COCHABAMBA, Bolivia — Ignatius Harding, OFM, recently received recognition from the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights of Cochabamba for his work in defense of rights for the poorest of the poor.
The HNP alumnus, along with several others, received awards on Dec. 9 and 10, 2011, the 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Events at the commemoration included celebration of the Eucharist, a public presentation of organizations and institutions working for human rights, and a seminar to raise awareness of Franciscans International’s work.
Ignatius, a native of Connecticut, entered the novitiate in Lafayette, N.J., in 1965 and professed simple vows the following year. Following his ordination in 1971, Ignatius volunteered for Holy Name Province’s mission in Bolivia. He joined the new Bolivian province in the 1980s.
Since its founding in 1990, Ignatius has worked with Franciscans International as a member of its council and later as co-director of the organization’s New York office, according to the March issue of Fraternitas, newsletter of the Order of Friars Minor. Currently, he serves as the FI coordinator in Bolivia.
The March issue also announced the upcoming third Franciscan Meeting of Europe in Poland and a new website for pilgrimage itineraries.
During an Aug. 27 to 31 gathering, “young people will have the opportunity to discover the beauty of their ‘faces’ through the mirror of God’s Love in Christ,” Fraternitas reports. Previous Franciscan meetings were held in Santiago, Spain, in 2009 and Assisi, Italy, in 2007.
The Custody of the Holy Land recently launched “A Pilgrimage to the Holy Places,” a website of proposed pilgrimage itineraries that “trace the holy places visited by an unbroken chain of pilgrims since the early centuries of the Christian era.”
During March, Fr. Jose Rodriguez Carballo, OFM, is traveling to Angola and Cairo, Egypt. March 19 marks the patron saint day of this General Minister.
— Compiled by Rebecca Doel