(Vatican City, 15 February 2014) Pope Francis on Friday received in a private audience Moyses de Azevedo Filho, the founder of the Shalom Catholic Community, at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican.
The Pope met the Shalom Community in 2007 during the Conference of Aparecida, Brazil. In the same year, Pope Benedict XVI gave papal recognition to Shalom and in 2012, saw its birth with the approval of the Holy See.
Born in 1982 in Brazil in the footsteps of the visit of Blessed John Paul II in the South American country in 1980, today the community is present in 22 countries and has more than 40 thousand members, especially young people.
After the audience with Pope Francis, Vatican Radio reached by telephone the founder of the Shalom Community. He said: “the meeting with Pope Francis was a great opportunity to renew our life, as individuals and as a community, in favor of the evangelization of young people and with young people around the world.”
At the end of the meeting – said Azevedo – Pope Francis told us not to be ashamed to proclaim the Gospel.
Last year the Shalom Community has had a big surprise: the appointment of a member of his father João Chagas , as responsible for the organization of the World Youth Day at the Pontifical Council for the Laity. “That was a grace which the Community has received to serve the Church through youth and with their special relationship with the Holy Father. The nomination – said Azevedo – is a very strong confirmation of our charism in the heart of the Church.”
May 2014