I FO
emin by the Ch
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published
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A quarterly magazine FOI No.38 - September - October - November 2013 - 5,50 â‚Ź
ity n u r o f n A passio
a Special report
The Cure
of Ars
t a Socie
y
r e b a F l e u n a m Em
VIE Contents
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Editorial by Fr Laurent FABRE Special report:
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The Curé
of Ars 14
Ecumenism
20
Christian Training
26
Youth pages
14 • The United Protestant Church of France 16 • Protestants celebrate: Betting on hope 18 • Prayer
20 • Emmanuel Faber: Doing the Economy Differently 22 • Spiritual accompaniment: At a brother’s side 24 • Siloé Symposium: Health and Salvation – the same battle?
26 • World Youth Day; an adventure in faith 28 • Announcements
30
Life in the Community
35
Young Talent
30 • A trip around the world: Destination Latvia! 32 • Summer photo album 34 • Community News
35 • Amandine Communal
FOI magazine (Fraternité Œcuménique Internationale, International Ecumenical Fraternity) is published by the Chemin Neuf Community-10 rue Henri IV-69287 Lyon cedex 02 Publication director: Fr. Laurent Fabre Executive director: Jean-Charles Paté, Editor in chief: Pascale Paté, Editorial committee: Franck Démaret, Marie Farouza Maximos, Pieter Le Roux, Fr. François Lestang, Véronique Pilet, Fr Adam Strojny. Graphic design: Annick Vermot (06 98 61 98 76), Photo credits: fotolia.com : angelo.gi, Andres Rodriguez, kasiap, herreneck, Eisenhans, - Cover: CCN – Special Report; - CCN – World Youth Day: ‘Festanoceu’ and CCN Subscriptions: Marie-Thérèse Subtil, Nicole Zébrowski, Administration-Management: AME, Production: Sandrine Laroche, Printing: IML – 69850 St Martin en Haut – Printed on paper from sustainably managed forests, certified PEFC, Registration of copyright: December 2010, CPPAP : 0310 G 833338, ISSN : 1770-5436
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FOI • N°38 • September - October - November 2013
Editorial Veilleurs1 Ever watchful
T
Father Laurent FaBRE Founder and head of the Chemin Neuf Community
ww
hey seemed to be timid, obedient, earnestly correct and here suddenly a new generation of Christians, Roman Catholics particularly, have created the “Veilleurs”. They intend to give a lead to or to join, in public squares all over theworld, young people from countless countries who have the good sense to want to change the world to make it a place of greater truth and justice. Belief in the three magic words: “liberty”, “equality”, “fraternity” is not limited to France. v That wonderful photo, seen the world over, of the young Chinese student, who, by his courage and defiance, halted the column of tanks in Tiananmen Square; v Wael Ghonim breaking into sobs in the middle of an interview on a main televison channel in Cairo. His audacity had been to send out SMS and messages on the web calling people to come and demonstrate in Tahir Square. His appeal met with great response among the 15 million inhabitants of the capital city and brought the whole country into Revolution. He had wanted a peaceful demonstration and in public he asked the forgiveness of all the mothers who had lost a child; v From the Prague Spring to the Arab Spring, from the Velvet Revolution to the Jasmine Revolution, in many Squares throughout the world, young people rise up to defend certain values. They are like watchers beside a sick bed. Watching like sentries. They watch with their candles, as if to make ready a new day. They are the “sentries of the coming dawn”. v In Paris and at Hautecombe Abbey I had the pleasure of meeting the young people who launched the “Veilleurs” in the Place des Invalides. Their maturity, their determination, their desire to stay free of any incorporation into parties or communities whilst at the same time admitting their need for training… all this augurs well for the future. v Recently, in Bujumbura, the capital Burundi, I had the pleasure of meeting eight young Burundian Veilleurs who have created an association, “Izuba”. Like the groups in Europe, “they have turned to culture and dialogue in situations where so many others have resorted to violence”. They too are admirers of Martin Luther King and Gandhi. We wish them continued success. uriously,the ageing Pope François soon to be 77 years old, is the “Pope of the Veilleurs”. He set the example himself through his personal commitment, his detachment from the established order and the tenacity of his statements. When the United States and France were preparing to impose a harsh penalty on Syria through the use of arms, the Pope had the courage to say “NO” as did John-Paul II at the time of the war in Iraq. But this time, it seems that the categorical response, relayed at once by the very unusual remarks of the Jesuit Father General produced a very positive result. He first proposed that the numerous Roman Catholics (one billion and two hundred millions baptized) devote the 7th. September to prayer and fasting for peace in Syria. During the vigil in St. Peter’s Square the sight of 100,000 people gathered in silent worship was impressive. This same Pope, when he was Cardinal, Archbishop of Buenos Aires urged thousands of young Argentinians “to create an uproar in the Church”. In Rio, he did not hesitate to quote these words of St. Thomas Aquinas, which the young people today seem finally to fully understand: “Politics: the higher form of Charity”.
C We produce a film every month, translate it into over 20 languages and send to groups in 72 different countries throughout the world. This has created a network of prayer, the International Ecumenical Fraternity. NET FOR GOD.
1 - Veilleur –someone who keeps watch, keeps a vigil; the “Veilleurs” a movement of peaceful protestation created by young people in France spring/summer 2013.
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The Curé
of Ars
“I have seen God in a man” 6
THE FILM
A very
ordinary life
that touched
many hearts.
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TESTIMONIES
Gergely Varga
Michaela Borrmann
Tim Watson
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FOI • N°38 • September - October - November 2013
special report
A reconstruction of the village of Ars as it was at the time of J-M Vianney
« I love you, O infinitely lovable God, and I prefer to die loving you than to live for one moment without loving you. I love you, O my God, and I only seek heaven in order to have the joy of loving you perfectly. » Jean-Marie Vianney
Today, Net for God is taking you to Ars-sur-Formans, a small, essentially agricultural village in France, 30 kilometres to the north of Lyon, in a region dotted with ponds called the Dombes plateau. It was in this little hamlet, lost in the middle of nowhere, that a small country priest, Jean-Marie Vianney, lived between 1818 and 1859. His life was entirely devoted to God and the saving of souls and, as John Paul II said, he would be a sign for us as he sparked off a kind of spiritual revolution in France and elsewhere.
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The basilica in Ars-sur-Formans
Ars, a little village in the Ain region in France, has been a major pilgrimage site since 1827, nine years after Jean-Marie Vianney’s arrival. What did this humble little parish priest of Ars have that was so appealing to so many people? What did these people come to find? Fr. Vincent Siret :
(Superior of the Seminary in Toulouse)
“There was something surprising about this priest. These people were looking for a personal contact with Jesus Christ; and I think that this priest, Jean-Marie Vianney, truly allowed the presence of Jesus Christ to shine through him.”
Fr. Philippe Caratgé (Moderator of the Jean-Marie Vianney Society) “What was so special about Jean-Marie Vianney? Not only did he love his parishioners with so-called theological love, that is, the love with which God loves us, but he also knew that they were capable of being saints. And this demonstrates his extraordinary openness. I believe that Jean-Marie Vianney’s vision is, first and foremost, one of hope for mankind, because it is with this same vision that God Himself sees us.”
Sister Marie-Donatienne
(A Benedictine sister of the order of the Sacred Heart, Montmartre, based in Ars)
« Jean-Marie Vianney lived out to the full the coherent life to which Pope Francis is calling us. He arrived in a poor parish and said: “ As a priest, I cannot live more comfortably than my parishioners. ” And he returned all the things that the lady of the manor had sent to his presbytery to make him feel welcome. He wanted to live as poorly as his parishioners. The people of Ars would say, “ Our priest is not like the others. He actually practices everything that he preaches. ” »
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special report The Curé
of Ars A very ordinary life that touched many hearts. “If I were a priest, I would want to bring many souls to the Lord.” Jean-Marie Vianney
Jean-Marie Vianney was born into a modest farming family in Dardilly, near Lyon, on 8 May 1786, three years before the beginning of the French Revolution. He was the fourth child in a family of six children, the best known of which are François and Marguerite, Jean-Marie’s childhood companion. His mother, Marie-Claudine Béluse, who had a rocksolid faith, and his father, Mathieu Vianney, a man of hard toil, had a marked influence on Jean-Marie’s life. His mother gave him a sense of God’s presence. He learnt to pray, to know and to love God as he sat on her knee. Jean-Marie was always grateful for the up-bringing he received during his childhood. In later life, he set up Providence House in his village, a school to train girls to be the mothers of the future. Fr. Vincent Siret : “Curiously, his mother was quick to notice something different about this boy, something she did not see in the others. She told him, ‘You know, if your brothers should commit a grave sin, it would upset me, but if you, Jean-Marie, if you should commit a grave sin, it would upset me even more’”.
