In Madrid, where the 41st annual European meeting hosted by the community of Taizé gathered 15,000 young people from across the continent, the Prior of Taizé, Brother Alois, announced that the next European youth meeting will take place in Poland, in the city of Wrocław, from December 28, 2019 to January 1, 2020. The Primate of Poland, Mgr. Wojciech Polak, Archbishop of Gniezno, and the (...)
A brother of the community recently went to Albania. This ten day journey was a chance to visit groups of young people who had come together for a weekend of prayer and meeting, in November 2007, in the capital, Tirana.Visits from abroad are rare in this country which remained very isolated, until the end of the 1980s, under a very hard communist regime, where all religious practice was completely forbidden. As a result, the visitor is welcomed more warmly and often hears the question: “How do you like our country? What do you think of (...)
Brother Alois and other brothers of Taizé were in Vienna, Austria, in March 2011 for an evening prayer and a youth meeting, as part of the pilgrimage of trust. The links between the Taizé Community and the people of Vienna go back a long way. Well before the European meetings in 1992 and 1997, there were regular prayers in the city. Brother Roger himself went on various (...)
In September 2014, a brother of Taizé visited Belarus, after the summer meetings at Taizé in which several groups from that country took part and before the meetings in Riga and Prague. In this account of his travel, he shares some experiences lived out during his visit, with the "Proposals 2014" from Brother Alois as guidelines.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. Proposals 2014, introduction (...)
This fall, a brother spent a week in Belarus, to visit the Christian communities and meet the young people preparing to participate in the Riga meeting at the end of the year. In spring 2015, Brother Alois and four other brothers spent two days in Minsk between the pilgrimages in Russia and Ukraine. The links are ancient between Taizé and the Churches of Belarus. Many young people came to the (...)
Five months after the meeting that Taizé brothers led last year in Sarajevo, on the invitation of Cardinal Puljic and Orthodox Metropolitan Nicolaj, one of the brothers has been back in the region recently.“The first stage of the journey was a day spent in a village in the North East of Serbia, near the frontier with Romania. The people there speak Slovak and most of them are Lutherans. The pastor, who knows Taizé well and who took part in the meeting in Sarajevo, invited the young people and the less young to take part in the prayers and (...)
At the end of October two of the brothers visited Bulgaria. It was the first visit for 4 years and it really did feel like we were being welcomed as long lost friends. We were very much expected – only an hour after arriving in Sofia we were already being interviewed by two TV news reporters! We met friends of the community that we’ve known for many years and also many people that were hearing of the community for the first time. In the 1990s a lot of Bulgarians came to Taizé and to the European meetings but for the last few years there have (...)
One of the brothers has visited Croatia on a number of occasions. He reflects here on these visits, the most recent of which took place in February 2011. In 2006, the European young adults meeting was held in the Croatian capital ZagrebOnce again the young people from Croatia were astonishingly numerous at the European meeting at Rotterdam. In order to take part in such a gathering, they do not wait for someone else to organise the journey for them. In the parishes, in the schools, between friends, they talk about it, they set up (...)
... a good lesson of trust for making commitments Five years ago in Zlin, three years ago in Brno and last year in Olomouc, some young people prepared a meeting called “Dny důvěry” (Days of Trust). Those week-ends were gatherings of young adults between 17 and 35 years old from all over the Czech Republic. All the participants were welcomed by families of the different parishes and the local (...)
What do you know about Denmark?Butter and bacon come from there!Do you know any famous Danes?Hans Christian Andersen and Kierkegaard where writers who lived there!Geographical position?It’s squeezed between two big neighbours, Sweden and Germany.History?Didn’t they used to be Vikings?Something in the news?Wasn’t there some controversy about freedom of speech and a caricature in a newspaper?And the church in Denmark?In general, Danes are not very religious (at least on the outside), and church attendance is very low! It was with questions like (...)
Prayer house in Nurste At the beginnings of the 1990s, young Estonians came in thousands to the European meetings and to Taizé. At the time of independence, there was a great interest for faith. The situation has changed since then, but it is as if people are once again starting to realise that "although communication is becoming easier and easier, our human societies remain compartmentalized (...)
In August 2017, a weekend with a Taizé brother at Hamina, on the border with Russia, was part of the official celebration of 100 years of Finland’s independence ‘Suomi100’. The invitation to hold the meeting was an initiative of the City of Hamina together with Lutheran, Orthodox, Catholic and free Churches. The Taizé Hamina meeting was small but beautiful, and meaningful. The territory in this (...)
