The
community aspects of Church, often overlooked, such as relationships, our neighbors, working for the common
good and building communities of people of God, aspiring for communal
holiness is the mission of "The Movement for a Better World (MBW). The
Movement had its start in Rome in response to an appeal by Pius XII to
the worldwide Church and gathered momentum from the preaching of Fr.
Ricardo Lombardi S.J. It was given official approval by
the Church in 1952. Fourteen years later Fr. Lombardi was invited to
Korea to begin preparations for our own Movement, and in 1968 a team was
formed, and by 1973 there were nine dioceses ready to begin the MBW.
The movement has many different courses of study on change, dialogue, secularization, the Church as the people of God and the world, and the new image of the parish. There are also programs for renewal.
The movement has many different courses of study on change, dialogue, secularization, the Church as the people of God and the world, and the new image of the parish. There are also programs for renewal.
The
Taegu diocese, in its recent bulletin, described the Movement and its
success in producing many leaders. Taegu, on
average, has about 10 programs each year. They can be evening programs
lasting four evenings, or full-day programs lasting two nights and three
days. They are intended for everyone--priests, religious and lay
people--making the programs another sign of the communal aspects of
Church.
The programs seek to instill the thinking from the Second Vatican Council, that Church is a community of association and sharing,
and introducing this thinking into the life of the parishes and dioceses. In this time of the new
evangelization, renewing the faith life of the participants is an
important aspect of parish life.
Over recent years there was sadness in seeing that in certain dioceses, the programs seemed to have disappeared and little was heard of the Movement. Few articles have been written on the movement. The other movements within the Church are well-known and receive a great deal of publicity. BWM makes a point of not calling attention to itself and wants to keep out of the press, which no doubt is the reason behind the absence of news about the movement. In the Taegu diocese, however, according to the bulletin, it continues strong and active.
