Shalom Catholic Community is an International Private Association of the Faithful with legal entity representation, recognized by the Holy See by decree on February 22, 2007, together with the Pontifical Council for the Laity (whose responsibilities and functions are currently assumed by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life). On the same date in 2012, its Statutes had their final approval.

Present in dozens of countries around the world, the Shalom Catholic Community is made up of men and women who, in diverse lifestyles present in the Church, engage in a community and missionary life in order to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to all men and women, especially to those far from Christ and the Church.

In every age, the Holy Spirit grants the Church the graces necessary to answer the challenges of its day. A specific charism is one of these divine gifts poured upon the Church to renew it and renew the way of living according to the Gospel. Thus, the Shalom Charism, which blossomed from Moysés Azevedo’s heart during his encounter with Pope Saint John Paul II in 1980, was manifested to the world. God called certain individuals to assume this grace in their life, giving them a specific vocation called Shalom.

Born in the midst of the youth, the Shalom Work began with a daring inspiration: to create a network that spoke the language of the young people, to create a bridge between them and a personal experience with Jesus Christ and His Church. Consequently, the first “Snack Bar of the Lord” was born on July 9, 1982 in Fortaleza, Brazil - an attractive place where young people had the opportunity to experience moments of prayer, fraternity and mission, thus growing in their path of faith.

Today, in order to bring the experience of Jesus Christ to countless others, in the midst of a variety of peoples, cultures and societies, the Shalom Community carries out diversified and distinctive evangelizing actions among the youth, families, children, the poor and indiginous, professionals from various fields - through media, the arts, science, culture and human promotion - as works of mercy that address the sufferings that people experience.

The Shalom vocation and the very heart of the Community have their source in the experience with Jesus Christ, the Risen One who passed through the Cross, as narrated in the Gospel of John:

“In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’ (John 20, 19), meaning, Shalom! In Jesus, this greeting is a real communication of Peace, of the bounty of spiritual and material blessings, the perfect happiness, which the Messiah brings to us. It is the announcement and donation of the full salvation.” (Statutes’ Introduction).

Jesus is God’s Shalom to the world, the true and unique Peace that is offered to humanity. As the disciples of Christ were sent by him on that occasion to plant Peace in the human heart, so those within the Shalom vocation are called to announce this peace with their life and testimony. “To be Shalom” means, through the power of the Holy Spirit, being a disciple and minister of Peace and bringing Christ to those who are waiting for him.

For those who are called to this vocation, God gives them the path of Contemplation, Unity and Evangelization.

The power of Evangelization springs forth from the Contemplation of the Risen One, by whose breath the disciples received the Holy Spirit. The Community undertakes efforts to announce the same and unique Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ with effectiveness, boldness and creativity. To live the Vocation it is necessary to dive into the spirit of charity according to the form of the first Christian communities, reflecting the Unity of the communion of love shared by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

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If you wish to pursue a path of vocational discernment in the Shalom Community, we suggest that you join the vocational discernment group in the Shalom mission closest to your city, or contact the Vocation Coordinator in order to begin a “long distance vocational path” at vocations@comshalom.org.

The vocational path has a minimum duration of one year, starting with the Open Vocational Meeting (in March or April of each year).

Each vocational discerner is assisted and guided by a spiritual mentor so that, by listening to the Lord’s will, he or she can discern the call to the Shalom Vocation or to another vocation in the Church, as well as cultivate the maturity needed to take a concrete step toward postulancy within Life or Covenant Community.

Actually, the Shalom Charism iis present in more than 30 countries around the world, and continues to grow thanks to missionaries and also other people who, having a personal experience with God through the Shalom Charism, want to spread this experience to their own cities becoming a “bridge” of this Charism of peace. 

As the Shalom Catholic Community founder, Moysés Azevedo, sais: “the Charism is like a seed that is inside” and along the years, this seed started to grow up on the hearts of some many people due to the evangelization events of the Community. 

To become real the response of God's Called to bring the Shalom Charism to cities that there is no presence of the Charism, some people get in touch with the Shalom Work Diffusion, the sector that is the responsable to guide, train and deepen the experience with the Shalom Charism.

If in your city there is no presence of Shalom and you want to bring this Charisma to your city, you can contact us with a e-mail: iwantit@comshalom.org or access  this link in order to know how to bring the Shalom Charism to your City. 

To know where the Shalom Community is, access the link, enter the name in the search field, select the map and find the nearest Shalom to you!

Do you want to bring the Shalom Charism to your city? Click HERE