Evangelization
Meeting of the Redemptorist Missionaries of Southern Europe
From 25 to 27 April 2023, the Redemptorist missionaries of the five Units (Lisbon, Madrid, France, Rome and Naples) were meeting in Rome. There were 7-8 missionaries from each of the five units, together with the Vicar General Fr. Francesco Stanula and the coordinator of the Conference of Redemptorists of Europe, Fr. Johannes Romelt. The meeting was organised to offer an opportunity to get closer and know each other better because these five Provinces will form the new Province of Southern Europe from 1 January 2024. In addition to this, by...
read moreWYD and Alphonsian Day in Lisbon starts in less than 100 days
The Redemptorist Youth and Vocations Ministry is preparing for World Youth Day in Lisbon. With 100 days to go before the start of this great youth festival, 750 people from all over the world have already signed up for the Redemptorist group. Young people from Spain, Poland, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Mexico, Argentina, Ireland, the Philippines, France, Ukraine, Haiti and the United States will attend. We will be hosting our young people in Redemptorist-run parishes in Damaia, Buraca and Venda Nueva on the outskirts of Lisboa. On April 18 –...
read moreEaster among young people in Albania
For our parish and our community in Albania, preparation for Easter began much earlier. On March 14, together with a group of about 50 boys, we spent a day of recollection, making a pilgrimage to Scutari, in the north of the country, the Catholic heart of Albania. Here we visited the prisons where some Catholics (overall there are seven bishops, more than a hundred priests, dozens of religious, and hundreds of lay people) were brutally tortured and killed during the communist regime of Enver Hoxha. In the Cathedral of Saint Lawrence, we...
read moreRedemptorists counter the lack of interest over the war in Ukraine
The association Acoger y Compartir, led by Redemptorist José Miguel de Haro, is collecting humanitarian aid to send to the people in need on Monday, 10 April. “We have a responsibility for the suffering of others,” he says. One year ago, the beginning of the war in Ukraine generated a wave of solidarity in Spanish society. Hundreds of humanitarian aid convoys were organised by citizens to help the population, which had been subjected to a constant barrage of bombs by Russia. A year later, however, the situation is very different. The war...
read more“A great light” among the young people in Albania!
“I looked forward to this celebration with more joy than my birthday! “. I begin this chronicle with an expression from the performance that the young people of the Redemptorist Parish “St. Alphonsus” of Kamëz prepared for Christmas. I begin with this phrase not out of place, as it highlights the importance of Christmas for the Albanian people. Indeed, it was not always so easy for us Albanians to celebrate Christmas because, for 45 consecutive years, we were denied this right by the communist regime, which began in 1945 and ended in 1990....
read moreChristmas 2022 – Letter of the Coordinator (20.12.2022)
Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests. Luke 2, 14 . Dear confreres, Dear sisters, Dear partners in mission, The angels’ message of peace to the shepherds, which is part of the Christmas message, does not correspond at all to the reality of us in Europe this year. Since February, the war that Russia has started against Ukraine has taken on terrible proportions and there is no end in sight. The consequences of the aggression are first felt by the people in Ukraine itself, but then repercussions...
read moreMeeting of the Secretariat for Evangelisation of the Redemptorist Conference of Europe
The meeting of the Secretariat for the Evangelisation of the Redemptorist Conference of Europe took place in Bonn from November 29 to December 1, 2022. The venue for the meeting was the religious house of the Redemptorists, who run the Collegium Josephinum here. The meeting aimed to summarise the work of the Secretariat in its various areas of activity: a partnership in mission, social ministry, youth and vocation ministry, and new missionary initiatives. The prospects for implementing the indications of Phases I and II of the XVI General...
read moreS. Alphonsus… in southern Albania!
“They will help the people scattered throughout the countryside and rural villages, most deprived and destitute of spiritual relief, with missions”: with these words, our Founder, St Alphonsus, began to write the Rule of our Institute. Over the years, we often ask ourselves who are the poor to whom we should proclaim the Word, and what are the “campaigns” where we should go to bring the good news of the Gospel. In Albania, the question is much simpler because one can literally interpret our Founder’s words. The countryside and rural villages...
read moreBeatification of 12 Spanish Redemptorist martyrs
On Saturday, 22 October, in the cathedral of Santa María la Real de la Almudena in Madrid, the beatification of 12 Redemptorists martyrs has taken place. They belonged to the two communities which, at that time, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer had in the capital of Spain (Sanctuary of Perpetual Help in Chamberí, and the Basilica of San Miguel in La Latina), and were martyred in 1936. The liturgical memory of the new blessed will be celebrated on 6 November, together with the six Redemptorist martyrs of Cuenca, beatified in 2013....
read morePope Francis met participants of the 26th General Chapter
Saturday 1 October 2022, in the Clementine Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Francis received the participants in the XXVI General Chapter in the audience. After the words of the newly elected Superior General, Father Rogério Gomes presented to the Holy Father some of the conclusions of the reflections and the commitment of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer for the next 6 years, the Holy Father addressed the St. Alphonsus’ spiritual sons with a message for the occasion. Improvised words in Spanish by the Holy...
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