The Damietta Initiative

Link to the Damietta Initiative

Welcoming people of all faiths to sow the seeds of non-violence and peace throughout Africa in the Spirit of St Francis of Assisi.

Vision

The vision of the Damietta Initiative is to have an African Continent that is non-violent, tolerant, conciliatory, respectful towards all creatures, and environmentally sustainable.

It respects the dignity of difference while revitalizing the spiritual search for values that will enable it to shape multiple “dialogues of a civilization” and non-violent alternatives to prophecies of impending clashes.

The formation of multiple Pan-African Conciliation Teams (PACT) whose specific peacemaking skills will include training others in peacebuilding roles and strategies and environmental respect.

To provide ‘conflict transformation’ experiences geared, in the first place, to the restoration of relationships between peoples rather than dissecting the material content of conflicts.

To awaken religious imagination among peoples in Africa to think of a future culture of peace permeating the continent. In this vision of Africa, every church, every mosque, every synagogue, every temple and other sites of worship will be dedicated to the embodiment of nonviolence in terms of tolerance, reconciliation and respect for creation.

Mission

Damietta Peace Initiative is a pro-active Franciscan Peace Enterprise whose mission is to build up in Africa – at local and national levels - the theory and practice of nonviolence, reconciliation and care for creation.
 
In response to this mission, the Damietta Initiative will activate the twelve thousand members of the religious family throughout different regions in Africa. This has the full backing from the combined leadership at the highest level.
 
The task of the Franciscan family network in Africa, whether priests, sisters, brothers or lay, is to be ‘a bridge’ or entry point for the Damietta Initiative to connect into local neighbourhoods. Teams will be formed in the local communities, drawn from mixed religious and ethnic background, who will then be trained in the methods of nonviolence, reconciliation and care for creation, assisted by different ecumenical peace education groups.

The teams, known as Pan-African Conciliation Teams, (PACT) will learn how to monitor tensions and conflicts by way of social analysis and to intervene before conflict spills over into violence.

By their presence, PACT will act as a taproot for peace in the local area, by giving witness to ethnic and religious disputants that cohesive living is possible - a precondition in Africa today for the optimum use of foreign social and economic aid.

Confraternity of Penitents

Link to Confraternity of Penitents

Confraternity of Penitents Catholic Lay Association of the Faithful: Living St. Francis' Original Rule of Life for Lay People in Modern Times

The Confraternity of Penitents is an international, non-profit, tax exempt private association of the Roman Catholic faithful laity, with commendation, under the Bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne/South Bend, Indiana, USA. Its original foundation had been in the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, in the 1990's.

Confraternity members live, within their own homes, modern constitutions to the original rule for penitent lay people which Saint Francis of Assisi gave to the men and women of his time in the year 1221. Today a few other groups are also living expressions of this Rule of 1221 for the laity. However, the Confraternity of Penitents (CFP) differs from these few others in that the Confraternity's Vision is "TO LIVE THE RULE OF 1221 AS CLOSELY AS POSSIBLE TO ITS ORIGINAL INTENT." That intent was to have the penitent laity focus on surrender to God through faith, prayer, fasting and abstinence, simplicity of dress, and works of mercy. Might this be what you are seeking?

The CFP Constitutions adapt the Rule to modern times so that penitents do not appear singular or novel in modern society just as they did not appear singular or novel in their own society of 1221, while still requiring clothing parameters as did the original Rule The CFP members follow the same days of fast and abstinence, pray the same prayers, hold the same sorts of communal gatherings, and participate in works of mercy just as did the penitents of Saint Francis's time. Can you picture yourself living your life in this peaceful, joyful, and organized way?

Is it possible today to live an 800 year old Rule of Life, that spawned many saints, in one's own home? Our nearly thirty professed members prove that it is! Come and see what the Confraternity of Penitents has to offer! You may be surprised that a life of penance (conversion) will be your joyful path to surrender to God and holiness!

The Brothers and Sisters of Penance

Link to The Brothers and Sisters of Penance

The Brothers and Sisters of Penance of St. Francis is a private Association of the Catholic Church whose members strive to model their lives according to the Rule and Statutes of the Primitive Rule of the Third Order of St. Francis, which was written for lay people in 1221 at the request of St. Francis of Assisi.

