On Sunday, March 19, 2023, the Provincial Delegate of the OCDS, Father Alex Collera OCD, presided over the Eucharistic celebration of the canonical erection of the Community of St. Joseph and St. John of the Cross in the Carmelite Chapel of Upper Camaman-an (Oro City), with the participation of a large assembly.
The Blessed Marie Eugene OCDS community, born 6 years ago at Boars Hill, Oxford, England, when the St Elijah community of the same place had grown too large and five members had felt ready and inspired to leave to form a new community, was officially Canonically established on 4 March 2023. The ceremony was celebrated by Fr Matthew Blake OCD Provincial Delegate to the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order and concelebrated by several Friars from the Boars Hill community and attended by our National President Annette Goulden, our Regional representative Cyprian Blamires, and remotely online. Joyful celebrations and lunch followed this very special event with a walk to the Priory’s gate to symbolise a new path for our community. Our bags are packed!
And two weeks later, on Laetere Sunday, Rt. Rev. Philip Egan Bishop of Portsmouth, came to visit our leader’s parish of the St John the Evangelist in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, and was surprised to be presented with a copy of the certificate with his own name on it and signed on 25 December 2022 by our Superior General, Fr. Miguel Marquez, OCD and Fr Ramiro Casale, OCD, General Delegate of the OCDS.
Destination Aleppo
After the days spent in Iraq celebrating the 400th anniversary of the presence of the Carmelites in the lands of Abraham (February 17-24), with lively celebrations full of communion with the Christians of Iraq, with the Carmel family, with friars and laity from France, Egypt, Lebanon and Italy, together with the Latin Archbishop of Baghdad, Msgr. Sleiman, a Discalced Carmelite… All this journey through the Middle East I made with the faithful company of Christophe-Marie, the French Definitor.
We flew to Beirut, Lebanon, the mythical land of the cedars, about whose beauty and glory the Bible sings. Here, Carmel has a living and rich presence: several communities of friars, two of Discalced Carmelite nuns, communities of Secular Carmel, schools, houses of formation, intense commitment to the National Caritas, etc. A land harshly tested by a brutal economic crisis with harsh consequences, a lot of immigration from the war in Syria and other countries. We took advantage of this coincidence of our passage towards Syria, to accompany the brothers of the Semi-Province of Lebanon, who were meeting in plenary assembly to discuss the task and challenges of formation, as part of the preparation of the Provincial Chapter.
We arrived on the evening of February 24 in Hazmieh, Beirut, and celebrated with the friars and the faithful the Way of the Cross, with beautiful hymns. The next day we went further north to Tripoli, to the community of Mijdlaya. After lunch, our journey to Syria began. Raimundo, the Provincial, took us. He a very experienced person in this adventure of crossing over into Syria.
It took us an hour or so to reach the border and about an hour to get past the three or four Lebanese and Syrian checkpoints. Finally, thanks to the efforts and good work of Raimundo, we entered Syrian territory. Military and police controls were constant. It was now 2.45 p.m.
There was still another hour’s journey to where we met Sister Anne, the prioress of the Carmelite nuns in Aleppo, who had come to pick us up with Levan, the driver. Our meeting point was in Homs, about 40 km from the border.
Levan recounted his adventures over these past days. Since the earthquake, he with his wife and two children had slept in the very car we are in. For three weeks now, the car had been their Refuge at night.
Many people have not returned to their homes. The Marists have given lodging to around 800 people, the Salesians to about a thousand, many stay in their cars. They enter their homes during the day, at night they are afraid. There have been repeat earthquakes on a smaller scale.
As we entered Syria, it was like a landscape that is difficult to define. Endless miles of war-torn cities. Like soulless skeletons. We saw in some cities or towns people in the countryside sitting talking, children playing. Quite often some small flocks of sheep. The sun goes down at approximately 6.30.
We arrived at the Carmelite nuns’ monastery at 8.30 p.m. We were welcomed by two refugee women and a young girl who helped put away the fruit and boxes we had brought. They welcomed us. We were told that our presence illuminates Aleppo (a typical Arab greeting).
We chatted animatedly with the Sisters. Much joy in meeting us. They shared with us some their impressions of this time; on the day of the first earthquake: at 4 a.m., everyone rushed out onto the street as they were, in their pyjamas, barefoot. It was raining, it was very cold. Those who were able took shelter in their cars. They were very afraid to return home.
