SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 3 - N. 10 - 1997 - March - I
From: CIOFS Bulletin, 1996, N. 2
CONCLUSIONS
3rd Theme: Youth
A. Challenges
1. We are aware that in nearly all of our Fraternities SFO-YOUFRA there is a lack of knowing each other, on the institutional level as well as on the generational one.
2. The period of transformation we are living and the bombarding of mass communication is disorienting both adults and young people, creating in them the necessity to find some environment ofering them security, hope and sense for living; at the same time they are aware of the risk of disengagement and the necessity to master together the challenges.
3. We Secular Franciscans, living in a family, are convinced that the young people may recover and live the christian, moral and social values transmitted to them by their parents as first educators.
4. Considering sexuality a precious gift which we received from God, and with which the human couple expresses love and reciprocal donation in perpetuating the Lord's creative act, we realize with worry that the society as well as the formation young people receive empoverish their concept of these values.
That's why we see in our Latin America the increasing number of adolescent mothers with all its troublesome consequences.
B. Proposals
1. The faith and the hope in a God which saves invites us to offer us reciprocally the testimony of life, in taking over the risk of working together and, with the help of God and our good will, in getting through eventual difficult situations.
2. We must learn to discover all the good existing in the world and to stress all the positive things young people do, dream of and feel.
3. We must engage ourselves to obtain space in the means of mass communication, develop a critical mind in order to be able to analyse messages. There is no doubt about the influence television has on young people and the invasion it operates in the intimacy of the family.
4. Since our Fraternities consist generally of adult and aged persons we feel it necessary to present to the young the richness of experience, wisdom and serenity coming from age, because nowadays youth is being over-valued.
5. We think it possible that young people may face the challenges of the third millenium because of the many positive aspects in their restlessness and their hopes.
6. The brothers and sisters SFO should be conveniently prepared to guide and educate young people to respect existing and unborn life as well as sexuality as expression of marital love.
7. We must look for young professed secular franciscans who are capable to accompany YOUFRA groups as animators and leaders.
8. On the level of the National Council we must elaborate an integration plan indicating instructions for the other levels in order to foster reciprocal relations between SFO and YOUFRA.
4th Theme: Justice, Peace and Ecology
A. Challenges
1. We are aware of the great difficulties in realizing justice, peace and ecological equilibrium, caused by the dependence of developping countries on the industrialized ones. The latter, through organizations like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, impose political and economic decisions which empoverish ever more the great part of our people, favouring the élites in each country, the multinational societies and the governments of the powerful.
2. The trend to "globalization" in every aspect of our world: social, political, cultural and economical, might even cause the loss of our identity.
3. Polluting industries, accumulation of waste, tossic
emanations,
nuclear explosions, indiscriminated cut of woods ecc. destroy the
delicate ecological equilibrium, which we have to maintain for the
safeguard of our planet.
B. Proposals
Facing these problems we, disciples of St. Francis the Saint of peace, of love for the poor and the Patron of ecology, consider of first priority:
1. promote the getting conscious of the situations of injustice in our continent, in looking for alternatives to overcome them and realize peace based on justice;
2. being personally concerned about our environment, starting from our person, our family, our town and our Fraternity;
3. redeem the values of our cultures, thus consolidating the latin-american mulatto and mestizo identity;
4. recognize the richness and the contribution of the native and amazonian ethnics and learn from their loving relationship with nature;
5. include in the initial as well as permanent formation programs themes of justice, peace and ecology, with concrete actions (e.g. the cure of our body, teaching balanced and natural alimentation, participation in anti-smoke and anti-aerosol campaigns, promotion of planting trees, environmental cleaning actions, recycling programs ecc.);
6. participate in initiatives of Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations in bringing in those institutions the richness of our franciscan spirituality;
7. integrate actively the SFO in the initiatives of the Interfranciscan Commission for Justice, Peace and Ecology.
8. We propose that the National Councils SFO of Latin America, supported by the First Order, collaborate with those organizations already working in the mass media, to encourage by some annual award, those radio and television programs fostering the cure and safeguard of nature.