In July 2012 the first Taizé song in the Finnish language was published. It is a concrete sign of the 50-year-long friendship between the Taizé brothers and the people of Finland.How did the friendship start? It started with meetings between people, first through writings. In the early 1960s Elisabeth de Godzinsky, who lived in Helsinki, Finland, read articles by Brother Roger in French Christian magazines. She was touched. The words about reconciliation were important for her, personally as well as socially. On a trip to France she had the (...)
28-30 September 2012 What is a “Nordic Taizé meeting”? It really is something that is quite hard to describe!There is no theme or slogan written up above the door: only ’tervetuloa’, ’välkommen’, ’Bures boahtin’, ’Hau kola’, ’welcome’.Is praying with songs and silence really enough to bring people together? One of the brothers has described Taizé meetings as ’controlled natural (...)
At the beginning of March, following a visit to the World Council of Churches in Geneva, with brothers and young people, and before going on to Rome, Brother Alois, accompanied by two other brothers, made a stop in Cologne. Brothers had already prayed in Saint Agnes Church during the 2005 WYD and during the 2006 “Kirchentag” (meeting of the German Protestant Churches). Each year many young (...)
During the holiday of All Saints, more than five thousand French young people passed through Taizé in three successive waves. Among others, they met young Germans, Belgians, Dutch, Danish or Spanish, who were also on a pilgrimage on the hill, as well as young refugees hosted by the community for a year and an Iraqi family. Ahmed, a young Sudanese, 23, and Nemat, a young Afghan, 25, prepared (...)
In May 2009, one of the brothers made a series of visits in Greece. On his return to Taizé, he wrote:In a rural area in the North of the country, the parish priests attend continuing education classes. They are between thirty and sixty years old. Since it is already hot at 3 o’clock on a May afternoon, the liturgy class – led by a professor from Thessalonica who is much younger than most of his students - has been moved out from the classroom to the arbour in front of the school, with a view over snow capped Mount Olympus. The visit of a (...)
A young woman from Portugal who was in Taizé as a volunteer for several months, Sara Sofia, is now working on the island of Lesbos in a refugee camp. At the time when Pope Francis, Patriarch Bartholomew and the Archbishop of Athens, Hieronymos, are going to the island to meet with the refugees, we are publishing her account of her experiences. “I volunteer at a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece. (...)
Celine, a young woman from Montpellier, was at the European Meeting in Valencia and spoke there about her human and faith experience as a young nurse in India, Tanzania and in the Calais refugee camp. After the European meeting, she boarded a lifeboat of the Mediterranean SOS Association, Aquarius, where she joined a team of Doctors of the World. She came back to France in May, and she hopes (...)
Ferenc, the father of a family who have lived in Taizé for several years to help welcome the young adults, went to meet refugees arriving by the tens of thousands in Hungary. Being himself Hungarian, he is preparing three young volunteers from Taizé to live a few weeks as a “Small Provisional Community”. He writes: photo: Kristóf Hölvényi We arrived around noon with Kristóf, a young photographer (...)
From 22nd - 25th October, a meeting brought together several thousand young adults in Pécs, South Western Hungary. Young people from across Hungary as well as from the neighbouring countries and even further afield came to spend 3 days celebrating being together in prayer and reflection. Building a Meeting A baroque town hall, an imposing neo-romanesque Cathedral and (...)
Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary 2017 As part of a visit throughout Ireland this October, one of the brothers of Taizé will be present for prayers and meetings in various towns and cities. Here are several of the prayers which will be open to all: 7:30pm on Friday 13th in Saint Paul’s, Arran Quay, Dublin 7:30pm on Tuesday 17th in Clonard’s Church, Belfast 7pm on Thursday 19th in St. Mary’s (...)
In 1978, Brother Roger went with a group of young brothers to Bari, a city in southern Italy, to spend time in a poor neighborhood in the center of the city. The brothers prayed three times a day in the old church of the neighborhood, worked with the residents and offered hospitality for a simple evening meal and a time of sharing. After they left, some local youth decided to continue the daily prayer, doing all they could to revive the local community. In March this year, two brothers of the community went to the region of Bari for (...)
Two volunteers from Taizé were in Mantova during May 2012. A few weeks later the region was struck by several earthquakes. Frederik (The Netherlands) and Davide (Italy) went back to visit the inhabitants of the Mantova region again in September. They were there to take part in a national meeting with two brothers of the community and young people who had come from various regions of Italy, and (...)
