On 8 and 9
November 2022 the first meeting of the General Commission for the Pastoral Care
of the Sick and the Social Pastoral Care was held. Since the beginning of the
Cobid-19 pandemic the Commission has not held a single in-person meeting to
continue its pastoral animation service at the General Curia.
In attendance
were Brother Benigno Ramos (Commision President), Brother André SENE
(Secretary), Brother Francis MANNAPARAMPIL (Asia-Pacific Region), Mrs. Susana
QUEIROGA and Mr. Peter WEINHAPPL (Europe Region), Father Théodore SOSSOUE
(Africa Region), Mr. Hector Raúl VALENZUELA BECERRA and Brother Daniel Gonzalez
(Latin America Region), and Brother Tom OSORIO (WEONA Region) who followed the
meeting by Zoom.
The agenda items
were:
1) The pastoral
care activities of the Regions: special attention was paid to the important
pastoral experiences during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic.
2 - Presentation
of the work on the "Decalogue" on the spiritual accompaniment of
people with disabilities.
3 - The pastoral
implications of the encyclical letter Laudato Si', of which chapter nº 5
"GUIDELINES AND ACTION" was presented by Brother Francis
MANNAPARAMPIL.
In addition to
these three fundamental points, the Commission also heard from Professor D.
Juan Francisco García Ambrosio via Zoom, who helped it to read the magisterium
of Pope Francis in relation to certain relevant documents of the Order.