Fr. Philippe Caratgé : “But what is the secret behind JeanMarie Vianney? I was very surprised to hear Cardinal Ouellet’s response to this question, ‘The secret to St Jean-Marie Vianney was Mary’. With Mary, he learnt to look to the Lord with a pure heart, a clear conscience, a heart that was in love with the Lord, and he saw Mary as the model for Christian prayer.” Fr. Xavier Roquette: “Jean-Marie Vianney’s life was both very ordinary and one that touched many hearts.He was born in 1786, so three years before the French Revolution, and this is an important point because the priests who risked their lives to remain faithful to Rome left an indelible stamp on Jean-Marie Vianney. At the time, there were effectively two Churches; the priests who had pledged obedience to the Republic and those who wanted to remain faithful to Rome and who were known as the ‘non-juror’ priests, as they had refused to take this pledge.” Fr. Vincent Siret : “He understood that his parents were ready to risk their lives for Jesus, because they would go to mass at night, celebrated by a non-juror priest.
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Fr. Xavier Roquette : (Rector of the Seminary in Ars) “I am amazed to see how Jean-Marie can still touch hearts today.”
This must surely mark a child when he knows that his parents are willing to risk their lives for Jesus, that it is worth it, it is of such importance that it is worth sacrificing everything. Marguerite, his sister, would later say that the young Jean-Marie would often repeat, ‘If I were a priest, I would want to bring many souls to the Lord.’” Fr. Xavier Roquette : “He had a priestly vocation from a very young age. He talked to his mother about it and, later on, to his father, who was not very favourable to this vocation. The reason for this was that they were a farming family and men were needed to work on the farm. Indeed, from a very young age, Jean-
Marie tended the herds. It would take a good deal of patience for Jean-Marie Vianney and his mother to finally bring his father round.” Fr. Roger Hébert : “First and foremost, we must remember that he suffered a great deal during his education. He started school at the age of 17, when he could still not read nor write. When he entered the school, he was like a great oaf among the other children and teenagers. Everyone made fun of him. He then tried to study at the seminary but he could not even speak French, only the local dialect, and he was required to take lessons in Latin. How tough must it have been for him! He did not yet understand French!
Jean-Marie Vianney’s house in Ars
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Fr. Roger Hébert :
(Parish Priest in Bellegarde, in the diocese of Belley-Ars) “Jean-Marie was a man of God, but perhaps we do not emphasise enough that he was also ‘a man for the people.’”
FOI • N°38 • September - October - November 2013
After many difficulties, he was turned out of the seminary graded ‘debilissimus’. Even if you never learnt Latin, you will understand what that meant immediately.” Providence would have it that it would be his parish priest, Father Balley, who would educate him. He was surprised to discover that Jean-Marie Vianney was particularly blessed with an interior piety and a great heart for being a priest, and, as a result of this, he was prepared to devote himself completely to his education. He spent many hours coaching him with his studies and was a model of the priesthood for him. After several years, Jean-Marie Vianney was ordained in Grenoble before being sent as to Ars as parish priest in 1818.
special report “You showed me the way to Ars, I will show you the way to heaven.”
Titre.
Jean-Marie Vianney
Fr. Xavier Roquette : “He arrived in Ars, this small village with a population of 230 that was not even a parish at the time, in February 1818. We know the story of his arrival; it was foggy, because there were lots of marshes in the area at the time; JeanMarie Vianney was lost, but he heard the sound of a herd and said to himself, “If there is a herd, there must be a herdsman.” He met Antoine Vive, the young cowherd to whom he would later say, ‘You showed me the way to Ars, I will show you the way to heaven.’ The entire mission of the future parish priest can be encapsulated in this short phrase. This is indeed what he did for the 41 years that he spent in Ars; pointing out the way to heaven to everyone, showing all his parishioners the simplest, if not necessarily the easiest, way to get there. Having himself experienced and received God’s mercy in his life from a very young age, he was a merciful witness and pastor towards those he was sent to. As both a contemplative man and a man of action, the way he lived his life quickly attracted the attention of those around him.” Fr. Vincent Siret : “When he arrived at Ars, he prayed before the Blessed Sacrament asking for the conversion of the parish. He asked Jesus, ‘Jesus, give me the conversion of my parish, I am prepared to do anything for the conversion of my parish.’ Little by little, he was
transformed from the inside through this intensive prayer life, these many hours spent in prayer. There is quite an amusing story about when he arrived at Ars; he spent many hours at the foot of the tabernacle at night and the people of Ars began to ask themselves questions, saying, ‘Isn’t it strange, has he found a treasure?’ They came to see what the priest had found. They thought that he had found a treasure. I would say that he had found a genuine treasure, but the treasure was not what they were expecting; it was Jesus Christ himself. Jean-Marie Vianney had discovered Him before arriving at Ars, but he was putting himself entirely at the disposal of Jesus in order to fulfil his ministry.” Sister Marie-Donatienne : “He was a living example of these words that he had uttered. Jean-Marie Vianney was truly a pauper. Humanly and intellectually speaking, he was a pauper. He had found it very hard to become a priest; he did not have a good memory, he was very nervous, he was terrified of speaking in public. These are serious handicaps for a priest. At that time, priests learnt their sermons by heart. It was the era of the sermons of Lacordaire, that lasted for three-quarters of an hour. Jean-Marie would go up to the pulpit and forget half the sermon that he had learnt during the week. He was truly a pauper. My goodness, what must it have been like for him! He really was a poor thing, but he gave himself to the Lord, just as he was.”
Fr. Philippe Caratgé: “At the end of chapter nine of Matthew’s gospel, we see Jesus going into towns and villages to preach the word of God and to heal the sick and infirm. So Jesus’ ministry was to teach, to proclaim the good news and to heal every sickness and infirmity. ‘Seeing the crowds he was filled with compassion, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.’ Well, the ministry of Jean-Marie Vianney is like that: seeing the crowds, he had compassion, he was moved deeply by this love of God that brought salvation to mankind, and, like Jesus, he proclaimed the Good News and healed every illness and infirmity”.
“Men are like paupers who need to ask God for everything.” The Curé of Ars
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A man of God and for the people Fr. Roger Hébert : “We hear a lot about Jean-Marie Vianney spending many hours in the confessional and about his way of celebrating the Eucharist. Jean-Marie Vianney was a man of God. But we do not emphasise sufficiently that Jean-Marie Vianney was also a “man for the people” Thus Jean-Marie Vianney fought and won a very difficult battle for everyone to have Sunday off work in order to go to Mass and to rest on the Lord’s day. The owners of the farms, who went to Mass while their servants worked, were not at all happy and had banded up against him. Jean-Marie Vianney was always anxious about families and the poverty around him and so he also led a successful crusade to close what were called the ‘cabarets,’ the bars where the men went each evening after a hard day’s work, to spend the little money they had earned on drink. The dance in Ars had a bit of a reputation in the region, and the young men knew that if they wanted to find girls who were easy to seduce, they had to go to the dance hall in Ars. Jean-Marie Vianney was very well situated, with the presbytery right in front of this place. So he only had to look out of the window to see young people leaving the dance and going into the barns as discreetly as possible, but he still saw what they were up to. And the result was this; many young girls became pregnant and became unmarried mothers. At that time, being a single mother was like an end to her life. The child had to be taken away. She would hardly ever see it again and then she would have to become a servant herself – almost a slave I would say – on a farm. And Jean-Marie Vianney felt extremely sorry for these girls, and he wanted to give them back their dignity. There is a wonderful story that is told. Jean-Marie Vianney enjoyed going to visit families very much and in one house, one day, after a good conversation, he said to the parents, ‘Do your daughters ever go to the dance?’ ‘Oh yes, father, but you know, there is no need to worry, we tell them what is right and wrong before they go’ And Jean-Marie Vianney took a handful of hay and threw it on the fire saying, ‘Hay, I order you not to burn’. Now of course the parents said, ‘But Father, when you put hay on the fire it’s bound to burn!’
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And he replied, ‘Well there, with your daughters it is just the same. You send them to the dance and you say, ‘Don’t burn’. If they go to the dance they will get burnt.’ So he managed to do something about this situation himself. One day he went to meet the violin player who played the music for the dance and asked him, ‘How much do they give you to play?’ ‘100 sous.’ ‘Well, I’ll give you 200 to go home.’ And finally he managed to get the dance stopped, not because of an excessively rigorous sense of morality but through love for these young girls whose lives he saw being ruined.” Fr. Xavier Roquette : “This desire to bring the people back to God wasn’t going to be easy. He found himself confronted by plenty of opposition. Petitions were raised against him; one day, a messenger from the bishop came and said to him, ‘Look here, petitions against you are being sent to the bishop; what should we think about this?’ He answered, ‘Oh I know these petitions! You only have to look at them. I signed them myself, because I’m not capable of being the priest in Ars. You should put me elsewhere.’
special report “God’s mercy is like an overflowing torrent. It pulls in our hearts as it passes.” Jean-Marie Vianney
Fr. Xavier Roquette : “A day in the life of Jean-Marie Vianney was impressive. It began at midnight, or one in the morning, and he would hear confession after confession - up to seventeen hours a day of confessions. He didn’t spare his strength when it came to reconciling people with God. He had the mercy of God to transmit and he would constantly try to pass this to others.” Fr. Philippe Caratgé : “The heart of Jean-Marie Vianney’s message is to show that God is good, that God wants our happiness and that if we respond to the love of God, we receive the true joy that he wants to give us. But in order to do this we have to recognise that we are poor sinners. And it is true that all this preaching for conversion led to people falling on their knees to receive God’s forgiveness.”