The nuns immediately began to receive people and families who asked to be welcomed there. There are now about 50 people living in the monastery compound.
The nuns told us that in the choir, in a second earthquake, the statue of the Virgin began to move forward and also the vase with flowers. They were paralysed. Sister Hilda related that before the earthquake, their dog entered her room very agitated and, climbing onto the bed, began pawing her, as if wanting to say something. With an effort she cast him out of bed and kept sleeping. The dog stood beside the bed groaning. Only a few minutes after this reaction of the dog the earthquake began… Dogs and their sixth sense.
It is now 8.00 p.m. and the Sisters had prepared a very rich dinner in which there was no shortage of ingredients from the country and typical sweets. There was a burning fireplace in the living room and two nicely arranged bedrooms. Contrast all this beautiful welcome with the desolation outside, of which we had seen only a very small part.
Then we met volunteers from St. Vincent de Paul, who came to bring food. Although we had already had dinner, they insisted that we also receive our ration, a kind of potato omelette that they assured us was very rich. We accepted at all times what they offered us.
We greeted some of the families here who had a couple of children. Then we were to discover that there are quite a few families with many more children. A married couple asked us to please take them to Spain or Italy or wherever. Here they have nothing. They greeted us with a big smile, thanking us for our presence. They asked us for prayers.
The day ended with gratitude for having been able to get here, and to be able to bring a little closeness and comfort.
It is rather cold. There is no heating. The bed was a collection of blankets and some duvet. There was no hot water in our room, only when the sun rises. We were told later there had been another small earthquake at about 5.30. Let’s go to prayer with the sisters. It is 6 o’clock in the morning and you can hear the muezzin singing softly in the distance. The chapel is cosy and has some heating. A very sober and beautiful chapel that invites silence. Designed by Sister Hilda, an architect.
There was a special joy to be here with them and with these families. Even if it were only for two days. The feeling of being in the appropriate place, making the whole Order present, comforting and letting us enter into the silence of their intimate prayer with the suffering Jesus and a tent open to the world.
We met one of the families: Mirna, Hana, Satina, George. Satina is doing maths, third year. She has only one year more to finish. She is very thin. She asks us, almost in tears, if we can help her get out of Syria: “there is no future here.” We have no words, no answer. Just prayer. Most would like to get out of here, out of this horror. But who will rebuild Syria, who will fight from within to raise the ruins and encourage a hope that can only be born of the people of Syria themselves? How to rebuild so much destruction?
We talked to more refugees: Mina, Nayla, Ghada, Daud. Mina works at Caritas and goes to work every day. We talked to her mother and aunt. Mariam is perhaps the smallest of the refugees, and she never leaves our side, with her old lady’s bag. She is from a Muslim family. Michel and Mary, with their son Gad, welcomed us on arrival; they also ask us if we can do anything to help them leave the country.
We met children who had made a tree their private refuge, surrounding it with a kind of wall, with an entrance door. Climbing the tree was also an adventure, to which some of us signed up, to the delight of the children.
At 4.00 p.m., we visited the Apostolic Vicariate of the Latins of Aleppo. The Vicar, Raimundo Girgis, a Franciscan, welcomed us at the door. Raimundo is a specialist in canon law for the Eastern Churches. We chatted animatedly. A priest of the Argentine Incarnate Word, Hugo Fabián Alániz, joined the conversation. We talked: fear has taken hold of the people. In the first earthquake, they received 130 people here and 170 in the second tremor. In the Franciscans next door, they have received 4000.
Raimundo celebrates Mass on Sundays in the Carmelites. It tells us not to lose hope. He strongly recommends that people do not leave the country, working together to lift up the situation. War continues to mark the life of this country. Military service takes a large part of the youth. That means a mandatory eight years in the military. From the age of 18.
Raimundo recommended that we greet the Nuncio, Cardinal Mario Zenari, who lives in Damascus. I talked to him on the phone and he really appreciated the call.
We expressed our closeness to our sisters in their guestbook, declaring the feelings of all Carmel, nuns, friars and seculars with them: (original in French)
“It was a dream to come to Aleppo to visit you and to be able to share with you the joy of our vocation. I thank God for these two days here in your home open to all refugees. You are, in your weakness, a parable from the Carmelite Gospel, a humble testimony of how God is a home and abode for those who are afraid and in desolation. May God be for each of you a source, home, food, hope and love forever. I am proud of your offering and your presence here. Continue to give life with enthusiasm and simplicity. You have been for me a gift of hope and faith that Carmel will be reborn according to the heart of God. In deep communion, every day in the Eucharist. God bless you.”