From 26 to 28 September 2014, a gathering led by the Taizé Community was held in Riga, the capital of Latvia. For several years, the Lutheran and Catholic archbishops had extended an invitation. It was during the Strasbourg meeting that the news was confirmed by Brother Alois: an upcoming stage in the pilgrimage of trust on earth would take place in Latvia five years after the meeting in (...)
One of the brothers describes a recent visit he made in Latvia.There doesn’t seem to be much good news coming out of Latvia at the moment. When the country appears in the news, the talk is always of economic problems or political turmoil. But is that the whole picture? Don’t we sometimes fall prey to pessimism? What are the signs of "New Solidarity" that exist already? With temperatures around -30C, I travelled to the eastern province of Latgale. A group of young people together with their pastor from the small town of Ilūkste has visited (...)
A future of peace is possible From May 1-3, 2009, 8 000 young people attended the meeting organized in the capital of Lithuania by the Community of Taizé in collaboration with the youth centre of the archdiocese. More than three years ago, the brothers had been invited to hold a stage in the pilgrimage of trust on earth there, at the initiative of Cardinal Backis. In his words of welcome, he stressed: “I think that jubilant Vilnius, thanks to you and your presence, will show its hospitality.” And indeed, the welcome of a whole city exceeded (...)
For the first time for several years, a Taizé brother has visited Christians on the islands of Malta and Gozo. Here is an account of his journey.The Christian identity of this very religious people is closely linked to an event mentioned in the Book of Acts (28. 1-10): the Apostle Paul is shipwrecked at Malta on his way to Rome, as a prisoner. Today the island knows other people who are shipwrecked! And in a certain way, they too are prisoners. Thousands of refugees from the south of the Sahara arrive in Malta, escaping from the misery of (...)
One of the brothers recently spent a week visiting the Republic of Moldova. There are some countries that you hear about all the time. There are others you just hear about when there is a problem. And then there are places that seem to be almost invisible, that a lot of people don’t even realise exist: “Moldova – isn’t that where Tintin went to find King Ottakar’s sceptre? Is it a real (...)
Young people aged between 15 and 35 were particularly invited to take part in this meeting in the Bjørgvin Diocese, and they were the majority of the weekend’s participants, together with one of the brothers and two volunteers from Taizé. In the days before the meeting, they visited schools and churches, as well as taking part in all sorts of meetings, speaking about life at Taizé. The ecumenical committee for the meeting, made up of both Protestants and Catholics, has helped strengthen the community in various parishes in the Bergen area. (...)
At the invitation of the Norges Kristne Råd, the “Christian Council of Norway”, a stage of the pilgrimage of trust on earth is being held in Norway this weekend, from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 September 2010. Sigrid is from Denmark and was in Norway to take part in the meeting. Helene, from Oslo, was in Trondheim for the meeting. Friday evening I arrived in Oslo early (...)
At the invitation of Bishop of Växjö, Fredrik Modéus, the Christian churches in Jönköping organized a weekend aimed at young adults aged 17-35 years old, from 20 to 22 April 2018.In mid-April, all priests and deacons from Växjö diocese in the Church of Sweden gathered in Växjö Cathedral for their four yearly meeting. Among their guests were two brothers from Taizé. The Bishop made a double invitation (...)
During the Palm Sunday weekend a Taizé meeting will be held in Brussels. At the invitation of Cardinal de Kesel, Archbishop of Malines-Bruxelles, brothers from Taizé and young people from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Luxembourg will meet for a weekend of meeting and prayer. Brother Alois will be there on Saturday evening.On the site dedicated to the event we read: Along with (...)
A meeting - the “Days of Communion” - took place in Katowice-Koszutka during the weekend of 10-12 October and gathered young Poles running the preparation points for this year’s European meeting. The Oblate parish hosted about 80 young people from different regions of Poland. As some local people also took part, the overall number of participants was around 100.The young people in Katowice were accompanied by the words form the letter by brother Alois “Searching for the visible communion among all who love Christ.” They took part in (...)
Brothers of the Taizé Community will be at World Youth Day in Kraków in July 2016. Brother Alois will be there from July 26-31.From Monday 25 to Friday 29 July, times of prayer with the songs of Taizé will be led by the brothers in Kraków, in the St. Szczepan Church, ul. Henryka Sienkiewicza, 19. Here is the detailed schedule day by day: Monday 25: 18:30, 20:00 Tuesday 26: 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 (...)
On the evening of 19 February 2011, the largest church in Porto was not big enough to contain all those who came together to celebrate the first anniversary of the pilgrimage of trust « to the wellsprings of joy”. In all, some 1500 people : hundreds of young adults, but also families who had welcomed the young pilgrims a year ago, and representatives of the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, and the Old Catholic Church. A Taizé brother, from Chile, took part. Broadcast on internet, by means of a webcam, the prayer was followed by a (...)
