An impulse to the awareness that all the baptized are pastoral agents. This is, in a nutshell, the purpose of the Meeting of the Laity on the First Announcement which will bring together, in the Spanish capital, more than half a thousand people at the headquarters of the Paul VI Foundation.
The meeting follows in the wake of the Congress of the Laity People of God on the Way Out which, in February 2020, wanted to promote four ways of working for the Spanish laity: the first proclamation, accompaniment, formation processes and presence in public life.
Objectives of the meeting
This Meeting of the Laity on the First Announcement The meeting will be an opportunity to deepen the role of the laity in the transmission of the faith through the proclamation of the Gospel. Luis Manuel Romero, director of the secretariat of the Episcopal Commission for the Laity, Family and Life, at the presentation of this meeting.
Romero highlighted the two objectives of these working days: on the one hand, "to become aware that we are all called to proclaim the message of Christ by word and witness by reason of our Baptism, that we are all pastoral agents and it is not only a matter of ordained ministers or consecrated life" and, on the other hand, the "need for the whole Church to discover that the essential is the mission".
The meeting will also take up some of the themes worked on as a result of the national phase of the Synod of Synodality convoked by Pope Francis.
Four thematic "stops
For her part, Maria Bazal, member of the Advisory Council of the Laity, summarized the events and work groups that will take place during the days of the meeting. The days will be organized around four blocks or "stops" that will focus on the First Announcement in daily life, with areas such as work, family, social relations or education; the First Announcement and ecclesial community: accompaniment after the First Announcement and the Formative Processes in the First Announcement.
Each of these blocks will have presentations, experiences and round tables in which the challenges, difficulties and different ways of facing them in the different areas will be shared. At this point, although it is a meeting of lay people, the presence of priests and consecrated men and women as leaders or facilitators of the areas of this meeting, as well as the majority male presence, has attracted attention. Asked in this regard, the organizers wanted to emphasize that most of the attendees are lay people, although they recognized that "there is still much to be done today in the presence of the laity in the Church and the recognition of this presence" and hope that this meeting will serve precisely "to know and make known the work of so many lay people" in this aspect.
As for the concretion in the life of the Christian communities of the topics discussed, both Romero and Bazal admitted the "difficulty for all this to reach ordinary Christians", although they were hopeful that "just as in recent years we have noticed an increase in the strength and work of the Delegations of the Secular Apostolate in the dioceses and the vitality of movements and associations, these days will serve to awaken a work that will be permeating from here to the communities through these delegations".
Laity, priests, consecrated persons and bishops
The Meeting of the Laity on the First Announcement, will be attended by some 700 confirmed participants from all dioceses, associations and movements. In addition, some 75 priests and 40 bishops will participate, as well as a large representation of members of consecrated life.
The conference will begin with a prayer meeting on Friday afternoon and will close on Sunday morning with the reading of the final paper, which will reflect the work of the day on Saturday and the celebration of the Holy Mass presided by the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo.
