by Beatriz Lauenroth | May 11, 2023 | News
Together for Europe at the ecumenical Festival for young people in Timisoara, Romania, 1 – 7 May 2023
“Tonight, a dream of mine has come true. You brought with you the message of peace to Timisoara.” This is what the Roman Catholic Bishop of Timisoara, József-Csaba Pál, movingly stated to the 300 young people gathered in the Banatul Philharmonic after the concert of the Gen Verde International Ensemble on the final evening of the Ecumenical Youth Festival. Romania, a land so battered by dictatorship and communism in the past, welcomes the message of Christian love in Timisoara with an open heart as a response to today’s challenges.
‘Walking all together in the light of Christ’
Young people aged 14 to 25 had come from all over Romania and, among others, from Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine and Poland to celebrate in Timisoara, one of the cultural capitals of Europe in 2023. For the week from 1 to 7 May 2023, the young people had chosen the title ‘Walking all together in the light of Christ’. One of the highlights of the festival was the ecumenical procession with candles – also attended by the citizens of Timisoara – to four churches of various denominations (Greek-Catholic, Reformed, Orthodox and Roman-Catholic) in the centre of Timisoara. A Ukrainian Orthodox girl affirmed: “I never experienced such a wide dimension of Church”.
Workshop ‘Seek God in the City’
Be the change… be the change you want to see around you. This was the invitation to the young people that linked all the cultural and musical exchanges, short lectures and discussions. As part of the official festival programme – in agreement with the local young people – Together for Europe (TfE) offered the workshop ‘Seek God in the City’, that is, how to change the secular city into a ‘city of God’. The speakers, Hans-Martin Samietz (Schönstatt Movement) and Herbert Lauenroth (Focolare Movement) from the TfE Steering Committee proposed various approaches as to how the Word of God can inspire change and penetrate people’s lives on a spiritual, social, cultural, intellectual and political level. The 100 young people present at the workshop exchanged their ideas on how to build the ideal city, e.g. by listening more to each other, praying together and a communication that points to the positive and therefore – why not? – with ideas for making a film showing the city ‘of my dreams’. A common element in all participants was the yearning for peace that begins in the heart of each one.
Download the programme>>
Meeting ‘Friends of TfE‘ in Timisoara
Now Together for Europe is preparing for the ‘Friends’ meeting scheduled for 16 to 18 November 2023 in Timisoara. The city is optimal for the ideals of TfE because of its ecumenical and cultural openness. This was experienced during the Ecumenical Youth Festival in May 2023.
Beatriz Lauenroth
For further information and photos: https://www.facebook.com
by Beatriz Lauenroth | Mar 8, 2023 | News
Through Project DialogUE, Together for Europe held an international meeting online
On 3 March 2023, Together for Europe held an international meeting online. 240 participants from Western and Eastern European countries showed a great interest in the topic Dialogue. Five introductory themes were presented, and these were punctuated by several lived-out experiences.
Lutheran Bishop Christian Krause, former President of the Lutheran World Federation, shared his long experience and broad view of Church relations. Gerhard Pross, Esslingen YMCA and current moderator, explained the genesis and founding ideas of Together for Europe. Pross spoke about our ecumenical network from the perspective of dialogue between persons and communities. Sr. Nicole Grochowina, Christusbruderschaft Selbitz, in her contribution expounded that Dialog braucht Geschwisterlichkeit [Dialogue needs fraternity], that is, fraternity is a prerequisite for dialogue and unity. Walter Kriechbaum, evangelical pastor of the Munich YMCA, gave a testimony of his rich experience in the dialogue between West and East and – last but not least – Lucia Fronza, Focolare Movement, former member of the Italian Parliament, gave some insights into the political perspective of Together for Europe.
The questions from the audience to the speakers were complex and “each one would first of all require a personal encounter with mutual listening”, as Kriechbaum put it. To the question of how to make the experience of Together for Europe more visible in Europe and also transmitted to young people, Sr. Nicole responded as follows in chat: “We cannot make the experience of unity visible to young people. What really matters is that young people themselves have access to such experiences. So, we ought to offer them opportunities for these, wherever and whenever we can.”
At the request of the webinar participants, in the coming months we will publish the five reflections on our website. In this way, the dialogue with the speakers can continue.
Beatriz Lauenroth
by Beatriz Lauenroth | Jan 28, 2023 | 2023 Friends | Timisoara, News
“2023 Culture Capital”
From the 1st of January 2023, the Romanian city of Timisoara is the “2023 Culture Capital”. The official program of the festivities will kick off on February17, 2023. During the entire year the local public institutions will repeatedly commemorate this honorific title. The Churches, too, will oblige.
