EUROPE/ROMANIA - New Secretary General of the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood visits Romania and Moldova

Tuesday, 22 October 2024 pontifical mission societies evangelization children missionary childhood

ROMANIA

2024-10-22
New Secretary General of the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood visits Romania and Moldova

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Bucharest (Agenzia Fides) - About twenty children between 5 and 15 years old from Chisinau (Moldova) were admitted as members of the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood on Saturday 19 October, on the eve of World Mission Day. Accompanied by their parents and the priests of their home parishes, the Moldovan children committed themselves to "making Jesus known to other children of the world through prayer, works of charity and personal witness, following the invitation of Bishop Charles de Forbin and the example of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, patron saint of the missions". The event was also attended by the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Romania and Moldova, Fr. Eugen Blaj, and Sister Inês Paulo Albino, the new Secretary General of the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood. Sister Inês has been in charge of the International Secretariat of the Pontifical Mission Societies for two months and visited Romania and the Republic of Moldova from October 16 to 22. "This is my first visit abroad and the contact with the Missionary Childhood in Romania and Moldova was a beautiful experience. In Romania I saw a young Church that is growing, that is alive. The Church in Moldova needs accompaniment and support," Sister Inês told Fides at the end of her visit to the two countries. Upon her arrival in Bucharest on Wednesday, the Secretary General of the Pontifical Missionary Childhood met the Apostolic Nuncio in Romania, Msgr. Giampiero Gloder, and in the evening prayed the Rosary at the Romanian office of the Pontifical Mission Societies with Romanian children connected from different parts of Romania via the digital platform ZOOM. On Thursday, on the way to Moldova, she met children of the Childhood Mission Society from three Romanian parishes in the diocese of Iasi, namely Cleja, Gheraesti and Butea. In Chisinau, Sister Inês, together with Father Blaj and Matilda Andrici, who is responsible for the Childhood Mission Society in Romania, together with a group of young Romanian missionaries, met the priests and religious of the Catholic Church in Moldova on Friday 18 October, accompanied by Bishop Anton Cosa. After a presentation of the four Pontifical Mission Societies by Matilde Andrici, everyone prayed the missionary rosary together. The next day, a group of children from the Childhood Mission Society joined them and, together with their parents, took part in a training session on the activities of the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood. On World Mission Sunday, the children and their parents, Sister Inês and the Romanian delegation of the Pontifical Mission Societies attended the Mass in the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Chisinau, presided over by Bishop Anton Cosa, who also presides over the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood. Back in Bucharest, Sister Inês met with children from the Romanian capital on Monday evening, with whom she attended the Mass celebrated by Father Eugen Blaj in the Chapel of the Pontifical Mission Societies, dedicated to Blessed Pauline Jaricot. At the end of the Mass, one of the children present spoke of his missionary experience: “I have been a member of the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood for three years,” said Paul, 13 years old, “and I have participated in various training camps and pilgrimages. I feel that Pauline and Bishop Charles de Forbin guide me in life.”
“The visit of Sister Inês was a privilege for us and a great encouragement for the children of the Pontifical Childhood Society in Romania and especially in Moldova, where Catholics feel more like recipients than actors of missionary activity. The children saw that there is a worldwide network, that they are not isolated and that there are groups of the Pontifical Mission Societies all over the world," said Fr. Eugen Blaj at the end of the Secretary General's visit. (C.G.) (Agenzia Fides, 22/10/2024)