By Alvaro de Juana

Seven-year-old Carmen has an extraordinary story. Because of her Blessed Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin, the parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux, will be canonized this Sunday in Saint Peter's Square.

The little girl was born prematurely in Spain in 2008 at just six months into pregnancy. She was fighting for her life for several weeks because of a cerebral hemorrhage and other severe ailments.  

But her loved ones and many Carmelite sisters sought the miraculous intervention of the Martins. The Vatican recognized the baby’s healing as miraculous.

Little Carmen’s parents, her mother Carmen and her father Santos, have told her story in an exclusive interview with CNA.

“We’re just another family who received this miracle with open arms, as you'd expect. But we and Carmen are normal people like anybody else,” Santos said.

The baby Carmen is now seven years old.

“Our daughter was born at hardly six months gestation, after a pregnancy with many complications, and her organs were very underdeveloped. Complications set in right away: cerebral hemorrhage, bacterial infection … her situation was getting worse to the point we were extremely worried,” Santos explained.

Both parents were both going through “a terrible situation.”  

“For some parents dealing with such a dramatic situation it would stir up feelings of helplessness, grief, guilt and despair...on top of that we had a five year old son and we were trying to keep this situation from affecting him,” Santos said.

The doctors told them to prepare for the worst. Every day had major significance.

“Carmen was getting worse and worse,” her father said. She was so weak that for 35 days her parents could not even so much as touch their daughter in order to avoid infecting her.

“The doctors thought there was no longer anything more they could do for her and after that they let us touch her,” Santos and Carmen said, adding “during this whole process we never lost faith, we clung to our faith and it helped us very much.”

“For us faith is the foundation of our family, and as they say: without faith, there is no hope.”

Little Carmen was born on the feast day of Saint Teresa of Avila, so her parents sought out a monastery or church connected with the saint.

“We saw our answer come to us through prayer. Carmen was still alive—even though she was still very sick—so we were determined to look for a place even harder,” Santos said. “So I searched on Google for some place to pray to Saint Teresa and right away popped up the monastery of Saint Joseph and Saint Teresa in the town of Serra in Valencia Province.”

“I went there one afternoon, but I got there almost at night and I couldn't get in because it was closed. So I told one of the Carmelite sisters on the intercom what was going on with Carmen and she told me they would pray.”

The sister also told Santos that he could come there Sunday for Mass.

“We were going to Mass there, we were praying and we would quickly turn around because we needed to get back to see our daughter since the hospital was 25 miles away.”

After four or five Sundays, the Carmelite sisters became close to the parents of the sick baby. This was how the parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux came fully into their lives.

Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin married in 1858 just three months after they met. They lived in celibacy for nearly a year, but went on to have nine children. Four died in infancy, while the remaining five daughters entered religious life.

The Martins were known for living an exemplary life of holiness of prayer, fasting and charity. The couple frequently visited the elderly and invited poor people to dine with them in their home.

Their daughter, St. Terese of Lisieux, became a Carmelite nun known as the Little Flower. She authored the deeply influential spiritual autobiography “Story of a Soul.” She was canonized in 1925 and named a Doctor of the Church in 1997.

The canonization cause for another of their daughters, Leonia Martin, opened in 2015.

The Martins were beatified in 2008.

“Saint Therese’s parents were beatified on October 19, four days before Carmen was born,” Santos said.

The Carmelite sisters gave little Carmen’s parents some pictures of the Martins, a prayer and a short biography of the married couple.

“The prioress told us that perhaps these blesseds, who had miraculously cured a child, could also help us,” Santos said.

“That very same night we began to pray to them,” he said. Other sisters in other convents also joined in prayer for the suffering baby.

“Beginning the next day there were a series of changes and Carmen's state,” the girl’s father said.

The next day Carmen was transferred to another hospital and she began to recuperate noticeably. She began to breathe without a machine and her infections began to subside. On the third day she left the intensive care unit, though it took several years to know whether she suffered side-effects from the hemorrhage.

Carmen was finally released from the hospital on Jan. 2, 2009 the same day as the birthday of Saint Therese of Lisieux.  

Fifteen days later, the relics of Blessed Louis and Zelie came to Lerida, Spain. The Carmelite sisters encouraged the family to go.

There, they met the postulator for the Martins’ cause for Sainthood and explained their daughter’s healing. The postulator pursued the case, and the investigation for the Martins’ possible canonization began in November 2009.