Fr. Xavier Roquette : “Jean-Marie Vianney only did what every other priest does. He gave catechesis, visited his parishioners, took the sacraments to the sick, celebrated Mass and heard confessions. He did what every priest does but he did it with the conviction that it was truly God who was acting. And this is what makes the radiance of Jean-Marie Vianney. When speaking of the Eucharist, and showing the tabernacle, he would say, ‘He is here, He is here, God is here.’ When he said that, he had said everything! Those present at that time would say, ‘The priest was here and he had an emotion and a conviction that touched our hearts.’
to see how Jean-Marie Vianney still touches hearts today.” Fr. Roger Hébert: “It is the overflowing pastoral charity of Jean-Marie Vianney that makes him a model. As John Paul II said, he had an extraordinary way of being a minister of the Lord, and he lived this in simplicity. The greatest miracle is that he lived in this village of 230 inhabitants for at least 40 years and he never tired of being the good shepherd among these people. This is the model that is given to us.” v
He died of exhaustion at the age of 73 in 1859 on the 4th August. Every year on this date there is a great festival here in Ars, with people coming from around the world. I am astonished
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Testimonies “Confession day is always a day of celebration!”
“I remember the day when I went to confession for the first time. I was about 8 years old. I racked my brains to find my sins just like young Nicholas’ friend trying to remember the name of the river which flows through Paris.1 I tried not to forget anything, so I made a whole list of sins I did not even know the meaning of. For example, the sin of gluttony; I had thought it was a good thing, so I certainly did not want to hide it!
Between 14 and 16, I began to understand that there were things in my life which were not quite right. I felt far from God. I understood that certain acts and thoughts made me feel sad.
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Without going into detail on my sins, I would like to tell you about my first real confession. I was 21 and I was living the sinful life of a student – partying every day! And so I went to see a priest, and I confessed my sins simply and truthfully, but at the same time I told him that I would not be able to stop living this sinful life overnight - it was quite impossible. The priest, who was definitely
inspired by the Holy Spirit, said to me, “OK, I give you absolution, but one day you are going to have to choose between this life of excess, and the Christian life.”
My choice was made two months later, when I decided to follow Christ. I asked for Baptism in the Holy Spirit. It was a very great liberation, a great joy for me. After this experience, confession became very important in my life. Whatever town I am living in, one of the first things I do is look for somewhere to confess.
This year, as we are living in Lyon, I soon had the idea of going to Ars regularly to seek pardon. I chose Ars, as I love Jean-Marie Vianney.
I am a sinner, and I need pardon. I need to confess my shortcomings; I need to understand that I am loved in spite of my weaknesses. According to witnesses, this priest had an ability to help people to speak the truth about themselves. People came from all over France, rich and poor from all walks of life, city dwellers and peasants. They all went home full of the joy of salvation in Christ. I too want to be
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helped by Jean-Marie Vianney to speak the truth about myself, in response to his call: “I would like to win souls for God”. I am really happy to be able to spend time at Ars, once or twice a month, to be a winner with Christ.
For me, confession day is always a day of celebration. I go there in silence, without listening to the radio, I pray for 10 to 20 minutes, I confess and then I eat a good cake in the bakery just next to the church.”
Gergely Varga, ccn, husband and father
1 - “Le Petit Nicolas” is a series of French children’s books.
special report As seen by Protestants Michaela Borrmann
“The thing that has struck me so strongly is how Jean-Marie Vianney spent his day, and especially his charism for the sacrament of reconciliation. This is something that my German Lutheran church has been rediscovering these last decades. This experience resembles that of Martin Luther in the sixteenth century very closely.
Martin Luther was someone who was living in the world of mediaeval piety, in which one was trying to win God’s favour by doing all sorts of works of piety. Furthermore, Luther had a very deep conviction that he was a sinner and as a result, he had a very tormented conscience. As a monk, he was living under a very austere monastic rule which he followed rigorously. He did everything: praying, keeping vigils, fasting, and so on. And also going to confession. He confessed very, very regularly. Behind this behaviour, he had an image of God as a God who enforced the law, an avenger. A God who wanted people to come to Him, and to put right what they had done wrong; “The otherwise they would be righteous punished. Luther had tried to win this God’s favour. And shall live this had not worked, he did by faith.” not find peace. Until the day when he was meditating on Romans 1, 17 a passage in the letter to the Romans, which speaks of the justice of God. Luther looked at all the possible meanings of this passage (Romans 1,17). He thought it meant, ‘God is just; he punishes sinners.’ Yet the Holy Spirit led him to a profound experience through this text (I would almost say to his baptism in the Holy Spirit), when he realised that God’s Justice is God’s goodness, it is God who makes the sinner just, God who justifies the sinner, God who forgives through pure mercy. Who clothes the sinner with His justice. And suddenly his whole perspective was changed. At confession, Luther could receive this mercy of God, which preceded him and which was repeated to him during the sacrament. God gives His mercy freely to sinners. This was a total about-face for Luther, but also for theology and for people’s devotions. A planetary about-turn.”
« I was ordained a priest in the Anglican church two years ago now. When you begin a career as an ordained minister, you think that you are going to develop your talents, that you are going to be able to offer many things, you want to develop a ministry, you want to become a Christian leader, in this way you want success, not for yourself but for the Gospel. Like JeanMarie Vianney, I have learnt that my ministry can be much more effective, even most effective, when God works through my weaknesses.
Tim Watson
It is something really humbling to recognise, but in fact it is at the heart of the ministry for me; the places where I can be most transparent to grace, where I can be an instrument in the hands of God are the places where I recognise my weakness, my poverty, the times when I just stay sitting there with my brothers and sisters; in particular through the practice of the sacrament of confession. Perhaps people do not really know that this sacrament exists in the Church of England as it is not as widespread as in the Catholic Church. For me, it really was a very special grace to discover this ministry of mercy and reconciliation. This is the place where I am not the person who has the answers, where I do not come as an expert or an advisor. I simply find myself sitting with a brother or sister, and we are “two paupers face to face.” In accepting this, God can thus use me as an instrument of reconciliation and so we can experience together something of the mercy and the love that Jesus came to bring. In the same way that the ministry of reconciliation was rediscovered in the Catholic Church, I hope very much that my Church will spread the grace of this sacrament in the coming years. And there is no better model for this than Jean-Marie Vianney.
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VIE Ecumenism
Ecume
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The birth of the United Protestant Church of France
Choosing to trust At the heart of its first Synod, the new United Protestant Church of France celebrated its foundation on May 10-11 at Lyon with an inaugural day attended by numerous religious and civic representatives in authority. This powerful time began with a night of ecumenical prayer in the Big Church, led by communities from different Christian confessions, one of them being the Chemin Neuf.
The fact that French Reformed and Lutheran Christians have been able to celebrate the union of their Churches is the fruit of a long journey. Officially, work began in 2007, but preparatory work had being going on for several years. So, for pastor Laurent Schlumberger, president of the new Church, the union is a “fruit of the ecumenical movement through which the living Spirit of God is at work.” We receive this fruit, at a moment of “considerable change in the French Protestant identity” commented Laurent Schlumberger, during his speech in the inaugural service on Saturday May 11. This Saturday was for him a picture of Holy Saturday a moment “between embittered withdrawal and the possibility of trust.” The new Church is now
“Moving from being a church which tenses up its shoulders to a Church which opens its arms.” called to “choose to trust, in the same way that God made a choice, once and for all.” In the past to be Protestant in France meant not being Catholic. Then Protestantism would have resembled “a little flocked with tensed up shoulders.” But this is not relevant in a society with an agnostic majority, where the movement must therefore move from being “a church which tenses up its shoulders to a church which opens its arms, a church of witness.”
