The Carmelite Sisters of Charity Vedruna of the European Province have joined the Laudato Si’ Movement as a Member Organization. In a pleasant dialogue, members of the congregation told what were the motivations for joining the MLS and how their journey around integral ecology began.
Montserrat Fenosa Choclán, coordinator of the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Axis of the Province of Europe, explained that “one of the three priorities of our congregation is integral ecological spirituality, which is why we committed ourselves to a project in the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, and now we are joining the movement as a Member Organization”.
Since the publication of Laudato Si’, in 2015, the Vedruna Province of Europe (PVE) of the sisters works with integral ecology, but little by little they have been growing more and more. Among the activities they develop in the province, they made an improvement in their ways of recycling, even influencing city councils, they started vegetable gardens and they organize waste collection.
“We are a congregation at the service of the brothers to remedy the needs of the people. Our charism and mission has always been to serve the last and the neediest people. We want to give an answer to the problems of the world, with our presence in all continents. We have a Trinitarian spirituality with a foundation that connects very well with integral ecology,” explained Sister Rosanna Rizzi from Rome.
For the sisters, the poorest are a priority and they “are the ones who are being affected when we harm the Earth, because everything is united. There is an interdependence in everything,” said Sister Montse.
Marisa Martinez Fernandez is a laywoman and integrates the Vedruna family since her service in the JPIC team: “The basis of our work is the care of life, we carry a process of awareness and training to care for life in a broad sense,” she said, and then Montse added: “Care is a word and a very dear action for us.
In November 2021 they joined the Laudato Si Action Platform with a project that includes 7 objectives, among them measuring our carbon footprint, water care, recycling, special work with migrants and a monthly eco-spirituality prayer.
“Our mission is to inspire the Vedruna Province of Europe so that this priority is translated into concrete actions and each one can make her small contribution to the Action Platform project in these 7 years,” Sister Rosanna mentioned. “We want something to change in our mentality and in our community, including our lifestyles.”
Marisa encouraged people to take action: “Small grains of sand make a beach. It is not about doing big things, but with small actions every day, changing our way of thinking about caring for life and our planet. The testimony of what others do encourages us to move forward and to unite action with spirituality.”
Praying with Genesis, Sr. Rosanna was challenged: “Creation is a gift from God the Father for all and we are called to care for it and to care for one another. Today some do not take care of it. But we must unite all of us to take care of each other, so that everyone can enjoy our Creation”.
The Vedruna Province of Europe (PVE) of the Carmelite Sisters of Charity Vedruna, with a majority presence in Spain, but also in Italy, Albania and Morocco, has as its main objective to bring to life the desire of the foundress, Joaquina de Vedruna, to “work for the glory of God and the good of the neighbor (…) embracing all the needs of the people”.
With this link, through the Axis of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation of the Province of Europe, the Vedruna Europe Province joins as a member organization, to promote the spirit of Laudato Si’ through concrete actions in favor of our common home, giving an answer to the cry of the Earth and the poorest.
WATCH: A video summary of the dialogue with the Vedrunas
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