The Franciscan Family of Central America held its General Assembly on the 25th and 26th of August, 2023 at the Monte Alvernia Retreat House, San Salvador, El Salvador. fr. Daniel Rodríguez Blanco, Director of the JPIC General Office, was invited to share the work carried out by this Office and, specifically, on the Franciscan Network for Migrants of the Americas (FNM).
From the 6th to the 11th September, fr. Daniel Rodríguez Blanco, Director of the JPIC Office of the General Curia, visited the Provinces of Santa Fe and San Pablo in Colombia.
One image that can help us interpret Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum is that of “a wakeup call.”
The XXXVII World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal ended with the celebration of Holy Mass in Lisbon’s Tejo Park in front of one and a half million young people, priests, religious, authorities and volunteers.
On Sunday the 30th July fr. Massimo Fusarelli, Minister General, arrived in Lisbon for a meeting with the Franciscan friars and the young people of the Laudato Si’ Movement (LSM). Both groups were preparing to develop an integral ecology programme at WYD Lisbon 2023.
On the occasion of the World Youth Day that takes place in Lisbon, Portugal, from the 1st to the 6th August 2023, we interviewed Br. Daniel Rodríguez Blanco, OFM, Director of the Office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) of the General Curia in Rome, to illustrate the commitment of JPIC animators in the world meeting that Pope John Paul II conceived in 1985.
In the month of May this year, torrential rains flooded western and northern provinces of Rwanda triggering flash flooding and landslides which left at least 130 people dead, 18 000 people displaced, 6000 houses damaged and others facilities such as roads, bridges schools, health care centers demolished.
On 4-8th July 2023, at the Franciscan Spiritual Centre in Kabgayi, a town about 50 km from Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, a workshop on Promoting JPIC for Every Creature was organized by Br Jean Eric Mutabazi, OFM, Provincial JPIC animator in the Province of St. Francis in Africa, Madagascar and Mauritius.
From July 2 to 4, at the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is hosting a meeting of the Alliance of Ecclesial Networks for Integral Ecology with representatives from Latin America, North America, Africa, Asia , Oceania and Europe.
From 26-29 June 2023, Br. Taucen Girsang and Br. Daniel Rodriguez Blanco from JPIC Office in Rome were in Geneva to participate in different sessions of the 53rd General Assembly of the United Nations (UN).