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Second Social Conference in New Schoenstatt, Argentina
Nachrichten - News - Noticias
 published: 2007-09-11

Do something

Second Social Conference in New Schoenstatt, Argentina

 

Junge Schönstätter fühlen sich zum sozialen Engagement gerufen

Jóvenes schoenstattianos comprometidos en la acción social.

Schoenstatt youth committed with social action

Junge Schönstätter fühlen sich zum sozialen Engagement gerufen

 

Referent: Pater Horacio Sosa

Conferencista: Padre Horacio Sosa

Speaker: Father Horacio Sosa

Referent: Pater Horacio Sosa

 
Kinder aus der Casa del Niño führen einen Folkloretanz auf  

Niños bailando Folklore en el salón del Solaz de María (Casa del Niño)

Children performing a folk dance in the hall of Solaz de Maria (from the Day Care Center)

Kinder aus der Casa del Niño führen einen Folkloretanz auf

 
Jugendliche stellen ihre sozialen Aktivitäten vor

Jóvenes comentando sus acciones sociales

Young people commenting their social activities

Jugendliche stellen ihre sozialen Aktivitäten vor

 
Eduardo Serantes, Vorsitzender der Nationalen Kommission für Gerechtigkeit und Frieden, einer Einrichtung der Argentinischen Bischofskonferenz  

Sr. Eduardo Serantes, Presidente de la Comisión Nacional de Justicia y Paz, organismo de la conferencia Episcopal Argentina

Mr. Eduardo Serantes, President of the National Committee of Justice and Peace, of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina

Eduardo Serantes, Vorsitzender der Nationalen Kommission für Gerechtigkeit und Frieden, einer Einrichtung der Argentinischen Bischofskonferenz

Fotos: Maria Silvina Rocca © 2007

 
   

ARGENTINA, Maria Silvina Rocca. Schoenstatt social: You have a mission: fulfill it. Let’s put our country upon our shoulder… was the motto for the Social Conference of the Schoenstatt Movement of Argentina. Schoenstatt’s social commitment, the social dimension of the Covenant of Love, was a practical subject at first, but there was also a reflection called, " all have a special home" in South American Schoenstatt. Many Schoenstatters with a high degree of commitment for the benefit of the most needy have made this a reality in many foundations and social works.

On September 1st and 2nd 2007 the Second Social Conferences were held in New Schoenstatt, Argentina, which were set up by the Diocese of Mar del Plata to exchange experiences, desires in order to increase service to the poorest, but above all, to build a new country. Schoenstatters from different areas of the country contributed their ideas and concerns. Father Javier Arteaga, Father Horacio Sosa, and Father Guillermo Cassone were present along with Educardo Serantes, an agronomic engineer and president of the national commission of justice and peace, an organization of the Episcopal Conference of Argentina, which works for the development of social justice. Students from the Mater Ter Admirabilis School and university accompanied them.

Social commitment

During the closing Mass, the Argentine National Constitution was presented at the offertory as an expression of the ideal that the conferees wanted to attain. It was placed under God’s protection in the expectation that leaders capable of leading the country with hope and love will be elected during the elections in October. Each of the dioceses present at this Conference offered their provincial Constitutions, as a way of participating in the commitment as citizens, to associate the quiet and daily work with the mission of forging a country as a family throughout its territory. During the welcome Father Javier

Arteaga said: "We gather in these social Conferences as a Schoenstatt Family to assume an apostolic commitment for the service of the most needy. God is our motor, the source of love that through our Father and Founder stimulates us to intervene in an energetic and vigorous manner in the gears that move history."

Throughout his life, Father Joseph Kentenich worked and was concerned with social action. He said, "There cannot be a true education without the recognition of the great social problems of our time and without a suitable way of managing them in order to overcome them. We should think with a social attitude that consists of consideration of others, in having compassion for the misery of others to give a prompt and timely response, based on love and on kindness." Father Ketntenich organized many pedagogic and social conferences where he referred to the holy social. As an apostolic Movement, Schoenstatt is called to this task. The religious and moral renewal of the world should lead to the solution of the social question. Schoenstatt is called to build the new social order based on renewed personalities in Christ, with a profound interior life that will lead them to take on the problems of the era with responsibility. If one put their fingers on the pulse of time, it would show that the country is shouting for protection, for the dignity of life, for justice, for equality, and for honesty of everyone, especially for those who hold a public position. If you put your ear to the heart of God, you would hear: "Love one another as I have loved you."

Do something

Father Horacio Sosa showed some of the treasure of Joseph Kentenich’s social thinking. He pointed out that we should grow in sensitivity to the social issues. Today’s ideas are tomorrow’s deeds. One must see the reality and work concretely to transform it: a great challenge.

"There is always something that can be done in our community," Father Sosa stressed. "We cannot do everything, but to do nothing is a misfortune while doing something is salvific. Live the Covenant of Love! The personal mission is to have a comprehensive love, to revitalize the social action of the Church. Overcome the defeatist spirit and lack of interior strength. A new world must emerge from the ashes; each one should be challenged to think more about the other person than about himself..."

