REPORT ON THE IV MEETING OF THE DOMINICAN YOUTH MOVEMENT
IV Meeting of the Dominican Youth Movement
La Virgen del Camino, August' 1996

From 2 - 11 August, 320 young - and not so young - people met in the Priory of the Dominicans of the “Virgin of the Way” in León. They came from 22 countries and all were connected in one way or another with the Dominican Family. The Europeans were the most numerous, especially the Spaniards and the Irish, but there were also several present from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Canada. All were there - friars, sisters, lay people, young and old alike - in order to “Drink from the same Well” of St Dominic. It was the first meeting of International Dominican Youth to be held in Spain; the three preceding meetings were held in Ireland, organised by the Dominican Youth Movement there.

The Master of the Order, fr Timothy Radcliffe, was present on 3 August to welcome them to the Assembly and to give the Dominican Youth a message of encouragement, creativity and hope: “We need your imagination in order to think in new ways, to break into the world of indifference, and to reach young people, to those who reject Christ. We need all your creativity as musicians, poets, artists, and all the creativity of your sense of humour É. I hope that during these days you contribute some crazy ideas concerning how to preach today. It is better to have five crazy ideas - realising that one of them may work - than to have none.”

fr Jean-Jacques Pérennès, Assistant for Apostolic Life, and fr Yvon Pomerleau, Promoter General of the Dominican Family, participated throughout the meeting. During these ten days we could daily live different dimensions of the Dominican charism. An intense communal life allowed interchanges among “brothers” and “sisters” of different cultures, speaking 14 different languages, and from different theological and spiritual sensitivities. The Dominican mark in this meeting was a frequently bustling joy. Each day during the morning, at noon, and during the afternoon, the community met in creative and participative prayer. The vigil of the feast of St Dominic was celebrated in the Shrine of the Virgin of the Way, which is a stage of the way to Compostela. Each one relived in his own body the different ways of prayer of St Dominic. Formation occupied a large place. In the general assemblies, fr José Antonio Solórzano, sr Colette Kane, and fr Felicísimo Martínez, helped us discover or rediscover the human, spiritual and apostolic side of St Dominic. Various workshops took place: preaching beginning with your own history, through music and art; the obligation for Justice and Peace; Catherine of Siena, yesterday and today.

Through personal encounters, prayer, conferences, and discussions in the workshops, this Dominican youth meeting was a true mutual evangelisation. It was also the occasion to specify the different expectations in relation to a movement of Dominican Youth. A committee composed of Tricia Nolan (Dominican Youth Movement), sr Pilar del Barrio (Movimiento Juvenil Dominicano) and fr Yvon Pomerleau (Promoter of the Dominican Family) was established. The next meeting in 1997 will bring together a group of about fifty delegates to reflect on the evolution of the Movement and to emphasise the formation of those in positions of responsibility.

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