It was not until March 2015 that investigators approved Carmen's miracle that would raise the Martins to the altars.

The family received the news on March 18 during the popular Fallas de Valencia festival.

“Our whole family was going down San Vicente Street in Valencia right in the middle of the Offering of Flowers to the Virgin of the Defenseless to give her our bouquet. All of a sudden our cell phone went off and, after six years, they gave us the big news.”

“It was a very special and moving moment, it couldn't have been at any other time, just when we were at the feet of the Virgin,” Santos recalled with great emotion.

Baby Carmen’s parents have told her everything about how she was healed, adapted for her age.

“For us it was always a miracle, and even more when we could see she was responding to everything and recuperating,” her parents said. “It's different to experience something like this than when somebody tells you about it. When it happens to you, your faith is reaffirmed.”

Carmen’s parents said they were already strong believers before the miracle, but now they practice their faith more.

The whole family will witness the canonization along with family and friends. They are “a little nervous and anxious” as they await the ceremony. But they also have “a lot of joy.”

This is the first time the Church will canonize a married couple at the same ceremony.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com

The Diocese of Metuchen in New Jersey on Monday May 20, 2009 opened an investigation into an alleged miracle believed to have been worked by Servant of God Mother Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory, the foundress of the Germantown, New York-based Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.

Mother McCrory spent her life caring for the elderly and ailing in long-term care facilities operated by the Carmelite Sisters, who now operate 17 elder-care facilities around the country and one in Ireland. Mother McCrory died in 1984 at the age of 91. "Sometimes you hear about somebody being an imposing figure," said Sister Kevin Patricia Lynch, a Carmelite sister who knew Mother McCrory, told MyCentralJersey.com. "She was very imposing, but very warm."

At a 20-minute ceremony at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Bishop of Metuchen Paul G. Bootkoski formally opened the diocese’s investigation into the alleged miracle, the details of which are not being made public.

However, Mother Mark Louis Randall, superior general of the Carmelite Sisters, told MyCentralJersey.com that the reputed miracle involves a family in the diocese’s general area that prayed to Mother McCrory to intercede with God after their unborn child was diagnosed with a genetic abnormality. When the child was born, the defect was not as severe as expected.

About twenty sisters from Carmelite elder care facilities attended the ceremony, where Bishop Bootkoski and a panel of investigators took oaths promising to put God and the Church first. They also promised to keep the details they learn in the investigation secret until the process is complete.

Lori Albanese, diocesan chancellor and notary of the investigation, said the process might take about four months. Officials will interview family and friends of the child, as well as medical experts. The medical experts will include two people who are independent of the Church and the case.

She explained that the investigative panel’s task is to collect evidence, not to determine whether the case is an actual miracle attributed to Mother McCrory.

Mother McCrory’s home diocese, the Diocese of Albany, has also extensively investigated her life.

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints will decide on whether there was an actual miracle attributable to her. If the miracle is verified, Mother McCrory can be beatified. If a second miracle is then attributed to her, she may be canonized.

Those who believe their prayers for Mother McCrory’s intercession have resulted in a miracle are asked to contact the Carmelite Sisters.

QUEZON CITY—Five individuals have made it to the roster of awardees for this year’s Titus Brandsma Award of the Titus Brandsma Media Center, a Carmelite Media Ministry.

Titus Brandsma Award is a biennial award given to individuals and groups especially to journalists in print and broadcast media who have exemplary lived-out the virtues of Blessed Titus Brandsma, a Carmelite priest, journalist and educator who was martyred in 1942 in Dachau Concentration Camp for writing and defending the truth.

The awarding ceremony is set on November 27, at the Titus Brandsma Media Center in New Manila, Quezon City.

The award giving body has chosen the following individuals for their excellence in various endeavors in different categories:

LEADERSHIP IN SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

Fr. Franz-Josef Eilers, SVD

A renowned speaker in different courses and workshops on social communication, culture and globalization, Fr. Franz-Josef Eilers, SVD is actively promoting communication in the church especially in today’s age of Internet and communication technology.

