The annual meeting of moderators of associations, ecclesial movements, new communities and other entities, promoted by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, will take place on June 22nd, close to the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul. This year’s meeting has as its theme: Apostolicity, heart of the movements’ identity.
The meeting recalls the 25th anniversary of the first International Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, which ended on that occasion with a solemn Pentecost Vigil in St. Peter’s Square, with Pope John Paul II, on May 30, 1998.
After the Second Vatican Council, the Church saw the blossoming of new charisms and movements, thus beginning a new path of communion. In his speech, Pope John Paul II stated that “the movements officially recognized by ecclesiastical authorities propose themselves as forms of self-realization and reflections of the one Church. Their birth and their spread have brought to the life of the Church an unexpected, and at times even explosive, newness.”
“An unexpected, and sometimes even explosive, novelty”
The objective of the meeting and the reflection that will follow is to boldly and creatively face the challenges of this time of epochal change, to rethink structures, style and methods of evangelization of the aggregating realities, without lacking generosity and courage.
The proposal is to reflect on the “theological positioning” of the movements, a theme that the then Card. Joseph Ratzinger illustrated in his conference at the Congress: a contribution of great ecclesial relevance that has kept all its relevance today and that can illuminate the path and the challenges that associations and movements are experiencing.
25 years later
The meeting program is divided into two parts: in the morning, after the introduction by Card. Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery, Fr. Paolo Prosperi, of the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, recalled the journey made by the movements in the twenty-five years since that conference, taking into account the Magisterium and the current challenges.
In the afternoon, the audience will be dedicated to the testimonies of the participants, who will be invited to speak about the way they have welcomed and lived the challenge of apostolic life during these years.