5 December Optional Memorial

A native of Mantua, Italy, he was a Carmelite in the Mantuan Congregation and already ordained priest by 1452. For 35 years in the Carmelite church of his city, he was the spiritual director and rector of the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for whom he wrote a rule and a set of statutes.

Humble and gentle, he gave an example to everyone of a life of prayer, of generosity and of faithful service of the Lord. He was outstanding for his love of the Eucharist which was the centre of his apostolic life and for his devotion to Mary. He died in 1495.

Prepare A Way For The Lord
(Matthew 3:1-12)

The magnificent first reading from the prophet Isaiah this weekend looks forward to the appearance of one ‘on whom the spirit of the Lord rests – a spirit of wisdom and insight, counsel and power and knowledge of the fear of the Lord’.
He gives judgement in favour of the poor. His judgement is not influenced by appearances or hearsay. He judges with integrity. His word strikes the ruthless and his sentences bring death to wickedness. In his day extraordinary things happen: ‘the wolf lies with the lamb…’ All creation is at peace. Even natural enemies (symbolised by the animals) live together in peace. No hurt or harm is done because the whole country ‘is filled with the knowledge of the Lord’. John the Baptist sits at the centre of this week’s Gospel and next week’s. He is the ‘one who cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord; make his paths straight’.
John was preparing the people for the coming of Jesus.
Moved by his preaching many sought baptism in the river Jordan. This ancient water-rite symbolised dying to the old way of life and rising to a new way of life.
That’s what repentance is about: turning away from sin and turning towards God. It is about true conversion of heart. It’s about making straight the pathways of our hearts. The fruit of our repentance and true conversion shows itself in good works.
Our preparation for the coming ‘day of the Lord’ is a continual cycle of dying and rising; of turning away from sin and towards God; of remaking our minds and hearts after the mind and heart of Christ. The good works we do give Christ presence, form and shape in the concrete reality of human life. So, Christian life is a constant act of preparation through repentance and good works.
Christmas is not just about the birth of Jesus long ago.
It’s also about giving birth to him in our lives every day.

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• pdf Celebrando en Familia - Segundo Domingo de Adviento (393 KB)
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From the Silence of Belém to the Hope of Santa Marta: Reconfiguring Climate Multilateralism

— Eduardo Agosta Scarel, O. Carm.
Director of the Department of Integral Ecology, Spanish Episcopal Conference

COP30, held in Belém do Pará, Brazil, left behind a bittersweet taste. The Brazilian presidency managed to imbue the final document with a humanist narrative that recognized the rights of indigenous peoples, the vital importance of the Amazon, and the ecological debt derived from historical emissions. However, the summit once again stumbled over the usual obstacle: the consensus rule.

The result was a text that, despite its symbolic gestures, failed on two points essential to integral ecology. In terms of mitigation, the explicit reference to the need to abandon fossil fuels disappeared, replaced by vaguer goals of achieving carbon neutrality by mid-century. In terms of financing, although the scientific urgency of mobilizing $1.3 trillion annually was recognized, the political goal was set at a mere $300 billion, thus institutionalizing a financial gap that perpetuates injustice.

Faced with this deadlock in global diplomacy, where a single oil-producing country can veto the ambition of the entire planet, an alternative has emerged: the Santa Marta Conference in Colombia, convened for April 2026 by a bloc of 80 countries led by Colombia, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Its purpose is clear: to move towards a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and pave the way for a just transition, beyond the obstacles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Santa Marta could become the checkmate to the fossil fuel blockade. As Pope Francis reminds us in Laudate Deum, when global institutions fail, it is up to civil society and intermediate countries to act. If these 80 nations agree to halt new exploration and coordinate their exit from fossil fuels, they will cause a massive contraction in demand. Sooner or later, even the large producers that do not join will see their markets shrink. The financial signal will be irreversible: the future will be renewable, not because of ideology, but for pure economic survival.

The strength of this coalition lies in the fact that it does not need the permission of Saudi Arabia or Russia to move forward. By operating as an alliance of will, it breaks the paralysis of consensus and forges its own path. Furthermore, the leadership of Colombia, a coal and oil-producing country, alongside European powers, gives it a unique ethical legitimacy. It dismantles the idea that climate action is a luxury of the North and presents it as a shared, albeit differentiated, responsibility.

One challenge remains, however: financing courage. For the Santa Marta route to be sustainable and fair, it is not enough to sign the end of fossil fuels. It is essential to put resources on the table and ensure that countries like Colombia do not collapse economically when the tap is turned off.

If Belém was the COP of conscience, recognizing the crisis in the heart of the rainforest, Santa Marta promises to be the conference of coherence. It is an opportunity to demonstrate that, even if global diplomacy progresses slowly, the political will of an organized majority can accelerate history and bring us closer, at last, to the comprehensive ecological conversion that the world needs at this immanent level. The key lies in “reconfiguring multilateralism” so that it is born “from below” (cf. Laudate Deum 37-40).

