Transfiguration
(Luke 9:28-36)

• pdf Celebrating At Home - 2nd Sunday in Lent [PDF](3.13 MB)
• default Celebrating At Home - 2nd Sunday in Lent [ePub](4.87 MB)
• pdf Celebrando en Familia - Segundo Domingo del Tiempo de Cuaresma(336 KB)
• pdf Celebrando in Casa - II Domenica di Quaresima(334 KB)
• pdf Celebrando em família - Segundo Domingo Da Quaresma(337 KB)

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)
• default Celebrating At Home - 1st Sunday in Lent [ePub](2.41 MB)
• pdf Celebrando en Familia - Primer Domingo del Tiempo de Cuaresma(315 KB)
• pdf Celebrando in Casa - I Domenica di Quaresima(469 KB)
• pdf Celebrando em família - Primeiro Domingo Da Quaresma(286 KB)

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)
• default Lectio Divina March, 2025 [ePub](191 KB)
• default Lectio Divina March, 2025 [Mobi](783 KB)
  

Sound Tree, Good Fruit
(Luke 6:39-45)

• pdf Celebrating At Home -8th Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF](3.76 MB)
• default Celebrating At Home - 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub](2.79 MB)
• pdf Celebrando en Familia - VIII Domingo del Tiempo ordinario(490 KB)
• pdf Celebrando in Casa - VIII Domenica del Tempo ordinario(499 KB)
• pdf Celebrando em família - Oitavo Domingo Do Tempo Comum(498 KB)

Generous Relationships
(Luke 6:27-38)

• pdf Celebrating At Home - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF](3.55 MB)
• default Celebrating At Home - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub](2.60 MB)
• pdf Celebrando en Familia - VII Domingo del Tiempo ordinario(479 KB)
• pdf Celebrando in Casa - VII Domenica del Tempo ordinario(489 KB)
• pdf Celebrando em família - Sétimo Domingo Do Tempo Comum(487 KB)

The members of the Indonesian Province of the Carmelite Order held their elective chapter on February 10-15, 2025.

In 1923, the territory of the Diocese of Malang was entrusted to the Dutch Province o the Carmelite Order. On July 6, the first members of the Province arrived in Malang. After 15 years, their number had grown to 25 and the first Indonesian Carmelite had been ordained priest. On March 19, 1960, the foundation was established as a General Commissariat. Seven years later, this was raised to a province.

In 1965 the first foundation was made outside the Diocese of Malang on the island of Sumatra in the Diocese of Medan. Four years later, the province establshed a foundation in the Diocese of Endehena on Flores Island. In 1973, the Diocese of Jakarta was founded.

As of 2023, the Province has a Commissariat in Sumatra and the East. It also has a mission in China. There is the beginnings of a foundation in Hong Kong.

In 2023 the Province has 405 members in 64 houses. Thirteen members live in other provinces. The homepage for the province is: www.karmelindonesia.org

Three major decisions were taken by this Chapter. The commitment to the new East Indonesia Province was formalized. Support will be in the form of finance, formation, and guidance. For three years the Indonesian Province will financially support the new entity based on the number of solemnly professes members. 

Due to the change in the culture and situation of the province, the formation manual will be revised based on psychology, sociology, and technology. The present situation of the Church and Order will also be taken into consideration. 

The third major decision is a commitment to play bigger role in the Order due to the situation faced by our Order, especially with the European provinces which there are few vocations. This is building on the support that the Indonesian Province is already giving to many parts of the Order through personnel. 

The following members were elected to leadership at the meeting:

Provincial | Provincial | Provinciale
FX Hariawan Adji, O. Carm.

Vice Provincial | Vice Provincial | Vice Provinciale
Ignasius Budiono, O. Carm.

1st Councilor | 1er Consejero | 1^o Consigliere
Ignatius Loyola Joko Purnomo, O. Carm.

2nd Councilor | 2do Consejero | 2^o Consigliere
Fransiskus de Sales Borta Parlindungan R, O. Carm.

3rd Councilor | 3do Consejero | 3^o Consigliere
Stanislaus Lirmanjayasastra, O. Carm.

4th Councilor | 4do Consejero | 4^o Consigliere
Alexander Dimas Pele Alu, O. Carm.