal expression of the desire to adopt concrete attitudes and choices from their current stage of Franciscan formation.
The workshop also took place within the context of the celebration of the eight hundredth anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, offering an opportunity to revisit the experience of the Seraphic Father and reflect on what it means to be lesser brothers in the face of the wounds of our time.
The JPIC Manifesto of the Novitiate 2026 thus remains as a record of a workshop, an expression of a formative process, and leaves a question that will accompany the journey of these twelve brothers:
How can we be brothers to all today, walking in love and joy, amidst the concrete realities of our peoples?
