With the theme “Praise be to you, O my Lord, with all your creatures!”, the 8th European Continental Meeting on Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) began on Tuesday, the 7th October at the St. Paul’s friary in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, belonging to the OFM Province of the Holy Cross, whose Provincial Minister, Fr. Zdravko Dadić, offered a welcome greeting to the JPIC animators who came from at least ten European countries and fifteen Entities of the Order of Friars Minor.
Br. Konrad Cholewa, Definitor General, presided at the opening Eucharist celebrated in memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary. During his homily, he stated that “Mary is not only a model of prayer, she is also the mother of justice, peace, and care. She teaches us to have a heart that knows how to unite contemplation and action, mercy and truth, faith and commitment.”
In addition, Br. Konrad read the message sent by Br. Massimo Fusarelli, Minister General, to the friars gathered in the Slavic country. In the letter, Br. Massimo acknowledges the difficult and cloudy times that Europe and the world are experiencing. In view of this, he said, we need “friars who know how to build bridges where others raise walls, who know how to be instruments of peace in a time of division. We are few and often tired, perhaps with little hope for our future, and not only that. It is precisely from this vulnerability that we can start again,” he said.
At the end of his message, the Minister General invited the Friars to let the Canticle of the Creatures resonate in their hearts so that they might return to their fraternities as “bearers of that ‘perfect joy’ that comes from serving the least among us and caring for the Common Home that the Father has entrusted to us”.
Br. Daniel Rodríguez Blanco, Director of the JPIC General Office, presented a summary of both the Final Document of the last European Continental Meeting held in Malta in September 2019 and the Declaration approved by the JPIC International Council, which took place in Assisi, Italy, from the 1st -7th March 2025. Then, Br. Taucen Girsang, Vice-Director of the same General Office, in addition to moderating the day, shared the objectives and programme of the event.
Another special moment was the presentation of the reports from the Franciscan Conferences in Europe. These reports highlighted the difficulties of the decline and aging of the friars and, consequently, of the Entities but at the same time, they presented the projects they are carrying out related to migrants and war refugees, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue as a means of building peace, and various initiatives on integral ecology.
The afternoon was spent visiting some of Sarajevo’s most iconic sites. The Franciscan friary of St. Anthony, the oldest Orthodox church in the country, the Catholic cathedral, and the city’s first mosque highlighted the intercultural and interreligious reality that characterizes the lives of the nation’s citizens.
The tour of the city ended with refreshments offered at the friary of the Provincial Curia.
Read the Message of the Minister General