Oliver MATRI,
Lutheran and a member of the Chemin Neuf ecumenical team
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The speakers at the inaugural day of the United Protestant Church of France
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nismEcumenism
Ecumenism
Ecumenism
Testimony
“Serving our protestant brothers”
A big change ! Will Reformed and Lutheran Christians lose their own identity? This fear is groundless, since each preserves its specific character. The slogan with the United Churches logo is a good one: “Lutheran and Reformed in communion.” Nevertheless, in his speech Brother Alois of Taize encouraged each and everyone to enter into this communion travelling light. “Each will bring the best of their tradition. Each will be ready to leave behind what is of secondary importance.” Is there here a model for other churches, other countries? France is not the first country where Reformed and Lutheran Christians have formed a union, but this is always a step forward for ecumenism, a step which can inspire others. This is how Cardinal Philippe Barbarin expressed it in the style of “I have a dream”, regarding the next step for the unity of Christians: what conditions need to come together in a Church in order for it to welcome at the Eucharist all who respect her faith and who act in a spiritual communion with their own church? Sometimes my spirit soars and imagines a quite unexpected scenario which could only come from God, by cutting corners, to restore the unity so longed for.” In the media coverage these words were interpreted very quickly as themselves a step towards inter-communion. Regarding the Reformed and Lutheran structures of each Church, they are from now on unified - now it will be up to each one to move forward on the road towards unity. For example, on the subject of liturgical differences: on the afternoon of the inaugural day, during the Synod’s solemn communion service, when the Lutheran pastor Jacques-Noel Peres gave the absolution of sins using a Lutheran formula “As an ordained minister of the Church, I forgive you”, the irritation of one part of the assembly was noticeable. Thus, rather than being a successful conclusion, what has been celebrated at Lyon is the beginning of a new journey. And a journey which was started on during June throughout France in days of celebration and inaugural services in each parish of the United Church. v
Several months ago the news reached us: the Reformed Church of France and the Evangelical Lutheran Church were going to unite to form the United Protestant Church of France. We were coming back from a trip to the Low Countries for a meeting of Protestant Christians in all their diversity (Reformed, Lutheran, Mennonite). It was then that we learnt of the existence of the United Protestant Church of the Low Countries. And that had been really amazing for us. But what a surprise then to find out that this same event would be happening in France and that the town of Lyon had been chosen to host the first Synod of the United Protestant Church of France. How much greater a surprise and above all what a joy to learn that the organisers had asked four communities: two Protestant communities and the Taizé Community and the Chemin Neuf Community, to which we belong, to organise a vigil of prayer for the previous night. We lived through the preparation of our contribution to this time of prayer between brothers of different churches in our own community, with a real concern for respect and truthfulness, so as to enter fully into the spirit of the event. Our hearts were full of gratitude for our Reformed and Lutheran brothers and sisters of France.
They allowed us, who bear such a desire for the unity of Christians, to join them on their path. And our surprises were not over as we got to know the crowd, including numerous Catholics, who had been present since the opening evening. We prayed that night in the big church, happy to be alongside our brothers who were committing themselves officially and publicly to be united. What prophetic audacity! Next day the leaders of different churches expressed their astonishment at witnessing such an event. It is as if we had been given a glimpse of the Promised Land. What a great hope for our world!
Isabelle and Vincent Feron, ccn
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Event: Protestants Celebrate
Betting
on hope in Paris A good opportunity to discover French Protestantism! From 27 to 29 September 2013, French Protestants are invited to come and celebrate in Paris on the theme of “Betting on hope”.
It’s worth recalling the background to this event: the French Protestant Federation used to organise the Protestant congress every four or five years. This would bring together delegations from all the Churches as well as the main Protestant organisations, movements and charities. The last congress was held in Clermont-Ferrand in 2004. When the time came to review the congress, the Federation Council decided it would prefer to organise a big event which would bring together the Protestant population in all its diversity, in the form of a celebration, rather than an institutional gathering. Hence the initiative “Protestant Festival”. The first such event took place in Strasburg in 2009 and was a huge success. After Paris, sights are already set on the next one which will take place in Lyon in 2017 for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
This handful of words expresses both a plan and a testimony. The plan is to project a different image of Protestantism to the outdated one of it being cold, austere and discreet to the point of being secretive. Thus, Protestantism will come out from the shadows and put itself on show, at least in two senses of the term: it will introduce itself and venture forth. The various villages, the multitude of events, and the service at Bercy will be there to put this plan into practice: to portray the diversity of Protestantism and its various denominations as many ways of testifying to the assurance that God loves the world; and to proclaim this truth out loud, outside the church buildings and chapels. All Christians agree on this irrevocable divine act. We are reminded of it in one of the suggested Bible readings for Catholics and Protestants alike throughout the world for Sunday 29 September, in this text from Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews: “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” (Heb 6v19). Jean-Charles Tenreiro, Pastor of the French United Reformed Church in Levallois-Perret
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What to see? Where to go? It’s difficult to list all the events, exhibitions, encounters, conferences, shows and other activities that will be taking place not only at Bercy, but also in numerous locations around Paris. Of course, you can visit the site www. protestantsenfete13.org to get the exact dates and locations, but there will also be several thematic “villages” to help you discover the many facets of the Protestant world: u The Institutions Village where you’ll be able to discover Protestantism from the inside (Bercy). Lutheran, Reformed, Evangelical, Baptist... Come and discover the diversity and richness of the various sympathies which are expressed at the heart of the Protestant Churches. Different movements and institutions will allow you to get to know Protestantism better through the promotion of Bible-reading, theology, mission, history and culture, but also through its societal, solidaritybased and international commitments... u The Youth Village (Place H Frenay, near the Gare de Lyon railway station ) Many events will take place here. A succession of artistic and other performances will take place on an openair stage. There will also be various stands in this village where young and old will be able to discover the full Protestant spectrum in all its diversity; youth groups, associations, training institutes... u The Protestant Media and Publishers Village (Parc de Bercy) In the Parc de Bercy, you’ll be able to meet Protestant publishers in a large pop-up bookshop. The Protestant media, be they local newspapers, magazines or internet sites, etc., can all be found in the media pavilion between the publishers’ area and the radio studio set. And make sure you visit the unusually-named “Protestants in a box” area to leave your own original, (im)pertinent, witty or serious impressions.
Protestant festival. Strasbourg 2009
u The Solidarity-based Village (Place du Palais Royal). Come and discover a hundred or so Protestant groups involved in the fight against poverty and exclusion, working for human rights and sustainable development, or working with sick or disabled people.
The two main events of this festival (for which you need to reserve places) will be the Saturday evening show and the Sunday morning service. Both of these events will take place at the Paris-Bercy indoor sports arena.
In this village you’ll share a moment of joy and hope thanks to the many and varied events that’ll be taking place here throughout the “Protestant Festival”! The Protestant Federation of Mutual Aid (FEP), the face of the Protestant deaconry, groups together 360 associations and foundations representing around a thousand establishments and services in the social, medical and healthcare sectors. It’s a national network representing nearly 28,000 people, both paid and voluntary, working in many different fields: access to healthcare, social integration, accommodation, housing, reception centres for addicts or social drop-outs.
There will be something for everybody on Saturday evening with Soul Jazz (Manu Dibango, Jean-Marc Reyno and Julie Star), drama (Sketch-up, Saïd Oujibou, Les Accroches Lunes), classical music (Peter Bannsietr and the Crescendo ensemble) and contemporary music with many young Christian artists…
Outside these villages, all over Paris, and in a few neighbouring towns, there’ll be conferences, debates, exhibitions, guided tours, films, open days, Biblical activities, evenings of meditation, games and even sports activities!
Grand Evening Show:
Sunday Service:
The Sunday morning service will be led musically by a 1000-strong choir, with dancers and children also taking part.
What to do now:
Visit the website and sign up on line or by post. For the payment of 10 euros, you’ll receive a voucher to exchange (in one of the villages or at Bercy) for the complete event “kit” consisting of a bag, a full programme and a scarf. v
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“I love you, O my God and my desire is to love you until my dying breath. O my God, even if my tongue is unable to say that I love you at every moment, my desire is that at least my heart will repeat it as many times as I draw breath. And the nearer my end approaches, the more I beg you to increase and to perfect it. So be it.” An Act of Love, by Jean-Marie Vianney, the “Curé d’Ars”
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Christian Training
Interview : Emmanuel Faber
Doing the economy differently During his presentation to the Young Professionals’ Forum, Emmanuel Faber emphasised the impasse created by a business model which takes into account only shareholder profit. However, it is not easy to chart a course which seeks to reconcile the interests of the different stakeholders in a business; employees and customers, but also suppliers, the local community, as well as the environment and longer term interests. Genuine discernment must be brought into play and, as can be imagined, the right choices are not obvious.
