Message to Claretian communities on the situation in the East of our country

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings of peace from Kinshasa, DR Congo. We want to share with you what is happening in the east of our country. Surely you have heard that the armed conflict in the provinces of Ituri, Sud Kivu and Nord Kivu has worsened. The M23 movement, which carries out massacres and other war crimes in the area, is receiving more and more military equipment and, as the team of UN experts working in the region proved in their reports, is supported by the Rwandan army. The interests of foreign powers not only concern the strategic minerals in the subsoil of these provinces, but also territorial expansion and occupation.

In this context, we are particularly concerned by the fact that the European Union has signed an agreement with the Rwandan government on the value chain of strategic minerals essential for the development of so-called clean energies and for the production of cutting-edge technological devices, including our smartphones. These minerals, such as coltan, do not exist in the Rwandan subsoil, but in the provinces of Nord and Sud Kivu, systematically occupied and destabilized through practices such as collective rape as a weapon of war and other ways of instilling terror and generating the forced displacement of the people who inhabit this land.

We believe it is important that together we seek truth and justice as the only weapons to fight for a genuine and sustainable peace. The Congolese people are already living a situation of war, of extreme aggression, and this makes them bearers of the mission of the Servant of the Lord. Jesus is alive in the heart of this people: not to make them resign themselves to oppression, but to liberate them as a teacher of nonviolence and Lord of History. For this reason, we invite you to join us in prayer for the Congolese people and to ask the Spirit to inspire us to find ways to make our solidarity ever more effective.

An embrace in the Heart of Mary.

Secretariat of JPIC of the Claretian Missionaries in DRC

Contact. Email: francotorres2@gmail.com Wsp: +243 975 535 711

SEASON OF CREATION 2024

"To Hope and Act with Creation".

Welcome to this year's Season of Creation.

Each year, from 1 September to 4 October, the Christian family unites in this global celebration of prayer and action to respond together to the cry of Creation: the ecumenical family around the world comes together to listen and care for our common home, God's Oikos.

It is a special season where we celebrate God as Creator and acknowledge Creation as the ongoing divine act that calls us as co-workers to love and care for the gift of all creation. As followers of Christ from around the world, we share a common call to care for Creation. Our well-being is interwoven with the well-being of the Earth.

We rejoice in this opportunity to safeguard our common home and all beings who share it. Amid the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, many are beginning to despair and suffer eco-anxiety. As people of faith, we are called to lift up the hope that inspires our faith, the hope of resurrection. This is not a hope without action, but a hope embodied in concrete actions of prayer and preaching, service and solidarity.

This season, we are also joining our Christian voices through a joint advocacy initiative in support of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty that calls for a halt to new fossil fuel projects.

Join this common effort of the Christian family through the three actions proposed for this season of creation:

            On September 1, the Feast of Creation, for which we offer a prayer that you can use in both religious and lay communities.

            On September 21, we will have a day of action for advocacy: It will be a day of action to support the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT). The 79th Session of the UN General Assembly will take place from 10-24 September and it is in this context that Christians, as a global family, will raise our voices and show how faith communities can be powerful agents of justice and hope around the world.

            On October 4, we will celebrate St Francis of Assisi: this day is his feast day and the last day of the Season of Creation. People of faith from all over the world will gather in an online prayer service prepared by the Ecumenical Youth Committee of the Season of Creation to celebrate together our month-long journey.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 2024

On August 9, the International Day of Indigenous Peoples is commemorated, which seeks to promote inclusion, equality and respect towards these communities. Today there are more than 476 million indigenous people in approximately 90 countries around the world, who represents only 5% of the world's population, and the majority are in a highly vulnerable situation.

On this occasion, the prayer has been prepared by the JPIC team of Lay Claretians for the entire Claretian family. Let us make this day a moment of prayer and reflection for our communities. Fraternal greetings.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 2024

On August 9, the International Day of Indigenous Peoples is commemorated, which seeks to promote inclusion, equality and respect towards these communities. Today there are more than 476 million indigenous people in approximately 90 countries around the world, who represents only 5% of the world's population, and the majority are in a highly vulnerable situation.

On this occasion, the prayer has been prepared by the JPIC team of Lay Claretians for the entire Claretian family. Let us make this day a moment of prayer and reflection for our communities. Fraternal greetings.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 2024

On August 9, the International Day of Indigenous Peoples is commemorated, which seeks to promote inclusion, equality and respect towards these communities. Today there are more than 476 million indigenous people in approximately 90 countries around the world, who represents only 5% of the world's population, and the majority are in a highly vulnerable situation.

On this occasion, the prayer has been prepared by the JPIC team of Lay Claretians for the entire Claretian family. Let us make this day a moment of prayer and reflection for our communities. Fraternal greetings.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 2024

On August 9, the International Day of Indigenous Peoples is commemorated, which seeks to promote inclusion, equality and respect towards these communities. Today there are more than 476 million indigenous people in approximately 90 countries around the world, who represents only 5% of the world's population, and the majority are in a highly vulnerable situation.

On this occasion, the prayer has been prepared by the JPIC team of Lay Claretians for the entire Claretian family. Let us make this day a moment of prayer and reflection for our communities. Fraternal greetings.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 2024

On August 9, the International Day of Indigenous Peoples is commemorated, which seeks to promote inclusion, equality and respect towards these communities. Today there are more than 476 million indigenous people in approximately 90 countries around the world, who represents only 5% of the world's population, and the majority are in a highly vulnerable situation.

On this occasion, the prayer has been prepared by the JPIC team of Lay Claretians for the entire Claretian family. Let us make this day a moment of prayer and reflection for our communities. Fraternal greetings.

International Mother Earth Day

On 22 April we remember International Mother Earth Day. She is our home, and we have a special relationship with her as a mother. This is not just an intellectual concept, but an emotional and relational concept. It is also a concept that has its roots in indigenous cultures that help us to promote harmony with the rest of creation.

We offer below the materials prepared by the JPIC team of Cordimarian Filiation (Filiación Cordimariana), that as you know they are consecrated ladies living in the world. The design and publication was done by our Claretian brother Vincent Ojwang, one of our Cyber Missionaries. We are so grateful to all of them!

Happy Mother Earth Day!

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF WATER

22 March 2024, One of the effects of the triple environmental crisis is the scarcity of water for human consumption and for the sustainability of the environment. That is aggravated by the over-use that some human activities such as mining and agriculture make of it.

There are already many communities that are being affected by this problem, and many species that disappear or are forced to move in search of this precious good with all the consequences that this entails.

This is undoubtedly an important day to pray for the most vulnerable brothers and sisters and nature, and above all for a fair distribution of water. We also make ourselves more aware of a problem that affects us all and in which we can all do something.

As a Claretian family, we want to share this file in which you will find materials to pray as well as information about the origin of this international day and the problem of water. We thank the Lay Claretian who have lovingly prepared this theme for the entire Claretian family.

As usual, you can find the file translated into 5 Languages.

International Day of Women 2024

On March 8, 2024, we will celebrate the International Women's Day. A very special day for the Claretian family and for all humanity. We are all called to contribute to gender equality.

This time the prayer-reflection has been prepared by the Missionary Sisters of St. Anthony Mary Claret (MSAMC) for the whole Claretian family. We thank them for their efforts.

As in the past, we offer you the document in five languages, which you will find below.

Happy International Women's Day!