Meeting of the International Council of JPIC
February 25th, 2010 | 
Author: 
Tarata-Cochabamba (Bolivia) February 21-27, 2010 Pictures available here
The meeting of the International Council of JPIC of the Order of Friars Minor began February 21, 2010, and will continue until Feb. 27. The meeting is being held in the Retreat House that our brothers in Bolivia have in Tarata-Cochabamba. Participating are the brothers of the Office of JPIC of the General Curia, a representative of every one of the 13 Conferences of the Order, and the members of the Animation Committee. The General Animator for Evangelization will give a talk titled “How to Promote JPIC Values in Evangelization, in Light of the Final Document and the Mandates of the General Chapter of 2009.” The General Secretary of Formation and Studies will present a talk titled “How the Ratio Formationis Franciscanae Can Incorporate JPIC Values in Initial and Ongoing Formation.” Also invited to the meeting are the provincial JPIC Animator, the provincial Secretary of Formation, and the provincial Secretary for Mission and Evangelization from the Missionary Province of San Antonio in Bolivia.
The meeting will consider the decisions of the General Chapter of 2009 which refer to JPIC, found in Mandates 43 and 44, in order to reflect together on how to implement these decisions in our entities and fraternities.
Mandate 43:
In the next six-year period (2009-2015) all the Entities of the Order, with the help of the JPIC Office, should commit themselves to:
• Promote in Initial and Ongoing Formation the values of our Franciscan spirituality highlighted in JPIC.
• Examine the impact of our style of life on creation, especially regarding climate change, and promote environmental justice in order to highlight the relationship between social and ecological themes (cf. the specific projects for Africa, the Amazon and Indonesia).
• Promote active non-violence in our lives, with particular emphasis on the resolution of conflicts.
• Pay special attention to the excluded of our society, according to the reality of each Entity, with a particular commitment to the defense and promotion of human rights.
• Consider and promote the ethical use of economic and natural
• resources in the life of the friars, in their ministry and in society.
Mandate 44:
The General Chapter requests continuation of the JPIC course at the PUA, and recommends that similar courses be given in all Fran¬ciscan Institutes of Higher Learning.