m F.O.I. : As a key manager with
Danone, how do you discern what is fair, good or profitable? E. Faber : “In practice decisions of this nature crop up many times every day. My approach to discernment is to consider that the decision-making process is more important than the results of the decision. In reality, the results are a consequence of our decision, to a greater or lesser extent. However, quantifying the extent can be contentious or complicated. Above all, it is necessary to seek out the truth in order to discern clearly and to move forward. There are two key steps in the decision making process. The first step is to identify the effects of the decision on oneself. When we do not pay heed to that dimension, we avoid what fundamentally drives our decision making. I am struck by how, in the life of a businesses both large and small, managers or em-
*The Young Professionals’Forum >>> The first meeting (April 2013) brought together 300 young professionals at Sophia Antipolis (Nice) to consider the theme ‘For we are co-workers in God’s service’. (1 Cor 3, 9). In addition to numerous workshops, three special guests were invited to speak: Emmanuel Faber, Deputy General Manager of Danone, Fabrice Hadjadj, Director of ‘Philanthropos’ the European Institute for Anthropology at Fribourg and Elena Lasida, economist and lecturer at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences at the Paris Catholic Institute. The presentations can be accessed online at: http://public.ndsagesse.com/fr/conferences/
2014 Forum : 2 to 11 May in Lyon
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ployees are motivated by underlying fear: fear of change because the current situation is more comfortable, or on the contrary, because the situation is dangerous and change is needed to return to balance and stability. When one is involved in a lot of decision making, one spots this fear very quickly, in others as in oneself. What makes me fearful about this decision? A fear of lacking fairness? What are the stakes for me? For example, in the case of reducing workforce numbers, unemployment is something which affects me personally, and if that is the case, I am going to be particularly vigilant when a question of employment or efficiency arises. However, is it fair that I allow myself to be influenced without being aware of the fact? For example, if I say yes, it might impact on my area of responsibility by halting my own projects. But if I say no, it might be impossible for me to reach my bonus target. And then, even more profound than the fear of losing my job,
an training training an training Emmanuel Faber >>> Emmanuel Faber has been Deputy General Manager of Danone since January 1, 2011 and serves as its Deputy Managing Director. He is the author of Chemins de traverse – vivre l’économie autrement* (pub Albin Michel). He graduated from HEC Paris in 1986, beginning his career with Bain and Company, before working for Baring Brothers and Legris Industries, where he was General Manager. He subsequently moved to Danone as Director of Development and Strategy, then Finance Director. >>> He is currently responsible for the functional management of the whole Group and for its strategy. In this capacity, he develops and supervises the entire Group’s ‘social business’ initiatives. Married, with 3 children, a committed Christian in leadership roles, he testifies about his experience of discernment. (*Taking the side road – doing the economy differently.)
of not being in my seat, lurks the fear of not being loved or not existing. When one goes to the heart of the matter, one feels a fear of lacking recognition: I personally experience this very frequently with each of my decisions, because in order to know what is at stake I take a ‘journey into myself’ as far as possible.
“Reconciling the interests of the parties involved is very complex and my role to decide and to choose.” Fear is also the opposite of desire, the stakes we play for by being alive. The second step is to question what mood one is in, especially when taking a complicated decision. If I have to take a decision, which seems to me to be a difficult one, on a Friday evening, I leave it until after the weekend, especially if I am tired or angry. I might be more settled and see things differently on Monday morning. Personally, I often feel better at the start of the week and more able to recognise whether I am well adjusted and therefore better able to ‘position’ myself for the decision.”
m F.O.I. : Values do not seem to have primacy in your decision making? E. Faber : I am very wary of what people hide behind values. It is very easy to let oneself be fooled by spiritual values, or even purely humanist ones. I have seen people and communities go completely off the rails, even though things were going very well with their values and spiritual life. I am very wary of the spiritual interpretation which my wounded conscience is capable of constructing. It is said that faith must be enlightened by reason. Personally, I try to enlighten my own conscience, right where I am, before incorporating a spiritual dimension. Of course, the psychological and spiritual dimensions are concurrent and the decision-making process is always a long one, especially with experience. In any case, constructing the truth within me is indispensable. At a business-wide level, one can have a false idea of how things are. A business only exists because it has a social utility contrary to what one often hears. Everything is held in common. The interests of shareholders are important. ‘Shareholders’ also includes small savers who have worked all their lives and have taken the risk of investing the fruits of
their labours in Danone shares, directly or indirectly. They are entitled to a dividend. Just as an employee is entitled to his salary, or a consumer needs to feed himself with quality products at a price within his budget, or a milk supplier needs to sell his production at a price which allows him to make a living. Reconciling the interests of the parties involved is very complex and my role to decide and to choose. I constantly ask myself this question: is my decision-making process balanced? Values such as the preferred option when considering the poor are of course important, but pay attention to what our fundamental motives are! m F.O.I. : This working out of dis-
cernment is therefore highly internalised; it doubtlessly demands a certain ‘unity’ between the manager’s professional and personal lives. Can you tell us how you find this ‘unity’?
E. Faber : It is important to know one’s needs and what nourishes us. Personally, I need sport and mountains to ‘find myself’: climbing is my place of nourishment, between ‘sky and earth’. This is also in some sense the way I pray - ‘vertically’. I need to be with my wife and children. Not in order to play the exemplary husband or daddy, but because that is what I fundamentally need. Working to achieve unity in one’s life is also very important. My life as part of a couple is an indispensable space within my professional life, particularly when choosing what direction to take, making a choice or imposing limits or priorities. Moreover, I have always wanted to share with my family what I experience in my professional life. My wife is quite well aware of what I do. My children too: I have taken them to Danone facilities so that they understand what keeps me so busy and what it means to me. For me, given my daily self-doubt about what I am doing, dialogue with them is very important. They are also a source of encouragement. v
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Christian Training
Spiritual life: Spiritual Accompaniment
Alongside
a brother Among the resolutions made at the beginning of the school year, we sometimes have the crucial one of finding a way of making progress in our spiritual life. In this situation, it is a good idea to avoid following this path alone, as we are advised by the Scriptures and the traditions of our churches. “Spiritual accompaniment, why and how?”, by Marie-Noelle Gélébart, one of those responsible at Chemin Neuf for training in this subject, gives us an explanation.
Marie-Noëlle Gélébart Chemin Neuf Community
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Over the centuries, those feeling the need to make progress in the eyes of God have sought around them “wise men”, to listen to them and guide them. Numerous examples are to be found in Scripture, such as King David advised by the prophet Nathan, Tobias accompanied on a journey by Raphael, who claimed to be an angel at his side to guide him. Ananias was sent to the blinded Paul, to lay hands on him so that he recovered his sight… Personal spiritual accompaniment was instituted as an organised discipline within the framework of the monastic movement led by the Desert Fathers in the IVth Century. Schools of spiritual life were set up: in order to avoid illusions and obstacles, the beginner communicates his thoughts to the “elder”, who, being more experienced, grasps and understands the work of God and is known to have a gift for words, known as being “in the Spirit”. It was in the Middle Ages, however, with the development of the orders of begging monks, that this practice became more available to all believers. But monastic spirituality has finally been adapted for lay people, and spiritual direction has been adapted to suit all Christians in modern times, with the decisive influence of St. Ignatius’ spiritual exercises and the development of Carmelite spirituality, and later, the French school of spirituality. In recent years, it has become more common to speak of “Spiritual accompaniment”. Nowadays, it has reappeared with renewed
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strength in the Church as a grace and a necessity open to all believers 1. “To be a Christian, in the full sense of the word, is to try to develop fully in oneself the spiritual life given at baptism,” according to Jean Danielou, s.j. 2. So, a person who feels the need, can go forward on the way of faith, choose the will of God, follow Jesus and stay close to Him. Joseph Stierli, s.j describes accompaniment as “a regular, methodical individual shepherding on the way with a view to Christian perfection”3.
