The Curia Informs - Passio Christi

The Curia Informs
(L-R) Mr. John González (JPIC, USA); Fr. Nando Valsecchi CP (CORM); Fr. Jesús
María Aristín CP; Fr. Ray Sánchez CP (SPIR) and Mr. Franco Nicolò (MLPI)
Development. Additional information about these
topics may be found at: http://www.passionistsinternational.org
Sr. Mary Ann Strain, CP also reported on
her work at the UN that centered on the work being
done in defense of the integrity of women and
young girls.
We also reflected on ways of forming our
religious and communities in order to heighten
awareness of the suffering of various nations and
how to discover Christ in the crucified of today.
(3) The International Commission on
Solidarity. This group met this time in Rome on
4-5 February, 2009. In addition to the usual members,
Frs. Jesús María Aristín, Raymond Sanchez
(SPIR) and Nando Valsecchi (CORM), the following
were also present at this meeting:
Mr. John González, representing the Spanishspeaking
laity; Fr. William Lebba (CORM), representing
the African continent; and Mr. Francesco
Nicolò, representing the Italian laity.
Thus for the first time, members of the laity
actively participated in the Solidarity Commission
in order to study ways of more fully integrating the
laity of the Passionist Family in this work. It is not
easy to reach this goal and we agreed that JPIC is
also a topic this is very appropriate for the laity and
their Christian vocation. Their participation in
Passionist spirituality also requires a process of
formation and coordination so that may be more
active in this area.
The group arrived at the following conclusions:
1) Insist on the need for all Provinces, Vice-
Provinces and Vicariates to designate a religious
who will be responsible for promoting and sustaining
JPIC. A network needs to be developed in
order to plan joint projects and activities that
would involve all our communities and religious.
Each of the members committed himself to gather
information about the projects that are already
underway in our communities and parishes in this
vast field of Justice and Peace. They further considered
preparing a publication for all of our men
and women religious. 2) The need to improve our
web site, www.jpicpassionist.org , in particular so
that it may be a means of gathering information
from all those who are working in the field of JPIC
throughout the world. We will need the support of
everyone to accomplish this. 3) Finally, we agreed
that during the upcoming year all of our communities
will plan four days of prayer and study dedicated
to JPIC. We further agreed
to participate in International
Campaigns proposed by the UN
and throughout the year to be
more conscious of the world in
which we live. We decided on the
following four days: 16 October:
World Food Day; 10 December:
World Day for Human Rights; 30
January: Non-violent Martyrs
Day; 15 May: International Day
of the Family. Further information
on these events may be found
at: www.jpicpassionist.org.
We agreed on the importance
of including JPIC in initial formation
(our postulants, novices and
seminarian-students) and in ongoing
formation through talks,
courses and workshops. During
the next several months several
courses and workshops will take place in Latin
America: Mexico, Argentina, Chile and
Colombia. Again we emphasized that we need to
share the materials and documents that we receive
in light of the possibility of preparing a DVD that
may serve the needs of formation of the religious
and the communities.
Each of the participants reported on the
work that he was doing in this area as well as that
the challenges that were present. We encouraged
each other to continue to work in this challenging
area of promotion and motivation of our communities.
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