From 22 to 27 June 2026, Franciscan Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) animators from across Asia and Oceania gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia, for the VI Asia-Oceania Continental JPIC Meeting. Held under the theme “Caring for People, Caring for Creation”, the meeting brought together friars from more than a dozen Franciscan entities to strengthen reflection, formation, and collaboration in responding to the challenges of human dignity, peacebuilding, and care for our common home.
The opening day began with Holy Mass presided over by Friar Agustinus Lorensius Nggame, Minister of the Province of St Michael the Archangel in Indonesia. In his homily, he reminded participants that justice, peace, and integrity of creation are not merely programmes or activities, but a way of life flowing from an encounter with God. “For Saint Francis, JPIC was not a programme. It was a way of living the Gospel,” he reminded the participants, inviting them to embrace JPIC as a lived expression of Franciscan discipleship and fraternity beyond borders.
In a message to the assembly, Friar Ignacio Ceja, Vicar General of the Order, affirmed that JPIC is a constitutive dimension of Franciscan evangelical life through which the friars remain relevant and offer a prophetic alternative. As the Franciscan family prepares to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the Transitus of St Francis of Assisi, he encouraged participants to deepen a spirituality of contemplation, simplicity, solidarity with the poor, and collaboration in responding to the realities of the region.
Reports from across Asia and Oceania highlighted diverse JPIC ministries, including eco-pastoral initiatives, accompaniment of indigenous communities, migrant outreach, interreligious dialogue, peacebuilding, and environmental advocacy. The participants also identified shared challenges such as armed conflict, forced migration, extractive industries, human trafficking, and climate change. They agreed that the realities of Asia are indications of an uncertain future to which Franciscans are called to respond.
Reflecting on Friar Nggame’s reminder that JPIC is a way of life, and Friar Ceja’s emphasis that JPIC is a constitutive dimension of Gospel life through which the friars remain relevant, the participants arrived at a common statement, resolutions, and commitments.
The statement expresses gratitude for the richness of Franciscan presence in Asia and Oceania while acknowledging urgent challenges such as ecological degradation, inequality, and displacement. It reaffirms JPIC as essential to Franciscan life and calls for ecological conversion, solidarity with the most vulnerable, and strengthened collaboration across the Franciscan family through concrete commitments to accompaniment, integral ecology, and the formation of fraternities of hope.
The JPIC meeting concluded with a visit to the Ciliwung community, and an interreligious dialogue held by the Ciliwung River with young Buddhists, Protestants, Muslims, Hindus, Confucianists, and Catholics. The event included the blessing of a statue of St Francis erected on the riverbank, the release of fish into the river, and the planting of trees. One message stood out clearly from the sharing: Franciscans should be at the forefront of caring for creation and caring for people, and they do not stand alone.
A few days later, Friar Taucen Girsang, Vice-Director of the General Office of JPIC, presented the Jakarta Statement 2026 at the Franciscan Conference of Asia-Oceania (FCAO) meeting held in Bogor, Indonesia from 28 June to 3 July 2026.
Photo credit: ofm.org
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