“It is a vital break, adapted to each one’s personality, which makes it possible to go forward, even sometimes to make a fresh start”. In this situation, it is essential to have access to someone capable of initiating and guiding others in their Christian life. To make this clear, St. Gregory of Nyssa used the image of someone learning a foreign language. He does not learn on his own “but is taught by those who know it and thus learns quickly to speak it by attuning his ear”. He added,“It is a general rule for any skill: it is easier to learn from someone experienced than on one’s own”4
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In the Chemin Neuf community, accompaniment in daily life is a time for making a halt with an elder brother in the faith, so as to put one’s daily life into words, and to be comprehensively listened to. It is to “re-read” the previous weeks and notice in them the presence and actions of God in encounters and events. “It is the Lord” John cried to Peter, when he sees the risen Jesus beside the lake, after the second miraculous catch of fish (John 21, 7). It is a question of praying one’s life and living one’s prayer: making connections between the human and the spiritual in daily life. In fact it is a vital break, adapted to each individual personality, which makes it possible to go forward, maybe to make a fresh start, or to find the meaning in a dead-end or a trial. For those starting out on a journey of faith, it can be helpful to experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit, experiencing
the Father’s love, a personal meeting with Christ, entering into spiritual life, being open to charisms. This time of exchange can truly be the place where one discovers the Holy Spirit as an inner guest. The “older brother” can point out times of consolation or desolation, of spiritual struggle, and lead the accompanied person to see how his innermost being is guided by the Spirit. Developing an interior life, entering into oneself, implies learning to know one’s unique and irreplaceable personality, so as to discover gradually within oneself the will of God. The spiritual companion can help the accompanied person to “love himself in God, to strive to follow the inner calling which leads us to exist and draws us to Christ” in the words of Claude Flipo s.j. In this spiritual companionship one “goes beyond human values to seek and welcome our divine vocation, what the Holy Spirit wants to develop in us”5. It is an education in spiritual discernment, necessary when faced with important decisions (such as the choice of a way of life or a professional direction), as well as in everyday life. There are shadows which have to be lightened from within. Think of how the prophet Nathan helped David to recognise his sin. The spiritual companion is the witness to the Law on the road to freedom, the one who calls us to live the Covenant6. He names Jesus as Saviour, takes the place of John the Baptist, the bridegroom’s friend, who shows his disciples Jesus as the “Lamb of God”. (John 1, 29)7. He could also be the deacon Philip, sent by God to the Ethiopian civil servant, on the road to Gaza, who explained a passage of Scripture to him, and led him to baptism. (Acts, 8, 26-40). The Word has
a considerable place in the heart of spiritual exchanges. In the Bible, all humanity is present…. And it teaches us about God! Just as Jesus Himself walked with the disciples to Emmaus and explained the Scriptures to them. (Luke 24, 27). The place where spiritual space for accompaniment can always be found is the Church. Although its nature is extremely personal, this regular meeting is a grounding lived within the Church which helps develop communion. Nowadays, several people within the Chemin Neuf Community have felt a calling to this mission. Being a spiritual companion, however, is not a thing which can be improvised. It is a service provided by the Church. As he is himself accompanied, the companion must necessarily have certain theological, psychological and spiritual knowledge, coupled with common sense and practical judgement; and above all he must be one who prays. This mission is above all a school in humility. The companion “disposes”, prepares, liberates, stimulates, advises, encourages or corrects, but steps back when faced with the action of the Creator, willing to disappear before the only Master and leaving the individual face to face with his Lord. He stays still, as an intercessor. He is an instrument of the Holy Spirit, completely dependent on Him, a worthless servant; as a witness, he knows that the Spirit is in action, and he marvels at it. v 1 - Claude Flipo s.j, « L’accompagnement spirituel : un enjeu ecclésial », in Christus HS n° 153, p 5-7 2 - Jean Danielou s.j., « La direction spirituelle dans la tradition ancienne de l’Eglise », idem, p 12 3 - Joseph Stierli s.j., « L’art de la direction spirituelle », idem, p39 4 - Jean Danielou s.j., « La direction spirituelle dans la tradition ancienne de l’Eglise », idem, p 13 5 - Claude Flipo s.j., « Oubli de soi ou souci de soi ? », in Se reposer en sa Présence – Tychique, 2002, p. 77 6 - François Michon i.c.n., « J’aime ta Loi Seigneur,
Elle donne la vie ! », idem, p. 127 7 - Jacqueline Coutellier c.c.n., « La spiritualité ignatienne dans la communauté du Chemin Neuf », idem, p. 50
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Christian Training
Siloé Conference: Spiritual Need and Care
Health and Salvation: the same issue? Which role can there be in the act of caring for the message of Christian faith, especially with regard to the good news of salvation? This issue raises the question of the correlation between medicine and spirituality in today’s world and, in a wider context between health and salvation. Such areas, which would have been able to develop independently and with due respect for each other, show today a renewed interest in each other. Therefore, can one find, in care, a place for spiritual expression?
Anne CHAPELL
Sister of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Doctor in palliative care, Jeanne Garnier Medical Home, Paris
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Medicine and Spirituality: places of unexpected convergence As a consequence of the development of techno-medicine in 1975 and the following years, there has been a claim for a holistic approach towards the patient. This assessment which otherwise could have aimed at a greater degree of interest towards the illness rather than the patient militates in favour of a global approach towards care. Besides, a certain “aestheticising” trend in medicine is developing with the aim of answering the imposition of well-being and of life in harmony with the body. For its part, spirituality, in a dynamic which is not unknown to the movement of Lights finds its development from religion. This “untraditionalisation” of spirituality (which separates itself in relation to religious faiths) makes available a concept - the spiritual - which is especially perceived as a conveyor of harmony with oneself, the others, the cosmos and God Himself. On the one hand, one finds medicine which suffo-
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cates in its hypertechnicianised yoke, but also an “aestheticising” medical move in search of a better well-being, faced with, on the other hand, a spirituality deprived of its dogmatic roots and which offers itself as an harmonising factor. Thus, medicine finds in spirituality a way of fulfilment towards which it was aspiring. However, it tends to restrain it in subjecting it to new boundaries up to the point of rendering it as an auxiliary to care. The danger of this post-modern spirituality is to allow oneself to be instrumentalised by one opportunistic science or another. The essence of spirituality seems, on the contrary, to be able to offer resistance in the face of all types of assimilation. Christian tradition recognises precisely “compulsory passages” as signs of an authentic spiritual experience. Thus, whereas medicine tries to find in spirituality a beneficent factor, which does not necessarily integrate the tragic moments of existence, Christian tradition, for its
an training training an training part, recognises straight away the primary importance of spiritual struggle. It offers an interpretation of the experience of suffering which allows oneself to go through it without sinking into the absurdity of nonsensical reasoning, and to position oneself accordingly in face of care. The spiritual journey is, in effect, a slow, laborious and hazardous process. Therefore, the mediation of time plays an important role. Far from searching for a direct contact with ultimate reality, Christian faith also highly values other mediations: human relationships (it can be the one who provides treatment) and events. It also integrates the notion of grace in affirming that the initiative for spiritual life comes from Another. Thus, it inserts itself in the logic of free gift and not the voluntary decision of the person as medicine proclaims. In conclusion, ultimate reality sought after by the Christian attitude is the trinitarian God encountered in a personal way, and not a vague and impersonal cosmic communion, nor the egocentric experience of the human brain which could become capable of auto-transcendence.
Health and Salvation: a quite surprising reunion at times! Notwithstanding their common etymology the concepts of health and salvation have a common evolution: are these sufficient enough reasons to explain their intimate links? The original meaning of the Latin “salvus” relates to a physical (health) preservation. It is only as a result of the spread of Christianity throughout the Western world and of its evolution through the Greek word “soterios” that the meaning slides towards the notion of spiritual protection (salvation). Christian tradition then sees two interpretations of salvation. Salvation as redress comes to restore a human condition radically marked by sin (St Augustine). On the other hand, salvation as maturation seeks to grant the fundamental expectation of the human being in terms of development and constant progression (St Irenaeus). The approach towards health, curiously enough, can be done according to two methods of understanding which recall
that which has just been considered for salvation. On the one hand, health can be perceived as restoration to the state prior to the illness, or, at the very least, a return to a balance compatible with an autonomous pace of life. On the other hand, health can present itself as potentiality to exercise up to a sort of inaccessible infinity, “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing” according to the declaration of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1948 in its asymptotic definition of health.
« It is important to learn how to rid ourselves of our obstinate reaction towards finitude. » A downward trend gradually takes place and health is no longer considered as an absence of illness but it becomes a reason for existence. Well-being is raised as a factor of absolute Belonging and health presents itself then as a “neo-eschatology”. Thus, health represents for many of our contemporaries a modern substitute to salvation. It passes through the integration of messages concerning sanitary and hygiene education which become a substitute for moral norms. Nevertheless, considering the modern attitude towards health, there appears to be, in spite of everything, a breach open for the person to receive Christian salvation.
Spirituality in care: to be a witness to the salvation which is near If one looks at the specific case of a person who is involved in palliative treatment (which is my case), how does one give testimony of the forthcoming salvation to patients at the end of their life? One must notice first of all that, in the Gospels, the progress of salvation inhabits all healing which, in turn, leads to a complete healing. Healing is finally just a “viaticum” to lead to a state greater than the healing itself. One must, in fact, be healed from the healing: not to remain tied to it but to become reconciled with one’s own vulnerability. In the depth of all illness, it requires, above all, to learn to rid oneself of one’s own obstinate reaction towards finitude.
For the person doing the treating, the goal will be to transmit inspiration, energy, if not a taste for life. May the patient feel that he is accepted and respected as a normal human being until the very end. The treatment is, in fine, a desire for life on behalf of someone else. It also involves allowing the patient to have a glimpse of infinity beyond finitude. The actual situation is not a complete dead end because the finitude of existence is not the end of everything: the person treating, by his very behaviour, by the way he administers treatment and never leaving the patient on his own, can say something about this alternative. When everything appears to be fragmented, dispersed (alteration in the body, confusion in the mind, strained relationships), the person treating can offer a reassuring presence which helps the patient to hang on to existence: he can offer a presence which is comfortable and coherent which helps to resist in spite of absurdity. Finally, for the person being treated as well as the person treating, the spiritual strength of care is to demonstrate human finitude in reminding the one as well as the other (and the whole of society) its vulnerability. In a dechristianised culture, where the major religious traditions appear to find it difficult to produce basic facts that might encourage adherence, care remains a means to approach and symbolise death. Since in care is found collectively human finitude and the desire for infinite solicitude, care can rise out as a new stalwart of spirituality in today’s world. v 1 - Guy JOBIN, « Des religions à la spiritualité. Une appropriation biomédicale du religieux dans l’hôpital », (From religions to spirituality. A biomedical adaptation of religious beliefs in hospital), Collection Soins et Spiritualités n°3, Lumen vitae, 2012 2 - Guy JOBIN, « La spiritualité : facteur de résistance au pouvoir biomédical de soigner ? » in Jean-Marie GUEULETTE (dir.), « Le pouvoir de guérir. Enjeux anthropologiques, théologiques et éthiques », (Spirituality: a factor of resistence to the power of biomedical treatment? in Jean-Marie GUEULETTE (DIR.), The power of healing. Antropological, theological and ethical involvement, Revue d’éthique et de théologie morale, Septembre 2011, pp.131-149. 3 - Marie-Jo THIEL, Article « Santé » in Laurent LEMOINE, Eric GAZIAUX et Denis MÜLLER (dir.), Dictionnaire encyclopédique d’éthique chrétienne, (Leading article on «Health» in Laurent LEMOINE, Eric GAZIAUX AND Denis MULLER (DIR., Encyclopedical dictionary on christian ethics) (Cerf, Paris 2013) pp. 1811-1822. 4 - Bernard FORTHOMME, « Croisements du psychique et du spirituel », (When the psychical and spiritual condition meet), Revue d’éthique et de théologie morale, 267, déc. 2011, pp.71-110.
