At the beginning of the Celebration the Archbishop of Belem of PA Brazil, Archbishop Alberto Taveira Corrêa, remembered that this year, the Catholic Fraternity of New Communities celebrated its 20th anniversary. He commented that the time passed for proving the efficacy of the committment of the communities that joined the association. “The inauguration of the new seat in Rome is an signal of the proximity to the successor of Peter”, commemorated the prelate.

In his homily, Bishop Stanislaw Rylko remembered the words of the servant of God, John Paul II, when he spoke on the new communities and the ecclesial movements, saying that he saw in them a new spirit, a sign of the hope for the church and for all of humanity; a sign of a christian spring, of a new missionary epoch of the Church. The Cardinal also emphasized the opinion of Pope  Benedict XVI, upon saying that the movements constitute a constant in the life of the Church, and they are a timely response of the Holy Spirit before the actual challenges of the evangelical mission of the Church.

Bishop Rylko also explained that the ecclesial movements and the new communities are true laboratories of faith; spaces where the persons are prepared for an adult faith, a living faith, a faith full of joy. He also stressed that for various times, the Pontiff solicited the pastors that they may follow the encounter of the movements with lots of love.

Over the fact of the encounter happening in Assis, in Italy, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity spoke remembering the life of St. Francis. In the Epoch in which the Church crossing a profound crisis and needs to renovate itself charismatically from the inside. Francis put his road and that of his companions in the hands of the Bishop of Rome, the successor of Peter.” And grew that in this act, according to then Pope Innocent III, the authentic ecclesial spirit reveals itself of a saint that chose the Gospel as a rule of life.

Canção Nova (New Song) News from Wire Services.

The Catholic fraternity is an organism created through the Pontifical Council for the Laity that has the objective of integrating the New Catholic Communities of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. They open the space for the Lay Catholic to participate more actively in the life of the Church. In these communities, religious and families live and work together in support of evangelization.

In Accord with Archbishop Alberto Taveira Corrêa, Metropolitan Archbishop of Belem, Parana, Brazil and Spiritual Concillor of the Catholic Fraternity, The New Communities express the solicitude of God, that sends “His Holy Spirit for giving answer to the diverse situations of the Church and of Society.”

photo credit Paula Cristina Dizaró