From the 25th of February to the 1st of March, some seventy Carmelites from the different sectors and groups that make up the Venezuelan Carmel met in the in the Convento San José in Mérida (Venezuela). The theme of the meeting was "La experiencia de Dios en tiempos difíciles... el sufrimiento como fábrica de santidad" (The Experiencie of God in Difficult Times- suffering as a workshop of holiness”, The meeting was directed by Fr. Javier Villegas, O.Carm., of the Titus Brandsma General Delegation in Colombia. In the sessions the participants looked, through Carmelite eyes, at all that is happening at the moment in Venezuela. To get this meeting off the ground took a lot of work and effort as there were many difficulties to be overcome.

The participants included friars from the two missions that exist in Venezuela, from the Bética and the Catalonian provinces; Carmelite sisters from the two congregations that have houses in Venezuela - Carmelite Sisters of Mother Candelaria, (HCMC) and Carmelite Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,(HCSCJ); Carmelite nuns and a broad representation of various groups of lay Carmelites.

At the end, the participants sent a message to the Carmelite Family in which they encourage everyone “to live in allegiance of Jesus Christ in the midst of every difficulty, (...) living out our spirituality authentically in the midst of the people, so in need of prophets of hope.”

The office of CITOC joins in this beautiful challenge, with prayer and fraternal affection.