International Commission

Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation*

That same Chapter affirmed that “our life and mission are lived out in the light of the option for the poor and the demands of justice and peace.” [See Our Vision of a Gifted and United Community, at the beginning of the 2012 General Chapter Decisions.]

These “demands” are found in the Old Testament Prophets, who gave voice to God’s own concerns, and they are echoed in the Psalms, the songs of God’s people at worship. This is the atmosphere in which Jesus grew to manhood and discerned his vocation proclaiming the Reign of God. (Recall how he quoted the Prophet Isaiah in announcing his role in Luke’s Gospel [Luke 4:18-22].)

It is this role he passed on to the apostles and, through them, to the Church. We have ample testimony of the Church’s continued discernment on issues of Justice and Peace ever since Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum. The body of the social teachings of the Church has grown over the years, to the point where we now realize that JPIC is not one issue among many that concerns the Church; rather, it is the viewpoint from which the Church understands the Gospel and confronts the world.

General Chapter Decision #8 of 2012 clearly connects this theme to our own La Salette charism of reconciliation, and insists that we further explore the connections inherent there. As an expression of our charism, we understand then that concern for JPIC is not to be identified with a course of action, but with a Gospel spirituality, a way of relating to God, self, others and the world. This spirituality is the fruit of conversion, both personal and communal. With this renewed attitude, we look again at our own Constitutions and past documents, and understand that we have often been about the works of Justice, Peace and concern for Creation without naming them as such.

It is the task of this Commission to be about naming that reality in our life, charism and mission. We are called to animate the workers and structures of JPIC in each Province of the Congregation, and to support Provincial efforts at JPIC by acting as a clearinghouse for information between Provincial and Congregational levels.

*In using the initials JPIC we are following the organization of the Superiors General (USG and UISG) of religious congregations, who drew the understanding of justice and peace from the documents of Vatican II. Early in his papacy, John Paul II added the idea of a concern for the environment as on an equal footing with these two concepts. Hence, the addition of the “Integrity of Creation” piece.

STRUCTURES

 The International Commission is composed of 7  members

 Meetings of the International Commission will take place once every two years. In the meantime they will work via the Internet.

 The Members of the JPIC International Commission are named by the General for 6 years and can be renewed.

 Each Province will establish a Provincial JPIC Commission composed of at least  three members: one La Salette Priest or Brother, one La Salette student, and one lay person. For the sake of continuity, the term for Priest or Brother will not end with the term of the Provincial Council, and can be renewed.

 The Provincial JPIC Commission works under Provincial authority and is invited twice a year to a  Provincial Council meeting.

 The Provincial JPIC commission animates the activities in the Province and communicates appropriate information about issues and activities. Every Year in January, the Provincial Commission will provide to the International Commission a written report about activities in Province so that this might be shared with the Congregation.