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“ Bota fé ”
We shall long remember that picture: 3.5 million young people gathered on the whole length of the Copacabana beach during the final week-end of the WYD… A magical setting, an atmosphere both festive and contemplative, the best singers of the Church of Brazil for a final mass beneath the sun which had at last pierced the clouds. And Pope Francis addressing these last words to the young people who listen attentively: “Do you know what is the best instrument for evangelising a young person? Another young person. There is the road you must follow.”
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The World Youth Day,
An adventure in faith And yet, that week, the Rio de Janiero WYD had got off to a bad start. Beginning on Monday afternoon, it rained non-stop for 3 days. The young people braved the rain to cross the city with transparent plastic capes that soon became the distinctive sign of every selfrespecting participant in the WYD. The temperature is 15°C and the wind blows in gusts on the sea-side…we had forgotten it was winter! In the parish of the Resurrection in Ipanema, manned by the Chemin Neuf Community during the week, we adapt our programme: street evangelism being decidedly compromised, we concentrate on welcoming the young people at the morning religious instruction sessions. More than 1000 young people from Brazil, but also from other Portuguesespeaking countries: Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, fill the church to breakingpoint. We had not reached the end of our surprises: on Thursday there were rumours, confirmed in the evening, that the final week-end would not take place as planned in Guartiba, 60 km. from Rio, which had become an immense field of mud, but on the Copacabana beach. So vast a change had never been seen in all the history of the WYD! In the end, everything happened for the best…
This WYD in Brazil will have been an outstanding experience from beginning to end, to have been frustrated by circumstances and led by Providence. To walk continually in faith, to accept being disconcerted and led by the Holy Spirit! That is what we experienced at our level for the International Festival organized by the Community in Agua Cantantes, a magnificent site very near Belo Horizonte. 500 young people, half of them from Brazil and the others from metropolitan France, La Reunion, Burkina-Faso, Canada (Winnipeg and Montreal), Latvia, Lebanon and Poland, met from the 17th to the 22nd of July, before joining the WYD week in Rio. How was it possible to prepare such a meeting with such limited human and financial means in place? During the Festival and throughout the year of preparation we constantly observed that the Lord provides all we lack. Thus, all the material for decorating the immense site was given and sewn in the correct dimensions by people of the parish, the bus company granted us much reduced rates for transport, Fiat lent us six new cars for a month, gifts arrived every day for the kitchen: one day meat, another day coconuts…
Gabriel Roussineau, International Youth Mission
“Bota fé”: “Put faith”, put Christ in your life, put your trust in him and you will never be disappointed! In the end, our budget balanced, something that had not happened for a long time for the WYD! And above all the fruits of these WYDs went beyond all our expectation. During the Way of the Cross of the Festival, many young people experienced the love of Christ who came to save them, to raise them by his mercy. Recognizing that he alone can quench the thirst within us, they will offer their lives, their youth, to follow him. And following these WYDs, about a hundred young Brazilians will enter “missionary fraternities” linked to the Community, in answer to the call of Christ, the theme of these WYDs: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Mt. 28, 19) “Bota fé”: “Put faith”, put Christ in your life, put your trust in him and you will never be disappointed! This was the invitation that the Pope sent out to young people at the welcome celebration on the Copacabana beach, it was precisely the experience that the Lord had us live during these 28th World Youth Days!v
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A gift of the Holy Spirit The MISSIONARY FRATERNITY The year 2012-2013 was a blessed year for youth mission! The buzz of “Cathostyle” (more than 8,000,000 views on Youtube and Dailymotion) and the Festival “Welcome to Paradise” which brought more than 1000 young people to Hautecombe were so many gifts of the Holy Spirit! The most recent gift? The launching of the missionary fraternities! This year once more the Festival “à la carte” brought surprises! Among others, four signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit: the fervour of the young people in praise and prayer, their thirst for God (spiritual welcoming and confessions non-stop!), their desire for training and commitment in the world in the heart
of social conflicts and in the end the desire to share with other Christians to serve Christ and live mission together. The idea of missionary fraternities is simple: “Wherever you are, in whatever step in faith, dare to be a disciple of Christ! According to the unique charisms that you have received from God, you can share fraternally and live mission, upheld by other young people and by the brothers and sisters of the Chemin Neuf community!” Concretely it means belonging to a fraternity which meets every three weeks (it could be by Skype if the young person is alone in his or her town!) committing oneself to daily prayer and
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investing in mission. From evangelising to visiting the poor or creating a prayer group…the range of missions is wide, discernment comes from the calls of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the individual! Each fraternity is accompanied by a young person, for example a JCN(1) or a former JCN, in communication with youth mission. A little sign from the Holy Spirit: at the same time as a call to be part of a missionary fraternity went forth in the heart of Hautecombe Abbey, the youth mission in Brazil created on the impetus of the WYD…missionary fraternities! 1 - JCN : Youth of Chemin Neuf
For the Youth Mission team, Romain Berthelot and Patricia Placé
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coming events
youth
• LOVE LIFE WEEK-END: 12-13 Oct. In Nantes, 16-17 Nov. in Tigery, (91), 23-24 Nov. in Hautecombe (73)
• MUSIC WEEK-END – age 14-18: 19-21 Oct. in Tigery (91) For everyone who wants to learn to play and sing the favourites of 14-18 year-olds! Possible workshops: choral, dance, orchestra.
Does lifelong love really exist? Does being in a couple mean that I lose my liberty? Why should I listen to what God and the Church can say to me about my relationships? Is it possible to really change things in my relationship with my family? 2 days to let the light of Christ illuminate your emotional life, to learn to love more!
• ALL SAINTS 2013 “Keep in Touch, 100% Relationships”: 2126 Oct. in Tigery (91). 5 days to stop for a better understanding of the relational being that each one of us is: heart, body and spirit! From family to friends, and my faith, our hearts and also my view of myself, everything in me is relationship. We are beings created to live with others.
• JERICHO RETREAT: “Get up, he is calling you!” 29 Dec.-4 Jan. in Tigery and Hautecombe Abbey. A five day retreat to stop and listen to God, to know him better and to welcome his love, to learn to pray with the Word of God, to share with other young people, to celebrate the New Year together. • CENTRE FOR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS: in Paris – La Défense – a good atmosphere for work for training, for the rhythm and needs of professional life. Rooms for recreation and conviviality. Human and fraternal relationships rich with what each one brings to them. Info: foyerladefense.fr • Many other offers on the internet site: Mass for Youth, Praise evenings, Young professional fraternities, “Appel” group, etc. jeunes.chemin-neuf.fr Contact: 01 47 74 93 73 ou 06 30 14 06 96 jeunes.france@chemin-neuf.org
• WEEK-END “You have a new message! How God speaks to us” age 14-15: 12-13 Oct. In Sablonceaux (17), 9-10 Nov. in Boquen (Brittany), 16-17 Nov. in Strasbourg (East), 23-24 Nov. in Nice. A new message? Yes, for you, a Word that comes from God! Our God loves us so much that he comes near us through his Word, by the way he speaks to us! A week-end for learning to listen to him. • Week-end “Build on the ROCK”: age 16-18: 16-17 Nov. in Paris, 23-24 Nov. in Lyon. On what do I want to build and base my life? What is my rock? What do I want to live in my lifetime? 2 days to learn to make choices and to construct a life with God… • Secretariat age 14-18: 04 78 15 07 98 or 06 61 61 02 72 14-18ans@chemin-neuf.org http://chemin-neuf.org/14-18ans
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Community Life
A trip around the world...
destination
Latvia
For this year 2013-2014, FOI magazine proposes whisking you off to discover this country and the challenges facing the Chemin Neuf there. Before the first snowfall, let’s leave for the Baltic, direction Latvia!