Fr. Eilers continues to serve as professor of Social Communication and Missiology at the Divine Word School of Theology in Tagaytay City and University of Santo Tomas in Manila. Fr. Eilers has also authored books on Social Communication that animated not only the Church in Asia but all over the globe. Aside from that, he is a Consultor of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at the Vatican in Rome where he also teaches in schools like the Gregorian and Salesian Universities and he is also a professor at the College of Development Communication of the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

Fr. Eilers used to be the Executive Secretary for the Office of the Social Communication (OSC) of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) in Manila.

LEADERSHIP IN JOURNALISM

Yvonne Chua

Yvonne Chua has lived the best of both worlds of the academe and media practice.

A journalism professor of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication where she handles basic to advanced Journalism courses at the undergraduate and Master’s levels, Chua is also the co-founder of Vera Files, an online investigative news agency where she writes, edits and manages the website that discusses in-depth stories.

Her award-winning stories on corruption led to reformation in various government agencies because of her expertise especially in Data Journalism where she uses data culled from different researches and investigations and use them to give a picture of the different issues like the unexplained wealth of government officials, discrepancies in textbook procurement in public schools, lack of accountability and transparency in government institution, among others. Chua was the former managing editor of Malaya, a publication in the Philippines.

Aside from her teaching and media stints, Chua has also edited and co-wrote books on investigative reporting while sharing her expertise as member of the editorial advisory board of Asia Pacific Media Educator, a refereed journal of the School of Journalism and Creative Writing of the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. She is a member of the Technical Committee for Journalism of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and editorial consultant of Tulay publication for 20 years already.

EMERGING LEADERSHIP IN JOURNALISM

Raymund Villanueva

Raymund Villanueva is the Director for Radio of Kodao Productions, Inc., a multimedia radio and production group based here in the Philippines that has won awards and citations from different award-giving bodies. Known for his passion as a journalist and a storyteller, Villanueva has written articles on peace and conflict, disasters, human rights, social justice, among other issues in bulatlat.com and other outlets. His works include the story on the massacre of a Blaan family and photo essay on the Banwaon Children of Balit.

Though he has fearlessly faced the different threats in the profession, Villanueva always tells students and fellow media practitioners that safety is a must in performing one’s duties.

“… In all these, I am happy and still alive. I have every intention to stay this way for some more decades. Because no story, no photograph, no film, no broadcast, is worth dying for,” Villanueva said during one of the workshops he handled.

LEADERSHIP IN COMMUNITY COMMUNICATION

Abner Francisco

A journalist for print and radio, Abner Francisco has been hailed for his works not only as a journalist but also as a community catalyst and facilitator. He is known for uplifting the lives of the people in North Cotabato and Mindanao through his brand of innovative and participatory journalism.

Francisco is noted for his leadership and advocacy for good governance in the province being the convener when the Watchful Advocate for Transparent, Clean and Honest Governance (WATCH) North Cotabato, a media-citizen initiative started.

LEADERSHIP IN CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

Gary Granada

Gary Granada is an award-winning composer for his pop/folk music artistry and known for his songs like Salamat sa Musika, Kahit Konti, Mabuti Pa Sila, Saranggola sa Ulan, among others. A musical genius who produced jingles that became popular songs like Kapag Nananalo/Natatalo ang Ginebra, Iba na ang Pinoy, Alay Mo Buhay Ko, Bangon Na, Mag-impok sa Bangko, Lakbayin Natin ang Pilipinas and Tagumpay Nating Lahat, Granada has also written books used to teach about nationalism, globalization, women’s rights and intellectual property to students in the middle school up to college.

In his book which also includes chords and lyrics of his songs, Granada said that he is first of all a teacher who happens to know about music. He taught at the University of the Philippines College of Development Communication and College Algebra at the UP Los Baños.

Titus Brandsma Awards is a prestigious award-giving body that has recognized different individuals in the mainstream media for their exemplary works like Kara David and Howie Severino of GMA News, Patricia Evangelista of Rappler, Carol Arguillas of Mindanews, to name a few through the Titus Brandsma media ministry of the Order of Carmelites (O.Carm.), an 800-year old religious order in the Catholic Church who is also present in the Philippines.

The Carmelite Priests in the Philippines has chosen Blessed Titus Brandsma to bear the name of their media apostolic ministry. Titus Brandsma has defended press freedom, right to education, even at the cost of his life. He was beatified on November 3, 1985 by Pope John Paul II. (PR)

Recently, from the 26th to the 32st of October, the 4th Congress of the Association of Latin American Carmelites (ALACAR) took place at the retreat house of the Sagrado Corazón de Cantón Ayagualo (La Libertad, El Salvador). This gathering is held every three years. Up to now it has been held in Lima (Peru) in 2006, in Villa Leiva (Colombia) in 2009, and in Sao Paolo (Brazil) in 2012.

