WYD PANAMA, Pope Francis’ messages 24.01.2019, María Fischer• “I just heard the Pope’s words to the bishops in Central America. These are words for us to reread, pray, and discover the message in order to bring it to life. Not only for the religious but also for lay people who play any pastoral role,” commented Ana María Ghiggi from the Schoenstatt.org team after the live transmission of Pope Francis’ meeting on 24 January. We share the messages here so that we can read, pray, and discover and bring Pope Francis’
Read More Synod on the Youth, Editorial team • The two Schoenstatters present at the Synod on the Youth, Fr. Alexandre Awi and Lucas Galhardo, sent a video message to the entire International Family. — Message from Fr. Alexandre: At the end of the Bishops’ Synod on the Youth, we are very happy to send a very special greeting to the entire Schoenstatt Family allover the world. For us it was a great joy to accompany this Synod and to also bring the presence of our spirituality, our Movement, and thus
Read More YOUTH SYNOD, Maria Fischer • On the feast of Our Lady of aparecida on 12 October – also the feast day of Our Lady of the Pillar – the Holy Father urged the Brazilian people to search for Our Lady “in the waters of their hearts, because she is Mother.” Lucas Galhardo, the impetus behind this greeting, said that the experience of this moment and the Synod as a whole, personally encourages him to pray more for the Holy Father. On 12 October at the Synod, Bishop Vilsom Basso, the
Read More YOUTH SYNOD 2018, Editorial team “Hope challenges us,” says Pope Francis, a few days after his powerful appeal to pray for the church, it “moves us and shatters that conformism which says, “it’s always been done like this” and asks them “to get up and look directly into the eyes of young people and see their situations.” This same hope asks us to make efforts to reverse situations of uncertainty, exclusion and violence, to which our young people are exposed. After months of preparations, the 15th Ordinary General Assembly of
Read More TOWARDS THE YOUTH SYNOD • Pope Francis delivered a video message for the International Marian Vigil with young people that took place at the St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows in Teramo, Italy, in preparation for the next Synod of Bishops on Youth, urging them to not be silent and to teach the adults about dialogue and concord. He spoke about the digital revolution, Mary, and the mission that youth have. — Text of the video message Dear friends, I am happy to take part in the International Marian
Read More TOWARDS THE SYNOD, Editors • On Saturday, 24 March the pre-Synod meeting was brought to a close with the approval of the document containing the proposals that the young people presented to the Church in light of the next Synod of Bishops. At the end of the celebration of Holy Mass on Palm Sunday, Pope Francis received the conclusive document of this week of work that ended on 24 March from a group of young people who participated in the pre-Synod meeting. As is customary, the Holy Father did not
Read More PRE-SYNODAL MEETING IN ROME, Magdalena Hartmann and Lucas Galhardo • At 12.30 today, in the Holy See Press Office, a press conference was held for the presentation of the Document of the pre-Synodal Meeting in preparation for the 15th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to be held in October 2018, on the theme: “Young people, faith and vocational discernment”. Meanwhile, the two members of the Schoenstatt Youth who participated in the pre-synodal meeting, Magdalena Hartmann (Germany) and Lucas Galhardo (Braszil), sent the following video message to all
Read More PRE-SYNOD YOUTH MEETING, Lucas Galhardo • After thanking the prayerful support of so many Schoenstatters, including members of the schoenstatt.org team and missionaries of the Pilgrim Mother Campaign in Santa Rita, an interior town of Paraguay, Lucas Galhardo, the Schoenstatt Movement’s representative at the Pre-Synod, shares some of his impressions of the first day. — The Pre-Synodal meeting began today with the presence of the Holy Father, who in the morning session shared some wise and encouraging words for us to make the most of this opportunity to meet and
Read More VATICAN/BRAZIL, Lucas Galhardo in an interview with Schoenstatt.org • On 19 March, the feast day of St. Joseph, Pope Francis will celebrate the fifth anniversary of his papacy. He will commemorate this day by listening to the young people at the Pre-Synod taking place from 19 to 24 March at the International Pontifical College Maria Mater Ecclesiae. Three Schoenstatters will be among the participants: Fr. Alexandre de Mello Awi, the secretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, Life and Family; Magdalena Hartmann from the Girls’ Youth in Germany as the
Read More TOWARDS THE YOUTH SYNOD, Maria Fischer and Claudia Echenique • If the Youth Synod had been convened by Pope Benedict XV in 1914, the youth of Schoenstatt’s founding generation and Fr. Kentenich would have participated with great enthusiasm and commitment. He believed in the dynamic and creative power of youth to jump start Schoenstatt’s development in the face of the challenges of the time. A century later, Pope Francis truly wants to listen to the youth because he desires a Church that has them in mind and that comes from
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