Pope Francis will meet “the ones living on the outskirts”; he will visit a slum area in Rio de Janiero, where he will meet the community of Varginha; he will also meet some young inmates inRio. The Holy Father will attend the opening of a new complex for drug addicts at St Francis ofAssisiHospital, one of the social legacies of World Youth Day.
The Pope cannot miss a visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, where in 2007 the Fifth General Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Bishops (CELAM) took place. Pope Francis gave, as a gift, the important and significant Document of Aparecida[1], issued by this General Conference to Heads of Latin American States who have visited him in recent weeks.
On July 21, there will be an interreligious meeting at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janiero. 200 young Jews, Catholics and Muslims from all overBrazilare expected to attend this meeting. Although it is taking place before the official start of the programme, it is considered as an integral part of it. The Archbishop of Rio,Mons. Tempesta will open the meeting. The aim of this meeting is to draft proposals for concrete actions to overcome prejudices and to give visibility to what is already being done in this field inBrazil. InRio, a group of young people who belong to different religions meet monthly to move together along a path of mutual understanding and enrichment.
“World Youth day opens our horizons, helps us to grow in our faith and continues to strengthen us in our everyday life with all its problems: at University, at work, at home. It marks one for life and we are sure that this will also happen here”: these are the words of Mariá and Leandro, two young members of the Focolare Movement in Rio de Janiero, who, together with others, are actively involved in the preparation of this great international event. They are working on several fronts, which include the musical on the life of Blessed Chiara Luce Badano (see dossier below); they are also among the intercessors of the Day. The musical will be presented on July 24 at the Grand Auditorium of “Cidade das Artes”, in Barra da Tijuca, the cultural centre of Rio de Janiero. This musical is being prepared together with friends from other Catholic Movements, other Christian Churches, and also ones who know very little about Christianity. Among these there is a young Buddhist. Maria Teresa and Ruggero Badano, the parents of Chiara Luce are expected to participate. For this occasion, the publishing house Cidade Nova is launching “25 minutos: a vida de Chiara Luce Badano”, the Portugese edition of the book written by Franz Coriasco. 500,000 copies of this book will be distributed to the young people attending WYD, an initiative carried out in collaboration with “Aid to the Church in need”.
During the Vigil of July 27 at Campus Fidei, about 200 young people from Aparecida and Sao Paulo, belonging to Fazenda da Esperança and other similar associations will be on the main stage with Gen Rosso. They will perform some scenes from “Streetlight”, thus witnessing the change experienced in their lives through giving themselves and their talents to others. For almost two months the Gen Rosso Group has been touring Brazil with its “ Strong without violence” project (see dossier below).
The WYD in Rio presents an excellent opportunity to boost the social initiatives carried out by the Focolare Movement inBrazil. There is an on-going collaboration with various organizations that draw their energy from the spirituality of unity. The atmosphere of the contagious generosity, typical of WYD, together with the sharing of experiences of those engaged in this field, will be a source of encouragement to reach out to those, young or old, that are in need .
[1] http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/latin-american-bishops-council-in-washington “Latin American Bishops Council inWashington: Aparecida’s impact” by Enrique Soros – Zenit
Updated on July 17, 2013
LH – BF
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