“Uomini di Dio, fratelli tra i fratelli, profeti di un mondo nuovo”
‘Priests Today’, is the title of an afternoon that seeks to respond, above all through testimonies and the language of the arts, to the real challenges faced by priests in the Church and society. The event will take place on 9 June 2010, in the Paul IV Hall in the Vatican, as part of the Year for Priests. Priests from more over 70 nations, worldwide, are expected to attend.
Sponsors of the event: The priests of the Focolare Movement and Schoenstatt Movement in collaboration with the ICCRS (International Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the Spirit) and other ecclesial church associations.
The programme will describe in trhee phases the identity of the priest today: Man of God – brothers together – prophets of a new world. Each section will be introduced by a thought from Benedict XVI (on video). In the concluding section, some thoughts of Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, and of Fr. Josef Kentenich, founder of Schoenstatt, will be presented.
Witnesses – Amongst the protagonists: a priest from Ireland on being faithful to God’s call; the survivors of an attack on the Junior Seminary of Buta in Burundi; and from Germany a priest who overcame a drink problem with the help of the community. Other experiences will tell of illness; of affective life and celibacy lived out in a context of fraternity; and pastoral work in the current multi-cultural and multi-religious environment.
Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy, will preside at the Vespers that will conclude the evening. Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, Archbishop of Santiago in Cile, ex-President of CELAM, will give a theological talk.
The International Multiartistic Performing Group Gen Verde will look after the artistic aspects of the afternoon, together with priests from different countries. The Seminarians from the International Centre of the Spirituality of Communion ‘Vinea Mea’ at Loppiano (Florence) will present some pieces of choreography.
All of the participants will be protagonists at this meeting. There will be a moment for dialogue for all present in the Hall, in small groups, on the subjects addressed in the course of the afternoon.
Television broadcast: It will be possible to follow the event in many countries throughout the world thanks to the satellites of Vatican Television Centre, Telepace and other Networks. It will also be accessible via Internet.
Events leading up to the 9 June appointment:
6 May – ConcerTheatre Ars Amoris, dedicated to the Cure d’Ars, in the Aula Magna of The Lateran Pontifical University, Rome.
8 June – A Retreat Day organised by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal – Basilica of St John Lateran.
A special programme for priests at Loppiano, the Focolare International town near Florence, before and after the events concluding the Year of the Priest.
11 June – An Invitation to priests from the Schoenstatt Movement to spend a celebratory afternoon together in Belmonte (Casalotti, Rome)
Further information and Programme: www.sacerdotioggi.org – sacerdotioggi@gmail.com
Press Office: Silvestre Marques, tel. +39-340-0538 300
José Luis Correa, tel. +39-389-1230 117
Carla Cotignoli, tel. +39-348-8563 347
.jpg)
He had given up everything: a life lived beside Mary amidst discomfort and in obedience; three years of preaching in which he revealed the Truth, gave witness to the Father, promised the Holy Spirit, and did all sorts of miracles of love; three hours on the cross from which he pardoned his executioners, opened Paradise to the Good Thief, gave his mother to us and, lastly, his Body and Blood which he had already given to us mystically in the Eucharist. All that remained to him was his divinity. He ceased feeling his union with the Father, which had made him so powerful on earth as the Son of God and so regal on the cross; he had to be disunited, in a way, from the one who, he said, was one with him: “The Father and I are one.” (Jn 10,30). In him love was annihilated, light was darkened, wisdom was silenced. We were detached from the Father. It was necessary that the Son, in whom we all were present, experience detachment from the Father. He had to experience being abandoned by God, so that we may never be abandoned again. Jesus was able to overcome such an immense trial by re-abandoning himself to the Father: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk 23, 46). In this way, he recomposed the broken unity between God and humanity and men and women among themselves. He was now manifesting himself to be the remedy to every disunity, the key to unity. Now it is our turn to cooperate with this grace and do our part. Since Jesus assumed all that is negative, behind each suffering, each separation, we can discover Jesus himself, one of the “faces” of his abandonment. We can embrace him in those sufferings and divisions, say “yes” to him just as he did when he completely accepted the Father’s will. Then he will live in us – even though we may be in pain – as the Risen Jesus; the peace we regain will be the proof. 
The 40th Anniversary of the beginnings of the movement in that part of the world was celebrated in Hong Kong remembering the opening in 1970 of the first focolare. To mark the occasion, which coincided with the second anniversary of Chiara’s departure for heaven, 500 people met in the Theatre Meeting Hall of Bishop Pashan School in Kowloon Bay.
Catholics and other Christian denominations were present, and people of other religions. Silvio Daneo commented: ‘Looking at the hall one can’t but recognise the fulfilment of that unity which Jesus wanted when he prayed to the Father, that all may be one. And it is this unity that synthesises Chiara’s great ideal, which has spread to every corner of the planet. The Chinese welcomed it enthusiastically almost as though Confucius had pre-announced it centuries before Christ, with his great maxim: amid the four oceans (the 4 points of the compass), we are all brothers.’