EUROPE/ITALY - Today, missionary weekend begins in Lampedusa, promoted by the Youth Missionary Movement, on the relationship of Jesus and the Christian community with “the foreigner”

Rome (Agenzia Fides) – Today, June 18, marks the beginning of the missionary weekend on the island of Lampedusa, to help young people live not as fearful wayfarers, but with the enthusiasm that characterizes someone committed to being a prophet today, as the Holy Father Benedict XVI said in Sydney. The weekend, promoted by the Youth Missionary Movement of the Pontifical Mission Societies, will end on June 21, on the World Day of Refugees. The RAI will provide live coverage on the event.
The weekend, which is attended by youth from Lazio, Tuscany, Calabria, Campania, and Sicily, will use the Letter of Philemon “He is like a brother to you” (Phil.1:16) to reflect on the relationship of Christ with “the stranger” and the relationship the early Christians had with “the stranger,” so as to later make a concrete application of it today. A visit to the Center for Identification and Expulsion, as well as a moment of prayer at the Port of Europe (monument to migrants who have died in the Mediterranean Sea). (SL) (Agenzia Fides 18/06/2009)