Here is what history says: "…the men and women of that village wanted to follow St. Francis…and to abandon their village. But St. Francis did not leave them, saying to them: 'Don't be in a hurry, and don't leave, for I will arrange what you should do for the salvation of your souls', and he planned the Third Order of the Continent for the salvation of all people everywhere." (Little Flowers of St. Francis)

The Association was born from the original Rule of the Third Order of St. Francis as contained in the Franciscan Omnibus of Sources and the resultant Stella Matutina movement in the Secular Franciscan Order in Minnesota in the late 1980's under the guidance of Father Valerius Messerich O.F.M.. It was formally recognized in 1996 in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with the blessing, encouragement and support of Archbishop Harry J. Flynn. The Archbishop further honored the Association by accepting the first formal professions of the first members who completed formation in Minnesota in 2003. Now both the Association and the Rule of life have been informally approved by several bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in various dioceses across the United States, and other countries. Every bishop who has been introduced to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance has supported the movement as a definitive return to the Gospel life.

As an Association The Brothers and Sisters of Penance of St. Francis is open to all Catholics including Third Order members, oblates, and members of other Catholic lay movements and Associations. We draw no lines on membership. However, although our vision, mission, spirituality and formation is deeply founded in the mystery and beauty of the life of St. Francis, the Association is not connected to the Franciscan Orders in any formal way.

Our members must adhere to all the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and the magisterium. They live the life of penance of the Rule of 1221 in their own homes, as that is how St. Francis wanted it. Archbishop Roger Schwietz of Anchorage, when first exposed to the movement, said "this is good and holy". No one has ever said it was easy. It is a demanding lifestyle, of prayer, penance, and increasing simplicity and poverty, but the rewards are sweet, vast, and eternal for those who persist. It is a gift we bring to God.

The life of penance is to be lived quietly, so as to be virtually invisible to those around us. However, it is lived and shared in the faithful community of members in this Association. Chapters of members can form in any community, and with the communication systems of today it is intended that there be no isolated members in the Association.

With God, there are no coincidences. God has brought you to this site. Review the site prayerfully, and seek an answer in your heart to the Lord's call, as He made to his first disciples', "Come after me…" (Matt. 4:21). He calls us all. Perhaps He wishes to use your interest in this Association to draw you into a deeper union with Himself. Spend time at this web site, read our Rule and Statutes, and ask God to guide you into His perfect plan for your life.

Fr. Rufino María Grández, Las hermosas palabras del Señor

Link a Las hermosas palabras del Señor

P. Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M.

Link a la Web del P. Raniero Cantalamessa

P. Raniero Cantalamessa, de la Orden de los Frailes Menores Capuchinos, nació en Colli del Tronto (AP) el 22 de julio del año 1934. Ordenado sacerdote en el año 1958, se doctoró en Teología en Friburgo (Suiza), y en Letras clásicas en la Universidad Católica de Milán.

Ex profesor ordinario de Historia de los orígenes del cristianismo y Director del Departamento de ciencias religiosas de la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón de Milán, fue miembro de la Comisión Teológica Internacional desde el año 1975 hasta el año 1981 y, durante doce años, miembro de la delegación católica para el diálogo con las Iglesias Pentecostales.

En el año 1979 abandonó la docencia para dedicarse a tiempo completo al ministerio de la Palabra.

Juan Pablo II lo nombró Predicador de la Casa Pontificia en el año 1980 y Benedicto XVI lo confirmó en dicho cargo en 2005. En calidad de predicador dirige cada semana, en Adviento y en Cuaresma, una meditación en presencia del Papa, de los cardenales, obispos, prelados y superiores generales de órdenes religiosos. Se le llama a hablar en muchos países del mundo, a menudo también por hermanos de otras denominaciones cristianas.

Ha recibido el Doctorado Honoris Causa en Ciencias del Derecho, en la Universidad Notre Dame de South Bend (Indiana); en Ciencias de la comunicación, en la Universidad de Macerata y en Teología en la Universidad Franciscana de Steubenville (Ohio).

Además de los libros científicos escritos como historiador de los orígenes del cristianismo, sobre la cristología de los Padres, la Pascua en la Iglesia antigua y otros temas, ha publicado otros numerosos libros de espiritualidad, fruto de su predicación en la Casa Pontificia, traducidos a una veintena de lenguas.

Desde el año 1994 hasta el 2010, cada sábado por la tarde tuvo en la cadena de televisión pública italiana «Rai Uno» el programa de explicación del evangelio del domingo «Las razones de la esperanza».

Desde el año 2009, cuando no está ocupado en la predicación en la Casa Pontificia y en otras partes del mundo, vive en el Eremo del Amor Misericordioso de Cittaducale (RI), prestando su servicio sacerdotal a una pequeña comunidad de monjas de clausura.

Once Catholic

Who’s Behind OnceCatholic.org?

OnceCatholic.org is a ministry of the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A. The Franciscan Friars are a Roman Catholic order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. The mission of OnceCatholic.org is to put you back in touch with a face-to-face community of Catholics. Along the way, we want to walk with you as you sort through your issues with the Church.

Link to Once Catholic