Annual message

Message for 2023: Inner Life and Solidarity

Where can we find the source of a universal brother- and sisterhood, both at the heart of our human family and with the whole of creation? Different answers to this question have developed over time in the spiritual traditions of the peoples of the earth. For Christians, the time has come to reach a deeper understanding of their faith. Not to put themselves forward or to claim they have (...)

26 December 2022

Brother Alois 2022: Becoming Creators of Unity

Helping unity to grow, creating bonds between people: this is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The present day is characterized by contradictory developments.On the one hand, humanity is becoming more and more aware howinterconnected and linked it is to the whole of creation. The pandemic has madeus realize once again that we are one human family; we undergo certainhardships all (...)

25 December 2021

Brother Alois 2021: Hoping in Season and out of Season

A message for 2021Booklet as PDF A message for 2021 Humanity is able to move forward because of the multitudes of women and men who give themselves without counting the cost, even in times of upheaval and uncertainty. Over these last few months, many young people have shared with us their worries about the future: what hope can give us direction; what things can we trust and rely on when (...)

21 December 2020

Brother Alois 2020: Always on the Move, Never Uprooted

“Proposals 2020”PDF format: In September, we held a new stage of our “pilgrimage of trust on earth” in the city of Cape Town. South Africa is a great and beautiful country; 25 years ago, it showed the world the power of the protest against apartheid and of a non-violent transition, even though today the country is still scarred by the deep divisions between ethnic groups. In this context, the (...)

26 December 2019

Brother Alois 2019: Let us not forget hospitality!

Download in pdf format Do not forget to show hospitality, for by so doing some people have welcomed angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2) The pilgrimage of trust, an uninterrupted succession of meetings of young adults which began in Taizé several decades ago, continues today on all the continents. In each of these gatherings, one of the most memorable experiences is hospitality, both for (...)

24 March 2019

Brother Alois 2018: Inexhaustible Joy

A young woman who was very ill said to me last year, “I love life.” I remain deeply moved by the inner joy that filled her, in spite of the narrow limits imposed by her illness. I was touched not only by her words, but by the beautiful expression on her face. And what can we say about the joy of children? Recently I saw some children in Africa whose presence, even in refugee camps where so many (...)

26 December 2017

Brother Alois 2017: A Call to Church Leaders for 2017

On the road together! In 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation offers an opportunity to advance towards unity and to go beyond mere cordiality. There will always be differences between the Churches, as well as within each Church. These differences will remain subjects for frank dialogue; they can be an enrichment. But, in all the Churches, over time denominational identity (...)

10 January 2017

Brother Alois 2017: Towards the Unity of the European Continent

As migrants arrive, let us go beyond fear! The meeting in Riga organized by the Taizé Community at the end of December 2016 brought together young adults from across Europe.(1) Coming both from member-countries of the European Union and countries that do not belong to it, they had an experience of community capable of uniting people from the whole continent. This Nordic gathering also enabled (...)

10 January 2017

Brother Alois 2017: Together, Opening Paths of Hope

At the beginning of September 2016, a stage in the pilgrimage of trust brought together 7500 young Africans in Cotonou, Benin. (1) The theme of this gathering will continue to inspire us throughout the year 2017: together—not alone, but supported by one another—we can open paths of hope—in ourselves, around us and for the human family. One of the questions asked at Cotonou was this: “To nourish (...)

26 December 2016

Brother Alois 2016: The Courage of Mercy

Throughout the year 2015, at Taizé, we looked for ways to get involved in new solidarities; these are so urgent today. Across the earth, new forms of distress — migratory, ecological and social — are a challenge for believers of different religions and for non-believers alike. Armed violence is wreaking havoc in the name of inhuman ideologies. While remaining clear-headed, we shall continue our (...)

26 December 2015

Taizé 2015

God of compassion, we thank you for Brother Roger’s life. In a world often torn apart by violence, he wanted to create a community that was a parable of communion. We praise you for the witness he gave to the Risen Christ and for his faithfulness until death. Send your Holy Spirit upon us so that we too may be witnesses to reconciliation in our daily lives. Make us creators of unity among (...)

7 August 2015

Brother Alois 2015: Four proposals in order to be “salt of the earth”.

The letter “Towards a New Solidarity” (2012-2015) continues to express the essentials of the common journey that is leading us to August 16, 2015, the tenth anniversary of Brother Roger’s entrance into the life of eternity (see the program for the year 2015 below). Here are four proposals in order to be “salt of the earth”.First proposal: Sharing with those around us a zest for life “You are the (...)

