A ZENIT DAILY DISPATCH
A ZENIT DAILY DISPATCH
Lay Claretian Movement
Founded in Colombia
VATICAN CITY, 6 JUNE 2006 (ZENIT).
Here is the description of the Lay Claretian Movement which appears in the Directory of International Associations of the Faithful, published by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
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Official name: Lay Claretian Movement
Acronym: MSC (Movimiento de Seglares Claretianos)
Also known as: Lay Claretians
Established: 1983
History: MSC was founded at Villa de Leiva, in Colombia, by the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Claretians).
They decided during the course of their 19th General Chapter in 1979 to help the lay apostolate associations that they had promoted in the past as their own work to organize themselves autonomously as members of the Claretian Family.
On April 20, 1988, the Pontifical Council for the Laity decreed recognition of the Movimiento de Seglares Claretianos as an international association of the faithful of pontifical right.
Identity: The members of MSC set out to adopt the mission of Jesus in the world as their own, to live the demands of the Kingdom and provide a service of evangelization to the Church, according to the charism and the spirit of St. Anthony Mary Claret.
Admission to the movement is preceded by a period of instruction to provide a basic Christian education to candidates (in ecclesiology, Christology, theology, the lay vocation and vocations in the Church) and to spread knowledge of the life and charism of the founder of the Claretians.
The ongoing formation of the members of MSC prepares them for the work of evangelization and includes study of the Claretian identity and spirituality, study of the socioeconomic situation of different countries, and professional training.
The members of the movement perform their mission both by Christian animation and by seeking to transform temporal realities (the family, work, economy, politics, trade unions, art) and by cooperating in building up the local Church as a community of faith, hope and charity (missions, catechesis, biblical and theological education, participation on parish and diocesan pastoral councils).
Organization: MSC is organized at the local, regional and international levels. Membership of the movement takes place through admission to one of the local groups.
All the groups of a given regional area constitute the region. The regions are coordinated by the regional assembly and by the regional council.
The international coordination of the movement is the responsibility of the general assembly — to which the members of the general council belong, together with the representatives of the regional councils and the delegates of the local groups — and the general council, made up of the ecclesiastical assistant and members elected by the general assembly.
Membership: MSC has 135 groups and is present in 23 countries, in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America.
Publications: Revista Seglares CIaretianos, published quarterly
Web site: seglaresclaretianos.claret.org.
Headquarters:
Movimento dei Laici Claretiani
c/o Missionari Figli del Cuore Immacolato di Maria (Claretiani)
Via del Sacro Cuore di Maria, 5
00197 Roma — Italy
Tel. (39) 06.8091.0011 — Fax 06.8091.0047
E-mail: cmfsecgen@pcn.net
© Copyright 2006 — Libreria Editrice Vaticana [adapted]
ZE06060625
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