2008

Greetings to you all, dear brothers and sisters of ourPassionist Family!

This is the first issue of "Passionist Solidarity andMission." This bulletin follows on previous newsletters andbulletins and seeks to be a unifying instrument providing infor-mation on everything regarding the creation of this brand newSecretariat for Passionist Solidarity and Mission.

Our last General Chapter (2006) proposed the creation ofa new Secretariat for Solidarity, Mission and JPIC. Thevarious tasks assigned to it are many and very "demanding":.Hence we shall attempt to educate ourselves and those who colla-

borate with us in mission work, especially regarding how we shouldthink and act in the light of solidarity..For the above-mentioned reason, this Secretariat has been asked tocommunicate with all the Congregation, promoting the exchange ofinformation and dialogue, employing to this end what modern tech-nology we have on hand..We shall try to provide material for programs and ongoing JPIC for-mation (Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation,) and thus promotean efficacious dialogue throughout the Congregation regardingthose initiatives we are engaged in..This Secretariat will not only encourage a "culture of solidarity," inconcrete terms it will also undertake activities designed to promoteJPIC in the name of the Congregation..To this end we shall assist and animate those men and women reli-gious working in different parts of the Congregation to do likewise,whether individually or working in groups..And all this without forgetting our missionaries in carrying out theirrespective projects…

This said, we are well aware that the expectations of thisnew "creation of the Spirit" are indeed great, though also verystimulating. Needless to say, your loyal collaboration is vital.

Giuliano Bonelli, c.p.

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Editorial

he new InternationalCommission for Solidarity

met for the first time, in this ournew phase, the 8th October2007.

We met on Monte Argentario,thus seeking a return to our ori-gins and to drink at the fount ofour spirituality. The mission andtask of the Commission is to edu-cate and sensitize our Passionistmen and women religious onmatters of Justice, Peace and theEcology. JPIC (Justice, Peaceand Integrity of Creation) is see-king to become a re-foundation ofour charism and a new manner ofliving our spirituality.

The Commission membersare: Fr. Jesús María Aristín,Secretary for Solidarity andMission and the person responsi-ble for the Commission; Fr. JoséRamón Sánchez, the English lan-guage representative, and Fr.Andrea Brollo, the Italian langua-ge representative.

We drew up a work plan for thenext couple of years:

¨ Create a WORK AND COMMU-NICATIONS NETWORK with allour communities.

¨ Create a JPIC website which canbe a place of encounter where wecan exchange experiences andreflections and have fraternalcommunications.

¨ Empower and develop ourPassionist International NGO.

¨ Share and publish JPIC material.¨ Offer courses, workshops and/or

conferences on JPIC.¨ Assist our missionaries...

InternationalCommission forSolidarity

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e frequently receive lettersfrom our missionaries

requesting help.One way of assisting is to ship

a container loaded with human aid,oozing life and goodwill. This caninclude tools, machinery, shoesand clothing, books, school mate-rial, medicines, wheel chairs, com-puters, and any number of otherthings. It's a wonderful experienceto load-up a container: one almostbreathes an ambience of comrade-ship and close friendship.

Each container involves anexpanded movement of solidarity:gathering stuff together, storageand the selection of things to send.Then there's the red tape, loadingthe container, paying for the ship-ping... And then at the country ofdestination there's getting the con-

tainer out of Customs, transportingit home and unloading it. Finallythere's the job of distributing it all toneedy families.

The northern Italy Passionists(CORM) this past year sent out 12containers to Africa, and thosefrom the north of Spain (CORI andFAM) dispatched 8 to LatinAmerica. This adds up to manytons of assistance and thousandsof families who have benefited.

And all this thanks to the gene-rous effort of so many and themany donations, whether in moneyor in kind, which arrive at our door.In the name of all these families, athousand thanks for your help!

Sendingcontainers

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e're growing as aCongregation in Mozam-

bique. There are now 4 BrazilianPassionists and 1 Congoleseworking there. Local vocationsseem to sprout out of nowhere:there are already 2 Philosophystudents and 7 in preparatorystudies. We're now engaged inthe construction of a Passionistseminary and are facing manydifficulties in this as so much ishighly expensive and difficult toobtain. We're located in the farnorth of the country, near theTanzanian border.

The pastoral challengesfacing our men are enormous, ina diocese covering the whole ofCapo Delgado province wherethere are still large missions withno missionary presence. Thepeople are by and large poor, yetfull of hope. Sociological stati-stics are rather frightening, butboth the authorities and civilsociety as a whole, together with

international donors are doing allthey can to alleviate the sufferingof the people.

