October 13, 2014

“Do not be afraid of fragility.” (Pope Francis)

We are now in the third year of the celebration of the World Day of the Victims of Disasters (WDVD) that the Camillian Task Force is promoting to the Great Camillian Family as our ever-present gift to Saint Camillus. It is with great enthusiasm that we are encouraging you to celebrate this event in the spirit of our thrust to revitalize the Order. Why do we need then to celebrate this event?

Recent statistics show that in 12 years (2000-2012), disasters have impacted heavily in the lives of the people. It caused death to 1.2 million people; affected 2.9 billion people and left a damaged to vital infrastructures, family properties and livelihood  amounting to $1.7 trillion (USD). Most of these disasters are meteorological (storms) and geophysical (earthquake) in nature. (cf. UNISDR). In 2012, 357 natural triggered disasters were recorded which killed 9,655 persons and affected 124.5 million. In a decade, it shows an annual average of 107,000 deaths and 268 million affected worldwide. (cf. UCL). According to the Climate Risk Index (1993-2012), the top ten countries that were most affected in a 20 year period due to extreme weather events are Honduras, Myanmar, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Mongolia and Thailand (cf. German Watch). In four of these countries (in italics) and some nearby, the Camillian are having missions. These countries at present are identified as the global risk hotspots.

The magnitude of human suffering caused by these events is huge, and many aspects of people’s lives are affected such as health, security, housing, access to basic life necessities, social and religious activities, etc. People are convinced that they are natural and thus no human effort can deter its impact. This is a myth. There is no such thing as natural disaster. Not all natural phenomena (earthquake, typhoon, tsunami, volcanic eruption, flood, landslide, etc.) are called disasters. “A disaster is defined as the consequences of events triggered by such natural hazards as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, tsunamis, floods, drought, etc., that overwhelm local response capacity – seriously disrupting the functioning of a community (or society at large) causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses, which exceed the ability of the affected community to cope using its own resources.” (cf. UNIDSR, 2007). They become disasters when any or a combination of these events and the people’s vulnerability overwhelm the capacity their to manage a disastrous event using their own resources. If people are vulnerable then, the more they are prone to serious impact of disasters. Vulnerability is often caused by human choices.

The third celebration of the World Day of the Victims of Disaster on October 13, 2014 will focus on the exhortation of Pope Francis during the Angelus (February 9, 2014) while introducing the celebration of the World Day of the Sick: “Do not be afraid of fragility.”

Life is fragile and prone to destruction. However, we do believe that human fragility (natural or caused by something else) is not a hindrance for human growth and development, but rather, an opportunity to discover the greatness of human life and the gratitude of God seen in the immense commitment and solidarity of the people. For 12 years, the Camillians have been responding to disasters in the world with extraordinary efforts of generosity, passion and competence of hundreds of our confreres, members of the great Camillian family, volunteers who “soiled their hands” in serving the people affected by natural or human-made disasters. From these experiences, we have seen how victims of disasters overcome and transform their fragility into strength and capacity to be resilient. They find hope amidst rubbles, ruins and deaths with the help of the people who put more hearts into their hands.

Pope Francis during the said Angelus while praying for the victims of disasters, has reminded us that, “Nature challenges us to be sympathetic and attentive to protecting creation, and to prevent, as much as possible, the most serious of consequences.” The hands that we need are not only hands that handover food, water, medicines and shelter but, hands that knows how to protect and fight whatever evils that provoke destruction and cause deaths.

In this celebration of the WDVD, I encourage you to give attention to the three essential elements of our mission as promoted by the CTF, namely, 1) animation and awareness, 2) celebration and formation, and 3) promotion and struggle for justice. In particular, we are inviting everybody to reflect on the words of Pope Francis: “Do not be afraid of fragility.”

Do not be afraid could mean:

• for the communities affected by the disaster –  to recover the “gifts” and capacities to resilience amidst disasters;
• for the Camillian presence – to be challenged by our desire for hope and salvation (the fullness of life) that goes to the very roots of our Christian and Camillian vocation;
• for the Camillian institutions – to go out into the “peripheries” (beyond the walls of our institutions) and work with the marginalized communities in the periphery “united in justice and solidarity”;
• for the CTF – to continue to seek new responses to the “signs of the times” that begins with attentive listening to the voiceless people/communities and will not settle only by giving of things (dole out charity);
• for the local communities – to turn disaster into an opportunity for growth.

If St. Camillus is still alive today, would he be doing the same thing embracing all these challenges together with the victims of disasters? Arise and be with them. Let their voices be heard.

Fr. Leocir Pessini, MI

General Superior

Fr. Aristelo Miranda, MI

Consultor for Ministry

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