19 March Solemnity

Death is a mystery. For a Christian, according to Pope Francis, the good death is an experience of the mercy of God, who comes close to us even in that last moment of our life. According to Catholic tradition Joseph is considered the model of the pious believer who received grace at the moment of death.

During the early months of 2022, Pope Francis reflected on the person of St Joseph during his weekly General Audiences. During his audience on February 9, the pope spoke about this traditional devotion to St Joseph as the patron of a good death and the meaning of death in light of the Resurrection.

Although lacking any historical data, this tradition grew out of the idea that Joseph had died, “in the arms of Jesus and Mary,” before leaving Nazareth. After all, there is no mention of Joseph in Scripture after the Infancy Narratives, particularly the story of finding Jesus in the temple. So conventional wisdom holds that he died. In contrast, some eastern traditions made Joseph out to be 90 years old.

In the motu proprio, Bonum sane [July 1920], Pope Benedict XV wrote that that Joseph “is deservedly considered to be the most effective protector of the dying, having expired in the presence of Jesus and Mary” and then he pushed for pastors to support the pious associations established to implore Joseph on behalf of the dying. Associations at the time were “Of the Good Death,” “Of the Transit of St Joseph,” and “for the Dying.”

Referring to the 95-year-old Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Francis quotes him as saying “I am before the obscurity of death, at the dark door of death.” While our culture attempts to remove the reality of death and sanitize its aftermath, our Christian faith helps us to face it. It is through the Resurrection that our deaths take on meaning because “the light that awaits us behind the dark door of death” is Christ Resurrected.

To read more on St. Joseph, Principal Protector of the Order ...

Carmelite Communications Directors Join Jubilee Year Celebration of World Communications

The Vatican’s first celebration of the Jubilee Year, January 24-26, was dedicated to World Communications. The celebration began, appropriately, on the feast of St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of journalists and writers, with a penitential liturgy at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

On the following morning, January 25, participating journalists and directors of communications assembled at the end of Via Conciliazione to begin a pilgrimage to the Holy Door. The Vatican offered a small snack and coffee before heading into the Paul VI Audience Hall for an audience with Pope Francis.

The papal audience was preceded by a round table session with two well-known personalities: Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, advocate for freedom of expression, and CEO of the social communications platform Rappler and Colum McCann, author and co-founder of Narrative 4 – a global non-profit which uses storytelling to better communities.

Ressa spoke of her reason for attending the Jubilee dedicated to communications. She saw the event as an opportunity “to talk to real people in a shared reality with values that we hold dear.” While we live in an ever-increasing technology-driven world, Ressa feels “both social media influencers and media professionals have a role to play in being sources of communication. Journalists should “operate under standards and ethics”; whereas influencers are good at translation or repackaging information for different audiences. 

For McCann, the Jubilee of World Communication is important because telling stories is a tool for bringing people together. “The shortest distance between any people is a story,” McCann explained, “so our ability to tell our story and our ability to listen to somebody else's story is actually paramount to who we are and how we continue.” In his talk, McCann provided concrete examples where the work of Narrative 4 has brought about incredible results. He holds that “the ability to understand somebody else's story” that is “fundamental to notions of democracy and belonging.”

This part of the program concluded with a musical performance by Maestro Uto Ughi, with the orchestra promoted by the Uto Ughi Foundation.

Unfortunately, Pope Francis’ participation was limited. He gave his prepared text to an aide saying he would have the document distributed but only speak briefly because everyone was hungry. Following his remarks, he moved on to greeting the cardinals and bishops as well as those who managed to get a front row seat. His impromptu remarks as well as the prepared remarks were later published and can be found here.

The afternoon of Saturday was spent with the initiative Dialogue with the City: Meetings of a Cultural and Spiritual Nature. The meetings were organized by various institutions to explore the relationship between communication and the Church. A full list of these sessions and their locations can be found here

Sunday morning the Jubilee celebration of World Communications concluded with the Sunday of the Word of God in St. Peter’s Basilica presided over by Pope Francis. During the Mass people from various countries participated in the the Institution of Lectors. The homily of the Holy Father is here.

Transfiguration
(Luke 9:28-36)

• pdf Celebrating At Home - 2nd Sunday in Lent [PDF] (3.13 MB)
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International Communications Commission Meets to Finalize Programs Before the General Chapter

It was ten days of focusing on the Order’s communications programs. The week began with the professional development conferences at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome, participation in the Jubilee Year celebrations sponsored by the Dicastery for Communications, and concluded with the zoom meeting with the various directors of communications in the provinces. Then it was the turn of the International Communication Commission to meet at St Albert’s International Center (CISA) on January 29 – 31, 2025.

Members present for the 9th meeting of the Commission were: David Hofman, William J. Harry (Director of Communications for the Order), Manuel R. Freitas, Richard Byrne, and Mons. Janvier Marie Gustave Yameogo of the Dicastery for Communications.

