unity Tag

Alegria en la diversidad
THE POPE VIDEO, editorial team • In The Pope Video for January, Pope Francis encourages us “to recognize the gift of different charisms within the Christian communities, and to discover the richness of different ritual traditions within the Catholic Church.” The Holy Father’s intention becomes a moving appeal: “There is no need to fear the diversity of charisms in the Church.” — Christians need to understand and live “the gift of diversity in the Church.” This is the powerful prayer intention that Pope Francis shares in the first Pope VideoRead More
Ignacio Serrano del Pozo, Chile • It is still not even a month (refers to the publication of the original version of this article: 07/26/2020) since the controversial report appeared in which the historian and theologian Alexandra von Teuffenbach denounced having found documents in the Vatican files, which compromised the moral integrity of Father Joseph Kentenich.  However, to many of us this time has seemed like a full year, if not more, marked by emotional wear and intense discussion. We could even admit that we had never read so manyRead More
Editorial Staff Schoenstatt.org • Whoever looks for Schoenstatt on the Internet finds what constitutes the greatest strength of this movement that has just entered its second century of existence: the joy in diversity and freedom (we could call it federation), the creative tension between the institutional or official spaces and the free spaces, an endless number of authentic and diverse expressions of covenant life and its shaping force of a covenant culture. In addition to the many official pages (especially those of each country and those of federations, institutes, andRead More
EXTRAORDINARY MOMENT OF PRAYER PRESIDED OVER BY POPE FRANCIS • We were there. In front of the screens. Alone in the houses. United as perhaps nc,ever before, with each other, with Pope Francis, with Jesus. Like those disciples in the boat.  “ike the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each ofRead More
THE POPE VIDEO, May 2019 • This month Pope Francis asks us to pray for the Church in Africa, that it “may be the seed of unity among her peoples and a sign of hope for this continent.” — During this May month of Mary, Pope Francis’ prayer intention is to pray for the Church in Africa. In his video, he is says that the ethnic, linguistic and tribal divisions that the continent faces “can be overcome promoting unity in diversity,” and thanks the religious sisters, priests, laity and missionariesRead More
POPE FRANCIS • Tension is rooted in human nature: unity or diversity. The temptation of uniformity to the point of dictatorship at the cost of freedom. The temptation of polarisation to the point of creating walls, once again, at the cost of freedom. Pope Francis, just like so many of the Church’s saints, like Fr. Kentenich, encourages the audacity of freedom, the audacity of unity in diversity; of diversity in unity. In our Schoenstatt language, this is covenant culture. The condition and fruit of a new people, a new heartRead More
GERMANY, By Bishop Michael Gerber, Auxiliary Bishop Freiburg • The last Eucharistic celebration in a chapel that will no longer be a chapel is a sad occasion.  However, this celebration had a totally unexpected angle… For more than sixty years, St. Pirmin’s Seminary in Sasbach, near Achern, Germany, served as a place where youths obtained their baccalaureates.  Approximately 160 of them were ordained as priests.  Schoenstatt Fathers Heinrich Walter, Franz Widmaier and many others were among them.  Inspired by Fr. Tillmann Beller who was in charge of the Schoenstatt Boys’Read More
TOGETHER FOR EUROPE /PressOffice • “Five hundred years of separation are enough – unity is possible!” With this slogan the ecumenical network “Together for Europe” is issuing an invitation to the next international gathering, this time in the capital city of Bavaria. The Congress and Rally are supported by representatives in the political field and many Church leaders, among them Cardinal Kurt Koch from Rome, Bishop Otfried July of the Lutheran World Federation, the Rumanian Orthodox Metropolitan Serafim Joanta, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches Olaf FyskeRead More
POPE FRANCIS IN AFRICA, Sarah-Leah Pimentel • Pope Francis’s message in the Central African Republic (CAR) was a call to peace and encouragement for the people of this war torn country to find healing and reconciliation. This leg of the Pope Francis’ trip was possibly the most dangerous. In a country reeling from various waves of violence between the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels and the predominately Christian anti-balaka vigilante groups, there were real fears that Pope Francis could be targeted. To protect him, UN troops, 900 members of a FrenchRead More
By the editor • During the Mass celebrated on 8 July at the Parque del Bicentenario in Quito and dedicated to the evangelisation of people, Pope Francis reflected on two fundamental concepts necessary in proclaiming the Good News: freedom and unity. Francis challenged the faithful to make the Word of God known, not with “grand words, or complicated concepts, but with ‘the joy of the Gospel.'” He once again highlighted the importance of “unity” so that the “world may believe.” “Evangelization does not consist in proselytizing, but…attracting by our witnessRead More