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Inés Arango: to surrender one’s life for the gospel

When we talk about Sr. Inés Arango, we spontaneously talk also about Bishop Alejandro Labaka and that is because their lives have been united forever in our memory and in our hearts, since they gave up their life  for the love of their brothers, on July 21st, 1987.

Otherwise, Inés, had been unnoticed in the simple daily tasks, like anyone of us, her sisters, in the Aguarico mission or in any other of the 34 countries in which we live. Anyhow, in the people hearts had remained , the mark and testimony of her life as a woman of faith, joyful, committed to Jesus Christ in her community and for the most in need people, courageous and determined to live coherently with what she was believing… and something more.

One day someone asked me which is the best thing we can be said about Inés? I answered, without hesitation, that she gave up her life. The surrender of one’s life is not a matter of a specific moment, but it is true that sometimes it happens as it occurred to Inés… “the critical moment of giving up the life”. Giving up life is rather a «long moment«, a long way lasting the whole existence, until the moment when it is given up completely and without reservation.

Therefore, when we approach Inés’ life, it is good to think about her “root”, support, source, nourishing, and relief … all that stands «behind» her person and fashions it.

Inés was born in «the city of eternal spring», in Medellín (Colombia), in the year 1937. She had the great luck of being born into a believing and deeply religious family. From her parents and siblings, she learned by osmosis, the values of believing, praying, serving the neighbor …They were freely living their faith in the everyday life and in the simplest things and she made her own this same attitude throughout her whole life. From them she inherited also vitality, energy, genius and a sense of the unusual, aspects allowing her to face with a great freedom, the difficult moments of her existence.

Among mischiefs and adolescent rebellions, Ines was growing in faith. We know that, first of all, the seed of faith must be sown and then it will germinate and bear fruit … may be an abundant fruit. Because of that, it is important that the Word be announced to us… through the word and the testimony of life… and also listening without silencing our concerns, desires, and yearnings. Some of that happened in Inés’ life.

Let us approach her life to verify what was resounding in her «inside» and was the engine of her existence, the deepest reason moving her to live a total dedication and to act risky and that was sustaining her whole life. The missionary concern experienced in her family, in the parish, in the school … was an abundant seed in the person of Inés, a seed sown in a fertile and good soil. And, actually Inés, from her very early age, did not silence her concerns. She always warmed up her desire and knew how to nourish it amid difficulties and sufferings.

And also the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters left their mark on Inés; in her daily experience with the group of girls in the boarding school in Yarumal, she noticed how they were living the Franciscan and in addition Capuchin style of life, enriched with the «charisma», and  «special touch l” received from their founder, Luis Amigó. This «special touch» was nothing else than an unconditional dedication to the least ones, to those to whom no one goes …living in the simplicity and joy of fraternal charity … nourished by the Word of God and the Eucharist… unconditional committed, out of love for Jesus Christ incarnate and made one of us, born of Mary, out of love for Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd seeking those who are lost, out of love for Jesus Christ who gave his life for us, dying on the cross and rising again and all that, according to the style of the Holy Family, living in fraternity, available and dedicated. The Capuchin Tertiary Sisters, who came from Spain to Colombia to be missionaries … We know that Inés was repeating that many times! And being already a Capuchin Tertiary Sister she was reclaiming the missionary commitment among us, sisters of her Congregation.

We can imagine Inés in this environment. Undoubtedly, in her dreaming heart, there were decisive moments of missionary seeding. Inés’s dreams will turn, little by little, into wishes and, at the end, her wishes into reality.

Let us go back to the life of Inés to see how she was daily listening to the deep music filling her with an evangelizing vigor and was able to discover what was before her, how she was discovering that life is meaningful only if it is offered and, furthermore, holding the Gospel in her hand and at the whisper of our Charism.

The Capuchin Tertiary Sisters, according to the expressed wish of our Founder, received this task: «to be the trainees of the Good Shepherd, looking for the lost sheep». In today’s language, it means to live in favor of the “least ones”, of the disinherited of the earth and that is a call to be a courageous woman ready to give up her life if necessary.

Inés faithfully lived so. She learned to receive as a GIFT this charismatic experience which marked her forever and also as a TASK and a duty that no one could accomplish on her place. Inés was a very receptive and determined woman, dreaming and critical, happy and cheerful. The «music» that Inés was listening in her inmost as well as all that was happening to her brothers, the Huaorani, were tending her heart, more and more, towards the “last ones”.

On these days of the month of July, being fulfilled on the 21st, the 34th anniversary of her life given up together with the Capuchin Bishop Alejandro Labaka, we are invited to participate in the events that the Vicariate of Aguarico organizes every year in memory of Alejandro and Inés and especially in the 15th Walk, that this year will be virtual and physical. We can follow it through the website: www.alejandroeines.org.

Let us celebrate also the commitment of our sister Inés reading again her biography “Clay and vessel in the wounded jungle” available in the congregational website in PDF format. Let us spread her story among young people and let us see in her a fulfilled experience of our missionary dedication to the most disadvantaged people. Let us also put her as our intercessor and let us pray for her beatification.

