Later this week in Rome, an enormous gathering of representatives of the "new movements" will take place – it’s Pentecost 2006, the second such gathering. The first was in 1998, with John Paul II.
Here’s the schedule of events:
The beauty of being a Christian and the joy of communicating this
“There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel,
by the encounter with Christ.
There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him
and to speak to others of our friendship with Him”
(Benedict XVI, Homily April 24, 2005)
Second World Congress of ecclesial movements and new communities
Rocca di Papa, May 31- June 2, 2006
Tuesday, May 30
15:00
Arrival and registration of participants
19:30
Dinner
Wednesday, May 31
8:30
Eucharistic Celebration – Presided by Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko
9:30
Introduction – Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko
10:00
Lecture – Christ, the most beautiful among the sons of Adam Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, O.P.
10:45
Break
11:00
Panel Discussion
Encountering the beauty of Christ: a formation itinerary
-Alba Sgariglia, Focolare Movement
-Kiko Argüello, Neocatecumenal Way
-Giancarlo Cesana, Communion and Liberation
-Patti Mansfield, Catholic Charismatic Renewal
-Rev. Laurent Fabre, Chemin Neuf Community
-Jean Vanier, L’Arche Communities
12:15
Additional interventions
13:00
Lunch
15:30
Work groups by language
Ecclesial maturity: a challenge and a path to follow Charisms and educating in the beauty of Christ
18:00
Review of the work groups
19:00
Evening Prayer
19:30
Dinner
Thursday, June 1
8:30
Eucharistic Celebration – Presided by Cardinal Carlo Caffarra
9:30
Lecture – The beauty of being a Christian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S.
10:15
Break
10:30
Panel Discussion
Giving testimony to Christ’s beauty in various spheres of today’s world
-before the “apostasy of the masses”
Vittorio Messori, journalist
-among the sects and various forms of New Age
Rev. Bernard Peyrous, Emmanuel Community
-in the relationship with Islam
Archbishop Fouad Twal, Coadjutor of Jerusalem
-in the education of youth
Luis Fernando Figari, Christian Life Movement
-in the presence of Catholics in public life
Dino Boffo, director of Avvenire
-in situations of poverty and violence
Andrea Riccardi, Sant’Egidio Community
12:15
Debate
13:00
Lunch
15:30
Work groups by language
Ecclesial maturity: a challenge and a path to follow
Matching our response to these various spheres of today’s world
18:00
Review of the work groups
19:00
Evening Prayer
19:30
Dinner
21:00
Evening of fellowship: recital of classical music (Trio Artemisia)
Friday, June 2nd
8:15
Morning Prayer
9:30
Lecture – Ecclesial movements and new communities in the mission of the Church: priorities and perspectives
Cardinal Angelo Scola
10:30
Open Forum
11:15
Break
11:30
Concluding remarks
12:00
Eucharistic Celebration – Presided by Bishop Josef Clemens
13:00
Lunch
Here’s the information on the gathering with Benedict on the Vigil of Pentecost:
The eve-of-Pentecost meeting of the movements and new Church communities will begin at 3:45 p.m. local time in St. Peter’s Square.
Bishop Josef Clemens, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, will give the greeting, followed by the presentation of the ecclesial groups attending the event.
Then a video will enable participants to relive highlights of Pentecost 1998, when Pope John Paul II met with all these ecclesial realities for the first time.
Testimonies and reflections will follow on commitments arising from the second congress of ecclesial movements and new communities, which will be held in Rocca di Papa this Wednesday through Friday on "The Beauty of Being Christians and the Joy of Communicating It."
They will be read by Salvatore Martinez, national coordinator of Italy’s Renewal in the Spirit, and by Maria Luigia Corona, co-founder of the Villaregia Missionary Community.
After the reading of texts of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and the presentation of a video of Benedict XVI, a married couple will lead the third glorious mystery of the rosary, "The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and His Church."
The Pope will arrive shortly after 5:30 p.m. After the welcome and greeting of Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the praying of vespers will begin.
Founders
Also programmed is the reading by Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, of a message addressed to the Pope by the movements.
Kiko Argüello, who helped launch the Neocatechumenal Way; Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio; and Father Julián Carrón, president of the Communion and Liberation fraternity, will comment on the two psalms and the canticle of Revelation of vespers.
After the Pope’s homily, there will be a liturgical memorial of the sacrament of confirmation, characterized by the rite of fire, the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the profession of faith.
At the end, Luis Fernando Figari, founder of the Christian Life Movement, and Patti Gallagher Mansfield of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal will thank the Pope on behalf of the movements.
Bishop Clemens said that most of those who will attend the meeting are from Italy.
It is estimated that about 30,000 people will come from other European countries; 5,000 from Latin America; 450 from Africa; 300 from Asia; and more than 100 from Oceania.
In the main, these people belong to some 100 movements and communities.
Um…is there someone missing? Just wondering.
An interview with Archbishop Rylko, who’s in charge:
Q: What are the Pope’s hopes for this Pentecost meeting?
Archbishop Rylko: The Pope has followed closely the event’s preparations.
This was confirmed by his words after the Regina Caeli on Sunday, May 21: "I have present in my heart and prayer the important appointment of Saturday, June 2, eve of Pentecost, when I will have the joy of meeting in St. Peter’s Square with numerous members of more than one hundred ecclesial movements and new communities, from all over the world. I know well what their formative, educational and missionary wealth — so appreciated and encouraged by our beloved Pope John Paul II — means for the Church."
Benedict XVI has been following these new associative realities for years and has done so with the passion of a theologian and pastor.
In the postmodern world, profoundly secularized, which effects in many a worrying erosion of the faith, these new charisms appear as important signs of hope, intense ways of living the faith, places that favor the encounter with Christ which radically transforms people’s lives, enkindling in many an impressive evangelizing impulse.
These realities are the fruit of continuous new "eruptions of the Spirit in the life of the Church," interventions that no one would ever be able to plan or project. They are free gifts that the People of God must receive with profound appreciation.
And I think that, in the significant context of the solemnity of Pentecost, the Pope will not fail to launch a strong call to the whole Church to open ever more to these gifts of the Spirit, encouraging the movements to continue serving the mission of the Church with generosity and passion.
Read Previous Post