The history of Taizé in Latin America is already a long one. It began in November 1958. Brother Roger was in Rome for the beginning of Pope John XXIII’s ministry, and there he met one of the great Latin American bishops, Manuel Larrain, the bishop of Talca, Chile. That was the start of a deep friendship. Through this contact Brother Roger discovered the vast problems of all kinds which Latin (...)
The evening before Palm Sunday, on a hill overlooking the city of Santiago, Chile, over a thousand young adults gathered for prayer with the three Taizé brothers who are at present in Santiago. The young people of Chile reacted very quickly when, a month ago, their country was struck by an earthquake and all that followed. They created networks of solidarity everywhere to bring help to those (...)
Fran, from Spain, is part of the preparation team for the meeting. Here he shares some of his impressions shortly after his arrival in Santiago. Prayer in Santiago on 14 August: 70 years of Taizé and 5 years since Brother Roger’s death The summer heat in Europe makes a contrast with the winter cold that welcomes us to Santiago, Chile. In the southern hemisphere, the (...)
In 2010, many countries in Latin America celebrated 200 years of independence from Spain. It was a momentous occasion. The break with the Spanish crown after nearly two centuries under colonial rule meant that, for the first time, Latin America was free to decide where it wanted to go, what kind of society it wanted to construct in the future. It is against this historical backdrop that we celebrated this year’s National Independence Day. Like other Chileans, we made the most of the 4 day holiday. On the 18th September, Chile commemorated (...)
During the second half of September, one of the brothers of the community visited the cities of Córdoba, Buenos Aires and Tucumán in Argentina. He writes: (...)
Tuesday 7 December Here we are, with news from Santiago! The final preparation for the meeting hardly left us time to breath! The long, continuous arrival of the pilgrims from all points of the compass did not leave us a moment’s rest. The volunteers have arrived and everything is ready, or nearly so, for the great welcome tomorrow. Today, the big surprise was the arrival of the group from the (...)
The 8,000 young adults from most of the countries of South America, from North America and from Europe who took part in the meeting in Santiago, Chile, went off with a question: how can we continue to live in our daily lives what we have understood of the Gospel through this stage of the pilgrimage of trust? In Chile everything starts at the end of the summer. The first Friday in March, a (...)