On this occasion, there were 130 participants, including friars, both O.Carm. and O.C.D., cloistered nuns, O.C.D., sisters of various congregations of apostolic life, and lay Carmelites from various groups (Third Order, Secular Carmelites, Youth groups, etc.) The main theme of the congress was, “Teresa of Jesus: woman, mystic and prophet: A window of hope for Lain America”. The speakers included, the Prior General, Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., who spoke about prophesy in Carmel today; the Superior General of the Discalced Carmelites, Saverio Cannistrà, O.C.D. who spoke about prophesy in the mysticism of Teresa of Jesus;  Fr. Oswaldo Escobar, O.C.D. provincial of the Central American province, who spoke about Teresa’s conversions, and Bishop Silvio Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua, Nicaragua, who spoke about the relationship between Teresa of Jesus and “Evangelii gaudium”.

On the last day, the participants visited a number of places associated with the life of Bishop Oscar Romero: UCA (The University of Central America), where the group of Jesuits and their co-worker were assassinated, and where they keep the Scapular that Romero was wearing when he died; the Cathedral in the crypt of which the remains of Blessed Oscar Arnulfo Romero are kept; the little hospital where the house that Romero lived in is located, as well as the chapel in which he was assassinated and where the final Mass of this year’s congress was celebrated.

The meeting was organised and coordinated by Fr. Raul Maravi Cabrera, O.Carm., Councillor General for the Americas and Bro.Luis David Pérez, O.C.D., along with Fr. Francisco Javier Mena, O.C.D., Definitor for Latin America. The joint O.Carm.- O.C.D. commission will continue to work in preparation for the next meeting in 2018.

Pope's Prayer Intentions

Universal: Dialogue - That we may be open to personal encounter and dialogue with all, even those whose convictions differ from our own.

Evangelization: Pastors - That pastors of the Church, with profound love for their flocks, may accompany them and enliven their hope.

Lectio Divina November - Noviembre - Novembre 2015

Justice, peace and integrity of creation are constitutive issues in the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Contemplation prepares us individually and communally to stand as prophets in the world.  The General Commission of JPIC has been convened to support us in our prophetic  witness in the midst of creation.

In order to develop a working paper (Instrumentum laboris) for the forthcoming JPIC Carmelite Family Congress in July 2017, the Commission sends  this questionnaire as an initial step in an overall project of the whole Carmelite Family. 

The Commission calls upon everyone to pray, reflect and respond to this questionnaire. Both individuals and communities are encouraged to respond.

If you refer to respond by mail, please send to

The Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission
Curia Generalizia dei Carmelitani
Via Giovanni Lanza, 138
00184 Roma (ITALIA)

Rome, 25th September 2015
Prot.153/2015

Rationale Statement of the Carmelite Commission For Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation

We, the members drawn from the various branches of the Carmelite Family to constitute the Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation of the Carmelite Order, met for our inaugural meeting at the Curia Generalizia, Roma, from 11-15 September 2014.

Our deliberations, sharing and dialogue from our diverse and rich contextual experiences were frank and sincere. We committed ourselves for the duration of this sessennium (2013-2019), to focus on helping Carmelite brothers and sisters in sensitizing, animating and participating in the promotion of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation throughout the Carmelite Family. We drew up our strategic plan which is an instrument for us to help our communities and especially those working in the ministry of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation to deepen their reflection, promote advocacy of pertinent issues and motivate each other to appropriate context-based action.

