We (Sisters Charlotte and Diane) arrived in Chiclayo on Sunday, January 11 and on to Puerto Eten. It is a privilege to be here, to experience life in Peru and to catch up with the Sisters. We are receiving warm and attentive hospitality and enjoying our visit.
One of the highlights of our week was our pilgrimage to Monsefu where we stopped at the cemetery where Sisters Aquin and Dorothy are buried, a tour through the town with stops at the former convent, school, church, medical centre (now a convent for sisters of another order!), and the town plaza.
A couple of days later we briefly visited Dr. Jacinto Custodio in a clinic sponsored by our Congregation in the parish church space in Cuidad Reque. Jacinto faithfully provides care to many of the poor every week. (Jacinto is rightly named a “Mercy boy” since he was educated by our first sisters who came to Monsefu in 1960. He has not ever forgotten his early years in school! Nor the Sisters of Mercy!). In honour of his class’s celebration of 50 years of graduation Jacinto presented the Congregation with a marble plaque.
Saludos desde Perú
Nosotras (Hermanas Charlotte y Diane) llegamos a Chiclayo el domingo 11 de enero y a Puerto Eten. Es un privilegio estar aquí, experimentar la vida en Perú y ponernos al día con las Hermanas. Estamos recibiendo una hospitalidad cálida y atenta y disfrutando de nuestra visita.
Uno de los momentos culminantes de nuestra semana fue nuestra peregrinación a Monsefú, donde nos detuvimos en el cementerio donde están enterradas las Hermanas Aquin y Dorothy, un recorrido por la ciudad con paradas en el antiguo convento, la escuela, la iglesia, el centro médico (¡ahora un convento para hermanas de otra orden!), y la plaza de la ciudad.
Un par de días más tarde visitamos brevemente al Dr. Jacinto Custodio en una clínica patrocinada por nuestra Congregación en el espacio de la iglesia parroquial de Cuidad Reque. Jacinto atiende fielmente a muchos pobres cada semana. (Jacinto es llamado con razón “chico de la Misericordia”, ya que fue educado por nuestras primeras hermanas que llegaron a Monsefú en 1960. Nunca ha olvidado sus primeros años en la escuela. Ni a las Hermanas de la Misericordia). En honor a la celebración de los 50 años de graduación de su clase, Jacinto obsequió a la Congregación con una placa de mármol.
This week will draw together churches across the globe to “Do good; seek justice (Isaiah 1:17).” The theme is inspired by Isaiah 1:12-18, which laments a lack of justice among the People of God. Yet it also promises redemption by encouraging acts of justice. Like Isaiah, we hope to inspire a renewed desire and effort for justice among Christian peoples around the world. The theme and materials call Christians to recognize that the divisions between our churches and confessions cannot be separated from the divisions within the wider human family.
Reports on COP15 were posted during the conference on our website 
Pope Francis will preside at the funeral Mass to be celebrated on Thursday morning , January 5, in St Peter’s Square, beginning at 9:30 am Rome time (3.30am Canada time).
The aim of this global pact is to halt and reverse the rapid loss of biodiversity by 2030, setting aside at least 30% of the world’s lands, oceans and inland waters for conservation and respecting the rights, roles and contributions of indigenous peoples toward this goal. The Framework designed at COP15 charts a new way forward, a path away from the damaging patterns that led to the destructionof ecosystems and diminishment of species over many decades. 
The COP talks are an effort to get countries to agree to policies that will halt and repair the damage and destruction caused by human activities like mining on the planet’s ecosystem and wild species. Over the course of the talks, attention has been focused on preserving 30% of the world’s land and water by 2030. But this depends on the technology and the finances available, and no deal can happen, however worthy and necessary, unless there are adequate resources. Several complex issues are at play in the negotiations – including the questions of how much territory countries are willing to leave undeveloped for the conservation of natural habitats and how to finance that effort. While there was agreement that countries which have great biodiversity, but which also need to develop their economies should not be the ones to carry the burden for the rest of the world, no significant progress has been made in resolving that critical issue.
What then is being asked of us? First of all, to let our hearts be changed by our experience of the [pandemic] crisis, to let God, at this time in history, transform our customary criteria for viewing the world around us. We can no longer think exclusively of carving out space for our personal or national interests; instead, we must think in terms of the common good, recognizing that we belong to a greater community, and opening our minds and hearts to universal human fraternity. We cannot continue to focus simply on preserving ourselves; rather, the time has come for all of us to endeavour to heal our society and our planet, to lay the foundations for a more just and peaceful world, and to commit ourselves seriously to pursuing a good that is truly common.