May Inés and Alejandro, disciples and missionaries dedicated to the heart of the Ecuadorian jungle, be for us a breath of fresh air, a whisper of the Gospel, a fraternal rumor, an evangelizing fire …

Hna. Isabel Valdizán Valledor, Tc

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“I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated… I have heard their cry”

Thanks to my Congregation of Capuchin Tertiary Sisters, and especially to Sr. Ana Tulia López, Superior General and her Council, to Sr. Yolanda de María Arriaga, Provincial Superior and her Council of my Province “Our Lady of Guadalupe ”and to the Latin American Conference of Religious (CLAR), who provided me with a scholarship, it has been possible that, five months ago, I could begin a path of knowledge, accompaniment and painful discovery of a reality of death and resurrection, that our Church is living at present. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, our group has been the first international and multicultural group, most of its members Spanish speaking people that, at the Pontifical Gregorian University, could complete the Diploma in Minors safeguarding, attending classes physically, during the months from February to June 2021.

It is not easy to acknowledge one of the wounds that the Church must take care of, beginning a path of conversion and reparation before the situations of abuse. It is illogical to pretend to make God speaking since forgiveness, as a characteristic of a compassionate God or that divine justice act on the sinful deeds of humanity. These ones are responses, often erroneous, given without knowing how to care for victims of sexual abuse or, in other words, without engaging themselves in the restorative healing task and assuming the humiliation, preferring to choose a defensive attitude for the good name or status of the Church.

It is the necessary to make visible the victims remained unattended and that is why it is requested their intervention and to accompany them through an empathic treatment that will cure them humanely and emotionally. Those who have courageously assumed their responsibility had to learn how to cope with the case processes and have offered the means of due treatment and compensation to the affected persons.

It is an obligation of the Church to care for the victims through the recognition, closeness and a good fraternal treatment approaching them like the God of Israel who listens to the cry of his people (Ex 3,7), creating spaces for dialogue and encounter, bending over to know their suffering and pain, attending to the needs of the brothers affected by the events and offering them the opportunity to express their feelings, emotions and unshared silences. That is the occasion to re-establish the faithful that are part of a community, giving them the possibility to be solidary through the reception that offers the strength to recover. This is a path of prevention and safeguarding in an ecclesial communion, creating support networks to work as a team with institutions, professionals and people with whom, in this course, we have woven fraternal ties and created a support network, because we have acknowledged that we also are vulnerable and we need to be supported and accompanied. This will be the task to carry on through the different commissions formed in the dioceses, parishes, religious congregations, CLAR and various International Conferences of Religious working for the prevention culture.

The healing process involves to accompany the victims without haste and without looking for immediate results. Rather, it consists in caring with a heart of mercy, walking alongside with those who carry difficult situations, taking each one his own responsibility towards their reality; it consists in listening to the cry, bending over and looking at them like God looks at his people, listening, approaching, overcoming prejudices, risking, being creative in inventing gestures of tenderness so that a gradual and patient process may take place and it may involve healthy symmetrical relationships and also inclusive understanding to welcome even the aggressors. In the community or the Church, must be offered a space for attention, openness and welcoming attentive listening; all that should be provided in an atmosphere of freedom and respect for each situation, always gazing like God, compassionate and moved by the caused wound, opening new possibilities to comprehend the experienced situation and to start a healing path, beginning with the “verbal testimony” presented as part of a salvation history, perceiving God of life’s acting and keeping in our memory that God’ s action, revealed in the pain of the past is transcended and gives meaning to the present.

The Church in her evangelizing task, walks alongside as a mother with its children and offers itself as an intermediary: it reveals the salvation through the events of a personal story manifesting love in the midst of suffering and offering a path of life and hope. I echo the words of Sister Nathalie Becquart, whom, in February 2021, Pope Francis appointed as one of the two Undersecretaries of the Synod of Bishops; affirming that “All of us, as baptized, are called to fight against clericalism which has been identified as the root of any abuse that is always the consequence of an abuse of power”, she remarked that it is necessary to promote discernment and to seek co-responsibility and subsidiarity, since a new style of governance, in the Church and that is the path of synodality involving the active participation of all the members in the shared mission, seeking consensus together since a free leadership, allowing the community to participate in the decision-making avoiding being the protagonists or a selfish narcissism, overcoming great institutional temptations of concealment, impunity, silence and deception … building again he coherent articulation (leaving dualism) mercy-justice, synodality-collegiality, vulnerability-precariousness.

The culture of prevention begins in the ecclesial life, in all its structures, dimensions and representativeness of all the members of the people of God; the Church mission, especially with regard with the most vulnerable («minors»), is to announce the Good News to all creation through an oblative service without domination.

At the end of this time of grace we return to our communities, parishes, dioceses with the hope of serving and helping the most vulnerable who demand love, sowing a culture of good treatment.

Hna. Priscila Brenes Granados, Tc

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ckmetktzoy9xib5/video%20FINAL%20Diploma%20CCP%202021.mp4?dl=0

 

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Education in times of pandemic

It is known by all that COVID19 has permeated all the spheres of the human life. This pandemic surprised us when we were absorbed in what we were calling «normality» and asleep in our comforts and personal anxieties. We never imagined that something so miniscule would have the power to take away thousands of human lives around the world and in a record time. Neither social status, nor fame, nor money have been useful as “saving-life” pass. This reality made us to see that we are not as powerful as we believe and, as Pope Francis affirms, “our vulnerability was exposed”.

