Shalom Catholic Community is opening new missions, this time in Panama, Argentina, Philippines, Poland and another house in Paris, France.
The Community, which was born in Fortaleza, Ceará, celebrates its 35 years anniversary of foundation on July 9th and is already present in 30 countries, 10 in Latin America, 2 in North America and 5 in Africa, 10 in Europe and 3 in Asia . Shalom Catholic Community is recognized by the Vatican as an International Association of Faithful since 2007.
Father Cristiano Pinheiro is Brazilian and currently Head of Shalom International Office, he resides in Rome and told us about the new foundations highlighting Argentina, the native land of Pope Francis.
“We are going to open a house in the City of Corrientes, northeastern Argentina. It’s a university town where a community prayer group already exists” fr Cristiano explains. Throughout the year the missionaries who will go to this city will be discerned. For Manila, in the Philippines, five missionaries will be sent. “These missionaries will be sent to continue our work of evangelization. First, they will go through a period of six months of cultural immersion and learning of Tagalog, the main language spoken in that country. “
According to fr. Cristiano the new Shalom Community’s house in Warsaw, Poland, is a fruit of the last World Youth Day. The request was made by the cardinal of that city shortly after the WYD Missionary Week. The priest adds “The presence of more than one thousand pilgrims from various parts of the world in Warsaw during WYD Missionary Week generated a positive impact on the people of that city. We already have a house in Krakow, land of St. John Paul II, and now with joy we are going to open a house in the capital Warsaw.”
Panama City will host the next WYD and its Archbishop asked for Shalom Community to come to work in view of the upcoming WYD in 2019. In Paris, the Community will open a snack bar in the Ménilmontant neighborhood. “It will be a window of evangelization to get people’s attention and to announce Jesus in the heart of the city of light.”
In Brazil, new foundations will be opened in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso and Niterói, in Rio de Janeiro. Four more houses will be opened in Fortaleza, Natal and Rio de Janeiro, cities where the Community has other houses.