Our last day in Aleppo dawns. A few minutes after 5 o’clock in the morning, from the mosque the muezzin is heard again. It sounds like a sustained lament, which is very pleasant. The electricity is back right now.
We would not have wanted to leave Aleppo without visiting the city. The most devastated areas. The Carmelite convent is very solidly built and has suffered little damage. But we have been told about other desolate parts of the city.
Brother George Seba, a Marist, promised to take us walking in Aleppo. And I can say that the impression of this walk will never be erased. For three and a half hours through the streets of Aleppo with eyes wide open and soul overwhelmed. First we walked through the gardens full of tents, vans and trucks converted into street houses, long lines of people collecting bread or food, many people in the streets and sitting in the parks.
We moved towards the part of the city most damaged by the war and also by the earthquake. The destruction from the war is endless. Buildings and houses riddled with bullets and demolished. We had to ask George to clarify what was caused by the war and what by the earthquake.
In the midst of so many crumbling buildings, we see children playing, people in the markets, men drinking tea in the street, veiled women coming and going, a child on his bike with his little brother, some having a drink on a terrace next to the Citadel of Aleppo, the feeling of a life that wakes up from the rubble and starts walking without fleeing.
We also visited a typical store with mountains of Aleppo soap. A shop with all the charm of the Middle East. George prepared a package with some soaps for us. During these days we experienced welcome, kindness, smiles, they lit our fireplace, they gave us soap, every day the refugee women prepared us some typical dish. With the Carmelites we did not give much thought to the tragedy, although we did ask how they lived through it and how their families were. But above all, with them, we prayed, visited the monastery, and laughed telling anecdotes that soothed and brought that air of Carmel that comforts and helps to stand up again and again. We celebrated the Eucharist with them for two days. It is overwhelming at the moment of consecration to see them prostrate themselves to the ground in adoration. A life surrendered in a yes without conditions. Fragile and defenceless women, who have been here for so many years as a silent and welcoming presence. Brave and simple, without fanfare. They have been collecting in the convent the bullets that fall, and they have made a rosary with all of them. They also show us a box full of more projectiles. The missile that fell in the orchard, unexploded, became very famous. From the terrace you can see some minarets of the headless mosques.
We have experienced with our sisters a fraternal familiarity and the Teresian air of brothers and sisters who turn around and sustain each other. These are the names of the sisters who live and offer their lives here in Aleppo, so that you may pray for them and with them:
Marie-Thérèse KHACHO, Syrian
Mariam QREIT, Syrian
Anne-Françoise MAURIN, French
Anne BONNET, French
Hilda GHAZZI, Syrian
Mary ROUFAIL, Syrian
Laetitia PEYRARD, French
Marie-Elisabeth KHORANI, Iraqi
I felt in prayer, while we shared the silence, that in these two days my faith has become stronger, that their persevering prayer has given me strength, that it is they who have visited us and confirmed us in the need to take a step forward, in the midst of so many wars and earthquakes, the need to build a Carmel that says yes, with the audacity of these women. Where there is a community of Discalced Carmelites detached from themselves, joyful, who defy fear and do not seek to be safe, welcoming in their prayer and devotion the wounded history of so many; as long as there is only one monastery like the one in Aleppo, I am very proud to be a Carmelite and the son of Teresa.
Take care of each of my sisters, protect them, give them the inner warmth of that confidence with which you would clothe your sons and daughters more from the elements. In the unity of this great family of refugees and with all the battered people of Syria, do not allow us to forget all that we have seen and heard, what has been given to us with hope by the same people who walk among ruins and who long for a land in peace and happiness.
While still on our way back to Lebanon, we visited another important, and equally devastated, city, HOMS, halfway to the border. Tony Homsy sj, a young superior, received us in the Jesuit house of Homs, where the Jesuit Frans Van Der Lokht was murdered in 2014. Originally from Holland, he had been in Syria for forty years. Very committed. We prayed at his grave; a silence overwhelmed by the lives of those who give themselves to the end. We remembered all Christians who have died in Syria, Iraq and the Middle East, or have been forced to emigrate far away, because of their faith. We prayed for all those who had lost their lives in this war and in this earthquake. May God receive them into his peace, into the most beautiful house we could imagine.
