Communion & Liberation: August 2012 Archives

Ignacio Carbajosa Prez.jpgWe continually need to get to the heart of who our influences are as people. That is true of Father Luigi Giussani who is being spoken of not only as the founder of the ecclesial movement of Communion and Liberation but also because his cause for canonization is now being studied. Father Ignacio Carbajosa Pérez, 45, said of Father Luigi Giussani, "For me the most striking thing was to hear this man with this love for my humanity, finally, to find someone who knew very well what is my humanity and then looked upon it in a sympathetic way." (Read more of what Father Ignacio told David Kerr here at The Rimini Meeting 2012.)

Father Ignacio, a Madrid native and currently an Old Testament professor at Madrid's San Damaso Institute, was part presentation at The Rimini meeting 2012 on "Education, Identity and Dialogue." Perhaps the text will be available soon.

Rimini Meeting 2012

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Rimini 2012.jpgTHE most significant cultural and religious meeting in the world is held in the late August: "Rimini Meeting" in the seaside town of Rimini (Italy). From 19-25 August, The Meeting coordinated by members of Communion and Liberation attracts numerous speakers and more than 800K.



What is the Rimini Meeting, you ask? The answer is here...

The work of the Meeting has been in progress since the late 1970s and it debuted on the world stage in 1980... and counting...generating a culture of dialogue and understanding among people.

This year's theme is "By Nature Man is Relationship to the Infinite."

Pope Benedict XVIs August 10th letter to The Meeting can be read here. (Must read!)

August 20 kick off review video presentation

Several video clips from the week's Meeting can be viewed here. It's really essential to spend the time listening to what's happened (and happens to people).

One of the reviews of the Rimini week is seen here, produced by Rome Reports who has been ably following the progress of the Meeting.

The coverage of The Meeting is the best thus far in English followed at the link above, however, there is some information that is old and needs updating. Staying current in other languages is a challenge for the CL movement, one that is still somewhat an Achilles' heel. But instead of swimming the River Styx we've moved to the banks. Media coverage in English is getting better (though our American works need help!)

An American equivalent of The Rimini Meeting is the New York Encounter held yearly in January. In 2013, the NYE will run 18-20 January.

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict closely follows The Meeting. He was in attendance several years ago, as was John Paul II in 1982. Picking up from Father Luigi Giussani's thinking of "life as a vocation", the Pope reminds us that everything is answered in relationship to the Infinite. On July 11, 2012 I posted a piece called "The Vocation to Life" which is essential reading if you want to know more of what the Pope, Giussani and Christianity is all about.

The Pope's letter for the 2012 Meeting follows (emphasis mine).

To the Venerable Brother Monsignor Francesco Lambiasi,

Benedict XVI.jpg

 Bishop of Rimini 

I wish to extend my cordial greetings to you, to the organizers and to all the participants in the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples, now in its XXXIII year. The theme chosen this year - "The nature of man is a relationship with the infinite" - is particularly significant in view of the approaching start of the Year of Faith, which I have willed to proclaim to mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.

To speak of man and of his yearning for the infinite means, first and foremost, to recognize his constitutive relationship with the Creator. Man is a creature of God. Today this word - creature - seems almost passé: we prefer to think of man as a self-fulfilled being and master of his own destiny. The consideration of man as a creature seems "uncomfortable," because it implies an essential reference to something else, or better, to Someone else - whom man cannot control - who enters in order to define his identity in an essential way; a relational identity, whose first element is the original and ontological dependence on He who wanted us and created us. Yet this dependence, from which modern and contemporary man attempts to break free, not only does not hide or diminish, but luminously reveals the greatness and supreme dignity of man, who is called into life in order to enter into relationship with Life itself, with God.

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The Catholic News Agency carried a story by David Kerr on Chris Bacich the US leader of Communion and Liberation (CL) this week at the Rimini Meeting in Italy.

Notable in Chris' interview is that Chris puts his finger on the reality of Christian faith today when he speaks of those who find in CL a "real willingness to grapple with the real life, everyday culture in which [they] live, while showing no fear" because they "recognize that the encounter with Christ, and his presence in our life, is the answer to this desire for a life that is better, that is great, that is worthwhile and fruitful."

As point of clarification, CL is not a "lay ecclesial movement"; it is technically improper to call the ecclesial movements "lay ecclesial movements" because the movements are not limited to the lay faithful, but are open to the ordained as well. Many of the movements have ardent followers who are deacons, priests and bishops in the movements. Therefore, not "lay ecclesial."
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About the author

Paul A. Zalonski is from New Haven, CT. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Catholic ecclesial movement and an Oblate of Saint Benedict. Contact Paul at paulzalonski[at]yahoo.com.

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This page is a archive of entries in the Communion & Liberation category from August 2012.

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