From August 16 to 30, around 300 members of the Shalom Community will gather to participate in the community’s highest decision-making body.
The Ordinary General Assembly of the Shalom Catholic Community began on Friday, the 16th, with a Holy Mass at the Church of Risen Christ who passed through the Cross, in Aquiraz/CE – Brazil. This Mass marked the beginning of a fifteen-day event during which the new General Council of the Shalom Community will be elected, its life and mission over recent years will be evaluated, and guidelines for the next five years will be set.
The General Assembly, the highest decision-making body of the Shalom Community, includes members by right — such as the General Moderator and members of the General Council — members appointed by the General Council, and members elected by the community (cf. EECSh, 161).
Apostolic Nuncio in Brazil sends message to Shalom
At the beginning of the celebration, Moysés Azevedo, the founder of the Shalom Community, read a letter from the Apostolic Nuncio in Brazil, Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro, addressed to the members of the Assembly.
In the document, the Pope’s representative expressed gratitude for the Shalom Charism for its missionary and evangelizing work in more than thirty countries and acknowledged that the Community’s efforts contribute to forming “disciples in Christ.”
“Your mission to promote peace, reconciliation, and God’s love is a blessing for the Church. I am confident that, through prayer and discernment during this Assembly, the Holy Spirit will continue to inspire new paths and directions for the community to continue its missionary zeal and faithfulness to the Gospel,” assured Archbishop Giambattista.
At the end of the letter, he promised his intercession for the General Assembly: “I wish to assure you of my constant prayers throughout this assembly. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Odigitria, or Our Lady of Good Counsel, be the guide and protector of each one of you during this time of discernment.”
A Response for This Time
Father Denys Lima, responsible for the Shalom priests, presided over the celebration. During the homily, he highlighted that the liturgy on this Friday was providential for the Community’s gathering.
“God does not do this by chance but because He loves us and has plans for our community. He has plans to make this fragile people a response for today’s man. A response for the world today as it is. We don’t even know the future, only God does. But what is certain is that He created [the charism] Shalom for this time.“
He also reminded the faithful that the General Assembly is a place of communion and listening. “We enter together as a family into this listening to God. Not just to reorganize and be well as a community, no. We go to a cenacle, a place of prayer, united around the one who made herself so small, seeking her humility so that after these fifteen days, we will be ready to fully launch into mission and inaugurate, by God’s grace, a new time as the Lord has promised us in the General Council’s discernment: a new missionary time,” he explained.
The General Assembly gathers 290 missionaries from the Shalom Community, coming from 28 countries and 79 dioceses where the charism is present: Uruguay, Tunisia, Taiwan, Switzerland, Portugal, Poland, Peru, Paraguay, Panama, Mozambique, Madagascar, Italy, Israel, England, Hungary, France, the Philippines, the United States, Spain, Ecuador, Chile, Canada, Cape Verde, Bolivia, Argentina, Algeria, Germany, and various regions of Brazil.
Socorro Mouta
Consecrated in the Shalom Catholic Community
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Créditos: Comshalom
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Créditos: Comshalom
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Créditos: Comshalom
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Créditos: Comshalom
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Créditos: Comshalom
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Créditos: Comshalom
Want to know more about the Shalom Community Assembly? Visit: comshalom.org/assembleiageral
Source: comshalom
