Pope Outlines Next Steps for Vatican to be a Solar State in Apostolic Letter “Fratello sole”

On June 21, 2024, Pope Francis continued to outline the Vatican’s plan to become a solar nation issuing the Apostolic Letter “Fratello sole” (Brother Sun). The motu proprio is available on the Vatican website in English, Italian, and Spanish at this time.

In the document of less than 500 words, Pope Francis provides for the construction of an agrivoltaic plant in the extraterritorial zone of Santa Maria in Galeria, where Vatican Radio has maintained antennas for broadcasting since 1957. The site, located approximately 35 kilometers (20 miles) north of the Vatican, consists of 430 hectare (1,063 acres).

Highlighting the need “to make a transition to a sustainable development model that reduces greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, setting the goal of climate neutrality,” In a decree, he says that the solar energy generated by this initiative would be sufficient to fuel not only the Vatican’s radio operations at Santa Maria but the Vatican City State itself.

Agrivoltaics, also known as “dual-use” solar, involves the use of land for both solar energy and agricultural production. For example, crops can be grown, or livestock grazed, or pollinator habitats maintained underneath or adjacent to solar panels.

The pope restates his belief that “mankind has the technological means to deal with this environmental transformation and its pernicious ethical, social, economic and political consequences; and among these, solar energy plays a key role.”

Under Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican installed a solar panel roof on its main audience hall and accepted a donated “climate forest” in Hungary to offset its emissions. The Vatican has begun replacing its car fleet with electric vehicles as part of an overarching plan. In 2023, the Governatorate of the Vatican City State announced “Ecological Conversion 2030.” In harmony with Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si and the Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum, this plan aims to pursue various sustainable, carbon-neutral projects and technologies in the 44-hectare (109-acre) Vatican city state.

Carmelite Sisters of the Aged and Infirm Return to the Foundress’ Hometown in Scotland

Six Carmelite Sisters and Father Mario Esposito, O. Carm., the vice-postulator for the Cause of Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa, traveled to Mossend, Scotland to attend an unveiling of the Venerable's statue. The event was hosted by the Holy Family Parish in Mossend, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, the home parish of Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa.

Although Mother Angeline was born in Northern Ireland in 1893, her family immigrated to Carfin, Scotland when she was seven years old. She became a Little Sister of the Poor, caring for the aged poor. After profession, she was sent to the United States of America and soon began adopting a more American way of serving the elderly of various backgrounds. With the blessing of the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, Mother Angeline and six other sisters withdrew from the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor and on September 3, 1929,  began a new Congregation. Two years later the new Congregation became affiliated with the Carmelite Order and became known as “Carmelite Sisters of the Aged and Infirm.” Her work for the Church was recognized by Pope John XXII when she received the Pro Ecclesiae Award and the Benemerenti Award by Pope Paul VI. Mother Angeline died in January 1984.

Unfortunately, the statue was delayed in customs and the other planned ceremonies went ahead as planned. These included celebrating Mass at the Venerable’s home parish of Holy Family with the local bishop, Joseph Toal as celebrant, a visit the house where Venerable Mother Angeline lived, and to explore the areas— “to walk in the footsteps of their Foundress”— is a quote from the Congregation’s homepage, proclaiming the days in Scotland were “a great grace and gift to the Congregation.”

The celebration of the Mass on June 23 was a gathering of many. Besides Bishop Toal and the sisters from the USA including Mother General Mary Rose Heery, members of the Mother Angeline Society Pilgrims came from Ireland, and relatives of the Venerable.

The sister humorously expressed the hope that “there might just be another opportunity in the future to visit Mossend again and to see that much awaited statue!

Today the sisters have 18 residences in the United States and Ireland. There are 122 professed sisters. The headquarters is in Germantown, New York.

You Tube Interview with the Carmelites who traveled to Ven. Mother Angeline’s hometown (Sancta Familia Media).

Story of Mother Angeline (EWTN).

Fr. Míċeál O'Neill, the prior general, has the following schedule planned for the month of July 2024:

July 1-12: Holidays
July 14-17: Jerez de la Frontera, Spain in the centenary of the crowning of the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
July 20-31: USA, fraternal visitation
July 28-31: Lay Carmelite Symposium in Washington, DC.

Being Healing and Life for Each Other
(Mark 5:21-24, 35-43)

• pdf Celebrating At Home - 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF](3.13 MB)
• default Celebrating At Home - 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub](5.61 MB)
• pdf Celebrando en Familia - XIII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario(552 KB)
• pdf Celebrando in Casa - XIII Domenica del Tempo Ordinario(552 KB)
• pdf Celebrando em família - Décimo Terceiro Domingo do Tempo Comum(564 KB)

1st Councilor  | 1ª Consejera | 1ª Consigliera:
Sor María de la Trinidad Rodríguez Barbosa, O. Carm.

2nd Councilor | 2ª Consejera | 2ª Consigliera:
Sor. María Antonia de Jesús Sacramentado Acevedo Lorenzo, O.Carm.