This pandemic has also unmasked the gaps existing in many areas of society and the educational field has not been an exception. The educational systems of the world have been confronted and challenged to change their dynamics and some of them did so with a higher speed and effectiveness than others. The great powers countries of the world, thanks to the virtual and digital media, managed to give continuity to the educational processes in a short time but unfortunately, for the so-called third world countries, the reality has been very different: in addition to the lack of connectivity in various territories, they could not rely on  electronic equipment and devices and so be able to access virtual classes and, as an important fact in this historical moment, a large number of the teaching population that we could classify as “digital illiterate”, has also slowed down the processes.

Since all this reality, great questions arise to challenge the education agents: What to teach? Why to teach? How to evaluate? What to do in a virtual classroom or how to design a didactic guide to keep alive interest and motivation about learning? These are only some of the many questions that the reality of COVID-19 involves in the education sector. And it is not so simple to think about education in times of pandemic.

In the first months, when we were confined, education experts spoke out and said that the school could not be the same once it would be possible to go back to the physical presence in classroom in the dynamic we now know as “alternation”. And it is so; many will surely have achieved this urgent and necessary innovation, but many others will continue to be submerged in the lags of a traditional education that does not permeate the students’ lives, nor does it enable them to become transforming agents of society.

Consequently, the roles and the scenario of the educational process have changed. The exigency is not only for the teachers about the use of technological media or in the urgent need to achieve a true curricular transformation committed to improve the educational quality. Parents and caregivers have also been forced to learn again and to place themselves in the perspective of teaching and, in most of the cases, they were not trained or accustomed to do it, because they do not have the tools or the basic educational level to accompany the academic process of their children. That has generated stress, fatigue and even school dropout within the houses, especially in the most vulnerable population.

We always say that responsibility for the educational process is a commitment concerning both educational institutions and families but, in theory, until before the pandemic, only the first instance really assumed this commitment. We must acknowledge that the task of “reinventing ourselves” has been assigned to both students, parents and educators.

It is common to hear a phrase that, at a given time, was valid: «we were not prepared»; now it is time to leave behind this justification and to arm ourselves with passion, dynamism and creativity to face the historical moment urging us. This challenge entails to recognize the structural problem of education, the evident disparity in educational and technological opportunities as a reality that cannot be ignored, but we should not rule out the possibility of developing a humanizing process within the educational institutions and whose priority is to train resilient students, capable of getting out of themselves, understanding life since an altruistic sense and aware of the need to work for an integral ecology. The 21st century education has to be an education encouraging rather than teaching how to think and to live together.

 

Initiatives like the Global Educational Pact, promoted by Pope Francis, aim exactly to open doors so that, education and real processes of social transformation can take place. Now it is the moment: let’s not lose the opportunity to re-signify the educational environment starting with small actions.

The pandemic has put us in front of this great challenge and according to our being and doing as Capuchin Tertiaries we own all the tools that we need to give a coherent response based on the Gospel and the tenacity of our Charism.

Hna. Yury Tatiana Amaya Mendoza, Tc

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Let us love him, let us really love him

With these words, that actually are an invitation, the protagonist of this article, our sr. Rita White Arango, concludes the video we present, (it has been prepared by sr. Iria Natalia Ágreda Abreu in collaboration with other sisters), in which we have collected some “brushstrokes” of the life of sr. Rita who, at present the oldest sister of our Congregation, who, on June 27th, will be 109 years old.

Our written words are poor compared with the testimonies of the sisters who liked to share something about what sr. Rita has been for them and for the Congregation; so, grateful to the Lord for Rita’s long life, we’ll let the images and voices resonate and enter into our hearts.

Rita White Arango, that when she joined the religious life received the name of Hna. Pilar de Jesús de Manizales, is one of the fruits of the love of Mr. Enrique White and Mrs. Elisa Arango, that, by the Lord’s grace, on June 27th 1912, in Manizales (Caldas – Colombia), brought to the world this great woman. She was baptized on July 3rd of the same year. Rita’s parents gave her a good human and Christian formation and her education was fundamentally forged by reading and understanding texts that gave her an admirable intellectual baggage, at that time.

In 1932, Rita applied to join our Congregation of Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family and on July 2nd she began her postulancy in Yarumal (Antioquia) and on March 29th 1933, in the same house, she continued her formation in the novitiate. He made his First Profession on March 25th 1934, on the feast day we celebrate the mystery of the Annunciation and the beautiful act of God’s love that liked to take a body and become part of the humanity. Rita, has always been able to configure herself to her Lord throughout her whole life spent in love and dedication for the others. On January 22nd, 1939, she made her Perpetual Profession in Yarumal, offering all herself to the Lord for the service of his Kingdom of love, within our religious Family …

Sr. Rita spent most of her life as an educator, always striving to show to the children and young people, the face of Jesus the Master who accompanies and teaches God’s love to the others… She was a well-loved woman leaving in her students a deep trace of love for the Eucharist, the Virgin Mary, the Word of God as well as many values through which she was wonderfully forming her students in the academic, scientific and spiritual dimension, preparing them to serve the society and the Church in different ways.

In Rita’s personal life, the prayer, the accompaniment of good spiritual directors, the tenacity in whatever she intended to be and to do … helped her to be fervent, honest, patient, generous, constant, with sense of responsibility, prudent, available, cheerful and organized; she was adorned with a formidable memory that she has kept until not long time ago. Rita has been and is a woman of faith and dialogue; she was passionate about reading and she read with predilection the dwellings of Santa Teresa and was able to supernaturalize what is ordinary with religious mastery.