Director’s Report

The Director’s Report highlighted the amount of time being spend on the publications part of the communications office, Edizioni Carmelitane, and the lack of time to focus on new initiatives in social media. It is hoped that some cooperation between the various communications offices in the Order could provide some renewed focus in the social media area. However, building cooperation also requires time to take root. Edizioni Carmelitane did publish 16 new titles in 2024 as well as two issues of Carmelus, Analecta, and Carmel in the World. In 2023, Edizioni published 10 new titles and 7 new titles in 2022.

While sales have increased through the webstore, it is still very difficult to get our books into bookstores or museums shops around Rome. At the end of 2024, 380 university libraries and schools of theology were contacted. We also contacted each of the Carmelite monasteries of enclosed nuns.

We continue to offer the more popular style of offerings as eBooks. Sales have been slow.

Review of the Conference and Events of the Previous Week

Members who attended the Conference at Santa Croce presented their reactions. The various offerings at the Santa Croce Conference were seen as engaging and appropriate. Experts in the field of art led several of the conferences, proposing the use of art to engage people in the faith, especially those who are not Catholic or even believers. There were presentations on identity and innovation: being able to innovate with losing one identity, with the 1000 year old monastery of Montserrat used as an example. What other presences on social media can we move into as website have seen a 80% reduction in usage. Stories of conversion and the lives of the saints often lead to a spike in viewership and engagement with the audience.

William J. Harry was invited to participate in a meeting of the directors of the communications office of the Order present in Rome as well as the directors of the Episcopal Conference Communications offices from January 27-29. It emphasised the need for the Church to move into a productive use of Artificial Intelligence. Another focus was the importance of storytelling. The approximately 200 members met with Pope Francis in the Sala Clementina on the first morning of the gathering.

For the on-line meeting with the Order’s communications directors who did not come to Rome, the group moved to the General Curia. There were about ten participants online and eight present in the room. The crossover between those worked in communications and also in youth ministry and vocations was noted. This was the first meeting of this type and was seen as very valuable by the participants. Due to time restraints, two main items on the agenda (sharing resources and the opportunities for networking) were not explored. A follow-up zoom meeting will be held in May in two sessions to better accommodate time differences.

Communications Plan for the Order

The Commission’s work on the Scapular Project continues. It will involved Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson Arizona. The project will include the story of Isidore Bakanja.

The members also spent a significant amount of time discussing possible changes to the financial model used by Edizioni Carmelitane as well as different models for the distribution of books. These will be presented to the General Council.

Another proposed project is a map of the Carmelite sites in Rome. This will be a joint project with the Discalced Carmelites. It would be something that that could endure for at least ten years and not just for the Jubilee Year.

Meeting at the Dicastery of Communications

The members of the Commission went to the Dicastery for Communications and met with both the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communications, Dottore Paolo Ruffini and with the Director for the Theological-Pastoral Department, Dottoressa Nataša Govekar, to discuss the Order’s program of communications and possible points of cooperation. The visited lasted approximately 90 minutes.

The three days concluded with some visioning for the future. This included brainstorming about the role of the Communications Office in the General Curia, the relationship between communications and evangelization, the job description of the Director of Communications, and the process of identifying people to work in communications in Rome.

The next meeting will be held online on May 19, 2025.

Temptation to Transfiguration
(Luke 4:1-13)

• pdf Celebrating At Home - 1st Sunday in Lent [PDF] (2.83 MB)
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• pdf Celebrando en Familia - Primer Domingo del Tiempo de Cuaresma (315 KB)
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For six days, communications directors from various parts of the Order met in Rome to participate in three events related to communications. The first was a three day conference at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce entitled Communication and Evangelization: Context, Attitudes and Experiences. One of the university’s focuses is communications. This was the 14th professional seminar for Church communications offices.

The goal of the conference was to explore the Church’s evangelizing. This is something present in each diocese as well as religious order on various levels. The form of dialogue used brings together characteristics such as the primacy of charity, love of truth, respect for the person and his or her freedom, and the promotion of pluralism. In addition, the various dimensions of the Church's communication refer to the horizon of evangelization: internal communication, relations with journalists, creation of media and channels, presence on social networks, listening, dissemination of content, and institutional relations. When put together and used appropriately, these activities make the Church capable of proclaiming Christ, the Good News.

To explore the theme a number of presentations as well as panels of experts from various parts of the world were provided. Presentations were in English, Spanish, and Italian (with simultaneous translations for the large gatherings). The breaks provided the opportunity to connect with fellow workers in this particular vineyard.

The full program can be found at en.pusc.it/csi/ucc2025/progr.

The second part of the Carmelite gathering was to participate in the Jubilee Year of the World of Communications. This was the first of the Jubilee events scheduled throughout 2025. The Vatican estimated that 10,000 journalists, editors, and industry professionals participated from 139 countries. The three days included some input sessions but was mostly am opportunity to celebrate.

