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
by Beatriz Lauenroth | May 25, 2022 | 2022 Europe Day, Austria, News
May 9, 2022: a European expression
Once again, this year many original initiatives were organized to mark May 9, Europe Day. The following are just glimpses of some of them.
A trans-borders meeting was held in France and Germany. From Strasbourg (France) the one-hour walk under the banner ‘For a peaceful Europe’ ended at the Church of Peace in Kehl (Germany). At the end of the event, one of the 200 participants stated: “This day will be remembered for a long time. Together we offered a sign of unity and celebrated hope for all Europe”.
The EU declared 2022 as the European Year of Youth. Thus, Together for Europe in Italy focused on “Education” to mark May 9. The online sharing of experiences between young and old persons clearly showed that there exists a mutual dependence between the two for a happy and successful life. The meeting was followed by about 1,800 persons.
About 300 persons from Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Switzerland met in Graz (Austria). Friends from Slovakia, Slovenia and Italy sent their greetings. The meeting reach its climax in the afternoons with a common prayer for peace. The participants then responded generously to the appeal for donations in favour of a project to support Ukrainian refugees near the border with Hungary.
In Munich (Bavaria), Together for Europe went up a panoramic wheel. The gondolas performed numerous rotations, always with eight persons on board – who held a conversation and a meeting at high altitude!
Beatriz Lauenroth
by Beatriz Lauenroth | May 4, 2022 | Experiences, reflections and interviews, News
The Steering Committee of Together for Europe (TfE) met in Munich
The Munich YMCA hosted the annual gathering of the TfE Steering Committee which was attended by 20 members and several invited guests, from 27 to 29 April 2022.
The participants experienced a wave of fresh air that was brought about by the young adults belonging to the European Network of Communities (ENC), the YMCA, the Focolare and the Schönstatt Movements: they wanted to reflect with the first generation of the network upon the future of ‘Together’. The guests carried out their task with delicacy and respect. Mária Špesová (ENC) from Slovakia said: “In TfE I see something sacred that grew in these 20 plus years. I feel invited to enter this rich experience on my tiptoes”. Also, Georges El Hage (Syndesmos): “Here I feel free to express my thoughts and people listen attentively. We are welcomed with great trust”.
Program
The program of these days included numerous spiritual inputs, prayers and a lively exchange of ideas. The recurrent topic was the war in Ukraine. During the first evening, several persons from Ukraine, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Italy, Poland and Slovenia were linked via zoom to share their experiences of practical help. An Italian participant affirmed: “We are seeing the birth of a new Europe based on solidarity”. And Zsuzsanna Klemencz (Sant’Egidio/Hungary) stated: “We ought to disarm ourselves and let others disarm us. How? By putting aside our arrogance and our hatred”. According to this Hungarian, this is what true disarmament means; this will give rise to a “peaceful people”, disarmed to win the war. Franꞔois Deloors (Sant’Egidio/Belgium) added: “This is the attitude that we strive to constantly put in practice between us, and thus, as TfE, we can offer it to Europe and the entire world”.
Porto 2022 and Timisoara 2023
“Here I feel at home” was the comment offered by Clotilde Pestana of the Schönstatt Movement. She travelled to Munich with another member of the National Committee of Portugal to help out in the preparation for the “Meeting of the Friends” scheduled for November 2022 in Porto. “Portugal has a lot to offer to Europe: openness, hospitality and a rich culture”. These are but a few of the reasons to hold the 2022 ‘Meeting of the Friends” in the Country on the far western side of Europe.
In 2023, the ‘Meeting of the Friends’ will be held in Romania, in Timisoara. Ilona Toth of the Steering Committee updated us regarding the many conversations and meetings she had in Romania. The encounter with the Orthodox world and the multicultural reality of Eastern Europe, among others, require a detailed and in-depth preparation.
Witnesses for humanity
During the meeting it became ever more clear that TfE, faced with the great sufferings in Europe and in the world, is called to support the “incomplete” and to go down the rifts of humanity, which are injustice, hatred and war.
Thomas Römer (YMCA Munich) underlined: “Indeed, most probably we are living through a change of epoch, an epochal upheaval, so to speak. Let’s not allow evil to win, but let’s defeat it with good”.
As Römer noted, death and resurrection are entwined in the history of humanity. He was introducing the participants to the renewal of the Pact of Mutual Love, based on Jn 13, 34. With fraternal encounters with the Risen Lord in the midst, TfE continually witnesses hope for humanity.
Beatriz Lauenroth
Photo: Diego Goller / Group photo: Thomas Barthel, YMCA Munich
