After the most recent stage in the Pilgrimage of Trust in the Italian capital, it is time to share some impressions. Of course, the most important aspects are invisible, because they are inward: the seeds of trust and of hope that have been sown and which will perhaps grow in different ways. But let us stop for a moment with a few words and happenings that are worth recalling.An ecumenical (...)
Some accounts of the meeting gathered from participants during and after the European Meeting.02/01Torhild (Norway) We have slept on holy ground during our stay. Not because the place was like the stable in Bethlehem, or because we were in the crypt of a monastery, but because a man opened his home and his heart for eight young pilgrims whom he didn’t know at all in advance (Mt 25:35). I am (...)
On the second evening of the European Meeting in Rome led by the Taizé Community from 28 December to 2 January, 45,000 young adults, Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic, gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray together with Pope Benedict XVI. During the afternoon young people gradually filled the vast square of the Vatican. At 6 pm the evening prayer began with Taizé chants, the reading of the Word of God, and a long period of silence. Under the full moon which had risen, the whole piazza was lit by tens of thousands of handheld candles as a (...)
Two of the workshops during the European Meeting were held in the Jesuit Church of Sant’Ignazio. Brother Guy Consolmagno, a Jesuit himself and the curator of the Vatican Meteorite collection, addressed several hundred young people on two successive afternoons on themes concerning science and Christian faith. In response to the numerous requests received, he has kindly alowed us to publish his notes for these two talks.Sunday, 30 December 2012 The faith of a scientist Monday, 31 December 2012 The beginning and the end: Christ, the big bang (...)
Every evening during the meeting, at the end of the prayer, Brother Alois gave a meditation. The texts of these meditations can be found on this page.Friday, 28 December 2012 We have come to Rome as pilgrims. We are all on the road to a more personal communion with God and to a deeper communion with one another. On this first evening, we already want to thank all those who are welcoming us in the parishes, families and religious communities. And to those who are sleeping in collective accommodations I would like to say: even if you are not (...)
