THE EUROPEAN REDEMPTORIST MISSIONARY CAMP STARTS IN 2019 IN THE ALBANIAN INTERPROVINCIAL MISSION
(Albania) The European Redemptorist Missionary Camp officially started in the Albanian Mission on Sunday 7th of July. This volunteering mission experience will take place over two weeks starting from 7 to 21 July 2019.
The interprovincial community of Albania, after the European Meeting of Redemptorists GRANADA 2018, decided to open its doors to the young people who participated in it, as part of the journey that the Redemptorist vocational youth ministry carries out throughout the European continent, even to the Conference level.
In the European missionary work two young people from the Province of Warsaw (Dorota and Gabriela), four young people from the Province of Madrid (Ana Maria, Beatriz, Gloria and Gonzalo) and three volunteers who have already participated in the Mission of Albania, participate in the Province of Rome (the couple Luciano and Clara, in addition to Mercedes).
Furthermore, the Commission of New Mission Initiatives of the Conference of European Redemptorists decided to hold its meeting on 11 and 12 July in Kamëz (Albania), but most of its members participated in the first week of this European missionary Camp. Frs. Miguel (Madrid), Rasto (Slovakia), Danielle (Rome) and the lay missionaries of the province of Lisbon, José and Teresa were part of it.
The participants in the Missionary Camp attend prayer and Eucharist every day. The morning time is for the volunteer work, both with children and with young people with manual work on the mission premises, and in the evening there is a time for sharing experiences. Luciano and Clara are in charge of preparing lunch and dinner for everyone!
The participants were welcomed on Sunday 7th of July and on Monday 8th July, the mission camp began with a visit to the city of Shkodër, in northern Albania. Shkodër is the Catholic capital of this predominantly Muslim country, and there are strong testimonies of the history of the Church in Albania, and the signs of persecution and martyrdom during the atheist communist dictatorship. Thus, visiting the Metropolitan Cathedral of Shkodër (during communist regime it was a sports palace), the Diocesan Museum and the prison of the Blessed Martyrs of Albania, the participants were able to learn a little about the history of Albania which is in need of God’s words.
The next three days (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) the volunteers were divided into two service teams, Primarily, the biblical camp for children and young people in the Church of Perpetual Help of Kasallë, and secondly there are volunteer artists who worked on restoring of old images and looked after the arrangement of a playground for children in the Monastery of San José de Arrameras. The following week other summer camps will take place in the main parishes and there will be opportunities to experience new things. Next week we will communicate more about this European missionary experience.
Superior of the Redemptorist Mission in Albania