We recognize that action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world is a constitutive dimension of preaching the Gospel.[1] The whole ministry of Jesus and his return to the Father can be seen as geared towards the building up of the Kingdom of God - through proclamation, attitude and action - which is essentially a reign of justice and truth, holiness and peace, grace, unity and love. Pope Francis has stressed that, ‘Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society’ and that ‘all of us, as Christians, are called to watch over and protect the fragile world in which we live, and all its peoples’[2]

We note that, we, Carmelites from our inception, inspired by Mary in her welcome and contemplative attitude towards the Word, and the Prophet Elijah in his zeal for and living in the presence of the Lord, as people of prayer and community are also people sensitive to the needs of those around us true to our Mendicant roots. In the post-Vatican II era, we recognize that a lot of reflection took place at such fora as the Council of Provinces and General Congregation and General Chapters. One of the most significant development has been an openness to justice and peace issues. For example, the Order has reflected on issues of poverty and our need to identify with the poor: In the Midst of the People[3], A Return to the Sources[4], Called to Account by the Poor[5]. We recognize that our world has become more complex and grave challenges have arisen that threaten the very existence of creation. Some of those challenges include loss of biodiversity, which is currently a thousand times higher than natural extinction rate[6]; energy depletion, which means that we are consuming more than we need and the current possibility for the earth to recover[7]; climate change, which is currently affecting millions of people worldwide through extended droughts in some areas and sea level rise and floods in other areas[8]; and global population growth with a distinctive pattern of unequal affluence, deeply interconnected with the previous issues[9]. We propose that we Carmelites, rooted in our 800 year-old tradition of brotherhood, of intimacy with the Lord God under the contemplative example of Mary and the zealous drive of the Prophet Elijah, renew, rekindle and promote the life-giving values of the Kingdom of God through deeds, advocacy and action.

There are many laudable causes for us to promote but these seem to us to be pressing in the context of our world situation of spiritual apathy, globalization of inequality, injustice, materialist consumerism and growing religious fundamentalism and intolerance. We commit ourselves to promoting, advocating for, and working to change for the better in our localities, the lives of real people in the following areas: human rights from conception to the tomb; community building, understanding and tolerance; promotion of Kingdom values and Carmelite spirituality with special emphasis on right relationship with others and the environment; awareness of environmental change through advocacy and helping communities to respond positively to this.

To help us to have an impression of the work Carmelites are doing in the area of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, we wish to send a questionnaire to all our Provinces, Commissariats and Delegations. The questionnaire is a tool to help us plan for the production of the Carmelite Order’s Handbook on the animation of Justice, Peace and Integrity on Creation. The Carmelite Order has a strong history of meaningful adaptation to changing circumstances so as to be an effective player and contributor to issues. In the face of our contemporary world challenges, may we rise to offer our modest assistance to the world from the Carmelite tradition of respecting all in community, of fostering intimacy with God to be expressed in reaching out in service of the Church and the world. As the 2013 General Chapter Final Statement says: ‘People will be drawn to Christ when they notice our gospel based lives of simplicity, solidarity with the marginalized, celebration of unity in diversity, and the creation of safe environments for the children, teens and adults to whom we minister’[10]. The world needs our faith-based approach to ministry as one avenue of establishing right relationships with God, other human beings and all creation!

-        The Carmelite Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (2013-2019)

[1] Synod of Bishops, Justice in the World, 1971.

[2] Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World, Roma: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, nos. 187,  216.

[3] Third Council of Provinces, In the Midst of the People: Small Religious Commuinities and Basic-Communities, Dublin, 1975, in Kevin Mark, O.Carm., ed. Towards Prophetic Brotherhood: Documents of the Carmelite Ordr 1972-1982, Melbourne: The Carmelite Centre, 1984, pp. 43-55

[4] Fifth Council of Provinces, A Return to the Sources: An Examination of the Biblical Significance of Mary and Elijah, 1979, in Kevin Mark, Ibid., pp. 68-81

[5] Order of Carmelites General Congregation, Called to Account by the Poor, 1980, in K.Mark, Ibid.,pp. 81-96

[6] United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). Cf. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, Montreal (2010). (http://www.iucn.org).

[7] Cf. World Watch Institute, Green Economy Program, (http://www.worldwatch.org/programs/golbal_economy)

[8] Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), Fifth Assessment Report 2013. (http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1).

[9] Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (http://www.fao.org)

[10] ‘A Word of Hope and Salvation (Const. 24)’, in Consilium Generale O.Carm., Global Plan of the General Council 2013-2019, Roma: Edizioni Carmelitane, 20014, pp.8-12, no. 4f.

Justice, peace and integrity of creation are constitutive issues in the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Contemplation prepares us individually and communally to stand as prophets in the world.  The General Commission of JPIC has been convened to support us in our prophetic  witness in the midst of creation.       

In order to develop a working paper (Instrumentum laboris) for the forthcoming JPIC Carmelite Family Congress in July 2017, the Commission sends  this questionnaire as an initial step in an overall project of the whole Carmelite Family. 