Since 1934 to 1967, our sister served in different communities in Colombia and in 1967, she went to Venezuela, at that time Province «Saint Francis», and she stayed there until 1991 when she went back again to Colombia, to her Province » Saint Joseph».

Rita held various services of responsibility in some institutions, such as director of different colleges, treasurer and administrator. She was also superior in various communities and novice mistress and she was always striving to give glory to God through all her being and doing.

Even when her responsibilities were consisting only in being the door keeper or in other offices in the library and today, as an aged sister member of the community “Our Lady of Montiel”, belonging to the Province “Our Lady of Divine Providence”, Sr. Rita has always been happy and smiling, revealing the living God whom she loves so much …

We like to end this article going back to its beginning, praying to the Lord to teach us to love Him, to truly love Him, as our sister invited us. That is what she tried to do throughout her long existence.

Happy birthday, Sr. Rita!

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A man committed to accompany and to train lay people: Luis Amigó and Ferrer

As human beings we discover that we cannot walk alone and we need the others to grow humanly and spiritually. Because of that, as Pope Francis reminds us, we need to scrutinize the paths of accompaniment and formation, promoting processes leading to encourage growth in the Christian life (cf. EG 169).

The task of accompaniment and formation of lay people, may lead us to the temptation to look at the panorama with uncertainty and hopelessness but, Luis Amigó’s experience in this mission fills us with confidence, hope, and enthusiasm.

But, how did Luis Amigó carry out this mission? Let’s discover his pursuits, successes and limitations in this task, but, above all, his enthusiasm, perseverance and trust in God and inlay people that are responsible for their own process and committed to share the richness of Jesus Christ in their lives.

The human and spiritual vision of Father Luis takes its origin in a concept centered on the dignity of a person able to allow himself to be transformed and to transform the Church and the world he inhabits. We cannot forget that Luis Amigó, during his youth, was formed in some movements integrated into the secular Catholic spirituality and committed himself in a religious and social promotion of people, namely, the School of Christ and the Congregation of San Felipe Neri; that strongly affected his apostolate of accompaniment and formation of the laity, which generates a personal and social transformation. He so  refers it in his writings: the Third Order is a Lord’s deed innovating the Church and completely transforming the society (cf. OCLA 1016-1017).

On the other hand, «man is created at image and likeness of God» (Gn 1,27) and so he owns the dignity of being son of God (cf. OCLA 1323); because of that, it is always necessary to work for the integral formation of the person. His formative accompaniment to lay people, more than a scientific, psychological or educational theory consists in a lifestyle expressed in a particular way of being, staying and evangelizing, striving to incarnate in his person and to instill in the life of the Christian, their baptismal obligation. For this reason, Father Luis frequently insisted on the wealth, nobility and dignity honoring and distinguishing us the Christians, who have been made children of God and heirs of his glory (cf. OCLA 1329).

The apostolate with the lay people was always present in the life of Fr. Luis, when he was still a simple Capuchin as well as when he was a bishop; he was well rooted in everyday life and was allowing himself to be enlightened by the human pedagogy that Jesus uses with his disciples: respect for the dignity of the person, listening to reality, use of a known, familiar and contextualized language, reading and interpretation of the Scriptures, closeness and affection for people.

Since his youth, he assumed accompaniment as something constantly present in his multiple formative activities, mainly in the congregations of the Venerable Third Order, the Daughters of Mary and the Luises (cf. OCLA 50). His concern for the formation of the young people of both associations was oriented towards the Christian life (cf. OCLA 2170) through an accompaniment that emerges as an imperative in the process of personal growth of the members of the groups and a human and spiritual wisdom integrated in the reality of his time, employed in daily life and proved by a true and convincing witness of Christian life.

The culminating moment of this apostolic service, occurred at the beginning of his priestly ministry, when he was appointed as Commissar of the Venerable Third Order, on October 20th, 1881 and entrusted with all the necessary faculties… (cf. OCLA 60-62). The footnote n. 39 referred to of OCLA 61, collects the opinion of Fr. Melchor de Benisa OFMCap regarding Father Luis’ apostolate in this area: “He had a great skill and a clinical eye in recognizing people who wished to enter the order and he was recommending to them no to make policy but, rather, to be extremely seraphic, as they were the right arm of the parish priest…”. He was interested about the formation of the Third Order members because he wanted to lead them to God, since his life witness and that is what his brothers acknowledged when they declared: “They were respecting him as a holy man and following his instructions with diligence and joy».

Father Luis promoted a formation that would affect the spiritual fervor of the members of those groups of the Third Order that «were rapidly spreading during the first years of the restoration and, in the year 1893 reached an amount of 17,864 Tertiaries, dependent on the Capuchin province of Toledo of which the Servant of God was one of the provincial Councilor » (cf. OCLA footnote n. 40).

Luis Amigó worked tirelessly in the progress and propagation of the Third Order, which was attended by a huge crowd of faithful; the organization of the groups strongly contributing to their growth, in such a way that, they became a considerable number of brothers and sisters… and that brought to mind the need to go on founding new congregations (cf. OCLA 61). He was also encouraging the members of the Third Order to participate in congresses as training opportunities as well as in other celebrations (cf. OCLA 2449).