Teresa of Jesus said that we are stones for those who are to come… May God make each of us a stone that builds, rebuilds and sets up lives for all. More powerful than all wars and earthquakes, is the power of prayer, the strength of communion and hope that springs up in the risen smile of those who no longer have anything to lose and their only wealth is in giving. They, an incarnation of the Risen One, make us believe, against all hope, in the Promised Land already here.
Miguel Márquez Calle, OCD
Rome, 25th of March, 2023
Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
It has been 400 years since the Discalced Carmelites first arrived in these lands of Iraq. It was in Basra, southern Iraq, not far from the Persian Gulf. Though today the Mission is under the responsibility of the Paris Province, the founder was Portuguese: Father Basil of St. Francis. The first Mass was celebrated on July 9, 1623. We, the Carmelite family, the friars, the Secular Order members, the Carmelite Sisters of St. Joseph, consecrated women, those devoted to wearing the scapular and the friends of Carmel celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving on Sunday the 19th of February 2023. It was presided our confrere Monsignor Jean Sleiman, Archbishop of Baghdad of the Latins.
We went on pilgrimage to the sources of our faith by going to Ur of the Chaldees, where we visited a ziggurat and Abraham’s house.
We continued our journey by going to Baghdad to share together about the witness of Carmel in all these years. We also inaugurated a bust in honour of the first Iraqi Carmelite, Father Anastasius-Mary of Saint Elijah (1866-1947), a great scholar of the Arabic language, literature and philosophy.
In Aleppo, after the recent earthquake on February the 6th, all the nuns were safe and sound. Fortunately their monastery was well built and did not suffer any structural damage. Eight nuns live in the monastery.
Their house has always been open, even in the worst moments of the war. It welcomed everyone, both Muslims and Christians, and until a year and a half ago it sheltered a family with ten children who had lost everything during the war.
After the earthquake, the sisters welcomed 10 families into their monastery, so that now about fifty people live with them. Their prayer has been translated into concrete material help for those who suffer most, even if they too are in great difficulty: their monastery has not suffered serious damage, but like the rest of the population, the earthquake has left them without electricity and water, with temperatures below zero due to the harsh winter in the Aleppo region.
Made out to: Casa Generalizia dell’Ordine dei Padri Carmelitani Scalzi
Address: Corso d’Italia 38 – 00198 Roma, Italy
Bank: FINECO BANK
Address: Piazza Durante 11 – 20131 Milano, Italy
(For transfers, please, in the following currencies)
IBAN: IT52S 03015 03200 00000 3646278
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Bank Cheques: Please endorse, MONALSY – TERREMOTO
Father Norberto Pozzi, 71, comes from the Ligurian Province. In 1980, he left for the Central African Republic, where he worked as a bricklayer-surveyor for 8 years in the Bozoum mission. After returning to Italy he became a Carmelite priest and in 1995 he returned to the Central African capital, Bangui, as a missionary, working with great strength and courage in the villages of the savannah.
On February 10, while he was on his way to the village of Bokpayan, 22 km from the Bozoum mission, he was injured in the explosion of a mine while traveling with five companions. As his car passed, the mine exploded exactly on the side where Father Norberto was driving. He was the most seriously injured: both of his legs were fractured, but the explosion caused more damage to the left one. A motorcycle transported him to Bozoum Hospital where he underwent surgery to clean the wound and remove shrapnel. He was taken by helicopter to Bangui (Central Africa), then by a military flight to Kampala (Uganda), where he had to endure the amputation of his left foot. On February 21, he was sent urgently to Italy in the hope of stopping the necrosis developing in of his left leg.
Father Norberto, with his great desire to live and help others, wants to resume his mission and, if possible, return among his people in Central Africa.
We entrust him to your prayers.
The Discalced Carmelites of Tripoli and the Monastery of St. Francis, the Pro Terra Sancta Association, the Religion and Security Council, the Life and Reconciliation Association, the Adyan Foundation, the Network of Religious Leaders of Tripoli and Northern Lebanon organized an interreligious meeting on the premises of the Saint Elijah School of the Carmelites. The title of the meeting was: «Interreligious dialogue and initiative of human brotherhood. Learning it and putting it into practice». The meeting was inspired by the document «Human Fraternity for Peace in the World and Living Together» signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the meeting between St. Francis of Assisi and Sultan Al-Malik Al-Kamil.
The meeting included testimonies from lay and religious leaders and meant to promote education for interreligious dialogue and peace, as well as sensitizing the younger generations to the principles and teachings of the document on «Human Fraternity».
