The Future of the Church

Pope John Paul has spoken on numerous occasions about the importance of small Christian communities. Both he and his successor Pope Benedict have stated that the future of the Church is to be found in such groups. Pope Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger, has offered some poignant thoughts:

"No one can be a Christian alone; being a Christian means a communion of wayfarers. For this reason it must be the Church's concern to create pilgrim communities. The social culture of Europe and America no longer offers these wayfaring communities. The Church will have to form new ways of pilgrim fellowship; communities will have to shape each other more intensely by supporting each other and living in the faith.

Christians must therefore really support one another. And here there are, in fact, already other forms, movements of various kinds, which help to form pilgrim communities. A renewal of the catechumenate is indispensable. This makes it possible to receive training in and knowledge of Christianity. The Church herself must form cells in which mutual support and a common journey, and thus the great vital milieu of the Church in miniature, can be experienced and put into practice.

I am convinced that the parish will remain the essential cell of community life but it will be scarcely possible to keep up the entire parish system as it now exists. Fruitful exchange between parishes and movements is necessary; the movement needs the connection with the parish so as not to become sectarian; the parish needs movements in order not to ossify. Anyone who looks at what is happening can find an astonishing diversity of Christian forms of life today, in which the Church of tomorrow is already very clearly among us.

What I really do underscore is that in Christianity there is always a new beginning. There are such beginnings even now, and they will continue to exist, and will bring forth new powerful forms of living the Christian reality."

These thoughts of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger are from his interview with Peter Seewald in the book Salt of the Earth, Ignatius Press, 1997.

These powerful new forms of living, referred to by our Pope, are found most especially in small Christian communities called Cenacles, which derive their name from the Latin cena meaning supper. A cenacalum is where people gather to share a meal. At the Last Supper, the apostles gathered with Jesus in their cenacle. Today modern apostles gather to share the Word Jesus Christ and are nurtured and strengthened by the study of Scripture and the Catechism of the Church. Cenacles are an integral part of the future of the Church and the Church of the future.

Embrace the future now! Start a Cenacle at Your Parish.

At the John Paul II Centre for Divine Mercy, we are embracing the Church of the future by promoting the concept of cenacles. It is our desire to see many more individuals and parishes establish cenacles of their own.

All of the information needed can be found at: http://thedivinemercy.org/eadm

If you are in Ottawa, Canada, we can help you meet others in current groups, or if you would like to start a cenacle at your parish or home, please email us: jp2centreottawa@gmail.com