During his episcopal ministry he wrote letters, circulars and apostolic exhortations requesting his priests, among others, to accompany and to form the Christian life of the lay people, with apostolic zeal and a tireless evangelical activity (cf. OCLA 1137). All that expresses his concern for the formation in the spiritual life and his commitment with great zeal and interest for the salvation of souls and to make known and loved by all Jesus Christ (cf. OCLA 1142-1143) as well as the tireless work and the restoration of the society turned away from Jesus Christ. In order to reach this aim, he was asking lay people of both sexes to work hard since, usually, persons pay more attention to them, that to the priests (cf. OCLA 1147), he was considering himself a collaborator of Jesus the Good Shepherd to attract the “lost sheep” into the fold, leading them to the field of the Church where they can be satisfied with the Jesus Christ’s doctrine (cf. OCLA 1136). He was as well caring about the formation of Christian families as a support and sustainer of society, fixing their eyes on the model of the Family of Nazareth (cf. OCLA 1102-1103) and paying attention to the reality interpreting it in the light of the faith and discerning his decisions about economic, social, moral and spiritual difficulties that society was experiencing (cf. OCLA 297 and 1054). He promoted also the advancement of science, whose source and origin is God, as a means of progress for peoples (cf. OCLA 936), the building of the peace and justice emanating from God’s mercy (cf. OCLA 656-657) and the construction of a more humane society where the graces and favors received from God should be used for the benefit of others, considered neighbor and brother (cf. OCLA 1051). These and many other concerns, made Luis Amigó a man committed to accompany and train well immersed in the Christian, social, political, economic reality and in the transformation of the society founded on charity and on Jesus Christ’s doctrine.

In addition to all that, we could say that Luis Amigó was a man able to glimpse the important role of the laity in the Church and in the society and to appreciate the need of walking together in synodality in order to build the God’s Kingdom and that is what the Church remembers us at the present time.  In his writings he reflects this idea saying that” lay people are obliged to work, each one in his own sphere of activity, in spreading the faith and making Jesus Christ and his holy doctrine, known to men” (cf. OCLA 1147); through these words, he put into evidence the great importance of the secular apostolate We know that, his relationship with them was favored by a join active and responsible participation in events, celebrations and organized activities, both in the spiritual and civil fields.

Today we, the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters, feel urged to share with the lay people the gift of our Charism (cf. Const. 63), a gift of the Spirit for the whole Church and for the extension of the Kingdom, to promote since the novelty of the Holy Spirit and of Father Luis a formative accompaniment as a processual and integral dynamic, using the pedagogy of Christ the Good Shepherd, an feature speaking us of the profound experience of Jesus caring for each one of his sheep, to seek paths that open us to a new mentality, to walk alongside the lay people and to promote different ways of being and staying moved to compassion by mercy, no-appropriation and inclusion.

Sr. MARÍA ANABELLE CÉSPEDES MORALES, TC

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«Help yourself and heaven will help you»: A self-sustainable formation

Since the beginning of our congregational presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1971, and specifically in the Mission of Kansenia, one of the priority was the creation of a “foyer” (school-home).  The name of this «foyer», unchanged in the time, is “Kinzala”, which can be translated as “a home that never dries up”.

Accepting the invitation of our Founder, Father Luis Amigó, to be always open to the signs of the times in order to respond to the real needs of the people we want to serve, the sisters who started our mission in Africa, having discovered the precarious situation of the young women training,  they launched the foyer project, still existing after 50 years.

The Kinzala foyer aims to an integral promotion of the women, offering to the young women a platform where they themselves are the main agent of their formation, through an active participation in the organized activities and deploying their gifts in a society, as persons  created in the image of God and having the right to receive an appropriate education.

In life, all that is important has a high price. Education is one of the important dimensions of each person and the education received by a young women in Kinzala foyer requires a responsible work at all levels, since it does not provides only content, but consists in a training for life.

Many of the young women accessing to the Foyer come from villages quite far from the Mission and do not have sufficient resources to pay the expenses of the boarding school. That is why, “yesterday and today”, the foyer struggles to be self-sustainable, creating self-training and learning strategies, which, at the same time, are a financial support putting into practice the comprehensive education we talked about before.

As Fr. Juan Antonio Vives, TC emphasizes in his book «A man who trusted in God» when he speaks about  the Amigonian method in educating people according to  Jesus style, the young person «is certainly the main agent of his education. Many educational actions fail when the student is not given the time to value and long for them. Even the best measure may become pernicious and paternalistic, if the student is not in the position to receive it. In education, it is not enough that the educator want to do what is good: it is necessary that the boy or girl like and accept that same thing as good. Luis Amigó gives a great value to the ​​moments of reflection on the student part. He knows that only he who becomes aware of his situation, is able to make a free decision to change ”.

In the Kinzala foyer we have encourages the young woman to be the main agent of their training and, in addition to the literacy or basic general culture courses and secondary school studies, we initiate some of the young women in practical domestic economy. There are spaces to learn sewing and embroider and in a good extension of land belonging to the Foyer they cultivate (corn, beans, peanuts …) and raise animals (pigs, goats, chickens …), for their daily consumption  as well as means of financing support of the same  Foyer.

