Situated near Loppiano (in the vicinity of Florence), Vinea Mea is a school of communion and of dialogue at which, during its more than 30 years of existence, has been a centre of formation to more than 4,000 priests, deacons and seminarians (Catholics and members of other churches) from more than 60 countries.

Vinea Mea,” as Fr Imre Kiss, responsible for the Centre, explains, “offers a permanent formation in the light of the spirituality of communion of the Focolare Movement. The school, which lasts for a year, foresees courses on spirituality, theology, anthropology, ecclesiology, aside from workshops on current issues (youth, family, communications, dialogue with cultures and religions). Through the sharing of life in small communities, it aims to answer to the needs expressed by many priests to concretely experience a spirituality based on communion so as to transmit it to the men and women of our times.”

The Centre works in synergy with similar structures in as many little cities of the Focolare: in Poland, Kenya, Brazil, in the Philippines, in Argentina. For 5 years now it has promoted, among other things, annual courses and workshops for seminary educators to support and spread a priestly lifestyle based on communion.

A school centred on the formation to a spirituality of communion, as evidenced by the Second Vatican Council, so as to be “ministers capable of warming the hearts of the people, of walking in the darkness with them, of starting a dialogue with their illusions and delusions, of recomposing their disintegration” (Pope Francis to the bishops of Brazil, July 27, 2013). A unified formation for priests and seminarians that places at the centre the fraternity lived in the Church and among the people.

These are some of the themes in the convention to be held on October 22, with which the 2013/14 course of the Center is to be inaugurated, in the antique Franciscan convent of the XVI century that houses it, and which was recently restored and renovated by the Centro Ave Arte, so as to better serve the experience of a communitarian life.

At the Convention among those who will speak are, Maria Voce, president of the Focolare Movement, Msgr. Mario Meini, bishop of Fiesole and Fr Imre Kiss, the Director of the Centre.

Live streaming of the event: 22 October, from 4.00 to 7.00pm (Italian time).

For more information: accoglienza.vineamea@gmail.com

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