Nicolas Buttet's reflections on "Jesus Celebration 2033": "Such a project must be accompanied by a great prayer movement of the whole people of God. This should also be based on brotherhood among all: when Jesus is risen, he brings us together in his tenderness ".
Nice Encounters
After working in the "secret archives" we dined at the "Borgo Pio", the neighborhood next to the Vatican. We met Nicolas Buttet, founder and director of the Valais Eucharist community, and his friend René Meldem. They came to Rome for the "Fratello" meeting with Pope Francis: 4,000 homeless people from different European countries. This meeting is the last of the "Jubilee of Mercy" that ends on Sunday, November 13th.
Nicolas Buttet's reflections on "Jesus Celebration 2033": "Such a project must be accompanied by a great prayer movement of the whole people of God. This should also be based on brotherhood among all: when Jesus is risen, he brings us together in his tenderness ".
Italian Bible Society
At the Italian Bible Society, near the Piazza d'Italia, Valdo and Mara Bertalot greet Martin with joy. It feels good to meet almost 30-year old friends from Martin Hoegger's time in the Swiss Bible Society. They understand immediately the meaning of "JC2033". Inviting the churches to celebrate a jubilee together is a great challenge.
In 2000, at the request of the Catholic Church, the Bible Society created multilingual biblical books for pilgrims who have traveled to Rome. "To live this anniversary, a Copernican revolution is called for: Jesus needs to be in the center rather than the Church!" Says Valdo. It must also include the ecclesial movements. “The leaders will follow the people of God as they did in Jericho"(see Joshua 4.12).
Seven minutes with Pope Francis...
Our common friend Alejandro Rodriguez Director of Youth With A Mission (YWAM Argentina) presented Olivier Fleury to Pope Francis to share the vision JC2033.
"It's a very nice project, a very big project! Thank you for doing it! Pope Francis
Pope Francis’ thoughts: "It's a very nice project, a very big project! Thank you for doing this!" Yesterday, in front of the locked door of the Vatican Archive, the JC2033 team prayed for the doors to open. But they could not have imagined that even the Pope's will open! Really the Holy Spirit has a lot of imagination!
Community S. Egidio
We met with Milena Santerini in front of the Basilica of S. Maria of Transtevere. A member of the Italian Parliament just returned from a debate. She is a member of the S. Egidio Community since its foundation and met the JC2033 Team in the former Convent of the Carmelites, where this community arose with great charisma, which Pope Francis described in three words: Poor, Prayer, Peace.
Milena sees in the project JC2033 a prophetic vision that must be accompanied by the prayer of the People of God. She advises that JC2033 relies on movements that already live the prophetic and charismatic dimension of the church.
The team then participates in the daily vespers animated by the community of S. Egidio in the Basilica S. Maria. That evening, President Marco Impagliazzo speaks about the Gospel, recalling that every year on the 9th November, S. Egidio commemorates the "Crystal night", when the Nazi regime began the persecution of Jews in Germany: "Today too, we must overcome the culture of the enemy and contempt. Seeking dialogue, bringing peace and inclusion to our way of life."
At the end of the prayer, a conversation with Marco Bartoli, a historian, gives the team valuable information about the history of the anniversaries of the Catholic Church. JC2033 will stay in touch!
The Christian Evangelical Baptist Union of Italy
At the beginning of the visits to Rome, the team met a pastor of the Waldensian Methodist Church. On the morning of the 10th of November, it is the turn of the president of the Christian Evangelical Baptist Union of Italy, Pastor Giovanni Arcidiacono.
"Unity is a state of the mind, not uniformity, if we let the mind act, the barriers will fall."
The JC2033 team goes to his office with Floriane Dioguardi-Bourgeois and her daughter Sophie-Carine. Pastor Giovanni Arcidiacono says that he has just started his new job and that this is his first meeting! He is immediately interested in the JC2033 project: "Unity is a state of the mind, not uniformity. If we let the mind act, the barriers will fall.”
He has always had the inner unity of Italian Protestantism at heart: "There is a great diversity among us, but at the moment, a little more unity seems to be growing among the Protestants." He advises to meet the president of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy, Pastor Luca Negro.
He also asks some questions: "What are the steps before 2033"? "What are the possibilities of the different meetings"? "How do I reach young people"? What national and local initiatives are you planning? He wants to stay in touch with JC2033 and talk about this project in the Evangelical Church Federation.
Martin Hoegger