26 December 2014

Brother Alois 2014: Four Proposals for “seeking visible communion among all who love Christ”

The Letter “Towards a New Solidarity”, continues to be the basis of the common journey that is leading us by stages to 2015. It commits us for the coming year to “seeking visible communion among all who love Christ.” Here are four proposals to join in this search.Christ extended his friendship to all, without rejecting anyone. Those who love Christ all across the earth form, in his steps, a large community of friendship. This is called communion. For this reason, they have a contribution to (...)

26 December 2013

Brother Alois 2013: Four Proposals to Uncover the Wellsprings of Trust in God

The Letter published last year in Berlin, “Towards a New Solidarity”, will continue to support our searching during the coming three years. We are devoting the year 2013 to finding ways of “uncovering the wellsprings of trust in God.” The “Year of Faith” launched by Pope Benedict XVI points us in this direction. Here are four proposals to help us go further with our searching.First Proposal - Talk together about our faith journey What is the meaning of our lives? How do we deal with suffering and (...)

18 February 2013

Brother Alois 2012-2015: Towards a New Solidarity

Letter 2012-2015 Click the image to download or view

26 December 2011

Brother Alois 2011: Letter from Chile

13 December 2010

Brother Alois 2010: Letter from China

12 December 2009

For an open Europe, a land of solidarity

Since the young adult meeting is taking place in Brussels, headquarters of numerous European institutions, it seemed important to address the following message to the European Union. On 15 December, Brother Alois delivered the message personally to Mr José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and he sent it to the heads of state and government of the 27 countries of the Union. (...)

23 March 2009

Brother Alois 2009: Letter from Kenya

From the 26th to the 30th of November 2008, 7000 young people from different regions of Kenya as well as from other African countries and other continents met together in Nairobi. It was the second international meeting organized in Africa by the Taizé Community, after one in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1995. This stage in the “pilgrimage of trust on earth” was hosted by more than eighty parishes of the different Churches of Nairobi. Its aim was to help create more fraternal relationships, (...)

15 December 2008

Brother Alois: Letter to those who want to follow Christ

In the Gospel we hear Jesus call, “Follow me!” Can we respond to him by a lifelong commitment? In all of us there is the desire for future happiness. But we can have the impression that we are conditioned by so many limits that at times we fall prey to discouragement. And yet God is present: “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” (Mark 1:15). We become aware of God’s presence when we face the situations of our life just as they are, in order to create on the basis of what is. No one would want to get (...)

7 December 2007

Brother Alois: A call for the reconciliation of Christians

When he left Geneva in 1940 to found the Taizé Community, Brother Roger was motivated by this intuition: for Christians to be ferments of peace in humanity, they cannot put off reconciliation among themselves until later. Many years afterwards, this is how he described his personal journey: “Marked by the witness of my grandmother’s life, following her I found my own Christian identity by reconciling within myself the faith of my origins with the Mystery of the Catholic faith, without (...)

7 December 2007

Brother Alois 2008: Letter from Cochabamba

Prepared for months with the parishes and families of the city and its surroundings, a Latin American young adult meeting was held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, from October 10-14, 2007. It brought together 7000 participants from the different regions of Bolivia, from all the countries of Latin America and from several European countries. This “Letter from Cochabamba” for the year 2008 was first distributed during the European meeting in Geneva at the end of December 2007. Reconciliation, a fire (...)

7 December 2007

Brother Alois 2007: Letter from Kolkata

Thirty years ago, Brother Roger spent some time in Kolkata (Calcutta) with brothers and young people from different continents, living in a poor district and taking part in Mother Teresa’s work with abandoned children and the dying. He brought back the Letter to the People of God, made public during a young adult meeting at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Later on, he wrote several messages and three books with Mother Teresa. This presence in 1976 was the seed of a lasting relationship of (...)

10 December 2006

2006: Brother Roger’s unfinished letter

The afternoon of the day he died, August 16th, Brother Roger called one of the brothers and said to him, “Note down these words carefully!” There was a long silence while he attempted to formulate his thinking. Then he began, “To the extent that our community creates possibilities in the human family to widen…” And he stopped there, too exhausted to finish his phrase. These words reflect the passion that inspired him, even in his old age. What did he mean by “widen”? He probably wanted to say: do (...)

12 December 2005

Brother Roger 2005: A future of peace

This letter, written by Brother Roger of Taizé and translated into 55 different languages (including 24 from Asia), was made public during the young adult European meeting in Lisbon. It will be used for reflection throughout the year 2005 during the weekly meetings in Taizé as well as those held elsewhere, in Europe or on other continents.“God has plans for a future of peace for you, not of misfortune; God wants to give you a future and a hope.” [14] Today, a great many people are longing for a (...)

13 December 2004