As the lockdown in Italy is now lifted, the two Generalate teams of the CJ and IBVM could finally meet together again on 22 June. We discussed the usual topics such as the House of Prayer, the design of the booklet for Mary Ward Week 2021 and the Mary Ward Summer School, planned for 2021, which is now postponed until 2022.
A special highlight of this meeting was the participation of Sr Adina Balan CJ (third from left, back row) and Sr Pauline Macharia IBVM (first from right, front row). Since the beginning of this year, they have been our joint JPIC (Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation) coordinators for the two branches and are fully committed to raising JPIC awareness and the need to work for JPIC. Their first initiative was to invite all those from both branches who were interested, to a webinar to celebrate the fifth anniversary of “Laudato Si’”. The webinar took place on different days in both English and Spanish and was very well attended in both languages, with over 100 members at each of the two webinars. They have also made personal contact, via online meetings, with almost all the JPIC Animators in the Provinces and Regions of both branches and begun to explore the framework for the collaboration with the two sisters at the UN in New York: Janet Palafox IBVM and Cynthia Matthew CJ. On behalf of both teams, Jane and Noelle thanked both of them very much for the excellent start to their mission and wished them all the best for the future. As usual, the meeting ended with dinner together.
