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A Christmas miracle

To truly show you the behind the scenes of this preparation process, we need to talk about last week. When the brothers arrived back from Taizé (for the change of the prior) they realised that we are missing more than 2000 accommodation places for pilgrims. And with little time left. For a few days there was a mix of different emotions in the air - stress, uncertainty, disappointment, (...)

22 December 2023
Sowing seeds of encouragement, time, planning, prayer and presence…: Two days ago I had the first meeting with...

Two days ago I had the first meeting with some of the people that will be hosts during the meeting. It was unexpectedly touching to finally see the faces of the people that will open up the doors to their homes for the young people arriving in the end of the year. Faces that until now have mainly been numbers in a computer for me, and it struck me more concretely that the meeting is coming (...)

14 December 2023
Changing things around

Last year in Rostock, pilgrims were hosted mainly by Protestant churches. This year it is the opposite situation, with the Catholic Church being the largest Christian denomination in the country. Approximately 72% of the Slovenian population identify as Catholic. During the meeting in and around Ljubljana, pilgrims will be welcomed in Catholic host parishes. However, other denominations have an important role to play in the faith life of the city, such as Serbian Orthodox and Lutheran, (...)

17 November 2023
Ljubljana: Getting to know the impressive welcome area!

We can finally say that we have visited all of our local churches that will be welcoming pilgrims at the end of the year! You can find all of them in the map below. We are grateful for their kindness and hospitality, and visiting them has also allowed us to discover some real gems in the country. Easily accessible in less than an hour by public transport, and located at the meeting of the (...)

5 November 2023
Spreading the word

Last week some of our volunteers were invited to visit St. Stanislav’s Institution, which is located about 6 kilometres from the city center of Ljubljana. The Institution is a cultural and educational establishment with 6 different schools and was founded in 1901 by the Diocese of Ljubljana. Approximately 1500 students study there at the moment. The volunteers had the opportunity to meet young (...)

30 October 2023
Building bridges through the European meetings

One of the opportunities we have when participating in a Taizé European Meeting is experiencing how local people live their lives and their faith within the communities and parishes. It can be a beautiful experience to host pilgrims and have the chance to connect with them. In December 2022, a group of Slovenians participated in the Taizé European Meeting in Rostock where they were welcomed by (...)

15 October 2023
Exploring Lake Bled: A Glimpse into Slovenia’s Rich Culture

An important part of the European meeting preparation process is getting to know the people, faith and culture of the host country.One of Slovenia’s most iconic landscapes, as many of you may have already seen online, is the famous Lake Bled with its even more famous island in the middle, featuring the Church of the Mother of God. Lake Bled’s church was first built in 1142, then rebuilt in (...)

27 September 2023
Meeting in Stična

Upon arriving on-site, one of the first programs for the preparation team was to participate in the youth meeting in Stična, which is a symbolic place in the history of the relationship between Taizé and Slovenia. It was in the year 1981, after the economic situation of young people in the former Yugoslavia had become more difficult, and their travel outside of their country had become (...)

20 September 2023
Announcement of the meeting

During the European Meeting in Rostock, brother Alois announced that the next meeting will take place in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. Stanislav Zore, the archbishop of the city that will host the next meeting, was present at the announcement and stated, “Welcoming thousands of young people is not an easy task, but we can see God’s call in it, which brings new life to our parishes and other Christian communities. It is also a great opportunity to invite those who have drifted away from (...)

2 January 2023