Our presence among the Churches and among men

Abroad the prior took part at the Days of ecumenical studies organized for pastors, priests, and ministers in Sweden, where he gave talks on “The spirituality of the pastor and of the priest” and “Introduction to lectio divina”; he had been invited by the Lutheran bishop Martin Lind and the Catholic bishop Anders Arborelius. In Paris, at the invitation of cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, he took part in the initiative of the Court of the Gentiles organized by the Pontifical council for culture on the topic of dialogue between believers and non-believers. In the cathedral of Brussels in Belgium he presented a meditation on the theme “Between interior attention and engagement: the Christian particularity”.

Other brothers and sisters of the community have also in these last months carried out a service of preaching in various local churches and religious communities in Italy and abroad, taking part in conferences of a church and monastic nature. In December br Guido preached the spiritual retreat to the Benedictine community of Ermeton in Belgium. In February the same br Guido and br Matthias made two contributions to the course on Monasticism and ecumenical dialogue held at the monastery of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Milan. In addition, in April br Guido gave some talks at the meeting of those responsible for formation in new monastic foundations throughout the world, held in Rome under the auspices of the Alliance Inter-Monastères. In March sr Lisa preached the retreat to priests of the diocese of Venice, in the presence of cardinal Angelo Scola, and gave several talks at various local church communities. Br Luciano gave a conference on the Psalms on the occasion of the priests’ retreats of the Cuneo diocese; during Lent, together with br Ludwig, he gave conducted weekly sessions of lectio divina in the church of St Lawrence in Turin. Br Goffredo continued to participate in the work sessions of the bishops’ commission for the revision of the Roman missal, in addition to taking part at the meeting of the national liturgical consulta and giving talks on liturgical topics in various Italian diocese.