Fraternal visits, monastic exchanges and ecumenical presence

The International Anglican-Catholic Commission (ARCIC) stayed at our monastery of Bose from 17 to 27 May 2011. The commission, composed of eighteen members (ten Anglican and eight Catholic) has for its co-presidents the Catholic archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, and the Anglican archbishop of the New Zealand dioceses, David Moxon. On this occasion it discussed two themes: “The Church as communion, local and universal” and “How the local Church arrives at discerning, in communion, a just ethical teaching”

In these winter and spring months once again occasions of meetings and exchanges were not lacking. First of all, we note the visit of several bishops: cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical council of culture, who returned again to Bose this year to offer a Biblical talk on the prophet Jeremias for the community and guests; cardinal Claudio Hummes, retired archbishop of Sao Paolo and ex-prefect of the Congregation for the clergy, who came to visit the community and to become familiar with the practice of lectio divina; Agostino Marchetto, ex-secretary of the Pontifical council of pastoral work among migrants and itinerants; Piero Marini, president of the Pontifical council for the international eucharistic congresses; Michael Louis Fitzgerald, apostolic nuncio to Egypt, for a week of rest and retreat; Adrian van Luyn, retired bishop of Rotterdam, who came shortly before the end of his mandate, for his usual spiritual retreat; Tommaso Valentinetti, archbishop of Pescara; Sebastiano Dho, retired bishop of Alba; Giuseppe Merisi, bishop of Lodi; Piergiacomo Grampa, bishop of Lugano, who accompanied eighteen priests of his diocese for a retreat; Christopher Hill, Anglican bishop of Guilford; and John Hind, Anglican bishop of Chichester.

On 23 January, for the close of the week for Christian unity, we welcomed in Bose the representatives of the various Christian Churches present in our Biella diocese, who participated with us at ecumenical vespers. The Romanian Orthodox priest of Ivrea (substituting the one of Biella), father Dumitru Babula, the Valdese deacon Alga Barbacini, and the Catholic bishop of Biella, Gabriele Mana, commented briefly the three readings of the liturgy.