2012-05-07 17:24:13

Hope&Joy: promoting Vatican II


The launch on May 8th 2011 of the Hope&Joy Network was greeted as a landmark moment for the Catholic Church in Southern Africa.

The network, which aims to promote the second Vatican Council, energize the local Church, and provide tools for evangelization and education, was conceived to become the visible sign of a vibrant Church that is forward-looking.

It is significant that Hope&Joy, a grassroots movement with no formal structure or hierarchy, has been welcomed so warmly by so many bishops, including Durban Archbishop, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier. So much so, that in a letter of encouragement and support for the Hope&Joy initiative, Cardinal Napier describes it as "a manifestation of the Holy Spirit moving within our Church…"

At the core of Hope&Joy’s creation is the Second Vatican Council. In October the Church will mark the 50th anniversary of the council’s opening. Hope&Joy sees this anniversary as an opportunity to deepen our understanding of its teachings.

At the top of the Hope&Joy webpage, you can read that at Vatican II, the Church recognised that it carries out its Mission “in the Modern World” not by fleeing from it, but by engaging with it.


Linda Bordoni spoke to the man behind this wide-ranging initiative. His name is Raymond Perrier and he is the director of the Jesuit Institute in South Africa.
Perrier explains the idea behind the creation of Hope&Joy and why the translation of "Gaudium et Spes", Pope Paul VIth’s Pastoral Constituion of 1965 was chosen for the title.
He talks about the network that enables organisations to work together and benefit by association, and points out that the network is open to any organisation listed in a Catholic directory.
Perrier says he continues to receive much positive feedback and that the project, which is programmed for another year, is growing and developing day by day.
He says that although the initiative is very much rooted in a South African reality, he hopes it will provide inspiration and tools for others...
listen to the interview... RealAudioMP3













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