The Pontifical Council for the Laity has given final approval on the Parish Cells of Evangelization.
The Decree of recognition was delivered into the hands of Don Pi.Gi. Perini by Card. Rylko yesterday April 15, at the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
On September 5th a meeting of the Parish Cells of Evangelization (CPE) from all over the world will be held in Rome, in special audience with Pope Francis.
Great is the joy of Don PiGi. Perini and the cells scattered throughout the world for the final recognition that the Pontifical Council for the Laity, at the hands of its President, Card. Stanislaw Rylko, conferred on the Body of the International Service for the CPE.
The decree delivered to Don Pigi states: “It is fundamental for the Church to reinvigorate the missionary identity of the lay faithful and solicit pastors in the consciousness of its task of turning the parish into a community of ardent faith, where members are “agents of evangelization” and the parish is a “constant center of missionary outreach”.
Cells, in fact, are composed of lay faithful who, having experienced the love of God, wanting to share it with those who do not know him, so as to rediscover their mission of proclaiming the Gospel. The pastor, who starts or continues this pastoral methodology, discovers how to transform the community from a sleeping giant into the parish on fire, “burning with faith.”
The Church, therefore, with the final recognition not only confirms the acceptance of the method and the proposal, but also the promotion of the diffusion, hoping for it’s continuation and durability.
“After the recognition experimentally delivered in 2009, has at last been finalized,” said Don Pi.Gi.,
Chairman of the International Service for the CPE. “This stage is very important in the life of the cells and of the Church, because it guarantees that this is not the initiative of a priest, but a pastoral methodology that each pastor can make their own, in order to give to his parishioners the reality of their Baptism in a more authentic and profound way “
The recognition of the Pontifical Council for the Laity expresses, in fact, the Church’s desire to continue to see this method, confirming also the catholicity and pastoral validity of a proposal capable of deeply renewing the sense of mission in parish communities.
Happiness that never ends and that accompanies all the cells in the worl. The cells are
invited to meet Saturday, September 5th to 12th, in the presence of Pope Francis, in the Vatican.
After meeting with Don Pi.Gi. December 15th last year in a private audience, the Pope, then, extended a welcome to the cells in a particular audience. “Sharing Jesus with others in your work environment, study, among friends and family, in the neighborhood, in a word in your oikos”,
so don Pi.Gi. explains the sense of operating the cell, inviting those who are far from the faith and the Church, and that, through an experience of brotherly love and welcome, find the help to integrate into the parish community.
Recall that today there are many thousands of cells present in the five continents.
The system of CPE was introduced in Italy by Don Pi.Gi. in 1987, after his meeting with Msgr. Michael J
Eivers, in the parish of St. Boniface in Pembroke Pines, in the Archdiocese of Miami and from there soon
began to spread in different countries.
Since 1990, in Sant’ Eustorgio, an International Seminar on System Cells has been held and this year, May 28 to 31, will have its 26th edition.
Finally let us recall that the word “cell” refers to a small group of lay faithful, united in intimate communion with the pastor, founded on prayer and service, in constant multiplication. They meet once a week, The cell expresses a deep sense of fraternity, which opens in the first place to the personal relationships of its participants, with special attention to those who are far from faith.
Organismo Internazionale di Servizio per le Cellule Parrocchiali di Evangelizzazione Piazza Sant’Eustorgio, 1 – Milano Cellulare 347.1946718 – organismocellule@tiscali.it – www.cellule-evangelizzazione.org