by Diego Goller | Sep 15, 2023 | News
TOGETHER2023 – TO SUPPORT THE SYNOD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
We give space – in summary form – to a communication received from the leaders of the Ecumenical Community of Taizé, promoter of the Vigil.
Dear friends,
With our team we have returned to Rome for the final preparations of Together. What a joy and beautiful challenge to walk on the same path with so many of you and also with the Secretariat for the Synod and the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.
The programme for the “Together”-weekend is now on line at https://together2023.net/info-page/provisional-programme-full/.
You can see the list of workshops led by many of our different partners at https://together2023.net/info-page/workshops/.
The songs for the prayer vigil are published at https://together2023.net/info-page/songs/ as well as the new Adsumus Sancte Spiritus song prepared especially for the ecumenical prayer vigil of September 30.
If you can’t come, but would like to pray with us on September 30, please see https://together2023.net/info-page/prayers-elsewhere-in-the-world-suggested-service-order/.
Perhaps you there is time still to organise a vigil in your own locality. If so, please let our team know at prayers-world@together2023.net and in that way you can be part of the network of prayer shown at https://together2023.net/events-map/.
Our journey is not ending. It is just beginning. What will be the next stages? Let us listen to the Holy Spirit and to each other.
Br Luc and Br Matthew
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by Diego Goller | May 26, 2023 | 2023 Europe Day, News
Flash news from several European Countries
France
Building on last year’s success, Together for Europe wished to repeat a popular mobilisation in Strasbourg: a procession of around 150 people marched peacefully through the city under the slogan: ‘Together for Europe – Objective Peace’. It started at the European Parliament and ended at a Protestant church in the city centre.
We proclaimed loudly that, as Christians, our priority yearning is peace, and that creative solutions must be found. The Together for Europe groups from Lyon and Landau (Germany) also participated.
Led in song by a group of young people from Taizé, the procession ended in Temple Neuf with an hour full of prayer, praise and conversion to peace; this was an ecumenical prayer promoted by the Council of Christian Churches in Strasbourg for reconciliation and the unity of Europe. There were about 400 people present, including representatives of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe.
Belgium
Astenet (Eupen) is known as the country of the three borders (Belgium, Holland, Germany). On 27 April, a delegation of Together for Europe – consisting of people from the Charismatic Renewal, Community of St Egidio and Focolare – went there to the shrine of St Catherine of Siena, patron saint of Europe, to mark her feast day.
After a fraternal meeting with the local Catharines, we participated in the Eucharist. At the end, we presented our ecumenical network and our initiatives for Europe Day. We experienced a fraternal, prayerful and joy-filled meeting. This opens new horizons for our network in Belgium.
Germany
For a number of years now, the city of Munich has been inviting people around 9 May to a ‘Europe Day’ to raise awareness of various issues concerning our Continent.
Together with some thirty organisations and associations that care about our Continent, for the second year running ‘Together for Europe’ was also present with a well-attended gazebo and a few ‘gondola’ rides in the big wheel, which offers a panoramic view of the city. One ride (10 people) lasted 25 minutes and offered the opportunity to talk about our network, initiatives and the ideals that move us.
As Christians from various Churches, we felt challenged to witness our commitment to a more fraternal Europe and, above all, to peace. We have already made an appointment for next year!
Portugal
A prayer for peace in Europe was also held in Porto on 9 May; it was promoted by Together for Europe and the city’s Ecumenical Commission, in the Igreja de Cedofeita. Representatives of six Churches, the bishops of the Catholic and Lusitanian Churches, and various Movements were present. The prayer was centred on the phrases of the Lord’s Prayer; while the European countries for which they were praying were mentioned, the flags of these countries were carried to the altar.
The Novena, a nine-day prayer for peace in Europe, written this year especially for Europe Day, has also been translated into Portuguese (cf: Article on our website: The Lord’s Prayer – a prayer for Europe, 30.3.2023).
Many places in Europe prayed the Novena intensively; in Vallendar, at the Schönstatt International Centre, the entire community of that movement did so.
by Diego Goller
by Diego Goller | May 25, 2023 | 2023 Europe Day, Austria, News
Europe Day in Vienna, 6 May 2023. More than 100 people from six Central European countries gathered for the event promoted by ‘Together for Europe – Austria’ in the Schönstatt Centre in Vienna-Kahlenberg.
Under the title ‘Building Bridges of Hope’, ten speakers shared their experiences as ‘bridge builders’. On this day, the dream became reality, a day of encouragement in an often-discouraging daily routine.
In Innsbruck, Gottfried Rießlegger is involved in an ecumenical exchange between a Catholic and a Protestant parish, which have their own churches, and an Orthodox parish without a church. Two churches, 150 metres apart, separated by a fence. One day the desire to be together was stronger than fears and reservations – two big scissors, one on the left, one on the right – and already there was a big hole in the fence, the beginning of a blessed enrichment. The Orthodox community has a kit in a large chest; and every Sunday, after the Catholic liturgy, the iconostasis is set up in front of the altar.
