A ZENIT DAILY DISPATCH

A ZENIT DAILY DISPATCH

Heart's Home

Founded in Argentina

VATICAN CITY, 16 MAY 2006 (ZENIT)

Here is the description of Heart's Home, which appears in the Directory of International Associations of the Faithful, published by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

* * *

Official name: Heart's Home

Established: 1990

History: Heart's Home was founded in Parana, Argentina, by Father Thierry de Roucy, the superior general of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus and Mary at the time, to establish small communities to take in neglected, abandoned or abused children.

This experience, which involves young volunteers who wish to devote at least one year of their lives to their smaller poor brothers and sisters, rapidly spread to several other countries in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

A few years after the association was founded, in response to the wish of a number of young volunteers (men and women) to commit themselves permanently to the work both as consecrated lay people and priests, the Molokai Fraternity for "permanent" members, and the Molokai Priestly Fraternity were established.

A lay branch of the movement is the Fraternity of St. Maximilian Kolbe, for sympathizers with the association who desire to live their baptismal vocation in the world according to the Heart's Home charism.

Identity: Heart's Home offers its members the opportunity to live the charism of compassion and consolation, by offering a warm loving environment to children; by experiencing friendship with lonely or suffering people in the places where they live; and by building a bridge between the marginalized, the Church, and the local social structures.

The pedagogy of the association revolves around three main points: prayer life, community life, apostolic life. For young volunteers there is a period of discernment and meetings, lasting for a minimum of six months, three weekends of religious instruction, and a 15-day training period.

During the voluntary service period, young people continue to receive guidance under the visitor (person responsible) of each Heart's Home. The ongoing formation of the members of the Fraternity of St. Maximilian Kolbe is given through monthly meetings (community school), quarterly meetings (reflection weekends) and annual meetings (spiritual vacations).

Organization: The highest authority of Heart's Home is the general moderator, who governs the association with the assistance of a council and committee.

The council comprises the founder; the superior general of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus and Mary; the prioress general of the Association of the Servants of Jesus and Mary; the moderator and the assistant of the Molokai Priestly Fraternity; heads of the male and female branch of the Molokai Fraternity; the representative of the visitors; and the head of the St. Maximilian Kolbe Fraternity.

The committee comprises the general moderator, the founder, and a member of the council appointed by the general moderator.

Membership: Two-hundred ninety people form part of the Heart's Home experience, including 180 young volunteers on the mission, 60 members of the Molokai Fraternity, and 50 members of the St. Maximilian Kolbe Fraternity. The association is present in 20 countries worldwide.

Works: The charism of Heart's Home has inspired the Fazenda do Natal in Brazil, and the Garden of Mercy in India — two places where families, street children and suffering people can be reborn to a life of prayer, fraternal love and work — and various communities for students and workers.

Publications: D'un Point-Coeur à l'Autre, published quarterly

Web site: www.pointscoeur.org

Headquarters:
OEuvre Points-Coeur
Notre-Dame-du-Monde-Entier
40, route Eugénie — 60350 Vieux Moulin — France

Tel. (33) 3.4485.4940 — Fax 3.4485.4949

E-mail: contact@pointscoeur.org

© Copyright 2006 — Libreria Editrice Vaticana [adapted]
ZE06051624
 

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