Christian Life Movement
The Christian Life Movement (CLM; Template:Lang-es, MVC) is a lay ecclesial movement, founded in 1985, in Peru. At that time, a number of initiatives from members of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae had already begun. Luis Fernando Figari, the Founder of the Sodalitium, conceived the idea of gathering those people and initiatives together in an ecclesiastic movement. The Christian Life Movement forms part of the Sodalit Family, which shares a common spirituality, called the Sodalit spirituality.[1]
Communities of the Christian Life Movement have spread through Peru and neighboring American countries ever since. As time went by and the movement grew, it eventually received the Holy See's recognition as the International Association of Christian Faithful of Pontifical Right. This took place on March 23, 1994,[2] the feast day of Saint Turibius of Mongrovejo, who was Archbishop of Lima and Primate of much of Latin America between 1580 and 1606.
The Christian Life Movement obtained recognition of the Apostolic See through a Decree of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, presided over by Cardinal Eduardo Pironio. This Pontifical Council is currently presided over by Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko.[3]
According to the Vatican website for the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the "CLM aims to be a community forum for encountering the Lord Jesus Christ, which fosters an authentic Christian life by announcing and bearing witness to the faith and the comprehensive advancement of the human person in the light of the Gospel and the Magisterium of the Church. Its members, men and women of different states of life, place the pursuit of holiness, apostolic commitment and service to God and our fellow men and women, at the heart of their life experience. The priority areas for its work are evangelisation of young people; commitment to solidarity with the poor, the sick and the elderly and abandoned children; the evangelisation of culture; the protection of the family and the defence of life from conception to natural death; the mass media and the new communications technologies. The spirituality of CLM, which offers its members a personal and community-based process of ongoing formation, is characterised by devotion to the Immaculate Conception, an intense participation in liturgical life, meditation on the Word of God as the light to direct their lives and as the key to a critical reading of human projects."[4]
Figaro told an interviewer: "The ecclesial movements, such as CLM —each with own traits and style— offer ambits of Christian life where people deepen their adhesion to the Lord Jesus. Therefore, in the CLM one can: deepen, live and celebrate one's faith, discover the wonders and gifts of God, express charitable solidarity, strive to give glory to God with one's everyday life, share paths and faith experiences with their peers who are searching —hungry for the Bread of Life, thirsting for the Living Water that satisfies the deepest longings of the human being. In the center of the CLM member's faith experience lies the aspiration (I) to live holiness, (II) to commit with ardor to the apostolate, and (III) to serve God and fellow brothers and sisters with generous and fraternal donation. These three dimensions are an expression of the vision of the Christian Life Movement for its way of living the faith of the Church, and its contribution to the construction of a Civilization of Love in the world."[5]
Organization
The CLM is directed by a General Coordinator, who is in charge of a General Council of coordination. The current General Coordinator is Alexandre Borges.[6]
Its members participate in various associations, like:
- Bethlehem Groups, for children.
- Marian Groups, for youth and young adults.
- Bethany Groups, for adult women.
- Emmaus Groups, for adult men.
- Nazareth Groups, for married couples.
At the local level the CLM is organized in apostolic centers.
Apostolic activities
One of the many activities started by members of the Christian Life Movement is "Crece". The first program began in Chile and is called CreceChile. It was founded in 2005 by a group of young Catholic university students that sought to promote the integral growth of the human person through educational projects. Later, this initiative became a non-profit organization that seeks to support disadvantaged families through education and is currently active in Chile, Argentina and Colombia.[7]
Presence in the world
There are two types of presence. One is the official type, which means that the CLM has been duly founded in a specific ecclesiastical territory. In this sense, the CLM is present in the following countries:[8]
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Ecuador
- Mexico
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Canada
- United States
- Germany
- Spain
- England
- Italy
- Philippines
- Angola
The other type of presence is that of CLM members who are living in a country or a city in which the CLM has not been properly established. Groups of CLM members hold fraternal meetings and celebrate the faith together.[9]
See also
References
- ^ "What is the Sodalit Family" from the Sodalitium's webpage.
- ^ List of International Associations of the Faithful Archived September 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Website of the Pontifical Council for the Laity
- ^ List of International Associations of the Faithful Archived September 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Evangelization and Cultural Identity, Interview with LF Figari". Archived from the original on 21 November 2008.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "The CLM is the great point of encounter of the Sodalit Family" from the Sodalitium's website.
- ^ Araus, Magdalena (April 5, 2013). "Director de CreceChile: Hemos olvidado el rol de la familia en la educación". El Definido. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
- ^ CLM website Archived February 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ¿En qué países se encuentra? Archived May 31, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, en Preguntas y respuestas de la página oficial del Movimiento de Vida Cristiana