In May 2008 Brother Alois, accompanied by another brother of the community, visited Romania, at the invitation of the leaders of the churches.Every summer since the end of the communist regime, thousands of young people from Romania have been to spend a week in Taizé or to the European Meetings. The fact that so many young people come from a predominantly Orthodox country brings a special richness to the gatherings in Taizé. The Romanians are the only Orthodox who speak a romance language. They feel they have a responsibility to be a (...)
Invited by the Russian Orthodox Church metropolitan diocese of Kemerovo, Brother Alois went with another brother and a group of young people on pilgrimage to this city in faraway Siberia for the Feast of the Ascension from May 16 to 19, 2018. Most of the pilgrims were able to spend two days in Moscow visiting parishes who had welcomed young people for the 2011 and 2015 Easter pilgrimages led (...)
Beween 8 and 19 April, Brother Alois and four other brothers spent time visiting Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Here are a few echoes from the pilgrimage in Moscow shared with a hundred young people from all over Europe and further afield. We will shortly be publishing further reflections on the time the brothers spent in Minsk and the pilgrimage to Kiev and Lviv, with testimonies from some of (...)
Since the two pilgrimages in 2011 and 2015 with youth to Moscow during Holy Week and Easter, links with Orthodox parishes in the city have continued and deepened. Recently a brother returned to Moscow and also visited St Petersburg.In central parishes of the two cities, a day was held on successive weekends for young Russians beginning with the Divine Liturgy, then a Bible study and small (...)
From 28 April to 1 May 2012, an international meeting for young adults was held in the Slovenian capital. This new stage of the pilgrimage of trust on earth enabled young people from numerous countries to experience Slovenian hospitality and to deepen their faith. On the banks of the Ljubljanica, the first real days of spring gave a fine impression of serenity to the pedestrian city centre. As in a mosaic, each of the participants, volunteers, and Christians of the city contributed their touch of colour and the diversity of countries, (...)
The meeting in Seville took place from 8 to 10 May 2009 and brought together over 2000 young adults of whom several hundred came from Portugal. Some of those who took part, including Ignacio from Seville and Marta from Portugal, share some of their experiences."Living the unexpected" “Many of us had dreamed for a long time of having a meeting led by Taizé in Andalusia. (...)
In the second half of April, two of the long-term volunteers in Taizé, Richard from Bangladesh and Merric from Australia, travelled throughout Sweden. Here is the story of their journey.From the 18th of April we began a two week visit to Sweden to visit churches, schools and share in prayer together with the youth of this beautiful and diverse country. Not knowing what to expect, we arrived (...)
On October 30, the evening before the Joint Ecumenical Gathering with Pope Francis “Together in Hope”, which will be held in Lund Domkyrka on October 31, Brother Alois will take part in an evening prayer at Klosterkyrkan in Lund. The prayer will begin at 20.00, but will be preceded by a song practice beginning at 19.30. This time of worship and thanksgiving is open especially to young adults (...)
Regular prayers with songs from Taizé take place in Istanbul on the second Tuesday of each month (from September to June). Beginning in October 2015 they will be held, from 8pm to 9pm, at the Church of Sen Piyer ve Paul (Dominican brothers), BEREKETZADE MAHALLESI - BEYOĞLU - Kuledibi, Galata Kulesi sok. 26 - (...)
“Towards a new solidarity” A brother of the Community was in Edinburgh for the weekend on the theme of the 2015 anniversaries at Taizé. 300 people gathered in Old St Paul’s Church in the city-centre for the evening prayer which was the main event of the weekend in Edinburgh. Participants had come from all over Scotland, including the islands of Tiree and Arran. Seventeen of the members of the (...)
After joining the “small provisional community” in Kiev, a brother continued his stay in Ukraine by visits to several cities. Time of prayer, meetings with youth, visits to two universities and a seminar, conversations with bishops: the program was varied, especially in order to understand the situation of the country better and to encourage young people attending the meetings in Taizé, Strasbourg and soon in Prague. What was particularly important was visiting Christians of all denominations. This desire for dialogue with all marked deeply (...)
In April 2015, a stage of the pilgrimage of trust took place in Ukraine. After the Easter celebrations in Moscow and two days spent in Minsk, Brother Alois and four brothers of the community arrived in Kiev together with young people from different cities in Ukraine and from all over Europe. These visits were particularly marked by the suffering caused by the war in the east, but also by the (...)