From Slovenia, Marjeta Bobnar reported on the fruits of the ‘Summer job’ project. This project builds relationships with people in need through aid of a physical nature and, of course, between young people from different parts of Slovenia.
In Hungary, Tibor Héjj is ‘building bridges’ with minibuses. People with disabilities are transported day by day to the workplaces of various companies, where they work and live with people without disabilities.
Also, from Hungary we had the choir ‘Vox mirabilis’, which made bridge building a tangible experience.
In the Czech Republic, Dagmar and Petr Peňáz are bridge builders with heart and soul. They build bridges for people with special needs. They build bridges between Christians, for example through ecumenical pilgrimages in Moravia, and bridges between the nations of the former Monarchy.
MEP Lukas Mandl recounted the tensions he experiences in his parliamentary work, in which he could not agree on everything. However, as a Christian, he always tried to uphold human dignity and respect the freedom of others. Working together requires concrete work in committees, but also spiritual inspiration.
Eva ed Erich Berger gave him a 44-page collection: small stories of bridge-builders, stories from the daily lives of Christians, which can give courage and hope.
On this 6 May 2023, God showed his people that he is capable of building bridges for everyone. An injection of courage.
The building of bridges must continue, in a concrete and lasting way: on 7 May and every day thereafter.
Edited by Diego Goller
Photo: Christoph Fürböck
by Diego Goller | Mar 18, 2023 | News
Gathering of the People of God. It is cold in Rome on the morning of 15 March…
… but the sky is clear and the sun provides some warmth. It is very early: we walk toward the Vatican. We are a group of about 60 persons from various Churches, representatives of Episcopal Conferences, Congregations, Movements and Communities, young and not so young, laypersons, priests, consecrated religious, all of us following Brother Alois and some brothers from the Ecumenical Community of Taizé, with the presence of Sr. Nathalie Becquart, Under-Secretary of the Synod of Bishops. This is the third time this group has come together and for three days we have worked together, in plenaries and in 10 commissions, to prepare Together2023.
An original initiative
This is an original initiative, the only one of its kind so far, promoted by Taizé: to prayerfully support the Synod of the Roman Catholic Church on Synodality, whose first session is scheduled for 4-29 October 2023. All Christians, from every Church and Community are invited to this event, especially young people.
The event consists of a day – 30 September 2023 – filled with a wide variety of initiatives; the culmination will be an evening Prayer Vigil in St. Peter’s Square. Pope Francis and Church leaders are expected to attend. It is intended to be a plea from all God’s people for graces for the participants of the Synod, who will be dealing with the central theme of Synodality.
Pope Francis meets us
We quickly enter the Vatican via side entrances and soon find ourselves in a small room prepared especially for us. The Bishop of Rome was not long in coming; he was visibly pleased to meet our group and, in the absence of a text, improvised a few thoughts interwoven with personal memories. His esteem for Brother Alois and his courage is evident; his faith in walking together, which makes unity greater than differences, is great. It is about loving one another, working together as Christians, asking for the presence of the Holy Spirit: it is He who creates unity and harmony.
We leave this meeting with joy in our hearts and a commitment to walk together with many other Christians – in Rome on 30 September and everywhere else.
Info at: www.together2023.net
Diego Goller
Photo: Alice Montrucchio; large photo, from left: Diego Goller, Frère Alois Löser, Sr Nathalie Becquart, Giuseppe Del Coiro
by Diego Goller | Apr 1, 2020 | Experiences, reflections and interviews, News
Some time ago, before the covid-19 emergency, leaders of the Schönstatt Movement coming from seven European Countries have visited the International Centre of the Focolare Movement in Rocca di Papa, near Rome. They came from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. The group was accompanied by Fr Heinrich Walter, a former president of the General Presidium of Schönstatt and a member of the Steering Committee of Together for Europe.
The main objective of the visit was to “encounter Chiara Lubich”: they visited the places where she had lived and they also prayed at her tomb. Another objective was to hold a dialogue with some leaders at the Focolare Centre; one of these was Jesús Morán, the Co-president. They discussed the role of the Movements and their charisms in a context of ecclesial, political and cultural transformations in Europe. They also looked at the importance of the communion between the Movements, especially as part of the ecumenical network Together for Europe.
Both groups shared the view that the meeting and the dialogue were cordial, precious and fruitful. Obviously, this was yet another step forward in the long journey of communion and collaboration that Schönstatt and the Focolare have shared since Pentecost Eve of 1998 in St Peter’s Square, Rome, during the meeting for New Movements and Communities organized by John Paul II.
Diego Goller
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