Between the 17th and the 21st of September, at Sassone (Ciampino, Rome) the 5th International Congress for Lay Carmelites, organised by the General Commission and the permanent secretariat for Carmelite Laity, took place. Some 200 people attended, from all parts of the world, with a huge majority of lay people and a sprinkling of friars.

The theme of the Congress was “The Formation of Lay Carmelites for the Apostolate”. The participants were helped in their reflections by a number of friars and lay people who are involved in the formation of lay people. In addition to the formal talks, the participants also heard a number of accounts of personal experiences of apostolic work by lay people in the different countries, and in their group work they had an opportunity to reflect upon and to discuss the themes they had heard.
The intention of the Congress was to offer a missionary thrust, to raise awareness of formation for the apostolate and to instil in the hearts of the participants a new enthusiasm, in the hope that the individual, provincial, regional and local communities might act upon the recommendations that the Congress was able to propose.

Lay Carmelites can have a very effective role in the work of new evangelisation and be, not only a quantitative force in the Order, but also a qualitative one, in helping other members to grow through the charism, wherever God has chosen for them to be.