From 28th December 2016 to 1st January 2017, young adult Christians – Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant – from all over Europe gathered in Riga, the capital of Latvia, for the 39th European meeting animated by the Taizé Community.
| Our Finnish Catholic youth team set out from Tampere in the afternoon on December 27th and we arrived in Riga the same evening. It was rainy and windy that evening, so we tried to find our accommodation as soon as possible. We improvised and took a few buses, until we happily noticed some young Germans riding the same bus. They proved to be heading toward the same temporary accommodation we were looking for. Thanks to their amazing navigation skills (i.e. Google Maps), we found the right place quite easily. This year's Taizé New Year Meeting brought together around 15,000 participants between the ages of 18 and 35. |  Source: Taizé Webpage. Click to enlarge. |
We had prepared for the meeting by praying as well as by reading some Latvian history. Our grandparents and parents had told us about their travel to the Baltic countries a few decades ago. During the meeting, we were accommodated in local host families. With our hosts, we could discuss what it was like to live in Latvia and in other countries today. We were really touched and grateful they wanted to open their houses to us and share this experience with us.
During the Meeting we took part in small discussion groups and workshops. One workshop was a Bible Reflection with a Taizé brother and the other workshop we participated was a reflection led by a specialist in quantum physics and nanotechnology, Prof. Vyacheslavs Kashcheyevs. Each day during the Meeting we discussed different topics and we were glad to meet some old Taizé friends from Sweden, Belarus, France, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. We also took part in the Nordic country meeting. Another Finnish group invited young people especially from the Nordic countries to participate in and volunteer at a Taizé Meeting in Hamina in August. The meeting will be held from August 25 through 27, 2017. The Meeting is part of the City of Hamina's celebrations of 100 years of Finnish independence! Later in the spring the Lutheran Parish in Hamina parish will post more info on their website: www.haminanseurakunta.fi.
Source: Taizé Webpage, Ateliers et Presses de Taizé
Towards the Unity of the European Continent
Photo: Participants “A future of peace requires Europeans to broaden their awareness and allow solidarity to grow among all the countries that make up the continent. Multiplying contacts, forms of sharing and collaboration is essential. Building the unity of the continent can only take place if there is more dialogue and listening between countries.
Each country, large or small, should be able to have its voice heard, with its specific character. It’s important to make the effort to understand from within the mentality of others: only in this way can sometimes discordant attitudes be better understood and reaction motivated by emotion alone be avoided.
Muslims and Christians can look for practical steps to witness together to peace and to reject together all violence justified in God’s name. Some 800 years ago, Francis of Assisi, in his desire to contribute to peace, did not hesitate to travel to Egypt to meet the Sultan. Mother Theresa devoted her life to the poorest of the poor, whatever their religion.
European countries that want to isolate themselves will have no future. Among Europeans themselves, as well as in their contact with refugees, friendship and mutual support is the only path to preparing peace.”
We recommend all young people to participate in the next New Year's Meeting in Basel, Switzerland 28.12.2017-1.1.2018!
Each country, large or small, should be able to have its voice heard, with its specific character. It’s important to make the effort to understand from within the mentality of others: only in this way can sometimes discordant attitudes be better understood and reaction motivated by emotion alone be avoided.
Muslims and Christians can look for practical steps to witness together to peace and to reject together all violence justified in God’s name. Some 800 years ago, Francis of Assisi, in his desire to contribute to peace, did not hesitate to travel to Egypt to meet the Sultan. Mother Theresa devoted her life to the poorest of the poor, whatever their religion.
European countries that want to isolate themselves will have no future. Among Europeans themselves, as well as in their contact with refugees, friendship and mutual support is the only path to preparing peace.”
We recommend all young people to participate in the next New Year's Meeting in Basel, Switzerland 28.12.2017-1.1.2018!
Source: Participants
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