New paths for the Ecclesial Movements

«Any spontaneous impression on what you have lived these days? It was a meeting of real, profound communion. This was emphasized even more if we think of our beginnings. In 1998 at St. Peter’s square, Pope John Paul II almost had to ask the Movements to agree amongst themselves, to love each other, to get to know and esteem each other and to collaborate. Now we have reached the point that we no longer really notice to which Movement we belong. There was so much fraternity among all.

It was wonderful to see the recently born Movements going to the older Movements, not to be examined but to ask for their help, their thought and even their judgement on their works, to see together how to bring things ahead. The older Movements going to the newer Movements, the last born, not so much to see whether they are functioning, if all was going well and so on, but to rejoice that a new life had been born. Thus it was a full celebration of all their fruits and experiencing this being united in the Church. I thought it was really a very important step, a real communion and fraternity, where we were all brothers and sisters, older and younger but all brothers and sisters.

When we then went together to the Pope, he understood this aspect and he even expressed it in his talk; we felt his joy of having been able to participate and experience this communion that there had been among us.

After all, this was the gift we wanted to bring to him: this communion, and he strongly highlighted it in his talk, inviting us to bring it ahead and defining communion itself as the seal of the Holy Spirit. Thus it was a confirmation and a strong encouragement to go ahead in this direction. Then the Pope returned to the topic of going outwards, not to remain in our own circle. This is a fundamental idea that is in all his talks.

So I asked myself: what could this mean for us as Movements? We have to discover how to take this new step. Certainly, there should always be more communion with the Church. However, precisely because we have reached this profound unity among Movements, perhaps God is now asking us to expand more this going out towards the Movements of other non-Catholic Churches. They also have very strong experiences of people who live the Gospel like us and who bear witness to this life. We should get to know them too, and opening ourselves more could contribute to a vaster communion (why not?) as well as drawing closer to the moment of unity among all Christians.

This could perhaps be a path that should still be opened.

Another thing I would like to emphasize is this: going out towards a more vital unity between the “shepherd” and the “flock”, as much as possible. There were, in fact, many pastors, bishops and priests present, belonging to Movements and not. I think that the going outwards that God is asking of us now is to bring about a much deeper communion between laity and clergy, with the clergy that belongs to the Movements, who therefore are already strongly united to their own Movement, but perhaps not yet among all the clergy of all the Movements. I think God is also asking us to look for more suitable forms, thus we shouldn’t separate the ecclesial part from the lay part in various Movements and not even in the Movements as a whole.»