Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Madrid (Agenzia Fides) - The Pontifical Mission Societies in Spain organise numerous Summer activities with a view to mission animation for children and young people. For example Holy Childhood office in Orihuela-Alicante invites all local children to take part in a “different” Summer experience to see how missionaries work, discover their world and learn from them to be missionaries and announcers of the message of Jesus. “Live in a New World” is the slogan of a Summer Mission Camp for children aged 9 to13 from 25 -30 July 2006.
The Pontifical Mission Societies in Coruña, archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela, invited young people from all over the area to a Mission Youth Camp 18 - 31 July at Santa Croce, on the theme "We wager on youth open to the world". "Some people speak badly of youth today - says Fr. Gabriel Vecino Tomás, OMS diocesan director in Coruña in the presentation of the camp - But we know the marvellous response young people give to the missionary spirit and ideal when the latter is presented in a way which touches their hearts". This is the 35th edition of this Camp and former campers have included young people and leaders not only from Spain, but also from Belgium, France, Germany, Canada and Mexico. The PMS launched this initiative 35 years ago through CMDE - Young People in the World - with success all over Europe. The goal of the Camp is to increase missionary awareness by means of testimony from missionaries working in different countries. Thanks to these testimonials the young people feel called to a missionary spirit.
PMS in Valencia, also organises a Summer Mission Camp for children aged ten and upwards called “Friends of Missions”, since 1973. The camp, held from 17 to 31 July in Teruel (Spain), has a missionary character and intends to diffuse Catholic Church teaching and at the same time increase the children’s awareness of the needs and problems of missionaries. It aims to: promote a spirit of universal mission and encourage the participants to live their baptism; foster missionary vocations; share the faith with other young people of the world. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 19/7/2006; righe 30, parole 428)
