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The shared mission
of the faithful

April to June 2024 - no 23 2024/2

Issue 22 top

... the synodal path underway in the Catholic Church for three years now is not simply a reorganization of the Church and even less a fad, but an eminently missionary enterprise: all of us, all the baptized, without exception, are called together, not to live serenely so that we can accomplish our individual salvation, nor is it to even make the Church or our communities more alive and beautiful, but to ensure above all that the words of Jesus and the lifestyle that he brought reach everyone in order to transform the journey of humanity.

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The prophetic promises of the Council

Hubertus Blaumeiser

Called to sow seeds

of hope and build peace

The World Day of Prayer for Vocations is an opportunity to reflect on the common vocation of all the baptized which then takes shape in different states of life and fields of commitment and precisely in this way contributes to the common mission of realizing in the world the dream of God: a world in which women and men of all peoples live together as sisters and brothers.

Towards a listening Church in dialogue

Written from a German perspective, this overview places the synodal process initiated by Pope Francis against the background of the reform of the Second Vatican Council and, in particular, the pontificate of Paul VI. Thus, the epochal significance of this ongoing process emerges. Peter Klasvogt directs the Kommende Dortmund Social Institute and Schwerte Catholic Academy in the Archdiocese of Paderborn, Germany.

The warp and the weft

The Churches are living an era characterized by renewed missionary fervor, an era intimately linked to the synodal arrangement of the Church. Mission and synodality, in fact, are two sides of the same coin by which evangelization plays out. And the coin’s thickness can be considered "Trinitarian communion." Jesús Morán, a philosopher and theologian, was elected co-president of the Focolare Movement in 2014. He reflects here on the role of the laity, and in particular the new movements and communities born from lay charisms.

Maria Antonia de San José, or Mama Antula as she was called, is Argentina's first woman saint, and was canonized on Feb. 9, 2024. After the Jesuit expulsions from Latin America, she organized clandestine St. Ignatius Exercises for thousands of people from all walks of life. She also worked for the poor, the indigenous and those enslaved. Like Mama Antula, Pope Francis invited us in his canonization address that day to "not to give up in the face of adversity" and "not to desist from our good intentions of bringing the Gospel to everyone, despite the challenges this may represent."

MGR GERARDO ALMENAZA

Embodying Ecological Conversion

One great challenge of our time is undoubtedly the ecological one. Mgr. Gerardo Alminaza is bishop in the diocese of San Carlo in the Philippines. The Philippines is among the nations in the world which are most vulnerable to natural disasters. Msgr. Gerardo recounts how evangelization passes through ecological commitment.

Harlem Outreach

In August 2020, the New York City men’s focolare center moved slightly north to an apartment in Harlem. Little did they imagine that such a move would change their lives in just a matter of months. Hans Jurt, a Swiss focolarino living in the USA since 2015, shares his story.

RT REV TREVOR WILLIAMS

Debunking myths

about the other

Bishop emeritus of the Church of England in the diocese of Limerick in Southern Ireland, the author shares his ecumenical journey, starting with his decision as a young priest to move to Belfast during the hard years of the civil war. He later became leader of the Corrymeela Community, founded in 1965 to help people and communities affected by the violence and polarization of the Northern Ireland conflict.

FABIO CIARDI OMI

Fr Jonathan Cotton OSB

A member of Ampleforth Abbey in England, Father Jonathan Cotton became a Benedictine in 1961. After a life engaged on various fronts, especially in parish work, he moved to Loppiano (Florence) in 2022, where he lived at the "Claritas" spirituality center for religious and attended the Sophia University Institute. He came into contact with the spirituality of the Focolare Movement in 1972, had a close relationship with Chiara Lubich and was a passionate witness to unity for many in ecumenical and other sectors of the church and society.

GIULIA IOTTI and ROBERTO RUINI

Holiness beyond borders

The twentieth century had many martyrs for the Christian faith, among them: Edith Stein, the Polish Catholic Carmelite nun who had converted from Judaism and who was murdered in the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942. Her unique biographical, theological and spiritual journey, culminating in martyrdom, invites us to study and reflect on the Gospel encounter in the context of totalitarian regimes, oriented by her choice towards world peace. Giulia Iotti is director of the Theological Library of Reggio Emilia, and her husband, Roberto Ruini, is a recent graduate in interfaith theology from the Pontifical Lateran University, with a focus precisely on these three persons mentioned above.

ADRIANA MASOTTI

What's next in the Journey?

“How to be a Synodal Church in Mission? Five perspectives for theological exploration ahead of the Second Session” and “Study Groups on Issues Emerging from the First Session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be Explored in Collaboration with the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia” are the titles of two documents from the Synod’s General Secretariat, presented on March 14 in preparation for the second session of the Synod of Bishops Assembly, scheduled for October 2–27, 2024, at the Vatican.

The Global Christian Forum

From April 16-19, 2024, the fourth international Global Christian Forum took place in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Bringing together some 250 people from more than 50 countries, who represented varied church families, global networks and diverse organizations, it was a time for going in-depth, for prayer and for sharing. The Forum is held every six years, each time in a different world region.

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