HISTORY OF CLC WORLD ASSEMBLIES

HISTORY OF CLC WORLD

ASSEMBLIES.

From the 2nd half of the 20th century to the present day…

Origins of CLC

• IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA. Grace received. Heart on fire, discrete, prudent,

but always and undeniably a soldier and conquistador

• To form free men and women to love and serve God. ALWAYS

• Founder of the Society of Jesus.

• Inspired lay groups who served alongside his first companions and who

cooperated in ministry & apostolate. Different names, but the same spirit.

Origins of CLC

• 1540: Peter Faber guided a group in Parma

• Francis Xavier wrote about a group of youth “on fire with love and zeal”

who helped him in his mission

• 1547: Ignatius of Loyola began The Society of the Twelve Apostles in Rome

• 1548: Nadal began a group in Calabria

• All were precursors of the Marian Congregations.

1954 – 1st World Assembly of Marian

Congregations

• Rome, Italy

• Began a process of renewal. Rediscovering their original roots.

• The first World Executive Council is elected.

1959 – 2nd World Assembly of the World

Federation of Marian Congregations

• Newark, United States.

• The first steps toward the development of the new “General Principles” are

taken.

• What does Ignatian spirituality, community life, and apostolic service mean in

today’s world, not only for the individual but also for the group?

1964 – 3rd World Assembly of the World

Federation of Marian Congregations

• Bombay, India.

• In the middle of the Second Vatican Council

• Delegates decide to wait so that the approval of the new Statutes by the

World Federation would fully correspond to the fruits of the 2nd Vatican

Council for the renewal of the entire church.

1967 – 4th World Assembly of the World

Federation

• Rome, Italy.

• New General Principles moved by the Holy Spirit and influenced by the re-discovery of our Ignatian origins and by Vatican II.

• Lifestyle characteristics: spirituality, community, unity with the Church, service for justice and peace, inspiration flowing from the gospel of Jesus, humble and poor, and union with Mary.

• Three “pillars”: spirituality, apostolic service, and community.

• Change our name: Federation of Christian Life Communities.


Federation of Christian Life Communities

• Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

• Time to accept, humbly, the need to make progress, step by step, in the

human and spiritual development of both individuals and communities, to

live out this CLC/CVX vocation.

• The delegates experienced a “crisis” that, in a spiritual sense, turned out to

be an invitation that both instigated and facilitated an enormous learning

process.


Federation of Christian Life Communities• Augsburg, Germany

• “CLC, a community working toward the liberation of every man and woman and of all men and women. A response to the challenges, internal and external, to CLC”.

• Lines of thinking and action:

• A commitment to the transformation of political, economic, social, cultural, and religious structures;;

• An opening to the world for action and collaboration with all people of goodwill; solidarity with the poorest and most oppressed;

• A recognition of the primary importance of a formation rooted in the Spiritual Exercises. The integration of the Exercises into all areas of our lives. .

• A communal way of life that gives witness to a lifestyle of voluntary poverty and simplicity.


Federation of Christian life Communities

• Manila, Philippines.

• “To be poor with Christ, to be better servants in Christ”.

• To be grounded in concrete situations, open to being touched and

confronted by the reality of the poor, to respond to the signs of the times,

and to collaborate in the building of the Kingdom of God on earth.


Federation of Christian Life Communities

• Rome, Italy.

• “Toward one world community at the service of one world.”

• Our common belonging to or partnership with each other was much deeper than what is expressed by the word “federation.”

• Should we work actively to become one worldwide community?

1982 – 9th World Assembly of CLC

• Providence, United States.

• Experience lived within a global community that gave birth to a new sense of

communion.

• A greater sense of community and participation in common discernment for

an answer to the emerging demands of extraordinary situations.

• Clear confirmation to indeed become ONE global community.


• Loyola, Spain.

• The beginning of CLC as an Apostolic Community following Mary’s model for our

Mission: “Do whatever He tells you to do.”

• In the same location where Ignatius experienced his conversion, CLC received

confirmation of its identity rooted in the Spiritual Exercises: sent on mission with

Christ, poor and humble, and Mary, in liberty, poverty and solidarity

• “Recognized that we are not able to be faithful to our mission without situating it in

the context of our community, feeling that it is the entire community which is sent,

united mind and heart.”


• Guadalajara, México.

• An invitation for deeper reflection on being “at the service of the Lord” as a lay, Ignatian and missionary body in the Church, with a deep sense of and greater common involvement in mission.

• General Principles reflecting the experiences and challenges of ONE Community since 1967 were presented and approved

• “We have experienced a grace of knowing ourselves as moved by the desire to serve with Christ in the work of the Kingdom, and we have been confirmed in this call… at the same time, we have come to know ourselves as still in need of greater unity and spiritual freedom as a community of disciples.”


• Hong Kong, China.

• “I have come to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it were blazing already.”

• Also desired to deepen the understanding of where it was being called as a developing community.

• “As a global community, we must seek greater integration of social realities and its problems and challenges into our life and actions ... His Spirit, which presides over history, moves and inspires us to be attentive to the signs of the times and to offer from our spiritual experience a constant and humble service for building justice and peace. We must live this out not with words, but with actions and in truth.”

• Where is CLC in the world and what are we to do for Christ?


• Itaici, Brazil.

• “CLC, a letter from Christ, written by the Spirit and sent to today’s world.”

• Three areas of mission:

• to bring the freeing power of Christ to our social reality;

• to find Christ in all our varied cultures and to let His grace illuminate all that needs transformation;

• to live Christ so as to bring Him to every aspect of our daily life in the world.

• “Our Common Mission”: The Spiritual Exercises which nourish and empower us for mission, formation for mission, so that our community might become a more effective instrument of service


• Nairobi, Kenya.

• “Sent by Christ, members of one body.”

• DSSE: Discerning, Sending, Supporting and Evaluating. In community we discern our calling, and it’s the community who sends us to live out our discerned apostolic service and who supports us. The community then evaluates the mission with those sent. In this way, an individual act of service becomes a “common mission.”

• As a Community, “we felt confirmed in our call to become an apostolic body that shares responsibility for mission in the Church.”


• Fátima, Portugal.

• “Journeying as an Apostolic Body: Our response to this grace from God”.

• Sharing our lives and the discernment of our experiences and challenges results in a clear confirmation of the call received in Nairobi.

• DSSE is identified as the means by which to build an Apostolic Body. “United in diversity” as a characteristic of our community and charism and a potentially powerful instrument for mission.

• Awareness of the fact that our way of life and vocation becomes a prophetic sign for others.

• Widening and deepening our networks for discernment and joint action at all levels, and especially encouraging our collaboration with the Society of Jesus.


• Beirut, Lebanon.

• 450th Anniversary of Lay Ignatian Communities. “From our Roots to the Frontiers”

• Coming to terms with our roots; honoring our identity, our foundational documents and the experiences of men and women who have given their life to the service of CLC

• Recognizing Christ incarnate amongst us and continuing to commit ourselves to the Common Good.

• Frontiers: Globalization & Poverty, Family, Ecology and Youth


• Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• “CVX, a gift for the church and for the world”

• "How many loaves have you?... Go and see". (MK. 6,38)

• “We desire greater depth and integration in the living out of our CLC

charism in the world today”

Documents

HISTORY OF CLC WORLD ASSEMBLIES