Treasurer | Ecónoma | Economa
Sor María de la Trinidad Rodríguez Barbosa, O.Carm.

Formator | Formadora | Formatrice
Sor María Damaris de Jesús Sacramentado y del Niño Jesús Acevedo López, O. Carm.

Sacristan | Sacristana | Sacrestana
Sor Ivette deal Carmen Mediaville Maldonado, O. Carm.

Mariological Congress "Mary, Mother and Guide on the Way to Holiness" from June 25 to 28, 2024 in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain

On April 23, 1925, the Canonical Coronation of the blessed image of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel of Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz, Spain took place. The ceremony and subsequent solemn procession remained in the collective memory of Jerez.

The Betica Province and especially the Carmelite community of Jerez de la Frontera, with the commission appointed specifically to organize the commemorative acts of the centenary, together with the Confraternity of Ladies and Knights of Carmel, the Third Order Carmelites and all the groups that make up the basilica, with the approval and absolute collaboration of His Excellency, the Bishop of the Diocese of Asidonia-Jerez, José Rico Pavés and Her Excellency the Mayoress of Jerez, María José García-Pelayo Jurado, believe that such an event not only can not go unnoticed, but has to bring onto the city as many spiritual gifts as Our Blessed Mother provides, the missionary evangelization of all those who want to hear the Word of God, and the revitalization and increase of faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ through the mediation of the Blessed Virgin of Carmel.

From the year 2022 until 2025, the anniversary of the Coronation, events are being held, whose pillars are worship, formation, and charity. With special follow-up, missions have been carried out every year in different outlying parishes of Jerez, the social work is carried out weekly through the "Meals of Mercy," and with regard to training, there have been several conferences and exhibitions.

After the opening in April 2024 of the Jubilee Year, on the occasion of the centenary of the canonical coronation of the Virgen del Carmen, the next event will be the Mariological Congress entitled "Mary, Mother and Guide on the Path of Holiness," which will take place June 25-28 this year.

Monsignor Luis Marin de San Martin, Undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, Fr. Salvador Villota Herrero, O. Carm., Provincial of the Aragon, Castile, and Valencia Carmelite Province, to Gloria Falcao Dodd and Fr. Francisco María Fernández, will travel to Jerez de la Frontera to give different conferences on how we can approach the figure of Mary.

pdf To read or download (in Spanish) the announcement of the Mariological Congress(352 KB)

To learn more about the event you can consult the website: https://congresomarianojerez.es/

The Provincial Chapter of the Italian Province was held in Istituto Madonna del Carmine “Il Carmelo” (Sassone, Rome) from Sunday, 17th June until Saturday, 22nd June 2024.

The theme for this chapter was “Non temere … Alzati” (Mt 1, 20;3,13) which was seen as having three steps: dreaming, discerning, converting (sognare, discernere, convertirsi).  In the preparation for the chapter, the Province chose the figure and witness of St Joseph. During the first two full days of the chapter, various reports were presented from the Prior Provincial, the Commissary Provincial of the DR Congo, the delegate in Columbia and the prior of the community in Romania and the Provincial Bursar. 

On the third day (Wednesday), the gremiales joyfully approved the request to erect the DR Congo as a new province in the Order. They also agreed to take the steps necessary to establish the Carmelite presence in Columbia as a provincial commissariat. This same day, Professor Fabrizio Carletti (Centro Studi Missione Emmaus) gave a presentation to the gremiales regarding how the Province might initiate a pastoral process of discernment in order to create a vision for this age. 

On Thursday, the chapter was joined for the day by other members of the Carmelite Family who represented the nuns, Third Order, affiliated congregations, youth committees and other lay groups working within the area of the Italian Province. There was a strong desire that the communion of the Carmelite Family would be reinforced so that we could journey together in co-responsibility.

On Friday, the gremiales elected the new government for the next three years. They also worked to write a letter to the Carmelite Family outlining the joy of their week together.

The following members were elected to leadership at the meeting:

Prior Provincial | Prior Provincial | Priore Provinciale
Gian Domenico Meloni, O. Carm.

Vice Prior Provincial | Vice Prior Provincial | Vice Priore Provinciale
Giuseppe Midili, O. Carm.

1st Councilor | 1er Consejero | 1^o Consigliere
Giampiero Molinari, O. Carm.

2nd Councilor | 2do Consejero | 2^o Consigliere
Henry Venecia Cerro, O. Carm.

3rd Councilor | 3er Consejero | 3^o Consigliere
Nicola Sozzi, O. Carm.

4th Councilor | 4to Consejero | 4^o Consigliere
Francesco Sciarelli, O. Carm.

pdf Here is the Final Message of the Provincial Chapter of the Italian Province(236 KB)

1st Councilor  | 1ª Consejera | 1ª Consigliera:
Sr. Cristina Conejero Rodríguez, O. Carm.

2nd Councilor | 2ª Consejera | 2ª Consigliera:
Sr. Estela Santos Torres, O.Carm.

Treasurer | Ecónoma | Economa
Sr. Estela Santos Torres, O.Carm.

