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.
During the first three days he shared in the fraternity of the Parish of St. Francis of Assisi, located in the populous Cuba neighbourhood of the city of Pereira, where fr. Luis Fernando Benítez, JPIC animator of the Province of Santa Fe, resides. Likewise, he met with Mr. Fabián Valderrama, OFS, facilitator of the Colombia team of the Franciscan Network for Migrants (RFM) in order to learn about the work being carried out and the implementation plan of a project for migrants in Pereira.
On the 9th and 10th of September, fr. Daniel met at St. Paul’s Postulants’ House in Itagüí, Medellín, with the JPIC animators of the two Franciscan Entities. On behalf of the Province of Santa Fe, fr. Luis Fernando Benítez, fr. Santiago González, fr. Ángel Antonio Agudelo and fr. José Eriberto Parra participated. From the Province of San Pablo were present fr. Juan Jairo Rendón, fr. José de Jesús Caro and fr. Diego Martínez.
In the first part of the morning of the first day, time was given to share the life experiences and the JPIC service of each of the participants. In the second part, the conclusions of the February 2022 meeting of the Bolivarian Conference were evaluated. In the afternoon, fr. Daniel presented both the conclusions of the 2021 General Chapter and those of the JPIC International Council, Petrópolis 2022.
During the evening, the participants of the meeting, the members of the formative fraternity and the postulants enjoyed the documentary “The Letter”, produced by the Laudato Si’ Movement whose main character is Pope Francis and his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, 2015.
So based on the above, during the second day the Provincial JPIC lines of action were drawn up. They have created an interprovincial presence for work with migrants, collaboration with the RFM, JPIC workshops for the first stages of formation, also, Formation in Integral Ecology and Franciscan Economy, the celebrations of the Franciscan Centenary, amongst other activities.
On the 11th September, fr. Daniel shared lunch with the fraternity of the St. Bonaventure University of Medellín and with Adriana Obando and Carlos Ruiz. The latter are two of the four academics and researchers of the University who carry out the projects of accompaniment to foreign prisoners deprived of liberty in the high and medium security prison of El Pedregal and in the Barrio La Honda, Medellín. Initiatives that are under the responsibility of the two Franciscan provinces of Colombia.