CONTEXT Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia (in Latvian, Latvija and Latvijas Republika) is a country in Northern Europe, situated on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. It is one of the three Baltic countries and is bordered to the south by Lithuania and to the north by Estonia. Latvia also shares a land border to the east with Russia and to the south-east with Belarus. Like Lithuania and Estonia, it became independent in 1991, even before the total collapse of the Soviet Union. Latvia has been a member of the European Union since 1st May 2004. OFFICIAL NAME: REPUBLIC OF LATVIA SURFACE AREA: 64 600 km² Capital: Riga Population: 2,060 MILLION INHABITANTS LIFE EXPECTANCY: 68,8 YEARS FOR MEN 78,4 YEARS FOR WOMEN MAIN CITIES: Daugavpils, Liepaja, Jelgava, Jurmala OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: LATVIAN CURRENCY: lats (1 euro = 0,69 lats) NATIONAL HOLIDAY: 18 NOVEMBER
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The country experienced a period of severe economic overheating from 2005 to 2007, followed by a very serious economic and financial crisis at the end of 2008. After three years of recession, the Latvian economy started growing again in 2011. This improvement of the macroeconomic context really supported Latvia’s considerable efforts to consolidate its budget within the framework of the international aid programme which came to an end in December 2011. Latvia’s aim now is to join the euro-zone in 2014. The Constitution recognises every person’s right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion in a charter which establishes the separation of Church and State. At an institutional level, talks between the government and religious groups are run by the Ecclesiastical Council, presided over by the Prime Minister and made up of Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox, Baptist, Adventist, Old Believer, Methodist and Jewish representatives. Moreover, to discuss practical, administrative and fiscal matters, in 2009 the Minister for Justice created a Consultative Council for Religious Affairs, bringing together 14 Christian groups, as well as Jewish representatives and the Dievturi, the local neo-pagan group.
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So iré e crèpes Lhe C o m mu n i ty in La tv ia
THE COMMUNITY IN LATVIA In June 1993 François Cartier led a Cana session in Sweden. Maneta, a consecrated celibate, who was in contact with the Swedish Community leaders, suggested that a Cana session could be held in Latvia with the Archbishop’s agreement. François Cartier and Etienne Veto led this session in July 1994, then another one in July 1995, and Etienne led a third session with Emmanuel Contamin in July 1996. In 2004 the Community organised a big meeting in Prague for Cana leaders. Two Latvian couples took part (Voldemars and Livija Safronovi and Andis and Olita Smilgas). On this occasion they met Father Laurent Fabre, the Community leader, and told him how they would like to see the Community come to Latvia. A few years later, during a Cana session, and thanks to the initiative of Nils Jansons, the five couples who took part, decided to start out on the journey towards forming a community and asked the Community for help. In 2011, the bishop of the city of Liepaja officially invited the Community to come and settle in Latvia. Since then the Community has had a house in Liepaja, a city with a population of 80 000 on the Baltic Sea. Today the Community is active in Latvia through its Youth Missions, the Cana Fraternity and Net for God which is run in six different locations. There are also several prayer groups,
and other activities are held in the Community house. A small fraternity composed of three celibate sisters lives in this house. Retreats are organised there following the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius. There are also seminars for women in difficulty, a spiritual refreshment week for mothers and children, weekends for young people and teenagers and Cana retreats for couples, not forgetting the activities organised for locals. The district where the Community house is situated still bears the marks of the old communist regime. There are still many atheists living in poverty and despair. Moreover, relations between Latvians and Russians are difficult. Responding to its own call for unity, the Community opens its doors to everyone and organises evangelisation and fellowship evenings, for example the “Pancake Evening”. We believe that unity starts with small gestures. Another important area where the Community is encouraged to respond to its call in Latvia is Christian unity. Already in the small beginnings of the Community in Latvia, we have been called to serve the Lord together, Catholics and Lutherans, the two main denominations in the country. Thus, about 40% of those taking part in Cana sessions are Catholic, and another 40% Lutheran, the others being Orthodox or from other minority denominations.
The same picture is repeated in other missions, so, in our work of evangelisation, there is all the more reason for us to be mindful of getting to know members of other Churches. Last March the Community organised the first ecumenical training meeting in a Lutheran parish in Riga. Over the summer, we enjoyed meeting the young French volunteers (JET) who came to live and serve in Liepaja for three weeks. Such a lively presence made its mark on the district. The community organised several camps for children. We enjoy a good relationship with the Grasi orphanage, and they came along this summer with fifteen or so children. An exchange of love between different cultures and life experiences took place in Liepaja. Praying together, the workshops led by the young French people, as well as free time shared by Latvians and the French visitors, all helped to build bridges without a common language. The international dimension teaches us to go that extra mile to get to know one another. We remain open to what the Holy Spirit wants to say to us so that we announce the Good News in this country under construction. v Inese Motte, ccn
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Community Life During the summer, the Community has witnessed a hub of activities: as usual, it has been involved in various missions, but also experienced important events as can be seen from a glance at the pictures on this page
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in (R.D.C.) nity Week the Congo f o 1-2 : Commu c i l b u unity and atic Rep n the Comm i e the Democr f i l r o tment f 3-4 : Commi nd ommunity a in Burundi e in the C f i ordination ady l L r r o u f O t ions at mmitmen t o a C n i : d 9 r O o t d 5 y an to Celibac commitment ce n a r F at the new bes in n England i of Les Dom k e e W y t on Communi n Storingt 10 to 12 : ommunity i C tzerland e i h w t S f n o y Week i t location i n u m m o C lgian 13 : The Be
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Sharing and Solidarity
Should we believe in miracles? For 40 years, the Chemin Neuf Community has experienced this miracle of sharing!
Your generosity can become practical in different ways, adapted to your circumstances:
We have always received whatever we needed. The formation of youth and seminarians, the upkeep of the houses, overseas development missions, etc. always require large investments, and, in trust, we have experienced that “sharing multiplies!” As we start off again this year, can you help us?
v Make a Donation 1 (cheque made out to “CCNDons”, bank transfer, direct debit, credit card) v Make a gift in kind ! 1 (cars, trucks, computers…) v Leave a bequest ! 2 v Make a temporary Donation “d’Usufruct” 1 v Subscribe a Life Insurance 2 v Help through your company’s sponsorship
Don’t wait till tomorrow .. Help us today… Thank you in advance for your sharing, please send it to: Partage et Solidarités - Dons et Legs (Sharing & Solidarity – Donations & Bequests) 49, montée du Chemin Neuf 69005 Lyon 06 47 29 05 02 - 04 37 49 16 04 partage@chemin-neuf.org www.dons.chemin-neuf.fr
or donation schemes
v Pay us through your Wealth Tax 1 1- Tax receipt available for certain projects 2- Free of the costs of donation and inheritance
Marc Hodara, ccn In Charge of “Partage & Solidarité” (Sharing and Solidarity)
IN THE STEPS OF THE ARCHANGEL… In Normandy, the Etoile de la mer (Star of the sea) House is organizing two new Sessions to discover the Bay of Mont St Michel. A unique experience to undergo and make known!
“SONG OF THE PILGRIM”
From 11th till 16th November, a week of singing and pilgrimage, open to all those who like to sing and/or learn how to lead a song group. Make a pilgrimage through the Psalms and canticles in the morning, and discover the Bay of Mont St Michel in the afternoon (tourism, culture, walking…)
“WALK WITH THE STAR!”
From 23rd to 28th February 2014, a pilgrimage between Chartres and Mont St Michel, passing via Lisieux. Enrolments: sessions@chemin-neuf.org
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Talents
Young Talent Word wholly silent ’s soul ... Sun of the world and hides You ou Y ks a e p s ng hi Everyt ou and unveils You Y ils ve ng hi yt r Eve art You look at the he invisible You scrutinise the loy sible and You dep vi he t of t ou ng Shini n the finite ... The infinite withi
AMANDINE COMMUNAL
Alain Lerbret
« “A watercolour isn’t a story, it’s the translation of a sensation, of a memory, of a state of mind.” » [Hugo Pratt] Painting, for me, is expressing something from within, that is, what I feel or I see, with colours and lots of water, especially with watercolours. It’s like Baptism: the priest baptises us with water and after that our life becomes clearer; I dip my paintbrush in water and then in my paintbox, and I baptise my sheet of paper to give life to moments, to memories, to little treasures from God. It’s great painting with lots of water, the colours come and mingle in it; sometimes they meet to give life to new shades of colour you haven’t even thought about. Trees, birds, the town: everything is good to paint; what’s important is to find in your subject something you can make stand out: certain birds have a look that’s full of life, certain trees almost feel like a linden tree on a fine spring day, a town that I paint in the softness of a morning is full of half awake people, of fresh colours ready to experience a wonderful day. God has given us this beautiful earth with lots of little wonders, and by stopping to see them, by taking the time to look at them and to draw them and to paint them, it’s as if I were saying Thanks to him, as if I were thanking him for Life, for the birds of the sky, for the town.
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