In her speech, the director of the school, Mrs. Rita Salama Faisal, stressed the importance of this meeting and its impact on young people, highlighting that the Carmelites’ St. Elijah school is a good example of coexistence and openness to others. She also called for the renewal of such an initiative.
About two years ago, a group of lay people from different cultures wondered about the possibility of founding a community of Secular Carmel at Stella Maris, on Mount Carmel, and began to organize themselves and inquire about the procedure to be followed for its foundation.
After a period of discernment, the admission ceremony of the candidates took place on January the 28th, in our Stella Maris church. They received the Bible, the Constitutions of Secular Carmel and received the scapular as a sign of the protection of the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and their formal entry into the period of formation. Over the next two years, they will study the spirituality and mission of the laity in Carmel and the Church.
Let us ask the Holy Spirit to guide these people whom He has called and to help them persevere so that they may find in the OCDS what their hearts so desire, namely, union with God and service to the Church.
From the 31st of January to the 2nd of February, more than thirty Formators met to discuss the revision of the Ratio Institutionis. They addressed issues related to the different phases of training and the elements to be reviewed in the Ratio. The first day was dedicated to dialogue and sharing of training experiences over the last three years (the COVID-19 pandemic having prevented meetings). Fr. Luca Balugani, psychologist, was invited this year. He dealt with the topic of affectivity and sexuality in consecrated life.
On the last day, a time of fraternal recreation, the participants visited the Grottaferrata Abbey and the Carmelite monastery of Monte Compatri, where the body of Father John of Jesus-Mary, OCD, is buried. The Eucharist was celebrated there precisely on the day in which the Church celebrates consecrated life. Our Father General, Father Miguel Marquez, was with us that day. After the Eucharistic celebration, the participants were given a conference presenting the Venerable John of Jesus-Mary: a promoter of the beatification of Saint Teresa of Avila, third Superior General of the Order (1611), a prolific author, Master of Novices and promoter of the missions in the Order. His incorrupt body is in the church of the Monte Compatri monastery. The presentation on the Venerable John was entrusted to his biographer, the OCDS Provincial President of Central Italy, Mrs. Laura Isotton, as well as Fr. Basilio Visca, OCD, author of several publications on John of Jesus-Mary.
From the 21st to the 30th of January 2023, the first joint meeting of the Conferences of OCD Superiors of French- and English-speaking Africa and Madagascar was held in Yaoundé. These conferences are an important element in the life of our Order in Africa, and take on different forms such as common formation before solemn profession. For the first time our two Conferences, representing 17 African countries, came together. We were able to discuss common projects, such as the organization of a Carmelite Congress for the whole of Africa in 2025, or collaboration in formation with student exchanges.
Father General, Fr. Miguel Marquez Calle, was present with us during the last three days. We were also able to meet the Carmelite nuns of Etoudi-Yaoundé and members of the Cameroon Secular Order, as well as celebrate the 25th anniversary of our monastery in Nkolbisson, on the outskirts of Yaoundé.
From the 6th to the 16th of February, we had the joy of having Fr General ─ Fr. Miguel in our midst, as well as the Definitor for the Middle East, Father Christophe-Marie.
On February the 12th, we opened the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the birth of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. Fr. Makoul, our Delegate, presided over the celebration, while Fr. General gave a brief homily highlighting the doctrine of St. Therese. The love that all Egyptians have for Saint Therese is a love of reciprocity. The basilica is a spiritual light for all Egypt. We, as Carmelites, are called to give a good welcome to the people, especially in the sacrament of confession and spiritual direction. The presence of the centre of the Order in our midst was a sign of communion and unity.
We give thanks for this visit, which urges us to give an answer to the question: What kind of Discalced Carmelites do we want to be in Egypt today?
On Sunday, January 15, he was born to heaven at the age of 90. Born in Gioia del Colle, Puglia, on September 2nd, 1932, Serafino Melchiorre, attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. He was professed in Carmel on 3rd of June 1954 and was a conventual in the community of the parish of Santa Teresa in Rome since 1955. A Friar artist, pupil of Filippo De Pisis, his art led him to participate in national and international exhibitions. Author of significant works such as bronze doors for churches, as many as 21 in the world, including those of Santa Teresa in Rome and Stella Maris and the parish in Haifa, Israel.
The funeral was held on Wednesday the 18th, in the church of Santa Teresa, in the presence of members of his family, Carmelite friars of the various Roman communities and a large assembly.
