VATICAN, Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life • This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, which concluded with a solemn Pentecost Vigil in St. Peter’s Square with Pope John Paul II on May 30, 1998. — The event held great importance for the journey of numerous ecclesial realities, many of which were born in the years immediately preceding or following the Second Vatican Council. It was an event that marked the ecclesial
Read More MEXICO, Karla Leal • As an teenager, almost an adult, in the late 90’s, I used to climb up the sidewalk that existed at that time, and I carried a small bag with cement in one hand and with the other I held on to the ropes that were there to help us climb. Some time later, I remember the blessing of the wayside shrine that was built with the materials that so many young people carried up in backpacks. That day many little violet flowers came out and we
Read More Fr. Juan Pablo Catoggio – Superior General of the Schoenstatt Fathers • I met Fr. Antonio while he was still a deacon in the parish of La Merced in La Plata; I was in my last year of high school and I had not known Schoenstatt for very long. Very soon he invited me to my first Boys’ Youth camp – in Rio de los Sauces, January 1972, where he asked me to prepare a talk. The topic: what is a Schoenstatt leader. He helped me prepare the talk and
Read More VATICAN, Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life • On September 16, 2021, the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life summoned the moderators, presidents, and international leaders of all ecclesial movements, new communities, and associations recognized or erected by the Holy See to reflect on the theme “The responsibility of governance in lay aggregations. An ecclesial service”. — The core issue of the day was that of closely examining the themes included in the General Decree “The International Associations of the Faithful“, with the aim of reflecting together on the exercise
Read More YOUTH – THE NOW OF THE CHURCH, WYD LISBON 2023 • The Holy Father announced that the #WYD and the World Meeting of #Families have each been postponed for one year: #Rome2022, #Lisboa2023.— Taking heed of the concerns of families and young people to adjust these events according to changed logistical circumstances and requirements, wanting to promote better organizational and pastoral preparation, taking into account the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic is having and will have on families and young people, these are the reasons behind the postponement of the
Read More PARAGUAY, Mabel and Aldo Alonso • In October 2011, Aldo and I together began to write our story, knowing that it would not be easy, but we never thought it would be so difficult. A short time after being married, a tumor was discovered in my head. We suffered, but we were able to overcome our first great trial. Later I became pregnant and joy filled our home. Weeks later, I lost my baby, and the sorrow was so profound that it seemed impossible for us to recover. Although we
Read More SCHOENSTATTERS AT THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCH: Fr. Alexandre Awi, the new secretary for the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life On 1 September, Fr. Alexandre Awi, a Schoenstatt Father from Brazil, who up until May this year was the National Movement Director for Brazil, officially took up his task as the Secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. Before starting his new job and after having spent several months in the house of the Schoenstatt Fathers in Trastévere, Rome, where he finished his doctoral thesis and studied
Read More PARAGUAY, from Tupãrenda magazine At eight months of pregnancy, Alicia and Nelson recall their moments of disillusion and discouragement as something far away. Like every newly married couple, they experienced their first days and months in the midst of emotion and with details of their own “honeymoon”. Shortly after uniting their lives, they had the desire to be parents; it was a desire that increased more and more. The first three years of marriage passed with their enthusiasm intact. The attempt to conceive remained strong, and despite no clinical impediment,
Read More Interview with Msgr. Peter Wolf, Oberkirch, Germany Now into the heart of vibrant human life! Seize the opportunity with both hands! This seems to be more necessary today than if we can talk with all sorts of abstract theories about things. Go into practical life! When we take hold of it, it is there in all its fullness. From an editorial meeting of schoenstatt.org? It could be, but it isn’t. Pope Francis to cardinals or priests? It would fit, but it also isn’t. A good translation of an appeal during
Read More PARAGUAY, Horacio Chavez • On the first Friday of each month at Holy Mary of the Trinity Church in Tupãrenda, there is a Mass of Healing and Deliverance, where many faithful from different parts of the country come to encounter Jesus and the Holy Spirit seeking healing for their soul. On one of the last Fridays, while I walked toward the church, a lady with her little grandson stopped me, and she commented that she had a strange happiness and joy for this child, who was visiting this holy place
Read More