29 November Optional Memorial

Peter Berthelot was born at Honfleur (Calvados, France) on Dec. 12, 1600, and as a young man went to sea, visiting Spain, England and America. In 1619 he went to India, where, as cosmographer and first pilot of the kings of France and of Portugal, he distinguished himself by his valor and genius. Proof of the latter are his Maritime Tables, sketched with great ability and preserved in the British Museum (Ms. Sloan 197). In 1635, while in Goa, he took counsel with his spiritual director, Father Philip of the Most Trinity, and consequently joined the Discalced Carmelites. He made his profession on Dec. 25, 1636, with the name of Dionysius of the Nativity. He was ordained a priest on Aug. 24, 1638. According to the testimony of the same Father Philip, he was an example of virtue to all the religious, both in the novitiate and after his profession. He was graced with the gift of contemplation; and more than once during prayer he appeared surrounded by heavenly splendors.

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Fr. Desiderio García Martínez, O. Carm., the prior general, has the following schedule planned for the end of November and December 2025:

November 25-28: Meeting of the Union of Superiors General (USG)
November 29: Closing of the Congress on Titus Brandsma
November 30: Online Day of Retreat for Advent for the Youth who participated in the Jubilee Year earlier.
December 3-19: First Plennary Meeting of the General Council | Programming for the Six Year Term
December (TBA): Meeting of the OCD-OCARM General Councils

Joshy Pottackal, O. Carm., of the Province of St. Thomas, Has Been Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Mainz

I am delighted to inform you that this morning, Wednesday, November 26, 2025, the Holy See has informed us that our brother, Fr. Joshy Pottackal, O. Carm., of the Province of St. Thomas in India, has been appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Mainz. This is the first time that a non-European bishop has been appointed in Germany. Fr. Joshy, 48, is a German national. 

The Bishop of Mainz, His Excellency Peter Kohlgraf, has stated that the new Auxiliary Bishop is a simple man with a big heart, hard-working, competent, and with good judgment. The fact that our brother Joshy is the first non-European bishop in Germany not only fills us with pride as Carmelites, but is also an important sign of the unity of the Church in diversity. Bishop Kohlgraft said: “We are called to live unity in diversity, with different paths of faith and cultural backgrounds. In this Church there are no foreigners.” 

"I am not a theorist with a doctorate. My sermons rarely last more than five minutes," Fr. Joshy said at his first press conference.

The official episcopal consecration is scheduled for March 15 in Mainz Cathedral. Bishop Pottackal succeeds the previous auxiliary bishop, SER Udo Markus Bentz, who was appointed Archbishop of Paderborn in 2023.
 
Dear brother Joshy, thank you for your dedication and generosity. We will pray for you in your new mission in the Church and in the world. May Our Lady of Mount Carmel, our Mother and Sister, always accompany you.

Desiderio García Martínez, O. Carm.
Prior General

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Stay Awake!
(Matthew 24:37-44)

The great Advent journey begins. The Advent readings are a rich tapestry of images centered on the truth that God has come among us. We do not pretend that we are waiting for Jesus to be born in a stable. That happened once, a long time ago, and it will not happen again. We remember that birth as we remember our own birthdays.
The God who came among us is still among us. Advent’s invitation is to become aware of the all-pervading presence of the risen Jesus as Emmanuel – God among us.
In the first reading this Sunday Isaiah captures the sense of God’s presence among his people through the images of the high mountain and the Temple – the dwelling place of God among his people. The people’s response in the reading is to be drawn into God’s presence ‘that he may teach us his ways’ and ‘we may walk in his paths’, and be utterly transformed into a new way of living (making swords into ploughshares, etc). In the second reading St Paul reminds the Romans that they are already living in ‘the time’. They should ‘wake up now’ and ‘live decently as people do in the daytime’.
The early Christians believed that Jesus would return very soon as the Lord of Glory. As time passed, they had to re-think this belief and work out how to live in the meantime, the time in between the first and final comings of Christ. That’s our challenge, too.
This week’s Gospel calls us to “Stay awake”, to be vigilant and attentive to the signs of the times so that we do not miss the moment when God breaks into human history once again. The God who came among us is still among us. In Advent we train our eyes to see the reign of God more clearly so that we may be totally caught up in God’s action in the world as we wait for the final manifestation of God’s glory.

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• pdf Celebrando en Familia - Primer Domingo de Adviento (470 KB)
• pdf Celebrando in Casa - Prima Domenica di Avvento (442 KB)
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Carmelite NGO Presents at Socio-Environmental Dialogue for Peace: Adaptation and Just Transition

Ten years after Laudato Si’, the encyclical of Pope Francis that inspired a new environmental ethic and shaped the moral vision that accompanied the Paris Agreement, a renewed call emerges: there can be no lasting peace without harmony with nature.

At COP30 the organization Socio-Environmental Dialogue for Peace offered a meeting space to connect peace, climate adaptation, and a just transition, strengthening trust among communities, companies, and institutions. The objective is to move towards cooperation based on integrity and justice, reconciling people with one another and with the planet.