Formator | Formadora | Formatrice
Sr. Rosario Sivó Medina, O. Carm.

Sacristan | Sacristana | Sacrestana
Sr. Cristina Conejero Rodríguez, O. Carm.

International Communications Commission Meets to Discuss Communications Plan and Study Communications Initiatives

Members of the International Communications Commission met at the General Curia May 27-29, 2024, for their annual in-person meeting. The first day was dedicated to a few items carried over from the previous meeting and a discussion of the various points contained in the report from the director of the Office of Communications.

On Tuesday, Fr. José Maria La Porte, a faculty member of the Pontifical University of Santa Croce’s Department of Communications, gave a presentation during the morning on developing a communications plan. Instead of a plan on paper, La Porte outlined the fundamental values for the plan touching three levels: global, provinces, and local houses. He encouraged members to look at the priorities (ex vocations, the scapular, communicating Carmelite spirituality with teachers, etc) and select one to begin working on a multi-year plan for implementation. The group continued to discuss the ideas presented and work on what steps we should take next.

On Monday, the members reviewed the topics carried over from the previous meeting is a video project on the Carmelite Saints, reusing content that is already prepared. The commentary would be put into the three official languages, preferably using voice over.

There is some interest in sharing resources among the local directors of communications. This would create some synergy among those responsible for communications as well as allow us to produce a true web among things we create. This sharing is already done to some extent with a number of initiatives and pictures from various events or personal collections. But sharing is often is limited because of language.

With the 100th anniversary of the canonization of St. Thérèse of Lisieux in 2025, this would be an opportunity to begin working closer together, not only in social media but also in print. Other major anniversaries of provinces and ministries or projects of the Church such as the Jubilee Year could be identified. Committee member Manuel Freitas agreed to coordinate a project making available articles on the Carmelite charism for distribution every three months.

Richard Byrne updated the member on the liturgical texts approved by the General Council. These are a new Rite of Profession (ad experimentum) in English; a set of alternative readings for the Office of Readings for the Saturday Memoria of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Italian with translations into English and Spanish to follow; Ritual of the Third Order (ad experimentum); the full Mass and breviary texts for the celebration of St. Titus Brandsma as a feast (awaiting approval of the Dicastery); the text of the collect and second reading of the Office of Readings for the (Carmelite) Spanish Martyrs (awaiting approval of the Dicastery). It has been agreed that Edizioni Carmelitane will print the hardcopy of the Carmelite Propers in English.

William J. Harry, the director of the Office of Communications, had distributed a written report to the members and proceeded to highlight a number of the points.

During several weeks since April, a part-time person helped prepare books for shipping and assisted in organizing the storage shelves according to the collections. In June the staffing returned to two employees with the Office of Communications coordinating both social media for the Order and the Edizioni Carmelitane publications house.

Reports were given on Edizioni publications that have been printed or are in some phase of preparation. There have been 11 publications since the commission’s meeting in May 2023 and 14 new publications are in process. A selection of the newer books are being offered as e-books.

The new website has simplified ordering books for the customers as well as providing a wealth of information about our sales and marketing strategies. This will continue to be developed, especially information provided to customers about the content of the books.

The director reported that the number of people receiving the CITOC messages is 3, 491 (a decrease of 26) while the monthly Lectio divina is sent to 18,832 (an increase of 1,500) with a number of provinces and parishes reposting the information. Requests for prayer has spiked in the last couple of months with the office receiving 17-25 a day with a lot of new people making the requests. These are forwarded to some of the enclosed monasteries for their generous attention.

The members then reviewed the revised norms for Edizioni Carmelitane having been approved by the General Council.

Those in the ministry of communications in the provinces will be invited to a meeting in Rome which will include the 3 day biennial conference at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce, the 3 day Jubilee of the World of Communications, and a one day meeting of Carmelite communicators. Information will be sent out to those who have been identified by their provincials or commissaries.

The members will meet again via Zoom on July 2, 2024. The next in-person meeting will be at the General Curia in Rome on January 29-31, 2025.

INITIUM NOVITIATUS
12-05-24  Fátima Azarias Mutevule (BAR) Barcelona, España

ORDINATIO DIACONALIS
07-06-24  Fabianus Gatin Belang (Indo)
07-06-24  Adelbertus Zakharias Kasman (Indo)
07-06-24  Gustavianus Mailino Tevi (Indo)
07-06-24  Alexander Raymond Dhena (Indo)
07-06-24  Heronimus Muga Wio (Indo)
07-06-24  Arnoldus Reban (Indo)
07-06-24  Bonefasius Afandi (Indo)
07-06-24  Wilibrodus Ironius Sebho (Indo)

ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS
08-05-24  Dominik Norbert Smeja (BM) Olomouc, Czech Republic
25-05-24  Jonathan Steele (SEL-Trin) Lower Santa Cruz, Trinidad
06-06-24  Flor Vincent V. Taoc (Phil) Agusan del Sur, Philippines
06-06-24  Vincent V. Sumanting (Phil) Agusan del Sur, Philippines