I'm writing to you a week after returning from Faith and Light's extraordinary assembly in Lourdes, which I attended alongside Don Marco to represent Italy, and where Lucia participated as a member of the working group and as zone coordinator.
Time has softened the memory of that extraordinary experience, but it hasn't dimmed what I witnessed and felt—with my hands and my heart. It was Pentecost. So many languages spoken. So many faces: Japanese, Malagasy, Congolese, Rwandan, Canadian, American; from Latvia, Belgium, New Zealand, Australia...more than eighty countries represented. Yet all of us in harmony. One heart and one soul, united in faith in what Faith and Light offers us—in those small ones who "save" our lives, who give us joy and delight, who call us to dance through life in a culture that so often speaks to us of death.
I saw friends pouring out all their energy, parents living the Faith and Light vision, priests and deacons who have grasped the Gospel's revelation. People who hold nothing back—flying from continent to continent, who despite work and family sacrifice every possible moment for our movement.
The moment was delicate. For two years we had no international coordinator. That absence prompted deep reflection. Work piled on work, questions about our identity and mission, led us to rethink even the movement's structure and constitutions. A proposal emerged: streamline the layers, respond to what territories actually need, support smaller countries, concentrate energy on communities, improve accompaniment.
We voiced concerns and hesitations, then approved new constitutions that no longer include the six structural levels—community, region, country, zone, continent, international. Now there are only three: community, province, international.
We will still accompany regions through provincial vice coordinators, and provinces through international vice coordinators. Communities will have greater representation at the provincial and international levels.
With joy and harmony, we elected our new international coordinator: Ghislain du Chéné, French, a father. Julie's dad—Julie who has Down syndrome—and Isabelle's husband, a generous and gentle mother. After the discernment ended, I sat outside on the edge of a valley near our lodging at the Cité Saint-Pierre, and I watched a soft rain of leaves falling, swaying gently on the breeze. It seemed like a dance. The dance of life, letting go of the old to make room for the new. The old isn't wasted but transforms into soil that feeds the roots, letting what is new grow and blossom. It was an enchanted moment for me.
How much love I saw. How much dedication. How much celebration, how many dances from every corner of the world, drawing everyone in. This wasn't my first international experience, but this time I felt we were truly all together—staff, assistants, translators, coordinators, correspondents. One body. One community.
"The world, the Church needs you," a Jesuit priest told us during a talk on identity and mission.
Marie Hélène, mother to us all, both gentle and strong: "Our communities of life."
Jean, back from Calcutta: "Communities, places where we celebrate love."
And us? What about Italy? What lies ahead? The proposal is simple: three provinces, but with something new. Northern Italy—we're still deciding—might align with Switzerland. Central Italy would partner with Greece and Cyprus. Southern Italy could follow Palestine, with three communities in a trial period.
How wonderful it would be to open our borders! We'll discuss all this at our National Council meeting on December 5–8. At the national level, we might establish an administration council—just like the international one—to govern the movement.
What can I tell you? This assembly was blessed, as our movement is blessed, as we are blessed in the different roles we live. It is still a time of new life. What a marvel! Once again our boats are called to venture into the deep.
See you very soon!
Enza, 2008
N.B. Visit www.foietlumiere.org for many more photos from the assembly!
New positions in Faith and Light International
International Coordinator: Ghislain Du Chénè (France) International President: Henri Maior (Canada)
Vice President: Roland (Lebanon) International Treasurer: Louis De Vogué, who together with Henry and Philipe De La Chapelle (International Secretary) has led the movement administratively over these past two years.
Two "qualified members" who will serve on the administration council: Claude and Denise (a Canadian couple) and Yves Bertin, a young friend from Rwanda, age 36. Corinne remains as Movement Secretary, assisted by the young Céline