A New Hope

Ministry of Hope, a Service of the Schoenstatt Movement to the Divorced Who Are in a New Relationship

PARAGUAY, Sonia and Eduardo Morales / Víctor and Stella Domínguez. At the end of 2005, Víctor and Stella Domínguez from the Schoenstatt Families Work in Paraguay were Executive Secretaries of the Episcopal Conference in Paraguay and Bishop Claudio Jiménez was in charge. They attended a CELAM conference in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Each country made a presentation on the topic of Irregular Families. With hand on the pulse of the times and ear at the heart of God, they asked themselves: if Schoenstatt is for everyone, from the richness of our spirituality, do we not also have to do something for these children of God who are in this situation? They shared their concern with the Movement. For two years now, the so called "Ministry of Hope" has had this name for other initiatives within what is called the Family Ministry of the Movement along with workshops on dating, engaged couples, the Web of Home-Shrines, and other initiatives whose primary goal is…..To Save Families at All Costs!.....according to the exhortation of John Paul II.

In May of 2006, with a beautiful talk by Fr. Antonio Cosp and approximately 30 couples, this long-awaited dream became a reality. From Schoenstatt, for quite some time, they could see how necessary this evangelization ministry is for persons who are in this particular situation due to marriage breakups.

Ministry of Hope wants to be a response from the Church which cannot remain indifferent to these painful situations and that as Mother and Teacher, from this space which is under construction, the Church can fulfill her mission to lead all baptized persons to salvation.

With what spirit do they minister to the divorced who are in a new relationship?

Those who minister to these couples are moved with warmth and respect to welcome them in truth. They accompany them with hope to overcome the hard impact of a separation and help them with the challenge to build solidly the foundations of a new life. Schoenstatt wants to show them that they are still children of God, as they were before the break-up, and that the attitude of children who know they are loved will help them experience a healing forgiveness and will open for them untold paths of spiritual growth.

Ministry of Hope does not take on roles of mediation or conflict resolution, nor does it pretend to be therapy for couples.

As an ecclesial movement committed to building families in the image of Nazareth, they want to be an echo of John Paul II’s exhortation in his Familiaris Consortio No. 65 Encyclical: "The Church’s pastoral concern will not only be limited to the Christian families closest at hand, it will extend its horizons in harmony with the heart of Christ, and will show itself to be even more lively for families in general and for those families in particular which are in difficult or irregular situations. For all of them, the Church will have a word of truth, goodness, understanding, hope and deep sympathy with their sometimes tragic difficulties. All will be offered unselfish help with the aim of helping them become like the family model which the Creator has desired from the beginning and which Christ has renewed with His redeeming grace."

What do they do?

So that the divorced who are in a new relationship experience in a concrete way what the Church teaches, during this first year, they have offered a cycle of formative talks and monthly meetings in which different topics are presented for the strengthening of their Christian faith and for their roles as spouses and parents.

At the end of October 2007, the first SPIRITUAL RETREAT IN TUPARENDA took place!

The retreat was open for all those DIVORCED IN A NEW RELATIONSHIP whether or not they had participated in the monthly meetings throughout the year. In this retreat, they want to teach the couples what the Pontifical Council for the Family encourages (March 14, 1997): "Help these brothers and sisters understand that the Church loves them. She is not separated from them and suffers for them in their situation. The divorced and remarried are and continue being her members because they have been baptized and conserve the Christian faith."

For these couples, the two days were more than a special blessing. It was an opportunity for them to once again feel as beloved children of God and the Blessed Mother.

The Domínguez couple – with six children (two girls and four boys) and a granddaughter and who on December 20^th will celebrate 32 years of marriage "always happy and in love" – are the lay leaders of Ministry of Hope.

• If you wish more information on this ministry, you may contact Father Antonio Cosp pcosp@schoenstatt.org.py or the Domíguez family at domingz@telesurf.com.py
• The information was also on Zenit

Translation: Carlos Cantú Family Federation La Feria, Texas USA 120607