Let us pray for him and for his Province.
The Carmelite family in the Central African Republic is growing. On Friday, January 6, three young confreres (Br. Aimé, Br. Alfred and Br. Wilfrid) made their solemn profession in the hands of the Provincial, Father Saverio. The ceremony was very impressive, especially when the parents of our three young people, with the gestures of local traditions, offered their son to God. After the solemn vows, the three friars were welcomed by the Carmelite family with a fraternal embrace The following day, Saturday, there was another celebration: our three professed were ordained deacons, while Brother Régis was ordained a priest..
On Monday the 9th, we met in Bouar for a day of reflection and exchange, with all the professed fathers and young friars of the Delegation. We came from all the houses: Bozoum, Baoro, Bangui and Bouar.
Insecurity is on the rise in the country. In the previous days, there had been rebel attacks along the road between Bouar and Bozoum. On Tuesday the 10th, when we arrived in Bozoum for the preparations of the Agricultural Fair, we saw the pupils of the elementary school fleeing from the school: armed men had passed near Bozoum. Unfortunately there is a lot of fear, almost a psychosis, throughout the country.
“Give us Peace in Ukraine, Lord”.
Tomorrow, February 24, marks one year since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. A year of absurdity, horror, insanity and the arbitrariness of war.
It does not take many words to embellish with more rage and more astonishment, more indignation and more tears of impotence, the incomprehensible and perverse dynamics of the war. That of Ukraine and of all wars. At the beginning, just after the war broke out, I invited the whole Order to PRAY UNITED, WITH ALL OUR HEARTS and with all our strength.
Today I write these lines to you from Iraq, from the land of Genesis, from that creation of God, where he saw that ALL WAS GOOD… From the land of Abraham, our ‘Father in faith’, who believed against all hope that God’s promise would be fulfilled….
Today, I beseech the whole Order, the whole Carmel, to pray ‘for invincible hope’, to believe that peace is coming and that our supplication will accompany our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. May the horror of war not anesthetize our ardent prayer, and let us pray feeling that the bombs are falling on our own families, our children, brothers and friends… let us pray without covering our eyes and ears… and let us do it in peace, unarmed of revenge, with the sword of faith ‘against all hope’….
I invite you to sit with Mary, as in that Cenacle of Pentecost, when they were still afraid, and the doors were closed. I invite you to light a lamp as the Family of Carmel, to place ourselves before the Lord in adoration or rosary in hand, or in the silence of communion….
Holy Mary, Queen of Peace, silence the war and give us peace among our brothers and sisters, your children.
Fr Miguel Márquez Calle, OCD
Superior General
From Saturday 31st of December 2022 to Tuesday January 10th 2023, the Secretary for Missionary Cooperation, Father Jérôme Paluku, stayed in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The aim was to promote a socio-cultural centre in the region that will aim to prevent inter-ethnic conflicts through socio-cultural and sports activities. It was an opportunity to get in touch with the complex reality of the region.
A few kilometers from Goma International Airport, on the road leading to the territory of Rutshuru, can be seen small shelters made from tarpaulins. The more you go on, the more numerous these makeshift shelters become. In Kanyarucinya, six kilometers away, the situation is unimaginable: there are macabre scenes that cannot be described. More than 53,000 people, displaced by war, forgotten by everyone and ignored by all, live in makeshift shelters: under tarpaulins, straw shelters or just a mosquito net, exposed to all kinds of bad weather. This situation is due to the war between a terrorist group called M23 (March 23 Movement – supported by the Rwandan army according to numerous UN reports) and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), the national army.
Several massacres of civilians have been perpetrated in the region. Also in Mungote, in the town of Kitshanga, in the territory of Masisi, several people who escaped the massacre of Kishishe on November 29 are crammed into makeshift shelters. According to a preliminary UN investigation, at least 131 civilians were executed by the Rwanda-backed M23 that day. The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo speaks of 273 people massacred. The group and its allies are also accused of raping, kidnapping and looting civilians. In short, cruelty has reached its peak.
It is in this environment that our Carmelite friars work in the city of Goma. As you can imagine, it is not easy for them to see and experience the horrors of this unspeakable war far from the attention of international leaders. What can we say about all these displaced and forgotten populations? It is not uncommon to hear complaints such as: «If we were Ukrainians, they would have thought of us, they would have sent us weapons to free us from these terrorists».
