Serving at the altar

“There are ministrants in all parishes. They represent an important nucleus for the pastoral care of the youth; a nucleus which is present in each parish and which can be further developed. Ministrants’ service involves major Church dimensions: proclamation, liturgy, deaconry and communion”, said the auxiliary bishop of Basilea/Solothum (Switzerland) and President of CIM (Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium), an international group dedicated to the spiritual formation of lay people committed to liturgical service in Churches within and outside Europe. The acronym, little known to the general public, will gain momentum in a few days on the occasion of the traditional quinquennial European meeting in Rome, at the Vatican, where they will gather around the Pope. The 2010 pilgrimage will be held August 3-4, bringing together 53 thousand young people from 17 countries who serve as ministrants in Albania, Belgium, Germany (45.000), France, Italy, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine and Hungary. The theme chosen for the 2010 meeting is “Drinking at the true source”. According to CIM the choice of this motto “is rich with biblical references, such as the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well (Jn. 4:7). It also reflects the words of the Creation, the vivifying power of God, the Exodus and baptism”.The Papal audience. The national delegations will be arriving in Rome in different days. Formation and animation sessions, along with independent tours of the “Eternal City” are on the program. For the evening prayer in St. Peter’s Square on Tuesday August 3 at 17:00 over 53 thousand young people will convene for the first time on the parvis of the Vatican Basilica. The highlight of the meeting will be the general audience with the Pope the morning of Wednesday August 4. For the occasion, the Holy Father will depart from his summer residence in Gastel Gandolfo to meet the ministrants arriving from all over Europe. CIM celebrates the 50th anniversary of its foundation this year, thus the meeting with Benedict XVI takes on a very special meaning. In the 2006 meeting the Pope told the ministrants: “The nearness to Jesus is the greatest gift in life, and you are blessed with the joy of its renewal in the Liturgy”. “Be always faithful to this friendship in Gospel reading and meditation, being nourished by the Eucharist and remaining in adoration before the Tabernacle”. The participants in the pilgrimage will be wearing different coloured scarves hand-made by the disabled of Munich’s Caritas.The “legend” of Tarcisius. On the occasion of the pilgrimage, the statue of St. Tarcisius will be displayed in Saint Peter’s Square as a welcome to the many pilgrims arriving from all over Europe. The bronze sculpture from Switzerland (Aarau), representing the Patron Saint of the ministrants, is almost 5 mt. tall and weighs 4 tons. It will be exposed in the Vatican during the two-day celebrations, after which it will be placed on the site where the Christian martyr is believed to be buried along the Appia Antica Way, near the Saint Callistus Catacombs. The statue is not on a pedestal since the youth are always in movement. The “legend” says that in III century Rome Tarcisius was a brave young man. He was killed along the way for protecting “the bread of the Eucharist” which he was bringing to the sick and to convicts. A service that must be encouraged. “Sometimes the Sunday Eucharistic celebration – declared Msgr. Martin Gätcher – is attended by few young people, or even by none at all. In some parishes there no longer exist Christian- inspired youth groups. Most Catholic youth groups have scarce contacts with the parish and fail to attend the liturgical celebrations”. An answer to this – reckons the CIM president – can be found in the pastoral care of the youth involving young people and adolescents in the ministrants service. The bishop wonders if “we sufficiently encourage ministrants in the parishes, diocese, and at national level”, and if we are aware of the importance and potential of the pastoral of the ministrants?” This commitment must be carried out also at diocesan and national level, based on the assumption – states Msgr. Gächter – that “liturgical service is not something that can be done by a child” and that “ministrants must be encouraged to continue their service also in adult age”. He also underlines that “girls and young women also wish to serve at the altar” and that “their presence is precious and formational”.