We must go from being inhabitants to being citizens, and from being spectators to being protagonists

Then, the agronomic engineer, Eduardo Serantes, spoke about the commitment and the participation of the citizen. The succession of continuous crises has left Argentina fragmented, with social exclusion. It’s an Argentina without hope, where each of its sectors struggle on their own without listening to the other, without taking into account the common good, and that’s not a surprise to others. The country’s in a reactionary mood without any regard to the future and concerned only with the short term. Mr. Serantes referred to Argentina’s disenfranchised: the people and families who not only lack material goods; but have also lost the spiritual good which is indispensable in getting ahead.

"The Latin American Bishops, meeting recently in Aparecida, spoke about those who are left out: they’re not only exploited, but they’re also treated as leftovers, and throwaways…" commented Mr. Serantes. He was referring to the thousands of youth in Buenos Aires who do not study or work, to the street children, to the many cases of malnutrition, to death from hunger, to men and women who sleep on the street, to the elderly without income and without help, the homeless families, and those enslaved by drugs. The number of disenfranchised people is very great. Committed lay people who are trained in social work are needed.

There is great social debt. What should be done about this situation? Mr. Serantes suggested, "Do your work well in the family, and in the community. Work, produce, pay taxes, and educate your children with values so that they will become good citizens, regain family values, etc…But this isn’t enough. Right now Argentina demands much more, we need to be men and women with hope. We should be protagonists of the social situation to help recuperate those that are down and out."

He continued, "We should share and not compete. In the depth of our nature there is love, not competition. Competition is closer to sin and individualism than love. The measure in which we share instead of competing with others is that we will receive more, we will be happier…We are in a competitive world not only in the social order, but also in the work order."

Social commitment is alive in the Movement

"The presentations of several projects and diocesan social initiatives were very impressive, just like last year. These conferences increase social consciousness and contribute to joint projects allowing the different generations to bond, nurture, and enrich each other," said Mema Calviño.

The fifth grade students from Mater Ter Admirabilis School (Buenos Aires) participated in a mission at the El Molino neighborhood of Florencio Varela. On a previous visit, they found a great lack of the work ethic. One of the students explained,

"Yes, they had many material needs, but lacked the initiative to move forward." Therefore, the students promoted workshops that became a micro-endeavor. One of the girls explained, "Our objective is not only to provide material assistance. We also worked on the concept of the family bringing them closer to God guided by the Blessed Mother, who created strong bonds among all of us giving us the necessary tools to reach those who need us the most."

A new country

The high degree of commitment on the part of the youth was emphasized. Carlos Fiorucci, an engineering student, and Julián María Iturreria, a lawyer from La Plata, presented A New Country, a group of youth from the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement with the aim of forging a new country with a commitment to the generational mission of the today’s youth in the reconstruction of Argentina. New Country was established in the year 2003 in response to the profound crisis that affected Argentina beginning in 2001. They became aware that the solution to this crisis of values is not solved by getting rid of the politicians; rather, there had to be a change of certain bad habits: the corruption in everyday affairs, the uprootedness, the disinterest, the transgressions of the law, and the culture of mediocrity, among other things. The group of youth that emerged from the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement was formed in response to these issues with the desire of forging a new country by being aware of these Argentinean bad habits and by beginning to advocate a motivation for personal change, committing to the generational mission of the today’s youth: the reconstruction of Argentina. Their short-term goal is aimed at Argentina’s bicentennial year, 2010. To begin attaining their objective, they carried out leadership workshops in the schools, A Spring Cleaning on September 20th an article was published in the Buenos Aires’ newspaper, La Nacion, and on September 10, 2007, at Awake, a Catholic leadership conference with meetings and workshops about citizenship awareness.

Missions

During the missions it is stressed that the mission include material and spiritual assistance, not just being part of the ONG or political parties. There is catechesis, snacks with the children, Holy Mass with families who are visited in the neighborhood, and there are also open workshops: weaving, sewing, carpentry, field- work, with all the necessary materials provided. The Viribus Unitis Group, uniting our strength, carries out a religious mission, with an emphasis on social work, at La Carolina Rural, a village south of Florencio, Varela.

"We’re Schoenstatt youth, who are interested in political issues and the social thinking of Father Kentenich. This is why we came to this Second Social Conference, so we could form our ideals in this shared project. We contributed ideas from the point of view of university students," commented Diego and Gonzalo.

During the Social Conference, they carried out optional workshops on social, business, and political issues:

  • Homes and Dining Halls
  • Development of local communities
  • Promotion of human dignity in jails
  • Business and work
  • Political commitment

Many people participated in the optional workshops and made a commitment to overcome the difficulties and to build spaces for the common good with Schoenstatt spirituality.

The "why" of the Social Conference

The objective of these conferences is in creating ties among all the communities so that the large Schoenstatt Family will remain united in its work for a world where all people belong and are engaged in a productive positive way, because through the Covenant of Love, the Blessed Mother will provide the necessary tools for her children so that they can continue to grow in social commitment.

Translation: Celina Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA/amj

Teilnehmer der zweiten Sozialtagung

Grupo que participó en la Segunda Jornada Social

The participants of the second Social Conference

Teilnehmer der zweiten Sozialtagung

Fotos: Maria Silvina Rocca © 2007

 

 


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