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THE CARMELITE NGO  
a project of the Carmelite Family around the world

 

The Carmelite NGO, a non governmental organization with special status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) and affiliated to the Department of Public Information (DPI) of the United Nations, is comprised of the men and women from around the world who are members of the Carmelite religious Order or its affiliated Congregations and Institutes within the Catholic Church. It is at the service of the people they serve.

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Age, race, language, political point of view, or culture are not what unite us as Carmelites, but rather the desire to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is a desire to be of service to others, especially the poor, and to fulfill in this way the will of God. We do this within the Carmelite Family by living in accordance with the ideal that is proposes in its Rule, its mystical tradition and in the lives of its men and women.

 

At the beginning of the 13th century, the first Carmelites lived around the spring of Elijah on Mount Carmel. There they meditated "day and night on the law of the Lord" and kept "vigil in prayer" (Rule of St. Albert, 10) There they discovered the "inner spring" that wells up for eternal life.

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In 1238, the Carmelites left Mount Carmel and traveled to Europe, taking with them the Rule of Saint Albert. The Rule has continued to be our guide until the present day. As a Carmelite Family, we gather around this "inner spring" to drink its water, and satisfy our thirst for God, Community, and Justice.

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Three words define our mission. Prayer by which we remain in contact with God; Community that creates a new way of living among us; Justice that leads us to defend the values of human life for every human being.

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Thousands, throughout the world, brothers and sisters, religious and lay, belonging to different Orders and Congregations, movements and associations, countless people are devoted to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.