The Coordinating Team of the Augustinian Recollect Youth (JAR) is holding its second in-person meeting this week at the San Agustín Seminary in La Linda, Manizales (Colombia), convened by the General Coordinator of JAR, Fray Ismael Xuruc Santizo, OAR.
The meeting continues the work initiated from December 1 to 6, 2025, in the Dominican Republic, where the Team reviewed the Movement’s situation in different countries, listened to young people and leaders, and identified six common challenges and 
eighteen priority lines of work to strengthen the identity, formation, and accompaniment of JAR throughout the Order.
The Manizales meeting aims to concretize and develop those agreements, in addition to beginning the preparation of the 2026–2028 strategic project that the Movement will present to the Order’s General Chapter in October 2028.
Although two of its members, Fray Fernando Ferreira and Héber Hermosillo, have not been able to travel to Colombia, they are actively participating in the working sessions remotely. Rubiela Cuadra will also join the meeting in the coming days.
Working on the Project for the Entire Order
During these days, the various secretariats of the Team—Identity and Vocation, Formation and Accompaniment, Charism and Spirituality, Mission and Evangelization, and Communications—are advancing in the formation guidelines to strengthen the accompaniment of JAR in different countries, in the development of the project “From Tagaste to the Entire Order,” and in the preparation of the VI JAR World Youth Day (JMJAR).
One of the most significant moments of this meeting will be the official launch of the registration page for JMJAR 2027, which will be held in Cebu (Philippines) from July 28 to 31, 2027, under the motto “Let us walk in His truth” (Saint Augustine, Commentary on Psalm 85, 15), a few days before World Youth Day in Seoul (August 1-8, 2027).
The information and the registration platform form will be presented in a few days.
The IV Provincial JAR Meeting of La Candelaria, a Space for Encounter and Mission
The choice of Manizales as the venue also responds to the celebration, from July 16 to 20, of the IV Provincial JAR Meeting of the Province of Our Lady of La Candelaria, which takes place at the same San Agustín Seminary in La Linda under the motto “Proclaim Christ wherever you can!” (Saint Augustine, Sermon 260E, 2).
Far from developing as two independent initiatives, both meetings mutually enrich each other. The Coordinating Team actively participates in the program of the provincial meeting, sharing the experience of young people and collaborating in various training activities.
The Province of Our Lady of La Candelaria, whose scope of presence has recently expanded, brings together young people from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Guatemala, and Spain at this meeting, forming an experience of marked interprovincial character.
Fr. Ismael Xuruc will offer the inaugural reflection on the meeting’s motto and will preside over the sending-off Eucharist. In addition, several members of the Coordinating Team will lead workshops on JAR identity, mission in daily life, digital evangelization, and solidarity service.
In this way, the work of the Coordinating Team is enriched by direct contact with the young people of the Movement, while the participants of the meeting receive firsthand the lines of work and the vision of the team that animates JAR throughout the Order.
“We are here to build together a path that serves the young people of the entire Order, today and in the years to come. And being with the young people of La Candelaria while we do it reminds us why we do it,” said Fr. Ismael Xuruc at the beginning of the meeting.
For more information about the Augustinian Recollect Youth, please visit jarinternacional.org.