The Commission calls upon everyone to pray, reflect and respond to this questionnaire. Both individuals and communities are encouraged to respond.

• please click here if you would like to do it online
  
• Please click here to download form.
  

Rome, 25^th September 2015
Prot.153/2015

RE: Presentation of the Prior General

Dear Brother/Sister,

On May 24, 2015, Feast of Pentecost, Pope Francisco published his encyclical letter Laudato Si, in which the Pope made a solemn appeal to the Church and all humanity to "protect our common home", and invited us all to develop a deep sensitivity to human and integral ecology, based on the values of justice and peace. Early in his encyclical, the Pope makes a brief tour of the magisterium of recent popes on this matter, and shows how this sensitivity has increasingly developed within the Church.

We also, Carmelites, have come a long way in this direction and along the last decades we have published several important documents on this topic. We have organized a number of international conferences and congresses; we have created several NGOs that, both at local and national level, as well as at international level, have developed aid plans, projects, awareness campaigns, etc.; and, perhaps most importantly, we have developed a sensitivity to these values (justice, peace, integrity of creation) that, starting from our charism, could be meaningful, useful and fruitful for the church and the world today. With great humility, but also with a healthy pride, I can say that many brothers and sisters (religious, lay people and the Carmelite family in general) have carried out a serious and generous work in this area.

For several decades now, the International Commission for Justice and Peace has been established in our Order, and some years ago it was renamed "Commission for Justice and Peace and the Integrity of Creation" (JPIC). Well, this commission has prepared a questionnaire that will be useful for us to evaluate the importance of these issues in our Carmelite life (at a personal, community or provincial level). It will also help us keep walking along this direction and respond to the challenge that the Pope has given us all. I ask you to take it and use it when possible. I hope it will be useful for your discernment.

I appreciate this service made by Fr. Mutizamhepo Conrad, O.Carm., and the members of the commission. May it be a good way for us to not relax on this issue and to continue being involved in it as believers, as baptized and as Carmelites. As does the Pope, also we put this mission into the hands of Our Lady and we ask her to caring "with maternal affection and pain for this wounded world" (Laudato si, n. 241).

Fraternally in Carmel,

Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm.

Prior General

Rome, 25^th September 2015
Prot.153/2015

RE: Letter of Invitation to participate in Carmelite JPIC Questionnaire

Dear Brother/ Sister,

The Carmelite General Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC), was constituted by the General Council after the General Chapter of 2013. The members of the Commission are drawn from various regions of the Order and some representatives of the Carmelite Family. It was established ‘to sensitize, animate, participate in the promotion of the Carmelites’ preferential attention to the welfare of little ones of history, and involvement in JPIC issues in particular contexts’ (Global Pan, p.35). In pursuit of this goal, the members of the Commission are planning for an all Carmelite Family JPIC Congress during July 2017.

In preparation for this Congress, the Commission is seeking your interest and participation in the upcoming activities, namely:

1. Inviting all members of the Carmelite Family to participate in a questionnaire survey on what ministries Carmelites are actually involved in;
2. Inviting members to take time and respond to the questionnaire individually or communally;
3. collection of responses and analysis by the JPIC Commission members;
4. Production of a working paper/ document synthesizing responses which will be the basis for the discussions at the Congress;
5. Culminating in an All Carmelite Family JPIC Congress during July 2017
6. Production of a Carmelite JPIC handbook.

The questionnaire can be responded to both electronically on the following email address: Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo. or posted to

The Carmelite Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation

Curia Generalizia Dei Carmelitani;

Via Giovanni Lanza, 138,

00184 Roma, Italia.

We invite Carmelites with access to internet to download the questionnaire and distribute the hard copies to others. We hope you will be as interested in this exercise as we are.

May the fiery prophet Elijah who lived in the presence of the living God and responded to the needs of the people of his time inspire you to do the same in our time. May Mary of Nazareth, the woman of faith and contemplation encourage you to ponder on the mystery of Christ and his relevance in the face of the daunting social and environmental challenges of the twenty-first century.

God bless you and renew you in your pursuit of the Carmelite vocation and charism in its various expressions as friar, sister, nun and lay faithful.

Yours fraternally in Carmel,

Conrad Mutizamhepo, O.Carm

General Councillor and Praeses of Carmelite Commission for JPIC