NEWSLETTER OF THE SANT’EGIDIO COMMUNITY • I received the newsletter on February 22nd, I read it on February 24th, the second anniversary of the beginning of the war against Ukraine. Sant’Egidio, this young Movement from Together for Europe is in Ukraine, it is doing in Ukraine what Schoenstatt cannot do there, simply because it is not in this martyred country. With the permission of Sant’Egidio (of course, as they wrote to me) we share this newsletter in covenant solidarity. — Two years after the beginning of the war in Ukraine,
Read More DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, Father Jean Marie Bisimwa • The Schoenstatt Fathers have been living and working in Uvira, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for four years. 2020, the first year of the pandemic that largely spared Africa, was a fruitful year; in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where Schoenstatt has been growing for years and where several Schoenstatt Fathers come from, the first branch of the Schoenstatt Fathers was founded.In the meantime, a Shrine is being built and the work of the Fathers in the Bon Pasteur
Read More ARGENTINA, Lilita and Carlos Ricciardi • From January 27 to February 4 of this year, the Archdiocesan Youth Mission of the Archdiocese of La Plata for young people aged 14 to 25 took place in the city of Villa Elisa (14.7 km from La Plata) under the motto “Let us proclaim greatness in its simplicity”. — We learned about it through the announcement made by Father Guillermo Khidir at the Sunday Mass in the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish. At the end of the service, we asked him how we
Read More ARGENTINA, Juan Diego Stellatelli / María Fischer • The Casa del Niño in Florencio Varela recently received a donation of around €60 from Germany… in the middle of the summer season in the southern hemisphere. And the question arose spontaneously: What do our 300 children do during the very long summer vacation? We know that there is no school. We know that the families in this desperately poor district can’t go on vacation by the sea. Is the Casa del Niño actually open? Is there a program? There is. —
Read More ARGENTINA, Inés Petiti • On January 31st, L.T.6 Radio Goya celebrated its 71st anniversary, and as every year, a Mass of thanksgiving was celebrated in which the missionaries of the Campaign were present with their banner. The Schoenstatt Pilgrim Mother Campaign has been present on this radio station for 20 years. — This FM radio is unique in the city and in the region, it is the link to the rural area, a radio that is supported and loved by the community. The Pilgrim Mother Campaign has its place on
Read More ARGENTINA, Fr. José María Iturrería • It is January 2024 and the Family Missions in Argentina have completed 25 years of existence. In 1999, a group of intrepid couples and young people from La Plata dared to travel to Paraguay to bring a missionary experience that today has expanded throughout the length and breadth of the country. — What began as a daring initiative and a trust-based challenge to the Blessed Mother has become an experience of family in faith that has transformed the lives of many people of all
Read More CHILE, Rafael Mascayano • In these days, the Region of Valparaiso, Chile, has suffered the dramatic situation of fires that have claimed the lives of more than 50 people, and the destruction of entire villages, houses and buildings. Numerous people have had to evacuate due to the danger of the fires affecting their homes and also compromised by the heat and smoke as a consequence of these events. — Unfortunately, the high temperatures caused by climate change are mixed with human intentionality in causing these fires. Given this reality, many
Read More ARGENTINA, Gaby and Gastón Zurrita • On Wednesday and Thursday we shared with the Family Missions two days full of emotions in Maipú, a town that we have been missioning for 23 years. The reason for the visit: It was the 25th anniversary of the Family Missions in Argentina and we went there. — We do not want to share memories, but concrete experiences, encounters with people with material and spiritual needs and so many with illnesses. In each house that we visited, where the doors were opened, there the
Read More PORTUGAL, Ângela Roque and Paulo Rocha, Agencia Ecclesia • The 2024 edition of ‘Misión País’, promoted by Catholic university students, will take place in about 70 Portuguese locations, with more than 4,000 participants, open to “everyone”, as in the recent WYD, said Pedro Rodrigues, one of the national leaders. — “What we experienced this week doesn’t have to be just this week, just as what we experienced at WYD doesn’t have to be just that week. It is about taking what we have learned, what we have experienced and taking
Read More GUATEMALA, Edgar Leonel Tórtola • “We did not give up. This Saturday, July 26, 2023, we could not use the chapel where we are always allowed to pray the rosary, since there was a retreat, so the Madrugadores (early risers) decided to hold the meeting in a public square, which is known as John Paul II, in Guatemala City”. This is the beginning of an article published in schoenstatt.org about the first dawn of the Madrugadores of Guatemala in a public place. It was not going to be the last…since
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