From Monday 11th to Friday 15th December 2023, the members of the Animation Committee of the General Office for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation OFM gathered for their annual meeting at the Franciscan friary of St. Mary Draperis, in Istanbul, Turkey.
The committee’s current members, Sr. Mary Sebastian Wangare, Br. Francesco Zecca, Br. Taucen Girsang and Br. Daniel Rodríguez Blanco, were all in attendance since Sunday 10th December, in Turkey, a country where historically different religions, cultures and empires converged.
A report on the main activities of the General JPIC Office during the year 2023, including the latest update of the Franciscan Migrant Network of the Americas, the Franciscan Network of the Mediterranean and the Oikos project, as well as the steps being taken to build a Franciscan Network for Peace in Asia, was the first part of the meeting.
This was continued with a dialogue where the host fraternity shared their mission to promoting inter-religious and intercultural dialogue in a Franciscan way, the project drawn up for this presence of the Order, the encountered difficulties, and any possibilities for the future.
The second part was the JPIC Animation Plan for 2022-2027 with the respective feedback. Accordingly, the committee reviewed the programme of activities to be carried out by the General Office during 2024, such as visits to some conferences of the Order, formation, including the International Course for new JPIC animators to be held in May 2024, and the animation and accompaniment of initiatives of the Order, the Church and society.
Later, in the third part of the meeting, the friars agreed on important celebrations related to the work entrusted to them, such as Laudato Si’ Week, the Season of Creation, the Franciscan Centenary especially the Canticle of the Creatures in 2025, and the names proposed for the new formation of this Committee.
On the last day, the “City of Flowers” project by the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, whose main objective is the care of foreign women in prison, and the “Laudato Si'” project by Franciscan Friars, located in the parish of San Pacifico, on the island of Büyükada, were presented.
On the occasion of the fraternal recreation, thanks were expressed to the fraternity of Santa Maria Draperis for their hospitality during the week and to Fr. Adrián Loza for his service in translation.
Br. Daniel Rodríguez Blanco
Director of the General JPIC Office