  • Literacy teaching and general culture. Although it is preferable that young women have finished primary school, we sometimes welcome some who are not able neither to read nor to write, since in many villages there are no schools. For those girls that become aware of the need to train themselves and show their will to learn, we provide an education appropriate for their reality and possibilities.
  • Agricultural work: Most of the girls cannot afford the boarding and school expenses in goods. For this reason, they cultivate the fields to cover their basic necessities; among others they cultivate corn, beans, peanuts and various kinds of vegetables that contribute to their daily diet.
  • Raising animals. The young women take turns in feeding the pigs, goats, chickens … and cleaning the rooms. The animals are consumed for food in the Foyer, but they are also a source of income because with the money they get from their sale they pay other common expenses, carry out different activities organized in support to the young girls’ own training and buy sewing materials. Everyone does it with enthusiasm and joy.
  • Sewing and embroidery workshops. Once they arrive to the Foyer, the young women that have not completed primary school are provided literacy and general culture courses, as we mentioned before, and also practical training; they learn to sew and embroider and that offers them the possibility to start a little trade that later will serve them in their origin places. The tablecloths, dresses, bags and whatever they produce, are for sale and what they get is an income for the Foyer and it contributes to buy new cloth and materials.

During all the years of its existence, a quite high number of young women have passed through the Kinzala foyer and they have learned from the life and for the life. The lack of financial resources has never restrained the desire to train themselves in order to help the others. These women have been responsible leaders in their villages and society; they have formed stable families and have shared with other women what they had learned with the sweat of their brow and through the work of their hands …That is for them a lived experience of self-sustainability that continues to help them to raise their families, putting into practice the popular adage: «Help yourself and the heaven will help you.»

Education is a right but, at the same time, it is a privilege to experiment that we ourselves are tracing our own learning path, valuing the training price. The person who strives to make his training possible is an entrepreneur and is able to adapt to the reality of society, always looking for alternatives allowing him to get out of many situations in which he feels abandoned to his destiny. To achieve that, in the Kinzala Foyer, awareness is a vital tool that helps the young woman to become aware of her reality and to involve herself participating fully in all the proposed activities.

We thank God who accompanies his sons and daughters at all times. All is grace!

VIRGINIE KAZADI TSHILANDA, TC
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World Refugee Day 2021

The World Refugee Day of this year 2021, that we’ll  celebrate on June 20th, and it has been organized by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), focuses on the power of inclusion and has as its general theme: “Together we care, we learn and we shine ”.

We transcribe some points of the information brochure that they have prepared for this celebration:

“The shared experience of COVID-19 has showed us that we only succeed if we stand together. We have all had to do our part to keep each other safe and despite the challenges, refugees and displaced people have stepped up.

Given the chance, refugees will continue to contribute to a stronger, safer and more vibrant world. This year, we call for greater inclusion of refugees in health systems, schools and sport. Only by working together can we recover from the pandemic.

Together we heal. We heal together when we all get the care we need. The world can’t overcome COVID-19 if it overlooks refugees, because no one is safe until everyone is safe. We need to ensure that people forced to flee have access to vaccines, care, medicine and psychological support, like everyone else.

Together we learn. When we learn together we build a stronger community. We all benefit when everyone has access to education. We are calling for the creation of scholarships and education opportunities for displaced youth. We also call for greater access to digital education for refugee students.

Together we shine. We shine when we play together as a team. Sport is a great way to heal, develop and grow, especially for people fleeing conflict or persecution. We call for greater support to refugee sport programmes. We also encourage all sport fans to support the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic Teams that will compete in the Tokyo games

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July the 3rd : Capuchin Family day

On July 3rd 1528, Pope Clement VII, through the bull “Religionis zelus”, approved the Capuchin Order, one of the reform sprout within the Family of the Friars Minor, on initiative of some brothers that desired to live more radically according to the origins of the Franciscan Fraternity, strengthening the life of contemplation, recuperating more austerity in the life of poverty and reaffirming the evangelizing mission through popular preaching and being present in frontier places. The origin of the Capuchin Order, as well as that of other orders and congregations, is undoubtedly related to the reform movement occurred in the Catholic Church in response to the provocation created by Christian communities that, under different but at the same time quite similar motivations, were separating from the Church of Rome and breaking their communion with the Pope.

Over the course of time, the Capuchins have become a numerous and significant Order in the Church and, since their origins in the 16th century, they have offered to the Church, significant models of holiness in the common and unpretentious life. Their presence in the midst of people through the ministry of preaching, confession and previously also as “beggars brothers”, chaplains in places of pain – hospitals, cemeteries, prisons – and their commitment in the accompaniment and spiritual formation of groups of lay people of the Third Franciscan Order (today Secular Franciscan Order), has contributed to the growth of the faith in many people and also to the foundation of some religious families inspired in the Franciscan-Capuchin spirituality, and, among them, the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family.

Father Luis Amigó was an authentic Capuchin brother that kept his bond to his Order even as a Founder and Bishop and he liked that the two religious families he founded never lose the Franciscan-Capuchin spirit (cf. OCLA 1920) and be aggregated to the Capuchin Order (cf. Iriarte L., Historia de la Congregación,  pag. 53).

The Congregation of Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family was aggregated to the Order in 1905 by Father Luis Amigó’s expressed will and through this act, he liked to make it participate in the spiritual patrimony of his original religious Family and, at the same time, to enrich the Order with its specific charisma. We have to acknowledge that the Capuchin Brothers have played and do play an important role in the history of the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters, accompanying them in the Franciscan formation and opening and partaking with them the mission; at the same time, wherever this sharing is most cultivated, the beauty of the Capuchin charisma lived with its feminine and masculine features, is better perceived.

