Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Sao Paulo (Agenzia Fides) – "It is extremely important to pay special attention to the environment in which people find themselves. It is impossible to talk about holistic health and healthy living without taking into account our common home in which we live and with whom we are in relationship," said Father Junior Moreira, MI, Camillian Provincial Councilor for Health and Mission Pastoral Care in Brazil. In this context, he explains that from September 2023 to September 2024, the Camillian religious will join in the call of Pope Francis and experience a privileged time of and care for the planet Earth, which the Order will celebrate as the Laudato Si' year. "This year, in our facilities and in the places where the Camillians are present, numerous initiatives and actions are taking place to raise ecological awareness and care for our common home," the missionary continued. "Conferences on healthy eating and lifestyle habits, information on renewable energy and the need to disseminate it in consumer markets, raising awareness of the need for responsible consumption, promoting practices that protect the air, fauna and flora that make up our habitat, etc. "We have already observed a growing awareness and sensitization among people about the relationship between us humans and the world in which we live", he continues. "A fruitful reflection has developed on the ecological dimension of Camillian spirituality, whose fundamental characteristic is the holistic concern for the human being. Likewise, the cultivation of an ecological spirituality has spread, awareness has grown that caring for the environment is also caring for ourselves and 'to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God' (LS, 8)."
Training courses for individuals and communities on care for the common home were offered in order to raise awareness among Camillian religious, health workers and employees that holistic care of human beings depends on the care of each person's habitat.
"Finally, we have noticed a great participation of people in the experience and promotion of this Laudato Si' Year of the Camillians," concludes Father Moreira, "which is the result of the realization that there are no permanent changes without cultural changes, without a change the way of life and beliefs in society; there are no cultural changes without changes in people".
In 2022 the Camillian Province of Brazil celebrated the 100th anniversary of the presence of Camillian religious in Brazil. A century ago, Fathers Inocente Radrizzani and Eugenio Dalla Giacoma went to Brazil with the charism of mercy towards the sick, facing various challenges to establish the work of Saint Camillus there. In preparation for this great celebration for the Province of Brazil and for the entire Order, a Jubilee Year was experienced, which began on 15 September 2021 in the Parish of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii in São Paulo, the first parish and motherhouse of the Camillians in Brazil, and concluded on September 15, 2022 in the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Sao Paulo. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 6/3/2024)
