The Carmelite NGO was established to assist the men and women of the international Carmelite Family in participating in the creation of a more peaceful, just, and loving world by advocating and caring for the spiritual and human needs of the human family and the environment. Its recognition at the time was to the Department of Public Information of the United Nations (DPI).
The discussion on creating a Carmelite NGO began in September 1999 in Bamberg, Germany, at a meeting of the Carmelite leadership. The idea was to affiliate the NGO to the United Nations. The idea was then presented to a meeting of the major superiors of affiliated Congregations and Institutes held in February 2000 in Focene, Italy. The proposal was to obtain accreditation for the entire Carmelite Family— priests, brothers, nun, religious sisters and the lay members of the Third Order.
Miceal O’Neill (Carmelite Order) and Jane Remson (Congregation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel) began investigating what steps needed to be taken for such an affilliation to be achieved. On December 21, 2001, in the name of the Carmelite Family, the Carmelite NGO received affiliation with the Department of Public Information (DPI) which is now called the Department of Global Communications.
Four areas of focus guide our work within the United Nations.
1) Freedom of Belief
2) Sustainability
3) Human Rights
4) Right to Education
In the years since its inception, the Carmelite NGO has cooperated with many other NGOs at the United Nations, especially those with a religious nature.
On January 22, 2009, the Carmelite NGO received Special Consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. It is recognized by the United Nations as a research and independent NGO. By virtue of its status within the United Nations, the NGO is able to articulate and advocate a Carmelite perspective to all areas of activity.
In 2012, the Carmelite NGO became affiliated with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Six years later, in 2018, we became accredited with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as well. Each of these affiliations provides the Carmelite NGO with a structured was for the Carmelite Family to be effective in today’s world, addressing the needs of our time.
Over its more than 25-year history, the Carmelite NGO had an active presence at many UN gatherings around the world, including New York, Bonn, Nairobi, Marrakesh, Katowice (Poland), Belém (Brazil), Baku, Dubai, Sharm El Sheikh, Glasgow, Madrid, Doha (Qatar). Much of our work has been with members of the Carmelite Family around the world as well. We seek to strengthen our UN presence by keeping members within each branch of the Carmelite Family educated and supportive in the work of the Carmelite NGO. The Carmelite NGO has played an important role within the Carmelite Family and is a natural outgrowth of our contemplative spirituality.
In 2025, the Carmelite NGO was separately incorporated in the State of Delaware as a not-for-profit. Its sponsorship continues under the Carmelite Order based in Rome, Italy.
The Carmelite NGO continues to be a very effective way for its members to expose the United Nations to both the voices of “the people” and the values of the Carmelite formula vitae (way of life) based on our 800-year-old tradition. We endeavor to articulate and translate Carmelite values through the religious and secular divide that seems to characterize our society today.
Our effort to serve the poor and vulnerable must be accomplished by concrete efforts to address the causes of human suffering and injustice. We are called to transform our hearts and our social structures to renew the face of the earth.
A Century of Catholic Social Teaching (1990)
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