As Christians, we are called to promote the values of justice, peace, truth, love and solidarity – ‘peace and all good,’” Father Verdugo said. “We have an ethical and moral responsibility to work against the anti-values of those who damage the environment.
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.
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.
On May 3, Pope Francis has received the photos with the names of the 270 people killed, the crime of the Vale from Dari Pereira, survivor of the crime of the Vale in Brumadinho and Fr. Rodrigo Peret, OFM of Churches and Mining Network and Mining Working Group of the CNBB.
The Pope was deeply moved for the victims, blessed the photos and expressed his solidarity to the families who lost their loved ones and all those affected. Immediately the Pope remained in front of the photos in a gesture of affection, respect and solidarity. On May 18, a representative of the Pope, Monsignor Duffé, will be visiting Brumadinho and getting to know the reality and the struggle of those affected.