Focolare Movement

In Argentina: a seminar of the Bishops Conference of Latin America (CELAM)

Sep 30, 2013

Latin America. At the Focolare’s permanent Mariapolis in Argentina four days of intense study on “Trinitarian Anthropology,” promoted by the Bishops Conference of Latin America (September 6-9, 2013) .

A seminar entitled Dialogue on a Trinitarian Anthropology for our people, organized by CELAM and held at Mariapolis Lia, Argentina. The seminar was attended by twenty experts from Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Uraguay and Italy. There were two bishops and Msgr. Piero Coda, president of Sophia University Institute (IUS) in Loppiano, Italy.   The seminar was opened by Piero Coda with a very significant lecture on Trinity and Anthropology, notes for a theological phenomenology based on the mystical experience of Chiara Lubich. From the outset, the discussion was marked by the challenge of using a work method based on dialogue and communion. Following the presentation of topics, ample space was given to sharing and reflection among the participants. The workshop was therefore an opportunity for “thinking together.” Mariapolis Lia which tries to be a witness to the life of the Gospel, proved to be the best setting for an experience of this type. One Bolivian expert commented: “The choice of this location was so important for this topic, because here it is a reality.” The participants felt enveloped in the mutual love of the inhabitants of the Mariapolis, which was a concrete expression of “Trinitarian relationships.” The seminar was also significant because it was an opportunity for the light of the charism of Chiara Lubich, which is the subject of academic study at Sophia University Institute, to become known in the Latin American Church. The participants also expressed interest in continuing relations with Sophia, by establishing specific agreements. During the final Mass, Fr Scannone, a well-known Jesuit in Latin America, stated: “Let us thank God for this community of thought that has been established among us, for the perichoretical relationships we have lived, in which we died and rose, in which we have thought and lived in a true community.” The seminar ended with a brief homage to Bishop Klaus Hemmerle, a forerunner in the development of Trinitarian Anthropology. CELAM has already scheduled another such event for 2014 and decided to publish some of the results of this year’s seminar.  

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