Carmelite NGO vice president, Eduardo Agosta, was one of the featured speakers. Fr. Eduardo is also director of the Department of Integral Ecology at the Spanish Episcopal Conference and senior advisor to the Laudato Si' Movement.

Other presenters were:

- José Luis Manzano, CEO of Integra Capital, physician and entrepreneur with experience in public policy, emerging markets, and strategic sectors such as energy and critical minerals;
- Ana Cabral-Gardner, co-chairperson and CEO of Sigma Lithium Corp, (Nasdaq:SGML), a global reference in sustainability and best practices in the lithium industry.
- Cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, archbishop of Manaus, who shared his vision from the Amazon on how to connect spirituality, science, and policy in the path towards a just transition.
- Juliano Assunção, professor of Economics at PUC-Rio, who addressed the economic dimension of a just transition and the cost of inaction.

The session was moderated by Emilce Cuda, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and Patricio Lombardi, executive director of the Environmental Markets Fairness Foundation (EMFF).

Jesus told Peter, ‘Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven’ (Mt. 16:19), the same promise being made to the disciples, collectively, in Matthew 18:18.

The power to bind is the basis of the penance imposed on the penitent by the confessor as part of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. The power to loose, on the other hand, has often taken the form of a mitigation, in the sense of replacing a very-demanding penance with another, easier one, which was granted when certain conditions were met, as when the Council of Epaone (517) reduced to two years the duration of the penance that apostates were to undergo on their return to the Church.

For the pilgrims who came to Rome for the first ever Holy Year Jubilee, in 1300, and fulfilled the requirements, Pope Boniface VIII granted the complete removal of the temporal punishment due to sin. Quoting 1 Peter 1:19 on our having been ransomed ‘with the precious blood of Christ,’ Pope Clement VI’s Jubilee decree, Unigenitus Dei (1343), described the ‘copious flood, like a stream’ of Christ’s blood as ‘an unfailing treasure for human beings’ which Christ ‘committed to the care of St. Peter, who holds the keys of heaven, and to his successors, who are to distribute it to the faithful for their salvation’, applying it ‘with compassion, for pious and good reasons, in order that it may benefit those who are truly contrite, and who have confessed’.

Among the 95 Theses that drew up in Wittenburg, in 1517, Luther questioned the Pope’s teaching on indulgences and the spiritual treasure of the Church when he claimed that the ‘treasures of the Church whence the Pope grants indulgences are neither sufficiently named nor known among the people of Christ’ (n. 56) and he also questioned the ‘traffic in pardons [indulgences]’ (n. 73) because of the scandalous claims sometimes made concerning ‘the preaching of pardons [indulgences]’ (n. 81).

In its Decree on Indulgences (1563), the Council of Trent recognised that ‘the power of conferring Indulgences was granted to the Church by Christ,’ and that their use was ‘most salutary to the Christian people, and approved by the authority of the holy Councils.’ Recognising the validity of Luther’s criticism of how indulgences had been preached, however, Trent desired that ‘moderation be observed in accordance with the ancient custom approved in the Church,’ and that ‘all evil traffic’ in indulgences should be abolished.

Describing an indulgence as ‘the remission in the sight of God of the temporal punishment due to sins which have already been blotted out as far as guilt is concerned,’ Pope St. Paul VI presented the ‘treasury of the Church,’ not as ‘akin to a hoard of material wealth’, but as ‘the infinite and inexhaustible value which the expiation and merits of Christ have in the sight of God,’ through which ‘the whole of humanity’ can ‘be freed from sin and arrive at fellowship with the Father.’

Recognising that being reconciled with God through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation ‘does not mean that there are no enduring consequences of sin from which we must be purified,’ Pope John Paul II described these ‘temporal consequences as including ‘an unhealthy attachment to creatures’ and everything that ‘impedes full communion’ with God and with our brothers and sisters.’ Recognising that, in the Church, ‘the holiness of one benefits others in a way far exceeding the harm which the sin of one has inflicted upon others,’ and, as a result, the ‘good works of the saints’ are constantly adding to ‘the treasures of the Church,’ he described the Jubilee indulgence for the Holy Year in 2000 as disclosing ‘the fulness of the Father’s mercy, who offers everyone his love,’ because it expressed the ‘total gift of the mercy of God’ by granting repentant sinners ‘a remission of the temporal punishment due for the sins already forgiven as regards the fault.’

In the title of his bull announcing the 2025 Jubilee Year, Spes non confundit, Pope Francis quotes St. Paul, ‘Hope does not disappoint’ (Rom. 5:5), and he points out that, at one time, the terms ‘mercy’ and ‘indulgence’ were interchangeable, because indulgences were ‘expressions of the fullness of God’s forgiveness, which knows no bounds,’ recognising God’s mercy, fully revealed in Christ, the basis of our hope. Describing those coming to Rome for that holy year as ‘pilgrims of hope,’ he prays that, for everyone, the Jubilee may be ‘a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus,’ who is ‘our hope’ (1 Tim. 1:1).

Patrick Mullins, O.Carm.