Our missionaries as well asthe seminarians are busily enga-ged in a variety of activities, towit: parish work, ministry amonglepers and people infected withAids, giving retreats and forma-tion courses, the university, thelocal radio station, youth mini-stry, the diocesan commissionfor Justice and Peace and thediocesan commission forEcumenism, among otherthings.

Luiz Fernando Lisboa, c.p.

Missionariesin

Mozambique

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Every year there are volunteers, young and not so young, men,women, professionals of every kind, who opt to devote part of theirtime as well as their funds to serve others in the missions, andsome come to our Passionist missions and assist our religiousthere.

Volunteer work is something one does, it involves action and isnot limited to pious sentiments; even more, it is a style of life, a wayof being and a special manner of viewing the world. Volunteer workpresupposes a commitment in solidarity to improve life for a givencommunity.

Together we can to change the world! We're waiting for you.

Lay volunteers

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e Passionists have our ownNGO on a world level,

known as Passionists Interna-tional. It aims at being a voice forthe voiceless and seeks to defendhuman rights, justice and peace.We have our representative at theUNO, Fr. Kevin Dance.

We members of PassionistInternational, Fr. Jesús MaríaAristín, Sister Bernadette Hughes,Fr. Kevin Dance, Bishop WilliamKenny, Fr. Jefferies Foale, Mr. TimO'Brien and Sister Joanne Fahey,met in New York from 3rd to 5thDecember last, at our ImmaculateConception community. We gathertogether twice a year or more oftenif necessary, and we do our best tokeep in constant touch with oneanother.

The principal job we set oursel-ves for this last meeting was todraw up a plan of action for theensuing 5 years. We establishedthe principal criteria for action:

¨ Begin with the lowest echelons,going from bottom up, and thenreturn once again to the bottom.

¨ Solidarity is a new way of living ourcharism and carrying out our mis-sion.

¨ We should try not to stay at thelevel of words only: we must beinvolved in action.

¨ We should co-involve those whoare already engaged in the work.

¨ We must develop an awarenessamong our men and women reli-gious of the themes of Justice,Peace and the Ecology, and enterinto a process of continuing edu-cation.

We renewed the Board of Directorsand shared in the work being carriedout by our representative at theUNO, K. Dance. And this is the roadwe're on, as we seek to be ever moresensitive to the needs of our brothersand sisters.

InTernaTIonal

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he General Chapter of theCongregation which was

held in Brazil in September 2000,recommended to work in favourof Justice, Peace and the Integrityof Creation (GPIC) and alsoregistered the Congregation befo-re the UNO as an NGO. This isthe origin of the Association.

The care of the sector whichregards the GPIC was entrustedto Father Jefferies Foale, whowas General Consulter at thattime, and to a Commission ofSolidarity. In September 2001,Father Ottaviano D'Egidio,Superior General of theCongregation, together with theGeneral Council, appointedFather Kevin Dance representati-ve of the Congregation beforethe UN in New York.

"Passionist International"(P.I.) is fundamentally aCorporation, the objective ofwhich is to promote, at internatio-nal level, the thought, the spirit ofthe Passionist Family.

The "Passionist Family" is for-med by several religiousCongregations of men andwomen and by lay Organizationsaccording to the Catholic Romantradition. "Passion for Life" whichcharacterized the spirit andvision of Saint Paul of the Crossis the unifying force of the

Passionist Family. Showing thatthe love of God embraces all peo-ples, especially the victims ofpoverty and injustice, theOrganization is called to promotehope, reconciliation and justice forall.

This organization was set up topromote, in a far reaching way, thework of the Passionist Familyespecially before the UnitedNations. And therefore, it is anassociation which does not have alucrative purpose.

P.I. commits itself and workswith many sectors related to thelife of solidarity towards humanity,towards creation and in somefields with promoting the dignityand harmony among all peoples:reconciliation and justice. The pro-motion of women; the help for thedevelopment of indigenous peo-ples. Continually, it works in orderto try to overcome the poverty andunderdevelopment. It renders ser-vice to persons affected by AIDSand HIV; the safeguarding of natu-re, education, health care, spiritualgrowth.

All these are the fields of workin which P.I. works, but there couldbe others also if the need arises.Passionist International can befound in all continents and in 54nations.

Brief History of the Passionist JPIC

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n the past years, in theItalian Province, the pano-

rama of vocations has changedin a noticeable way, and hasassumed an international andintercultural character: This is achallenge which, besidesdemanding the preparation ofFormators, also prepares us fora broader vision of theCongregation and of solidaritywithin it.

It calls us to an open sense ofbelonging to or to the attainingof the missionary spirit and toseeking for new ways of com-munication and of reciprocalinteraction. The 17 students of

the PITS represent the four con-tinents: Europe (9), Africa (3),Asia (3), Latin America (2).

