The Social Ministry Group meets in Vienna

The annual meeting of the Social Group of the CRE took place in “Haus Sarepta” in Vienna from 11th to 13th April 2016. The participants had the opportunity to present their own social activities from their various countries and also to see some social projects in Vienna.

The “Haus Sarepta” Project in Vienna

“Haus Sarepta” is a house for families (mainly women with children) in difficult social and financial situations. The team that accompanies the families consists of social workers and a teacher. The objective is to lead the families to a situation where they can live an independent life in their own homes, or with some limited support.

The Redemptorists Parish in Wien-Hernals

Our Redemptorist parish is helping the refugees who came to Vienna since last summer. In total 15.000 refugees used the parish facilities for short periods of time before they went to other places. Now, our parish and Redemptorist community are also helping to look for new lodgings for the refugees in the neighborhood.

Kirchhellen (Youth Ministry in Germany)

The Redemptorist community provides accommodation for 19 persons from Afghanistan. The immigrants are also receiving a lot of support from the parish.

The Brunnenproject in Bochum (Germany)

It is a social project located in an urban district of Bohum with a population coming from about fifty different countries. This project requires interreligious and intercultural dialogue. The diversity of the population is a challenge. The aim is to foster dialogue, to build bridges and to share the richness of the various cultures.

St. Alphonsus Church in Luxembourg

The new projects for the future ministry of our Redemptorist community have been spelled out. 40 persons from our Redemptorist parish attend to the needs of migrants (mainly from Africa and Latin America) two days a week. They are helping them with food, housing, medical care, employment. Special attention is given to people without proper legal papers.

Lviv in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has the great impact on society and also on the Redemptorists. Some confreres serve as temporary chaplains in the war zone. The Redemptorists are involved in providing help for refugees from the war zone through our Redemptorist parishes.

The participants were: Fr. Winfried Pauly (chair), Jelle Wind, Fr. Ivan Levytsky, Fr. Guillermo Urquizo Ulianov, Sr. Renate Drexler; as guests Sr. Ulrike Schnürer and Annette Buczek.

Fr. Jacek Zdrzalek