Following the invitation of the Catholic bishop of the city, Mgr. Iosif Csaba Pál, the group of Friends of Together for Europe has willingly chosen Timisoara for their annual November meeting. After all, Timisoara is a multi-confessional, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural city. The city is situated on the borders of East and West, in the Romania-Hungary-Serbia triangle. The bishop stated: “Your presence will allow Romania to appreciate the beauty of the Christian faith”. Also, one of the organizers said: “The participants coming from the Together for Europe Western countries need the experience of their friends from the Eastern European countries to be able to discover ever more the Christian roots of Europe”. A young Romanian Orthodox journalist, member of the inter-confessional preparatory team in Timisoara, affirmed: “We are so diverse, and yet, interiorly, we are so close”. We need to bear witness to our sole faith in Christ. The past political tensions ought to play second fiddle.
Gérard Testard (Efesia) was, until recently, a member of the Steering Committee of Together for Europe; he summed it up thus: “We follow in the footsteps of the Founders of Europe and of all those who, along the years, never accepted conflicts as a fatality, but did their utmost to knock down barriers”.
The aim of Together for Europe Timisoara 2023 is to see that the fraternity in Christ becomes ever more a visible realty.
Beatriz Lauenroth
Photo: Canva
by Beatriz Lauenroth | Jan 27, 2023 | News
The novelty: many Christian Churches are sustaining the Catholic Church with their prayers – and Together for Europe is participating
The world Synod of the Catholic bishops in Rome (4.10. – 29.10.2023) will pe preceded by an ecumenical Prayer Vigil for young people on Saturday, 30th September 2023 in St Peter’s Square, Rome. Pope Francis and representatives of various Christian confessions will take part; the event, however, is open to the entire People of God. The idea is the brainchild of frère Alois, the Prior of the Taizé Community, which was founded by frère Roger Schutz.
Gerhard Pross, the current moderator of Together for Europe stated: “For over 20 years, our network has gained a great experience of ecumenism and synodality. I promised frère Alois our wholehearted support because, wherever there is a gathering of the People of God, we also want to be there. The Rome meeting – and perhaps others in many European cities – is a golden opportunity to give a visible sign of the unity of the People of God. Prayer will surely leave its mark”. Frère Alois expressed his joy for the fact that even Together for Europe is committed to support the Vigil.
Pope Francis is inviting us to pray in St Peter’s Square, and he underlined the ecumenical dimension of the Bishops’ Synod. Cardinal Jean Claude Hollerich remarked: “Synodality and ecumenism are inseparable. We need our brothers and sisters of the other Churches so that we can proceed on our synodal journey”. As Rev. Christian Krieger, president of the Conference of European Churches and of the French Federation of Protestants, underlined: “Ecumenism is important for synodality, and vice versa”. And frère Alois of Taizé affirmed: “Synodality is not possible without unity, and every Church that wants to be apostolic must be synodal”.
What can we learn from one another? As H. Em. Khajag Barsamian of the Armenian Church stated: “As Pope Francis shows us, we need to be humble and make space for the other”. Humility is not a weakness, but a sign of strength that allows us to embark on a new journey. The Anglican Archbishop Ian Ernest, director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, emphasized that this common step opens new horizons: “This process gives us the wings to be able to grow together”.
The invitation is mainly address to young adults, in the age bracket 18 to 35. These will be hosted by families and Roman parishes from Friday 29th September till Sunday 1st October. The weekend reached its climax with the Saturday “run in a star formation”, which will start with prayers in various Roman Churches; then, the participants will move in a star formation toward St Peter’s Square, where, a joyous program of songs and witnessing will be followed by the ecumenical Prayer Vigil with Pope Francis and the representatives of many Christian Churches and communities.
All European parishes and Movements are invited to send many young people for this great event.
For further information: www.together2023.net
Beatriz Lauenroth
Photo: St. Peter’s Square/C.K.Brand – Prayer/Canva
by Beatriz Lauenroth | Jun 15, 2022 | News
Empowering Europe
On the weekend of 10-12 June 2022, Empowering Europe (https://empoweringeurope.org) organized a long-awaited in presence meeting for its members after the Corona pandemic.
For this meeting, the young Movement (founded in 2018) chose the Conference Centre of the Focolare Movement in the Netherlands (https://www.focolare.org/nederland/).
The days were marked by a deep encounter with God and with each other. The friendship of the two Movements, which are both involved in together4europe, also left its mark on the meeting.
“We were able to look into the heart of Jesus”, said one of the participants at the end. And another one: “It was an immersion in the Spirit of God. We go back to our everyday lives strengthened and refreshed.”
Beatriz Lauenroth
