A FOCAL (Carmelite Formation in Latin America) ongoing formation event was held in São Paulo, Brazil, from the 27th of June to the 6th of July, 2017. for the Carmelite Family in the American continent. The event was organised by Raúl Maraví, O.Carm., Councilor General, with the help of a team of friars from the Rio de Janeiro province. The participants included people from Argentina, Perú, Bolivia, the U.S.A. and Brazil, all of whom enjoyed the fraternal atmosphere and the inputs by Eduardo Agosta, O.Carm. (Argentina), Bruno Secondin, O.Carm. (Italy) and Benny Phang, O.Carm. (Councilor General for Formation). The course had as its title, "I brought you into the land of Carmel" concentrating on the themes of ecology, challenges to ministry, Carmelite spirituality and morality. As a part of the programme the group made a pilgrimage to the national shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida on the occasion of the third centenary of the finding of the image of Our Lady.
We are grateful to the Provincie of Rio de Janeiro for their great generosity and very warm hospitality throughout this formation course.