Dear brothers and Passionist sisters, nuns and laity of the Passionist Family,

May God bless us and the world at the beginning of this New Year 2005 with the same words that He gave to Moses to bless the Israelites: “The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!” (Num. 6: 23-26).

God is father even during disasters and suffering: “Father, I place my life in your hands”, Jesus prayed at the moment of his death, at the height of human suffering and poverty. Faith in the love of the Father, even in that moment of apparent abandonment, nourished his hope. So too, faith should bolster our hope.

The final days of December of the recently ended year 2004 were engulfed in suffering due to the tragedy that afflicted many of the lands bordering the Indian Ocean. The tsunami, a seaquake that was generated by a strong earthquake that occurred in the depths of the ocean, unleashed an enormous amount of energy within this body of water and sustained an incredible velocity, calculated at 700 km. per hour. This speed, coupled with waves in excess of 10 meters, collided with the land destroying everything in its path: islands, houses, vegetation and people and everything else. For these regions this event is considered to be a second Great Flood. As Christians and as Passionists we stand together with the “cross and passion” of these peoples. We remember them in our prayer and we are united with them in aid and assistance. They are in need of the bare necessities of life: food, water, and housing; there is sickness and the risk of epidemics. The victims are numbered at approximately 125,000, but many are scattered in different areas. Consequently, the number of victims may rise to more than 400,000. This is truly a catastrophe! Of these victims, over 30% are children from two to seven years of age. It always seems that the innocent pay for the negligence, the evil and the violence of adults: Jesus himself, on Calvary, died to rescue sinners, the innocent and the sinless One. How mysterious and incomprehensible are the ways of God!

During these days of Christmas we are celebrating the birth of the Christ Child and, with the eyes of faith, the face of Child Jesus would be easily recognized in the faces of the suffering children and those who have died in those regions afflicted by the seaquake. All children, and now especially those of this area, are for us the children of Mary, all of them born in Bethlehem. And we, as shepherds, should bring them gifts of prayer, of solidarity and of hope that the upcoming year, 2005, will improve with the resolve of each of us to seriously work for peace in the world. May God so grant it!

Many religious of the Congregation have requested information so as to be able to directly send concrete assistance through our presence in those regions affected by the seaquake: the REPAC Vice-Province in Indonesia and the THOM Vicariate in India. In Indonesia neither the religious nor their families were affected, while in India the brother and mother of one of the postulants were killed, as well as the relatives of some of the Passionist Sisters of St. Paul of the Cross

in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu. We fraternally remember them in our prayer.
At this time, those wishing to send donations may do so through Fr. Vincenzo Carletti, the Vice-provincial and vice-provincial Econome of the Indonesian Vice-province in Jakarta and who, for many years, was our Secretary General of the Missions.

Donations should be sent to Fr. Vincenzo Carletti at:

Bank: ABNAMRO BANK
Bank address: Jl. Juanda 21-23
Jakarta, Indonesia
Swft: CHIPS UID 059391
Bank Account (Europe): 13.21.218 EUR
Addressed to: K.W.I.
Beneficiary: PROVINSI CP

Specify the final destination of the donation as: “Tsunami” or “For the victims of the seaquake”.

Obviously, donations can be sent by other means such as diocesan charities or other organizations. What is important is to be sure that the funds arrive at the desired destination, i.e. the individuals in these disaster areas.

Donations may also be sent via the Solidarity Fund managed by the General Econome, Fr. Battista Ramponi, who will see that the funds arrive in Indonesia. However, by whatever means you choose to send donations, it would be good to inform the General Econome or the Secretary General so as to encourage us in our efforts at solidarity.

Fr. Vincenzo Carletti will then inform us as to how the funds were disbursed. Following is the complete address for those who wish to directly contact Fr. Vincenzo:

P. Vincenzo Carletti, CP
Biara Pasionis,
Jl. Patra Tomang II/16
Tomang Barat - Tanjung Duren
Jakarta Barat 11510
Indonesia
tel: [62](21)565.8037; fax: [62] (21) 566.2509; email: vcarletti41@hotmail.com

May our charity and our good will increase that peace on earth about which the angels sang to the shepherds on Christmas night.

May Mary, the mother of Jesus and therefore our temporal mother help us to be instruments of peace and solidarity. May she also help us to be capable of recognizing in the “crucified” of this world the face of the Crucified One. And may the initial restructuring of the Congregation begin in our hearts by increasing our capacity to love.

Happy New Year! May God bless all of us!
Rome – Sts. John and Paul
1 January 2005
Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God
P. Ottaviano D’Egidio, CP
Superior General