On Friday, November 25, 2022, the fifth working day of the International Council, the general lines of action for the next few years were drawn up. In the first part, the friars attending the Council were divided into three language groups: English, Spanish and Italian. Then, each of the groups presented their proposals at the plenary. By the end of the morning, the general lines of action were: Conversion and Integral Ecology; Human Migration and Refugees; and Culture of Peace.
During the afternoon, Br. Angelito Cortez, OFM, presented the first draft of the Declaration of Petrópolis 2022. At the end, the participating brothers offered various edits to enrich the original draft.
In the second part of the afternoon meeting in Petrópolis, our gracious hosts gave us a guided tour of the Petrópolis Cathedral and the Imperial Museum, which preserve part of the city’s history.
The day concluded with a Brazilian “Churrasco” offered to us by the friar community from in Petropolis. The festive dinner coincided with the end of the academic year for the friars in the Initial Formation studying theology. Besides sharing food, each one of the JPIC animators shared his experience of working in the areas of JPIC with a friar in Formation. The activity ended with placing of a tau by each of the animators on the theology student.