In the Church

The Recognition of the Church After years of service and mission work, on May 30th, 1998, the significant solemnity of Pentecost, while in Rome the Holy Father was meeting with the new ecclesiastical Movements and new Communities, the Bishop of our Diocese of Saluzzo, recognized the “Comunità Cenacolo” as a “Private Association of the Faithful”, approving the Statutes for three years “ad experimentum”. In the Statutes, the possibility of beginning an itinerary of formation is foreseen for those who desire to begin the journey of consecration through the profession of the evangelical counsels. It was an intuition that has become prophetic: some young people, men and women, asked to begin on this path. As a concrete response to this desire that the Holy Spirit put in their hearts, on the feast of the Assumption, 1999, near the mother house in Saluzzo, the “House of Formation” was opened. It is a place for a more profound journey of formation and vocational discernment. Another ecclesiastical moment which was particularly meaningful, which filled our hearts with joy in the Jubilee year, was the pilgrimage to Rome on February 16th, 2000, accompanied by our Bishop. The Holy Father addressed us with the following words: “I then greet with affection the numerous group of young people from the Comunità Cenacolo, coming from Italy, Croatia, and France; led by the Bishop of Saluzzo, Monsignor Diego Bona. The Pope is with you, my dear children. He appreciates your work, and he follows you with his prayer. Do not be discouraged when faced with difficulties. Let the Cross be your support, and may the constant stimulus to persevere in the journey you have taken up come from Christ, once dead and now risen, and so become witnesses of hope for our society”. In the month of January 2001, the first priest of the Community was ordained (Father Stefano), another gift from the Lord to this Work of His. On the feast of Pentecost, 2001, the Bishop renewed the ecclesiastical approval of Cenacolo as a “Public Association of the Faithful”: the Church perceives in us It’s work, and we have the responsibility to feel ourselves always more as part of the Church, to serve and love the poor with the wisdom and learning of this Mother and Teacher.

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