On July 3rd, the anniversary day of the canonical approval of the Capuchin Order, the entire Capuchin Family is called to celebrate with gratitude its presence in the Church, reaffirming its commitment of fidelity to the initial charisma enriched by the peculiarity of each congregation sprouted from an authentically capuchin heart.

In other years, on this date, took place meetings of members of Capuchin families that really strengthened the bonds of fraternity. This year, because of the pandemic, it will not be possible but nothing and no one can prevent us from living this Day with a special memory in our prayer, feeling that we are members of a larger family with whom we share spiritual gifts and fraternal affection.

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Mary, help of christians, day of prayer for the Church in China

Pope Francis, during the prayer of Regina coeli, recalled that on May 24th, «the Catholic faithful in China will celebrate the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians and heavenly Patron of their great country».

This feast, established in 2007 by Benedict XVI, celebrates that  “The Mother of the Lord and of the Church is venerated with particular devotion in the Sheshan Shrine in Shanghai, and is invoked assiduously by Christian families, in the trials and hopes of daily life. How good and how necessary it is that the members of a family and of a Christian community are ever more united in love and in faith!” said Pope Francis. […] Therefore, I invite you to accompany with fervid prayer the Christian faithful in China, our dearest brothers and sisters, whom I hold in the depth of my heart. May the Holy Spirit, protagonist of the Church’s mission in the world, guide them and help them to be bearers of the happy message, witnesses of goodness and charity, and builders of justice and peace in their country”.

Since the Communists took power in China in 1949, the country has not maintained official diplomatic relations with the Holy See. Among the points of contention is the Chinese  demand that the Vatican must cut its contacts with Taiwan and, above all, the question of the appointment of bishops. In September 2018, the Holy See concluded a provisional agreement with Beijing, and through which Pope Francis lifted the excommunication of several bishops consecrated without his consent but recognized by the Chinese authorities. On its part, Beijing has recognized only a few of the so-called bishops of the underground Church. Of the current 101 Chinese bishops, 36 are underground bishops.

According to various reports, in China, in recent weeks, police arrested several members of the clergy and among them the Apostolic Prefect of Xinxiang, Archbishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu, 63 years old, seven priests and ten seminarians. Xinxiang Prefecture is not recognized by the Chinese authorities, so the activities of priests and laity related to it are considered criminal activities.

Mons.  Ludwig Schick, bishop of Bamberg, Germany, denounced that, on the part of the Chinese authorities, there is a determined effort to impede children and young people to approach religion: “In more and more places, the authorities systematically prohibit that the minors come into contact with religion. The prohibitions existing during a long time are now being applied at all levels in China». All religious symbols have been removed from Catholic orphanages, and more measures of the same kind have been taken in a leadership struggle

against religions, especially against Christian churches, but also against Muslims».

Translated from: OMPRESS-ROMA (24-05-21)

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Beyond popular religiosity: Mary, queen of Poland

When I reflect about my experience of God, my first memories are the traditional Sunday Eucharist with my parents and brothers. Once the Mass was over, my father led us by the hand in front of the image of the Mother of God (in Poland we call Mary  so, rather than «the Virgin»), the Black Madonna, Mother of God of Częstochowa, Queen of Poland, with her serious face and two wounds on her cheek. I remember that, as a child, I did not know why we were kneeling before this somber and majestic image, but it seems that this was not bothering Maria: she does always know why she looks at us pointing to her Son. I am Sr. Alicja Grzywocz, Tertiary Capuchin, Polish, and I have the pleasure to share with you some “brush strokes” about Mary’s experience as Queen of Poland.

Even though from Rome to Gniezno – the first Poland capital – there are a little more than 1500 km, the Christian faith took almost a thousand years to reach these Slavic lands. Our prince Mieszko I was baptized in the year 966 and the first church he ordered to build was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. To this day, the Gniezno Cathedral – that below its walls hides the ruins of that first church – is called «mother of the churches of Poland». A very fruitful mother from whom her children have inherited a very special veneration for the Mother of God.

The first hymn of our country was a prayer sung to the Virgin Mary. With her and with the name of Mary on their lips, the Polish army began its battles that – among other reasons, due to its geographical location in the center of Europe – have been very numerous  throughout our history. It was in the XVII century –  lso in the context of a war – that the King of Poland crowned the Mother of God, naming her Queen of Poland. The curious thing is that almost 50 years before, the Virgin herself requested to be called so. The story tells that an Italian Jesuit praying in Naples, saw Mary dressed as a Queen and holding the Child Jesus in her arms. The Jesuit wanted to hail the Virgin with a title with which she had not yet been venerated by anyone. Our Lady took the initiative and told him: “Why don’t you call me Queen of Poland? I love this kingdom and I am going to do great things for it, because a peculiar love for me burns within its children». The Jesuits – after carefully examining this apparition and having received from the Church the confirmation of its authenticity – informed our king, who liked to welcome the before mentioned Jesuit, that walked to Poland, the Kingdom of the Virgin Mary. At the top of the tower of the Church of the Assumption, in the main square of Krakow (at that time, the capital of Poland), it was placed a crown as a sign of acceptance of this request of the Virgin.