On Friday evening, January 24, there was a welcome and penitential celebration organized by the Vicariate of the Diocese of Rome at St. John Lateran Basilica. The following day members had the opportunity to participate in a procession from Piazza Pia with the Jubilee cross to St. Peter’s Basilica. Participants then passed through the Holy Door. After a pause for a simple breakfast and coffee provided by the Vatican outside the Paul VI Audience Hall, participants assembled in the aula for a meeting with Pope Francis. The papal session was preceeded by a round table session, moderated by the former editor of the Italian national newspapers, La Repubblica and La Stampa, on the theme of “Communication and Hope.”

Two speakers participated. The Filippino journalist Maria Ressa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for "efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace" spoke first. She is also the co-founder and CEO of Rappler, a Filipino online news website. Ms. Ressa gave a powerful talk on the crisis of democracy and her arrests by the Philippine government.

The second presenter was award-winning Irish writer Colum McCann who wrote Apeirogon among several other books. He spoke about the “democracy of storytelling” outlining the power that telling the people’s stories can have in bringing people together.

Following the talks there was a musical interlude. The Pope Francis entered the aula and took his place in center stage. However, after very few minutes he tossed aside his text and began greeting the cardinals and bishops present and then the people seated in the very front rows. It was a rather odd finish to what was billed as a major moment of the three days.

The following morning, on the “Sunday of the Word of God,” participants were invited to Mass inside St. Peter’s basilica presided over by Pope Francis.

The following day, the Carmelite communicators gathered live as well as via zoom to participate in a discussion of the status of the various communications programs in the Order and the provinces. Each participant was asked to share three things they felt everyone should know about their ministry of communications. They were also asked to complete a one-page survey which will be summarized to give a more complete picture of the state of our communications. There was quite a bit of enthusiasm generated during this meeting and future gatherings are being planned.

Concurrent with this meeting, the presidents of episcopal commissions for communications, the directors of national communications offices, as well as some directors of communications for the religious orders were invited to a three-day meeting at the Pontifical University Urbaniana to address some of the most frequent questions that communicators in the Church face today. As director of communications office for the Order, William J. Harry participated in these sessions which began with an audience with the pope.

On January 29-February 1, members of the Order’s International Communications Commission then met at CISA. Members had the opportunity to discuss each of the pieces of the just concluded communications meeting as well as the implications and decisions from each. The group also had the opportunity to walk over the new offices of the Dicastery for Communications in the Vatican Radio building (which now falls within the dicastery). We met with Dr. Paulo Ruffini, the prefect and Nataša Govekar, director of the theological-pastoral department which the Order’s communications efforts would fall directly under.

In the near future, individual releases will contain more detailed information about these meeting.

Carmelite Charlò Camilleri Delivers a Videoconference on Jean de Saint-Samson

On February 23, 2025, Charlò Camilleri of the Maltese Province was the invited guest speaker at a video conference hosted by the SOLARS Centre for Spirituality on the doctrine of the Carmelite spiritual master Jean de Saint-Samson. Participants joined from Canada, the UK, France, and Malta. The conference featured a presentation on Holy Wisdom in the doctrine of John of Saint Samson. Inspired by a phrase frequently repeated by John of Saint Samson in Le Vray Esprit du Carmel—"the Host and House are One and the Same"—the event explored this mystical concept within his teachings. In doing so, it aimed also to foster dialogue with Advaita and Buddhist spiritual traditions, which employ a similar metaphor in their practices. The talk was followed by engaging discussions.

In 1655, Donatien de Saint-Nicolas published Le Vray Esprit du Carmel, which was later incorporated into the Œuvres complètes, published in two volumes between 1658 and 1659. In these writings, the Carmelite mystic—blind from birth—sheds light on the bold mystical journey of those who embark on the path of interiority, where one becomes aware of welcoming the Wisdom that welcomes us.

Fr. Charlò earned a doctorate in sacred theology with a specialization in spirituality from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 2007. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Moral Theology at the University of Malta, where he teaches spiritual theology, consecrated life, and gender studies. In 2023-2024, he was appointed director of research at the Centre d'Études d'Histoire de la Spiritualité de Nantes (C.E.H.S.). In addition to contributing to several academic journals, he is the editor of the critical edition project of the Œuvres complètes de Jean de Saint-Samson, in collaboration with Edizioni Carmelitane. He also serves as the vice-postulator for the cause of the Servant of God Jean de Saint-Samson.

The SOLARS CENTRE offers conferences and training courses to explore and deepen the mystical heritage of Christianity in dialogue with other spiritual traditions, the sciences, and the arts.

• pdf Lectio Divina March, 2025 [Pdf] (1.85 MB)
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Sound Tree, Good Fruit
(Luke 6:39-45)

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