Brazil Report of August 17, 2005
As usual we woke up at 7:00 a.m. and gathered for morning prayer in the chapel. Today's prayer service was prepared and conducted by the Sisters from Italy. During the prayer we received the sad news of the tragic death of Brother Roger Schutz, the founder of the Taizé Community, an important religious personality in Europe who has much contributed to the ecumenical dialogue among denominations.
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Catechesis for the Italian group |
After breakfast, we met in small groups by language to participate with others in the catechesis. We then went to specific, separate places. We, the Brazilians, went to St. Marien Church, to hear the talk from Bishop Armandio Tanasio of Portugal, who spoke on the theme of World Youth Day: “We came to adore Him.” The Italian group attended the lecture by Bishop Abdeu of Switzerland on the theme “Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.” The group from Senegal heard a lecture on the theme “The Deepest Love,” whereas the U.S. group heard about “Jesus' Love.”
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Bishop gives catechesis for the Italian youth. |
In the afternoon we got together for a tour of Cologne including a visit to its famous Cathedral. In the evening we took part in a Catholic Gospel Show featuring the Focolare group Gen Rose. Returning home, the group decided to make a pilgrimage of the Convent where they lived through a unique, moving faith experience, as proposed in Aachen, to be pilgrims in this jouney.
