ARGENTINA, Claudia Echenique. The purpose of the conference that was held on Saturday, March 15th at the Colegio Máximo San José in San Miguel (BS. As.), where Jorge Bergoglio lived for eighteen years, studied, was ordained as a priest, and had been the rector was to celebrate the 1st Anniversary of Pope Francis’ pontificate.
Generation Francisco convoked different groups, movements and institutions to learn about and to relate the wealth of actions, gestures and initiatives that have emerged since March 13, 2013, when the first Latin American Pope appeared on the balcony of Saint Peter’s and initiated this “springtime” in the Church.
During the intense conferenece that began at 9:00 a.m., the participants worked in commissions on topics such as: the Culture of Encounter, a poor Church for the poor, Solidarity and participation, Challenges of the youth, and Poverty and the existential peripheries. That these workshops facilititated the need to dialogue and to share experiences and projects that have emerged under the impetus of renewal brought about by the Argentinean Pope were evident.
250 youths and adults participated from allover the region of: Greater Buenos Aires, La Plata, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, Córdoba, Jujuy, Tucumán, La Pampa and also from R. O. of Uruguay. Among them there were pastoral agents, priests, religious, legislators, educational officials, political and militant, social and union leaders, artists, athletes, including a group of ten teachers and directors from Colegio Estrada, from City Bell, an institution that applies Father Kentenich’s pedagogy and spirituality.
To lead from discernment
The plenary session began with a video greeting by Professor Guzmán Carriquiry, the Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, who said: “We are beginning to live an evangelical revolution in the Church. Pope Francis has brought a renewal of dynamism to the life and mission of the Church.
Father Juan José Berli, SJ, who is presently the rector of Colegio Máximo, referred to “Leading from discernment,” as the greatest Ignatian contribution to the present Pontificate.
I never thought that I would like being a sheep so much
Andrea Ilaqua, a young political leader from Buenos Aires, expressed: “I never thought that I would like being a sheep so much, I love being part of the sheepfold because we recognize the voice of our Shepherd. Francis precedes us, giving us hope. He is in our midst with simplicity, he brings us God’s mercy and tenderness, and he also goes behind helping the lame ones, the wounded.”
Lunch was accompanied by groups of folkloric music with songs and recitations that referred to Pope Francis. A large cake was served for dessert and everyone sang “Happy Birthday” for the Holy Father’s 1st Anniversary.
The peripheries at center stage
During the afternoon, Jorge Benedetti, one of the organizers of the conference, initiated a round table, and he stressed that the signs of the times show that the axis of the world is changing. Francis has placed the existential peripheries at the center of worldwide attention. In Rio de Janeiro, he asked the youths to “transform”, “to go out”, “to make noise.” “Today is Latin America’s time, because today it is the time of the people.”
Father Pepe Di Paola, a priest of the slums of Buenos Aires stressed that the world is seeing Francis’ innovation, but that “this is a continuation of what we saw and shared in Buenos Aires with Father Jorge Bergoglio, who was always close to the poor people.” And he stressed how important it was for the Pope to have “Shrines as places of profound man’s encounter with God and of the people’s expressions of faith.”
Youths: new spaces and better bonds
Nadia Bilat, a young leader from Nueva Ciudadanía en Paraná (Entre Ríos), related the experience of having created a space for participation to channel the restlessness and the challenges that Francis proposes to the youth. “Francis’ election and everything that has occurred during this first year renewed our hope that a better world is possible. He convokes us to travel a road that he is already walking,” she concluded.
Martín Palma, a political and social militant, referred to the “revolution of tenderness” that Francis proposes before this “present world that has transformed us into solitary, egotistic beings and that causes us to enclose ourselves in our homes without caring what happens to the neighbor, or those who work beside us. Francis appeared in 2013 and he proposes the road of tenderness, the touch of Christ embodied in the poor, to look at them in the eyes and smile at them.”
Solidarity in the Culture of Encounter
Roberto Ré related that Red Sanar, Argentina, began in La Pampa in 1994, after the suicide of seven youths in only seventy days. This psychiatrist along with colleagues and pastoral agents created this ONG (non-profit) for mental health that is free and in solidarity, which functions with 200 volunteers, who are trained and who are true agents of solidarity in the Culture of Encounter.
New paradigm of the mission
Gustavo Escobar, director of Editorial Santa Maria, mentioned that there have always been youths who go out on mission for a couple of weeks, and then they return to their daily lives. Today this has changed. The mission is the place where everyone is, and it is permanent. The paradigm of the mission today is accompanied by the coherent witness of life.
Main conclusions
Among the conclusions that were adopted in the Conference, the following are stressed:
- The need to continue to spread Francis’ thinking and actions
- The importance of using clear and simple language, with concrete gestures that allow a true Culture of Encounter
- To go out into the street and to be in contact with the people in order to know their needs and to generate attachments of trust and tenderness
- To continue to communicate through digital networks to make this initiative grow and to give it national and international reach.
Carlos Ferré’s final words
Carlos Ferré, from the organizational group and a member of the Schoenstatt Movement, commented about the outcome: “We are pleasantly surprised by the number of people and institutions that participated. This shows that all of the areas have been “touched” by Francis, his message and his gestures. Let us pray for our Pope and may Generation Francis be a network of nets that are extended, because it is a great benefit for Argentina, for Latin America and the world. The promise has been fulfilled; after fifty years, Vatican Council II will be a reality.”
Pancho Cassano, a young leader from Paraná, was in charge of the Conference’s closing: “We are always told that we are champions at making diagnostics and proposals and then we fail in action. Today we did all of this. What changed? We are impelled from above; Francisco impels us, he is a first class world leader, who is capable of transforming that countercurrent into a current of life, which is what he asks of us.” And he challenged everyone with this final question: “Will we venture to be protagonists of this road, of going out with Francis to evangelize with joy?”
In conclusion, Monsignor Sergio Fenoy, Bishop of San Miguel celebrated the Eucharistic. In his homily, he referred to the Gospel of the Transfiguration, and he expressed: “The resplendent face of Jesus is also showing our beauty. The artist is he who sees a work of art in a simple block of stone, in a piece of clay. And God sees our beauty in our poor humanity. The vocation of the believer is to make the best of every situation, to discover the good of each person, to support communion and service, unity and dialogue.”
Video (Claudia Echenique): Carlos Ferré: Who is Francis?
Quien Es Francisco – Carlos Ferre.mp4 from schoenstatt org on Vimeo.
Video (Claudia Echenique): Carlos Ferré: What’s the “Generación Francisco”?
Generacion Francisco 2014.mp4 from schoenstatt org on Vimeo.
Photos
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| March 25, 2014 – Genración Francisco |
Original: Spanish – Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA
