Blisko 400 neokatechumenów przybyło do sanktuarium w Licheniu, by rozpocząć nowy rok ewangelizacyjny. Ogólnopolska Konwiwencja Drogi Neokatechumenalnej odbywała się w dniach 14-17 października.
Participants of the convivence from all Polish dioceses entered on Saturday, October 16 in a solemn procession in front of the Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Licheń to pray in front of the Sorrowful Queen of Poland. Fr. Adam Stankiewicz, MIC, the vice-custodian of the Lichen sanctuary, welcomed the audience. - We are glad that you are once again visiting the Lichen sanctuary and are gathering in front of her who is the Mother of the Word. We wish you that your hearts, like the heart of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, will become tents of meeting, where God enters with love to everyone, sends His Word and can rest. Let your love be the answer, let it be expressed in accepting the Word, in obedience to the Word and in living according to the Word. May God bless you - said Fr. Stankiewicz.
Members of the community meet once a year to prepare well for evangelization. - The neocatechumenal way is known through the Holy See and is valued not as an association but as a way of faith. It helps to deepen the Catholic faith, helps people who are active in the Church to proclaim the Good News - emphasized Dr. Stefano Gennarini, from the team responsible for the Neocatechumenal Way in Poland. The Italian came to Poland in 1975. It was then that the first communities of the Neocatechumenal Way were formed in Warsaw, Lublin, Łódź and Kraków. The communities are also active in Germany, Belarus and Ukraine, Austria, Spain, France and the Scandinavian countries.
The Neocatechumenal Way through St. John Paul II was defined as "an itinerary of Catholic formation important for society and today." The Neocatechumenate was founded in 1964 in the suburbs of Madrid, where a young, up-and-coming painter and student of Pablo Picasso - Kiko Arguello - preached the Gospel to the poor in Spanish slums. There he met a young member of the missionary institute - the late Carmen Hernandez, who was a theologian and doctor of chemistry. Among the poorest and social outcasts, the first community of the Neocatechumenal Way was born. This happened in parallel with the ongoing deliberations of the Second Vatican Council. This movement reached Poland in 1975. The first communities were established at the Jesuit Rector's Church in Lublin.
Text and photos: Sanctuary Press Office
