San Paolo (Brazil). On 27 June 2023, the BAP Province of São Paulo, Brazil, organized an online event on the “Economics of Francis and Clare” for the reference figures of the Province. On 27 June 2023, the Our Lady Aparecida (BAP) Province of São Paulo organized an online event on the “Economics of Francis and Clare” with the participation of about 80 people, including Community Animators, Directors, Administrative Managers, Pastoral Coordinators and Counselors, Project Coordinators, and Communicators.
The event, whose objective was to respond to the appeals of Pope Francis who insistently asks for the care of the Common Home, was led by Eduardo Brasileiro, member of the Coordination Team Brazilian articulation for the economy of Francesco and Chiara (ABEFC) whose mission is to promote projects of new economies.
The event was conceived and carried out in synergy between the Provincial Sectors of Administration, Youth Ministry, and Communication; by the Provincial Coordinators, Sr. Dorcelina Rampi, Sr. Teresa Cristina P. Domiciano, and Maike Loes, in collaboration with the Brazil Salesian Network (RSB), thanks to which it was possible to extend the meeting to other FMA and SDB Provinces, at the Brazilian level.
The meeting began with a welcome to the participants and with a moment of spirituality, which highlighted the importance of reflecting on the economy, on the common home and on the central nucleus of the encyclical Laudato Si’, “everything is interconnected”. With prayer, the participants were invited to join all of creation, to praise and thank the Lord.
Eduardo Brasileiro then presented the theme through a report entitled “Catholic education and the new humanism of Pope Francis,” which aroused the interest of those who were connected, who felt called to develop actions and projects that help “wake up the economy”.
The intervention was followed by a moment of sharing in groups, recalling the concepts, statistics, and graphs presented; the solicitations and concrete examples of an “economy with a soul”, through which it is possible to “do something, do it together, and implement alternative solutions.”
The participants then shared, emphasizing the most significant aspects that emerged with a look at educational practices, for example, “awakening an overall view; experiences and life starting from the feeling of the other;” “the need to reflect on daily actions at a personal, professional, and mission level.”
One theme highlighted by the various groups was the formation of all the local teams, in order to contribute to giving life to the Economy of Francis and Clare as a “lifestyle”, to be effectively integrated into daily practice.
Other aspects raised by the groups were: “strength of the peripheries,” proximity to Social Works, culture of encounter as a response to individualism, solidarity economy, the valorization of local products, cooperatives, the consolidation of the social conscience, partnerships with social organizations, debates, discussions, research projects, uncontrolled consumerism and the culture of waste, political and economic literacy, the continuity of the processes already started in the various presences.
The participants expressed their gratitude for this opportunity, while we can already glimpse a path to be undertaken as a BAP Province so that the educational mission is increasingly imbued with the “Economy of Francis and Clare.” This was also proposed by the XXIV General Chapter of the FMA Institute: be a ‘presence’ that generates life in contemporaneity. It then becomes urgent to decide in favor of the common home, for a different economy!
Source: Ispettoria BAP
