The International Meeting of Life Ascending International in Madrid

What a joy it was to meet again after the last meeting of 2018 in Santo Domingo! We welcomed with enthusiasm and hope the "new arrivals", who came to discover the association, but also with great emotion the older ones who are always faithful and committed to the elderly.

New leaders have been elected. Monique Bodhuin, Mgr François Maupu and Jean-Michel Siméon have left us. We warmly thanked them for their commitment to the service of Life Ascending International and wished them to find much satisfaction and joy on the new paths they have chosen for themselves.

Renaître, Re-born, Renacer: It was under this theme, expressed in the three official languages of the association, that its members were invited to the 10th international meeting which took place this year in Madrid. Despite the difficulties related to distance, sometimes also to obtaining visas, representatives from 19 countries were present from Europe, distant Mauritius, French- and English-speaking Africa but also in large numbers from South America.

As Mgr Maupu, ecclesiastical assistant of the association, told us in the first speech, "the theme of the international meeting in which we are participating is ‘reborn'. Why did we choose this theme? There are two reasons for this choice. The first is related to recent news, the sad episode of the pandemic caused by the corona virus. The second reason is Jesus' words to Nicodemus, "born again." "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again... no one can enter into the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and of the Spirit."

As can be seen from listening to the participants, the pandemic has had a profound impact on people's minds. She made everyone aware of the importance of relationships. Seniors suffered from loneliness, depression, fear, and grief at losing their loved ones. The LAI teams did not meet for many months, they were physically and emotionally affected.

The question then arose: How can we restore vitality to a commitment "affected" by the pandemic, in an environment that has changed?

Prior to the meeting, preparatory work on the theme of “Reborn" was asked of the different member movements to reflect on the realities and challenges we have to face. From the sharing and expectations of each of them, the lines of work for the next mandate will be drawn.

To the question "How are Pope Francis' calls implemented? ", the host movement of the meeting, Vida Ascendente Spain, showed us the way in response to these questions, presenting its approach towards the Pastoral Care of the Elderly, its work on the charism, richness and dynamism of the elderly and finally its promotion of the intergenerational relationship.

In several interventions, Fr. Luis Romero of the Spanish Bishops' Conference, Mgr. Martinez Camino, Auxiliary Bishop of Madrid, and Fr. Joan Bajo, Interdiocesan Councillor of Catalonia, spoke in turn about the Pastoral Care of the Elderly, their role in society and in the Church. They reassured the participants in the directions to be taken, as did the visit to the Francisco de Vitoria University, whose department works on the spiritual accompaniment of the elderly, which was of great interest to them.

The many exchanges showed the need, in order to strengthen ties, to improve communication between countries, to reflect on new technologies for video meetings and machine translation.

The statutory part saw the election of new continental coordinators for South America (Peru), Europe (Portugal), Francophone Africa (jointly Senegal and DRC), Anglophone Africa (Uganda) and Asia (Malaysia).

A new Executive Committee was elected with: President - Monique Ptak from Évreux, Vice-President - Jaime Tamarit from Madrid, Treasurer - Christian Liebenguth from Brussels, Secretary - Mercedes Montoya from Alicante and Janusz Ptak, from Évreux, project manager (photo of the new EC without the secretary, Mercedes Montoya, who had to be absent).

A new ecclesiastical assistant will be appointed shortly.

After the visit to the University, Vida Ascendente Spain offered the members present a magnificent walk through the city of Segovia, famous for its impressive aqueduct that originates in the mountains of Guadarrama and crosses the city after a route of almost 17km.

It was with great emotion that the members prayed at the tomb where St. John of the Cross rests not far from the city, before taking the road back.

It would be futile to try to translate in a few words the richness and intensity of the exchanges that left their mark on these few days lived together.

The following testimonies reflect this:

From Mauritius:

 "Despite all the differences, we had some extraordinary moments. Moments of joy, solidarity and emotions. In the end, it was this diversity of experiences, lives lived and opinions that provoked an extraordinary exchange that will help us develop the Rising Life for years to come."

From Switzerland:

"It is always a pleasure to meet the friends of LAI and to see all these seniors committed with conviction to support their sisters and brothers in faith and hope."

From Uganda:

"Thank you very much for organizing the LAI meeting in Madrid. Thank you very much for agreeing to take on the presidency of LAI, rest assured of my constant prayers. As the Spiritual Advisor of Life Ascending Uganda (LAU), I will work hard with my team here to ensure that the association is fully recognized by the Uganda Bishops' Conference, and also to reach out to all dioceses in Uganda. My participation in the LAI meeting in Madrid opened me up a lot to this movement. »

From Senegal:

"We thank God for this beautiful international meeting. I very much enjoyed each other's lectures and pastoral experiences. Thank you for your patience in listening to the Spirit for the service that Christ asks of us in his vineyard."

From England:

"First of all, I received a very warm and friendly letter from Margaret Atim on behalf of the other 3 members of the Uganda team. We all got along so well in Madrid, and I gladly accepted his suggestion to continue through LAI activities, sharing articles, ideas, and information. I think it will be mutually beneficial and I will keep you posted on how it develops."

All these beautiful moments of exchange lived in fraternity have reinforced us in the idea that this is how the peace, fraternity, and friendship that the world so many needs are built.

Monique Ptak