No one "evangelizes" as successfully as young people.- Different groups in Austria, South Tyrol, Germany, Switzerland and England, each year a large youth festival in Salzburg with 10,000 participants. What is Loretto: a large group of young people, a youth movement, the charismatic youth movement in Austria?
The Loretto Community is one of the new major associations within the Catholic Church in Austria. It is part of the so-called "Movements, also new Initiatives, which we find in the various forms of spirituality and spirituality, more and more in our Church.
- Georg, you are the founder of Loretto Bewegung. Wie seid ihr entstanden?
You will find our sisters in Medjugorje. In the middle of the 80's, after the beginning of the celebrations of the first masses, I went to this place for the first time this year. During the following pilgrimages, I was no longer alone, but more and more young people were with me. In the 1987 Ostertagen, on the return trip to Austria, 2 young people from Vienna spoke to me and said: "Georg, after these great experiences here in Medjugorje - let's begin with a little bit too much. One of the most important things in Medjugorje was: "Gründet Gebetskreise". This was the starting point. On 4.Oktober 1987 we went to our first Gebetskreis together in a small student apartment in Vienna. Wir waren zu Dritt, beteten gemeinsam einen Rosenkranz, aßen danach 3 Wurstsemmeln. Und das war's. Ganz unspektakulär und gleichzeitig sehr spannend.
– What is your program? What are its objectives, and how will they be achieved?
Our first request is quite certainly the goal. The goal for an erection of the Church. We want to create places in our country and beyond that, places where people can meet the Lord and experience him. We are made up of many lively, lively places with many young people, a close-knit community, a good atmosphere, a great variety of music (Lobpreis), the Eucharist at the center of it all. For this reason, we offer various courses and programs in the field of youth and youth ministry in order to create a new generation of young people for the Gottes Reich.
- Gibt es ein "follow up"- Programm für Teilnehmende an den Angeboten, also Weiterührendes, Vertiefung und dgl.?
Our programs are also very varied. They start with kindergarten courses, company presentations, youth groups, youth workshops, workshops, conferences & festivals, workshops, and immersion courses. From young to old, there is something for everyone. Everyone who comes to us can decide for themselves what kind of activities they would like to do and how intensive they would like to be. In addition, we also offer a unique "common journey", also a very concrete step that we can take, even more so with Christus and from the Church. We will be reading this book in principle for a year, with the possibility of always learning again.
- Was ist das Anziehende, das Besondere an Loretto?
The presence of many young people, who all with great enthusiasm and enthusiasm for this path of the Christusnachfolge, is very important. This is very much appreciated and appreciated. And at the same time, we all share a great love for the Church, from which we are always happy.
– Loretto has as an emblem a Taube: What is the purpose of the Heilige Geist bei Euch?
Our logo, the Red Tape, is for the Hl.Geist, for his father and for the new pfingsten. We are looking forward to a new pfingsten, as it is in Joel 3. We know that in the great charismatic movement we are kept alive, we practice the wisdom and charisma of the Lord of the Jews, and we enjoy every new day with the freshness, joy and wisdom that we see in our midst.
- Du bist verheiratet, ihr habt vier Kinder, seit kurzem bist Du ständiger Diakon: Welche Bedeutung hat Loretto auf diesem Deinem Weg und für Deine Familie?
For me and my wife and our 4 children it is a risky business in such a living community to be kept alive. In our life we are so much concerned with our father, with a life in success, with new projects and ideas for the Church and the Kingdom, with the salvation of the whole world, etc. Nachdem ich die Ehre habe, seit der 1.Stunde unserer Bewegung dabei sein zu dürfen, kann ich sagen, dass mich diese zurückliegenden 3 Jahrzehnte schon ganz besonders geprägt haben
- What was your most beautiful achievement so far with Loretto?
There are certainly a lot of moments that I could talk about, but the annual Pfingstreffen in Salzburg with up to 10,000 young people are already among the absolute highlights. These famous events in the Salzburger Dom, at the Hl.Messen, the Lobpreiszeiten, at the opening of the Barmherzigkeit if up to 120 prizes for the prizes are available. This strong desire of the young people to follow Jesus with this absolute joy - this is a little bit of the Himmels' work.
- The most important part of our youth are young people: How do they get there? Can the pastoral care in Austria, can the farmers, the diözesen etc. be a little bit abschauen?
Because where young people come together, other young people automatically come together. If they are enthusiastic about the offer, then they will get their best friends and acquaintances with them. No one "evangelizes" as successfully as young people. They simply say to their friends: Hey, I'm coming with you. Das musst du auch erleben. Many are coming and many are leaving. The "program" that we offer you, of course, has to be well designed for young people. The "Inhalt" has been in place for 2000 years. We understand them the whole basis of the Gospel, not just what they might want to hear. JESUS is absolutely central. With us it is very much about you. So, the content is there. Our task is the packaging. This must be attractive and attractive. More and more fishermen, priests and youth leaders are coming and discovering what we do. And find out what they can do for their diets and facilities.
- How well known, Loretto is in good contact with the Salzburg-based company. Wie seid Ihr eingebunden in die Diözesen, wie ist Euer Kontakt zu Bischöfen und Pfarrern?
As a community that has been recognized by the Austrian Schoenstatt Conference and is supported in the heart of the Church, it is of course a central concern for us to be in full and fruitful harmony with our farmers and our responsibility. In order for a young, vibrant and missionary community to be able to grow into a worldwide community, it needs not only a lot of goodwill from all sides, but also a great deal of goodwill and, above all, many personal relationships.
- How has Loretto been successful with a small group? Is there room for expansion in other countries such as Italy, France, England, Spain, Poland?
The Loretto community is indeed a great home to many friends. Freedom and pleasant relations are the heart of our movement. And Loretto is just as wide-ranging. Friends, who are with us and then come to live with us, from business, family or other backgrounds, start wherever they live, again with a Loretto village or house district or a small apostolate.
For the first time, we are an Austrian community that has been operating in all other German-speaking countries for several years. Inzwischen auch auch schon nach London/England. We don't really have any concrete plans, it's more of a situation, which is what the Hl.Geist has opened up as the next one.
- Wie siehst Du die Situation der Kirche in Europa: Kann Loretto oder der Ansatz von Loretto ein Weg zur Erneuerung sein?
The Church of tomorrow will be, at least here in Europe, a little smaller than the Church of today, but it will continue to be very well preserved because it is built on felsen and the Jesuit message will not be overlooked. Und ich bin davon überzeugt, dass sie wieder wieder mehr und mehr eine Kirche von Bekennern werden wird. Many of them will come to us because they no longer have the tradition or even more because they have not personally experienced and learned about Jesus. However, those who are with Jesus, who follow him and who have known the Church as her strength, will remain and will be decisive for the Church's erection.
Austria
