Angela is trained, she studies and she has it clear: "I study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Crossthanks to a grant from the CARF Foundation," he says with a smile. Mr. Luis Navarro, former rector of the university, emphasizes the need for his community and other ecclesial movements in Brazil to have an adequate canonical formation for their members.
She was born in Caruaru, a city in the interior of Pernambuco (Brazil), on June 20, 1984. She grew up in a Catholic family and, thus, was always educated according to the Doctrine of the Church. During her early childhood, she had faith experiences with prayer groups belonging to the Charismatic Renewal and led an active life in the activities promoted by the parish participating in youth groups, among others.
As a teenager, he felt his faith grow cold: "I was missing something to live my faith in a more concrete way", tells us.
As often happens in adolescence, he felt that his faith was withering. Although he never distanced himself from the sacraments, he felt that something was missing to live his faith in a more concrete way. At the age of 15 he had an experience different from all the previous ones through a Seminar of life in the Holy Spirit, which consisted of meetings with systematic and kerygmatic themes, a very common practice carried out by the prayer groups of his city.
From that moment on, his faith acquired the meaning he was looking for: "now I saw Christ, whom I had always known, as someone close to me in a living and concrete way".
Years later, he had the opportunity, through a Carnival Retreat, to get to know the community. Eis aí tua Mãe - Maria's worklocated in Recife, a little more than 100 kilometers from his hometown. It is a private association under diocesan law founded in 1990.
The retreat was guided by a priest who was giving formations on the Holy Trinity. When he arrived at the community, he was very surprised by the way in which its members welcomed people, as well as the joy and availability with which they carried out their tasks. She decided to embark on her vocational journey and, after a period of accompaniment and discernment, she joined the internal life community in 2003.
After the period of initial formation and deepening in what constituted the charism of the community, she assumed her first commitments and, years later, was sent to a house of evangelization in the city of Rome, where she resides to this day.
The charisma of the community is evangelize in every way with joy. It seeks to serve the local Church in its needs, inviting everyone to take the Virgin Mary into their homes and, through her, to have an experience with the Risen Christ. In response to this call, Angela develops the mission in the parish of St. Faustina, located on the outskirts of the city, with various activities, both those of the Charismatic Renewal and others necessary in the local reality.
For Angela it was fundamental to discover the course Ecclesial Movements: a reality on the way, at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, which aims, on the one hand, to help members of the new ecclesial movements to better understand the value of these realities to facilitate their harmonious insertion into the life of the people of God, a reflection of ecclesial maturity; and, on the other hand, to contribute to the knowledge of these charismatic realities among all ecclesial agents, especially legal operators.
The course addresses all the theological and magisterial and canonical foundations, dealing with the identity, characteristics, mission and relationship of the movements with the particular Churches; the canonical configuration of the movements; the legal situation of their members, aspects of government and formation; the presence of the clergy and consecrated life, as well as the prevention and correction of abuses, which is very important for the Church.
"A few years ago, a friend told us about a short course on Ecclesial Movements in the Church, promoted by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. We attended the course, a sister of the community and I, and during the few months it lasted we could see the need we had to deepen our understanding of who we are in the Church and how we can improve our journey. In view of this, and also motivated by the former rector of the same university, Prof. Luis Navarro, we began to consider the idea of studying Canon Law.
After completing the required propaedeutic course in the Istituto Superiore di Scienze ReligioseAngela is in her second year of her Bachelor's Degree in Canon Law. The way in which the Santa Croce She sees more and more the need for a good formation and thanks God for the opportunity to receive a knowledge of such high value.
In fact, Brazil is the country with the largest number of Catholics in the world, with a population of over 120 million faithful. There are also numerous Catholic charismatic movements, ranging from large groups such as the Charismatic Renewal to other smaller scale groups.
These movements bring together millions of the faithful, providing an intense and transformative faith experience that energizes the life of the Church. However, their rapid growth and diversity also pose risks, such as possible doctrinal deviations, sectarian practices, abuses of power and emotional manipulation. It is therefore essential that both ecclesial authorities and the movements themselves promote harmonious integration and vigilance to ensure fidelity to official doctrine and the well-being of their members.
"Faced with all this richness and difference of charisms and spiritualities, my intention is to be able to help not only my community, but also these movements in Brazil, so that we can better serve and be faithful to the call that the Lord has made to us," Angela tells us.
For this she is very grateful to the CARF Foundation for giving them this great opportunity to have an education that will help not only their community, but their entire country. "May God bless you always and bless the great work to which you dedicate yourselves!".
Gerardo Ferrara, BA in History and Political Science, specializing in the Middle East.
Responsible for students at the University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
