Evangelization
Albania: The Quran and the Madonna with the Child
Missionary October in Southern Albania Communion of charisms and trust in the Spirit: this could summarise the missionary experience that we Redemptorists are developing in southern Albania. . A journey to the South (Pope Francis calls it “peripheries”) I remember that in my formative years, I read with interest a beautiful book by Fr Manuel Gómez Ríos entitled “Alfonso de Ligorio: un camino hacia el sur” (Madrid 1986). This book highlighted how our Founder, a man of the South, chose to be on the margins of society, on the frontiers of...
read moreAlphonsian Day celebrated with vibrancy and diversity at World Youth Day in Lisbon
Lisbon, August 2, 2023 – The second day of the much-anticipated World Youth Day in Lisbon witnessed an unforgettable afternoon filled with cultural performances, spiritual reflections, and vibrant camaraderie among young participants from all around the world at the Redemptorist Parish Church of Our Lady Mother of God of Buraca. The highlight of the day was the celebration of Alphonsian Day, on the 2nd of August, dedicated to Saint Alphonsus Liguori for a special get-together of all the Redemptorist youth around the world. The afternoon...
read moreMissionary community in Astorga offering assistance to the pilgrims on the Way to Santiago
“One more year, during the months of July and August, the Casa San Alfonso in Astorga has been opened for the Christian Reception on the Camino de Santiago. Last Sunday, July 2, after a few days of preparations by Frs. Antonio Quesada and Pablo Jimenez, the first Community of Welcome of this year, 2023, began to take shape and will carry out this missionary task for a week. Miguel Castro, a group of eight lay Redemptorists from Jaen, and our parishes of Perpetual Help in Jerez de la Frontera and Merida, are living the experience of walking...
read moreMeeting of the Secretariat of Evangelisation of the Conference of Europe
The members of the Secretariat for Evangelisation of the CRE met for the last time during the week of 12-16 June. They are: Eric Corsius (Shared Mission), Sr. Ulrike, MSSR (Social Pastoral), Fr. Pawel Drobot (Youth Ministry), Fr. Miguel Castro (New Missionary Initiatives), Fr. Gianni Congiu, Chair of the Secretariat. Fr. Johannes Römelt, Coordinator of the Conference, was present by video call. The meeting took place in the Community of Perpetual Help in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) where three Redemptorist missionaries work in the popular...
read moreMeeting of the Shared Mission Commission in Vienna
On Friday, June 9, the Shared Mission commission of the Conference of Europe met in Vienna, in Maria am Gestade, in the presence of P. Joh. Römelt, the European coordinator. It was the first time since 2018 that this commission met in presence. Of course, the members knew each other personally from many video conferences and from meetings during the assembly and the first phase of the General Chapter. The commission’s agenda included shared mission structures (implementation of the directory) in Europe as well as the subject of...
read moreMeeting of the Redemptorist Missionaries of Southern Europe
From 25 to 27 April 2023, the Redemptorist missionaries of the five Units (Lisbon, Madrid, France, Rome and Naples) were meeting in Rome. There were 7-8 missionaries from each of the five units, together with the Vicar General Fr. Francesco Stanula and the coordinator of the Conference of Redemptorists of Europe, Fr. Johannes Romelt. The meeting was organised to offer an opportunity to get closer and know each other better because these five Provinces will form the new Province of Southern Europe from 1 January 2024. In addition to this, by...
read moreWYD and Alphonsian Day in Lisbon starts in less than 100 days
The Redemptorist Youth and Vocations Ministry is preparing for World Youth Day in Lisbon. With 100 days to go before the start of this great youth festival, 750 people from all over the world have already signed up for the Redemptorist group. Young people from Spain, Poland, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Mexico, Argentina, Ireland, the Philippines, France, Ukraine, Haiti and the United States will attend. We will be hosting our young people in Redemptorist-run parishes in Damaia, Buraca and Venda Nueva on the outskirts of Lisboa. On April 18 –...
read moreEaster among young people in Albania
For our parish and our community in Albania, preparation for Easter began much earlier. On March 14, together with a group of about 50 boys, we spent a day of recollection, making a pilgrimage to Scutari, in the north of the country, the Catholic heart of Albania. Here we visited the prisons where some Catholics (overall there are seven bishops, more than a hundred priests, dozens of religious, and hundreds of lay people) were brutally tortured and killed during the communist regime of Enver Hoxha. In the Cathedral of Saint Lawrence, we...
read moreRedemptorists counter the lack of interest over the war in Ukraine
The association Acoger y Compartir, led by Redemptorist José Miguel de Haro, is collecting humanitarian aid to send to the people in need on Monday, 10 April. “We have a responsibility for the suffering of others,” he says. One year ago, the beginning of the war in Ukraine generated a wave of solidarity in Spanish society. Hundreds of humanitarian aid convoys were organised by citizens to help the population, which had been subjected to a constant barrage of bombs by Russia. A year later, however, the situation is very different. The war...
read more“A great light” among the young people in Albania!
“I looked forward to this celebration with more joy than my birthday! “. I begin this chronicle with an expression from the performance that the young people of the Redemptorist Parish “St. Alphonsus” of Kamëz prepared for Christmas. I begin with this phrase not out of place, as it highlights the importance of Christmas for the Albanian people. Indeed, it was not always so easy for us Albanians to celebrate Christmas because, for 45 consecutive years, we were denied this right by the communist regime, which began in 1945 and ended in 1990....
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