Solidarity movement to organize retreat for bishops
USM national coordinator Fr. Varghese Alengaden says the retreat is only for bishops because of the great influence they have in their dioceses and the impact they can make both within the Church and in society. Those who are open to new ways will enrich themselves much from this leadership retreat, he claimed.
“Surely this is not a traditional retreat. It is fully based on the life and teachings of Christ. It is an opportunity to explore new possibilities,” Father Alengaden added.
The retreat is scheduled for August 18-25 at Indore, the commercial capital of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Fr. Jacob Peenickaparampbil, a member of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, will join Fr Alengaden as the retreat preachers. The two priests have conducted many retreats and seminars for several groups of priests and religious across the country.
The central theme of the retreat is ‘what would Jesus do if he were present today?’ The first two days will be spent for an exclusive pilgrimage with Christ with the help of the famous film ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ by Franco Zeffirelli.
The rest of the days will be spent in reflecting on the socio-political scenario and various challenges faced by the Church today. The whole retreat will be based on the person of Jesus and his way of leadership. This retreat has helped many provincials, formators and principals to make innovative changes in their communities and institutions.
USM’s objective is to develop enlightened leadership, to develop responsible citizens, to create ecological consciousness, to promote among religions and ethnic groups, to create awareness of values enshrined in the preamble of the Indian Constitution, Fr Alengaden said.
USM was launched on July 16, 1993 in Indore, to ease the sectarian tension prevailing in India following the demolition of an ancient mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
According to its website, the original idea came from the Taize community in France where people of various religions live together in a prayerful atmosphere.
USM, with its broad, inclusive and lasting vision of building a civilization of love in a world of hatred and violence promotes a pluralistic spirituality focusing on acceptance, appreciation and promotion of diversity in all its dimensions. Its core principle is to transform the world by self transformation.
The movement has reached out to 800 high schools and junior colleges all over India promoting peace, justice, true democracy and solidarity to teachers, students, parents and other groups.
The movement has trained hundreds of student leaders and teachers from various parts of India to become enlightened leaders to provide an alternative to the present day corrupt and selfish leaders, the website claims.