The most desired moment of the coronation did not occur until after the invasion of Poland by Sweden and Russia (known as the «Swedish flood»). A key moment in this war was the miraculous defense of the Jasna Góra (Clear Mountain) monastery in Częstochowa, where the icon of the Black Madonna was worshiped. The chronicles tell that a very limited group of soldiers, after having spent the night in prayer before the icon of the Mother of God, defended Jasna Góra because She was fighting with them against a much stronger army. Other cities, after hearing the news, went back to the battle with a renewed spirit, well knowing that the Virgin was on their side. The victory in Jasna Góra and finally in the whole Poland, inspired King John Casimir to crown the Virgin as Queen of Poland and to pronounce her vows on behalf of his entire kingdom. The celebration took place in Lviv (now belonging to Ukraine, but then to Poland) in the year 1656.

This one was not the only time that Mary has been crowned Queen of Poland: this fact has been repeated more than 50 times, renewing, in different historical moments, the commitment that that entails. A few years after Poland had regained independence (1918) and once ended the II World War II, two very significant jubilees took place: in the year 1956 the 300th anniversary of the vows of John Casimir and of the coronation of the Virgin as Queen of Poland and, in the year 1966, the 1000 years of the baptism of Poland. Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski (a close friend of John Paul II and whose beatification will be next June) proclaimed novenas in preparation for these jubilees. In 1956 the whole nation renewed its vows before the image of the Mother of God of Czestochowa and began the preparation for the Millennium Jubilee of Baptism: one of the realized initiatives was the pilgrimage of a copy of the image of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa through the parishes of Poland.

I have heard many people speaking about that pilgrimage and although I did not live it because of my age, I can perceive the importance of this event in Poland. The context was very unfavorable since the communist government was striving to make all the possible to stifle the faith in Poland. During 9 years they observed the pilgrimage of the icon of the Virgin that every 24 hours changed parish. People were decorating their houses and streets to welcome the Black Madonna, the crowd was praying day and night before the image … The communists saw that all their efforts to weaken the faith were in vain, since the pilgrimage of the Mother of God of Częstochowa was awaking a very special strength in everyone. Finally, they decided to arrest the Virgin … In the 1966, a few days before the celebration of the millennium of the baptism of Poland, under the pretext of controlling the vehicle where the icon was transported, they seized it and took the image to the Warsaw Cathedral, preventing its passage through the parishes that were still waiting to receive their Queen.  After the jubilee they put the image at the window of the sacristy, secured with bars, and forbade to continue the pilgrimage; although that, people tried again to continue the pilgrimage but, once again, the communists took the image and brought it to Częstochowa, where it remained during 8 years strongly protected behind bars and under military surveillance.

Surprisingly, during these 8 years the pilgrimage took an even greater strength: what was carried from one parish to another was … an empty frame. People continued to decorate the houses and streets of their villages, the churches were full of people and everyone was praying before the empty frame of the image of their “imprisoned” and safeguarded Queen. The message is very clear: faith makes us free and there is no way to imprison it; the Polish people gathered before the empty frame of the icon of the Black Madonna, pointed out whom they wanted to serve and to whom their heart was belonging.

The Czestochowa monastery is still one of the most important places in Poland. Every year something like 250,000 people leave their towns and cities and walk to the Black Madonna. The oldest pilgrimage will soon turn 400 years of tradition. For some of them, it is more than 600 km on foot. For those who live «on the way» to Czestochowa it is a pilgrimage of hospitality: during the months of July and August they keep the doors of their houses open to host free pilgrims who come to present their intentions and to ask the blessing of the Queen and others, in front of their houses, set tables with water, sweets, bread … to comfort the pilgrims.

Why is it so popular the Virgin of Częstochowa and not any other else image among many other miraculous representations of Mary that are in Poland? Perhaps, the people so many times wounded by wars and other evils, see in the sad face and scared face of the Black Madonna, a Queen able to of understand and share their suffering … Perhaps, looking at this icon, they remember the victorious battle despite the magnitude of the enemy and regain hope in their daily fights Or perhaps, the Mother of God holding the Child Jesus in her arms, inspires them a most simple and trusting prayer: “Madonna, Black Madonna, how it is good to be your son; let me, Black Madonna, hide in your arms ”, as one of the songs says.

Every day at 9:00 p.m. before the icon of the Queen of Poland in Częstochowa, but also in thousands of families who spiritually join with Jasna Góra from their homes, people pray «Apel Jasnogórski» – «Appeal of the Clear Mountain ”. It is a prayer to present to the Queen what they have lived during the day and to beg her blessing upon the night and the following day; it usually ends with a sung prayer: «Mary, Queen of Poland, I am with you, I remember, I watch over». The last time in which I was able to experience that in Czestochowa, after a walk of 100 km from my birth parish to Jasna Góra I understood that, may be, more than saying we: «I am with you, I remember, I watch over», as polish people, it is our Queen who tells us that. Her presence in Poland is “breathed” at every step and at no time She has forgotten this people that she herself chose to be her Queen and, like every Mother, day and night, she keeps watch and cares for her sons and daughters.

Wherever you are, sooner or later, you will surely come across the image of the Black Madonna, Queen of Poland, since her people have always carried her with them… Pray to her also like us: “Madonna, Black Madonna, how good it is to be your son Let me, Black Madonna, hide myself in your arms”. And I hope you hear in your heart her response: «I am with you, I remember, I watch over….»

ALICJA GRZYWOCZ, TC

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