Capuchino Paolo Martinelli wants to public … the Church of the future ». Martinelli was auxiliary bishop of Milan when he met the unexpected proposal to be an apostolic vicar of South Arabia, a territory that encompasses the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen, and that has traditionally been confident by the potatoes to the pastoral care of the Capuchin religious .
«I have gone to Arabia because I have been sent … That is why I am free from the blackmail of success, I do not know what I can do in this place, but I know that God is great and knows always acting, in any situation and with any instrument … the Mission describes my adventure in this land ». With this luminous and humble certainty, he expressed himself at the Pablo VI Foundation during a dialogue organized by the Communion and Liberation Movement, in which he shared his history and reflected on the mission as an essential dimension of the Christian experience. Monsignor Martinelli shone his eyes when talking about his community, a mosaic of languages and cultures attached by the root of the baptism that makes all members of the only church of Christ. They are almost a million Catholics from a hundred countries, almost all migrant workers, both Latin rite and various oriental churches.
The challenges are huge: long distances; scarcity of resources of most of the faithful; Diversity of languages; “Temporality” of communities, since migrants only remain for a few years and are not allowed to access citizens. However, his bishop gets excited when he tells that they can queue under forty degrees to participate in the Mass and that they go out of trouble for transmitting faith to their children. Surely their migrants status helps them understand that “faith is not an addition to their life, but what their life sustains.” A fruit of this is the unity (which cannot be assumed) between people of very different languages and cultures. For all this, Fray Paolo thinks that his community is like a laboratory of the Church of the future.
The community is especially thriving in the Emirates, where the largest parish in the world is located, with more than 150,000 faithful every weekend: “It is literally a miracle make it possible for everyone to participate in Mass and in catechesis.” However, Yemen, the place of older Christian presence in the Vicariate, is now almost inaccessible due to the insecurity situation. The greatest desire of Monsignor Martinelli is to be able to resume the presence of the Church in that land, where, in addition, there are native Catholics, which does not happen in other Gulf states.
During the encounter, he wanted to go to the passage of a possible mistake: «The mission is not first of all something to do but a way of being; The mission describes the conscience that I have of myself … and that conscience is to belong to a communion ». And this, he observed, the same can be lived in Dubai as in Milan or Madrid, being Capuchino or mother, organizing catechesis or working in a company. The mission is not an addition for some, it is the way of life of the Christian anywhere. Monsignor Martinelli already felt the urgency of returning with his people. In his farewell he reminded us of the demand to always pray (“Without prayer we are lost”) and to welcome God’s surprises every day. Surprises like that community that we did not know almost completely and that opens so many perspectives.
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