Rome (Italy). On 16 March 2023, the online meeting of the Provincial Youth Ministry Coordinators of the Middle East-Europe Interprovincial Conference (CIME) took place.
The objective of the meeting, coordinated by Sr. Runita Borja, General Councilor of the Youth Ministry Sector and by Sr. Chanda Nsofwa, collaborator of the Sector, was to share the progress of the Provinces in relation to the Resolution of General Chapter XXIV on the conversion to integral ecology.
The meeting was preceded by the viewing of the docu-film “The Letter”, dedicated to Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ and produced by the Laudato si’ Movement in collaboration with the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development. The film tells the story of four ‘voices’ of leaders on the front line in defense of the environment and human rights, each of which demonstrates one of the fundamental aspects of integral ecology.
The sharing between the Coordinators showed the diversity in the way of approaching the reflection on integral ecology, highlighting the steps that each Province is taking with great awareness along this path. Some have found a way to deepen the theme by organizing moments of reflection on Laudato Si’. At the same time, there has also been a common tendency to rely only on ecological operations such as waste separation or other, which requires further study of integral ecology on a holistic level, as expressed in the Acts of the same Chapter XXIV, which invites us to assume it as a dimension of life and of the educational mission according to Laudato Si’.
The strategy of networking to involve young people and make them protagonists has been recognized as an opportunity, which however requires offering them good formation on the issues. In this regard, the online course organized by the Laudato Sì Movement, in which everyone can enroll, has been proposed as a good formative resource for young people, FMA, and lay people.
Concluding the meeting, Sr. Runita shared a small video produced by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of the Vietnamese Province of Mary Help of Christians (VTN) on how, at the provincial level, they try to make the Chapter Resolution concrete, focusing on the objective Laudato Si’ n ° 5: Ecological education.
