TAIZÉ

2020 Latin America: Online gatherings

 
At a time when Latin America was hard hit by the global Covid-19 pandemic, church-related meetings and activities were able to continue on the internet.

A virtual choir

In September, a virtual choir ’Echoes from the Pilgrimage of Trust’, made up of members from different Latin American countries, released a recording in Spanish of the Taizé song ’Aber du weisst den Weg für mich’ with lyrics by the German pastor Dietrich Bonhöffer


An online meeting

After a first internet meeting organised in July by the Taizé brothers living in Brazil, about 300 people from Brazil and many countries in Spanish-speaking America took part from 23 to 25 October in the second Taizé online meeting in Latin America.

The theme of the meeting was the parable of the Good Samaritan. While the pandemic, and the lockdown measures necessary to curb its spread, prevented the young people from gathering physically, the meeting participants found other ways to get to know each other in order to reflect together on the Gospel and on their life choices. Below you will find some links to watch the thematic workshops and other important moments of the meeting..

Testimony of Solivan, a young Brazilian volunteer who helped with prepare the meeting

"Who is my neighbour?" (Lk 10,25-37) This was the biblical inspiration that guided those who, like me, took part in this meeting, together with people from different Latin American countries and with the Taizé brothers who live in Alagoinhas, Brazil.

The inspiration of the Samaritan, that merciful stranger, made me understand that the essential thing for Jesus is not who is close to us, but whom we approach to take care of and offer our friendship. I also understood that we have to take care of ourselves and let ourselves be helped, that is, to recognise that in some moments we are capable of helping, but in others it is we who need the one who comes close to us. Love and mercy are expressed in the relationship of caring and being cared for.

Those who know Taizé know that the meetings organised by the community are marked by certain characteristics: it is not so clear who organises and who participates, because everyone is invited to build the meeting. In this way, whoever participates feels protagonist and welcomed. It is a life shared in community. Simplicity is another characteristic, but a simplicity that allows us to go further because it requires us to concentrate on the essential, which is to walk together and listen to the Master. Another thing is abandonment in trust: trusting people, as the poor man who was robbed and fell on his way when he entrusted his life to a stranger did.

The meeting brought together friends of Taizé, some long-time friends, others more recent; those who have volunteered or spent a week in the community in France or in Alagoinhas, as well as those who have taken part in meetings in Latin America. But there were also some who got to know Taizé during this meeting - an online meeting which fuelled the desire for a face-to-face Latin American meeting..

Link to video clips

Different workshops were broadcast online with a translation in Brazilian and Spanish. The video clips are available here.

Last updated: 24 November 2020