Something similar takes placewith the University studentswho are also 16 and the majori-ty are also from countries fromthe South: 3 from Latin America,6 from Asia and the remaining(7) from Italy. All this speaks tous about solidarity and theintercultural character.

Passionist InterprovincialPassionist InterprovincialTheological ScholasticateTheological Scholasticate

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live in Bethany. Probably,this house was built, accor-

ding to that which was the houseof Martha, Mary and Lazarus, theintimate friends of Jesus, andwhere Jesus stayed every timethat he went to Jerusalem. It isfound at the foot of the Mountainof Olives. We are a small commu-nity of three Passionists; a Polish,an Italian and myself. To be here,constantly reminds us of thefriendship, the welcoming andacceptance, the daily things ofJesus of Nazareth.

In Bethany, which the Arabscall "All'Azariya" (the house ofLazarus), a cement wall is beingbuilt, which is nine meters highand is electrified. This wall cros-ses our garden and has dividedthe city into two parts. In spite ofthe fact that there are still appro-ximately 150 meters missing toclose completely the whole peri-meter of this part, and for thisreason, the soldiers keep guardday and night among the olivetrees of our house; they have pla-ced wire netting or a mesh netand lights to avoid anybody frompassing across. We ourselves can-not go out to the garden at nightout of fear not to be recognized.

Nobody speaks about thiswall, but its insistent and provo-king presence is nourishingmutual hatred and misunderstan-dings, only kept silent by the mili-tary force which only make moredifficult a quick solution of theconflict. To see this the first timestrikes one profoundly, andmakes one remember the walls,physical or mental, which havebeen put up in other parts of theworld, with great effort.

For this reason, if we are ableto do something so that personscan learn to look at one anotheras persons, it will already be verymuch; in this way one begins tothrow down that immense wall.And this is our task in Bethany.Is it not that which we have learntfrom Jesus when he called thesick and sinners by name, andwhere others saw a repellentleper, he saw a person who wasprofoundly afflicted and in greatneed? At present I am learningto speak Arabic in order to makemyself understood by them.Later, I will try also to learnHebrew.

Missionaries of BethanyMissionaries of Bethany

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Probably we cannot destroythis cement wall; probably thestrategies will show us that it isconvenient to avoid worse evils;evidently, the walls of the prisonwill continue to be necessary, butit will be good to learn every day,out of dignity toward one's ownbeing, that every person, all per-sons are worthy to be seen, liste-ned to, respected and loved,even if they have not knownhow to respect and to love. It isonly in this way that wounds arehealed and walls are throwndown.

This is what Jesus Christ tea-ches us from the Cross: "Father,forgive them, they do not knowwhat they do".With my affection from Bethany,

Roberto Martínez, c.p.

We are supporting thefollowing projects:¨Seminary of Pemba in

Mozambique.¨Adoption of 18 children in

Indonesia.¨Inauguration of the new

Doctor's Office "Irma Dulce"in Jequié (Bahia-Brazil) (3-1-2008)

¨Adoption of children in India,Mozambique and Congo.Soon we will send them thesame allowance as the otheryears.

¨Construction of a school inRandham (India).

¨Project for the young inArgentina.

¨Support to the families of

Kenya.

Some Projects

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You can send a checK to followIng address:

P. Jesús Mª Aristín.Passionist Solidarity and Mission OfficePiazza Santi Giovanni e Paolo, 1300184 Roma. ITALYTelephone: (39) 06 77271238E-mail: cpmissioni@passiochristi.org

BanK transfer to:

Bank: ISTITUTO PER LE OPERE DI RELI-GIONEAddress of the Bank: CITTÁ DEL VATICANOCount Number: 27700.012 (in Euros)Count Number: 27700.018 (in dollars)Bank code: (Swift): IOPRVAVXYour contribution is tax deductible.

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1st Name: ...................................................................................Surname: ...................................................................................Address: ....................................................................................City: ........................................... Postal code: ..........................Telephone: .................................................................................E-mail: .......................................................................................I want to collaborate with: .........................................................

Our missionaries working in Kenya have lived dramaticdays because of the political, well known, events resulting fromthe presidential elections. Father Filippo Astori, c.p., RegionalVicar, writs to us the following: "Today, we received in our house

twenty children with their mothers, because their houses were

burnt and they have lost everything. The fathers remained in the

villages. For tomorrow we expect to receive others. Fortunately,

we have vegetables, milk and meat". We are with them and we accompany them with our pra-

yer, and also with our solidarity and economic help. We areapproximately 2,200 missionaries working in the whole world.

Last News

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