LIFE OF MOVEMENTS
ENGLAND
Brenda Willis took on the role of Treasurer and President.
A short account of what is happening in the UK Movement to date.
The very nature of the Life Ascending Movement means that all members are of retirement age and over. We have three regions, North, Westminster and Southwark as well as Associate Members.
COLOMBIA
July 21, 2024
A warm greeting from the Board of Directors of Vida Ascendente - Colombia 🇨🇴. Today evaluating the first half of the year and planning with great hope for the rest of 2024. All in the hands of God. His immense Love makes our life ascending.
IVORY COAST
A brief overview of the activities of the VM group of ND of the Perpétuel Secours de Treichville (Côte d'Ivoire). All members are involved in the different movements of the parish : Légion de Marie, Amis de St Joseph, Amis de St Christophe, le Renouveau Charismatique etc. The main activity of the moment is the mass and the blessing of the elders by age groups and baptism birthdays. They are a dynamic group, but you have to push them a little to write.
Yvette Koue
SPAIN
Early October saw the opening of the beginning of the year of the Vida Ascendente movement in different regions of Spain with the presentation with, among others, of the guide of the year : “What is a Vida Ascendente group?” on which the members will work, a retrospective of the creation of the movement and the celebration of masses.
Two testimonies respectively for the region of Castellón and the region of Orihuela-Alicante are presented in the appendix.
Read the article from Castellón (in Spanish)
Read the article from Orihuela-Alicante (in Spanish)
FRANCE
More than 150 people attended the 2024 general assembly of the French Mouvement chrétien des retraités which took place on June 19 and 20 in Paris in an extraordinarily studious and festive atmosphere!
The President, Anne-Marie Maison, was re-elected. The missions and work groups reunited during the year share the emotion that reigns in the movement to live the Gospel daily, with efficiency and joy.
MAURITIUS
More than 150 people attenOn Sunday, July 28, 2024, the IV World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly was celebrated. The theme chosen by the Holy Father, "In my old age, do not abandon me" (Ps 71:9), is intended to emphasize that loneliness is, unfortunately, the bitter companion of life for so many elderly people who are often victims of the culture of rejection.
UGANDA
Different parishes have been celebrating the World Day for grandparents and elderly. Lugazi Cathedral parish is celebrating it on 20th October.
We are developing next year's Action plan with the aim of introducing LAU to more Parishes within the dioceses in which we are operating.
Also a lot of sensitization and training of leaders is required so as to have the same voice. The elderly are many and are hungry for the Word of God and general guidance.
Charles Atim
PERU
The movement celebrated on October 1, 2024 the movement's holiday commemorating the creation of Vie Montante Internationale
POLAND
On October 1, 2024, on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons, we inaugurated the pastoral care of the elderly in Chojnice (northern Poland).
We have been working for a long time to ensure that elderly people receive special attention, based on the experience of Vie Montante in France and other countries. We managed to find the right pastor, which was not easy, but it was very important. Thus the first mass took place and we hope that other meetings will follow. They are held at the Residence of Elderly Priests in our city. It is valuable that retired clergy provide pastoral care to other elderly people.
ROMANIA
We have many activities. We participate in everything that is organized at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Oradea and in the diocese.
Each monthly meeting is a small celebration for us. Father Ovidiu, who is our spiritual advisor, prepares a very interesting catechesis, after which questions are asked, opinions are discussed and a poetic moment with two writers follows. We celebrate the birthdays of people born in the month in question. I took the initiative to invite other family members to the celebration, friends. We gained new supporters.
SENEGAL
On June 1st, we had our annual Marian pilgrimage in Senegal to the sanctuary of POPENGUINE, a town located in the northwest of the Thiès region. As is customary at the end of this great pilgrimage, the elders make an act of Marian devotion; they responded to this gathering and were accompanied by the various spiritual chaplains and sister advisors. Here are some excerpts from the pilgrimage.
Prosper Diatta
SWITZERLAND
French-speaking Switzerland has about 1,200 members.
A recollection took place on the theme "Convince or testify". In May, the training day for group leaders took place on the theme "reading images, paintings".
The groups began to reflect on our new annual theme "Heritage" developed as usual with our friends from French-speaking Belgium.
2025 will be the year of the 60th anniversary of the movement in Switzerland, a committee was formed to prepare a celebration that will take place in Payerne on June 11, 2025.
A new team to write the theme has been formed and has already met to explore different possible topics for reflection for the year 2025/2026
François Merçay