Lay “Marianists” on Mission

Yesterday morning, an international delegation of the Marianist Lay Communities (MLC) met with Fr. Alexandre Awi Mello, Secretary of the Dicastery, and Fr. Giovanni Buontempo, in charge of the relations with ecclesial movements and new communities.

The delegation was composed of Felix Arquero Perez, CLM President, and the regional leaders of the association for Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the English-speaking region, which includes North America, Asia, Australia and Ireland. They were accompanied by Marianist Fr. Pablo Rambaud, SM.

The leaders of the different regions illustrated the origin and characteristics of their charisma, the fundamental aspects of their associative activity, the presence and extension of communities in their respective areas, and ongoing apostolic initiatives.

The Marianist Lay Communities, recognized in March 2000 as an international association of the faithful of pontifical right by the former Pontifical Council for the Laity, were founded in Bordeaux in 1800, thanks to the apostolic zeal and far-sighted prophetic vision of Blessed Guillaume-Joseph Chaminade (1761-1850). Father Chaminade wanted to guide the lay faithful in serious personal spirituality, love for our Lady Immaculate and practical apostolic commitment within society divided by the French Revolution.

This prophetic vision is extraordinarily topical in our time, struck by a violent wave of secularization similar to the one that marked the beginning of the nineteenth century. Like then, today there is an urgent need to form lay people who are mature in the faith, nourished by a robust spiritual life, and moved by the two-fold love for the Virgin and the mission.