Prot. n. 185/L18.0
Rome, 28 April, 2014
To
the Participants of the XXXVII Convocation of Rome
«Repent! Believe! Receive
the Holy Spirit » (Acts
2, 38-40).
«For a Church "moving
out in mission"!» (Pope
Francis).
Alleluia, Jesus is Lord and Savior!
I am writing this a few days after the
canonization of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II. What joy for the whole world
to be able to invoke two champions of Christian humanism and of charismatic
faith as "saints"! Without their prophetic witness, without their great love
for Jesus and his Gospel, we would not be what we are; the Church and the world
would not have changed its course; the Renewal would not have been born and would
not have spread with the power with which we know it today. Alleluia!
And now, from Heaven, united to the
great chorus of saints of the last Century, even the stars of John XXIII and of
John Paul II shine brightly with
powerful and beneficial intercession for us and for our journey. Yes, and we
believe that they will keep vigil as special guardians of the upcoming XXXVII Convocation of the Renewal with Pope
Francis.
The
"big day" is drawing near and everything is moving with great spirit of sacrifice
and responsibility of many engaged in preparing the Convocation in the best
possible way. Starting with prayer: how much inspiration and support we draw
from the Muro di Fuoco (Wall of Fire),
an initiative of continuous prayer, 24/7, which is drawing to an end.
Since
last Christmas - that is from when the news of the presence of Pope Francis at
the Olympic Stadium was announced officially by us, in agreement with the
Vatican Secretariat of State - there have been a series of meetings, verifications,
negotiations at many levels, in order to organize everything in the best
possible way. But Rome is not Rimini; and the Olympic Stadium is not the Fiera...
Despite
our vast experience in these events, and not only in the great event of Rimini,
we have tried to approach the question of logistics, the organization and the
very program of the Convocation with great humility, not as if it were a "transfer"
to Rome, but as a totally new project. The Stadium authorities and the
Municipality of Rome have been very cooperative, as well as the various suppliers
of services and all the technicians working with us.
We are just about a month away from
the Convocation and now, after the Canonization of the two Popes, we can count
on the full collaboration of all, for bringing to completion what has been
prepared in these months.
In the name of the NSC and the CN I
would like to say a special thank you to the Preparatory Commission, presided
by Luca Marconi, who completed his part of the job, with an on-the-spot inspection
at the Rome Olympic Stadium with 100 "heads of various services" of the Convocation,
on Palm Sunday, and has handed over to us the "technical and operative plans" to
be put into action.
Now
we are into the most delicate, final phase. I am writing to inform you of what
has to be taken essentially into account and given priority to, to be
communicated to the brothers and sisters and to those who are collaborating
with us in whatever role of responsibility. There may be other updates, also
through the institutional web pages (www.rns-italia.it) or of the Convocation (www.rinnovamentoroma2014.org) which I invite you to read regularly.
Together
with this letter of mine, are two precious documents:
- my letter: "A Convocation at
the service of communion of the Renewal", which shows how great is the
gift which we receive from the Spirit and without jealousy and without any
sense of superiority we want to share fraternally;
- the Program of the Convocation, with the principal moments, at what
time it begins and ends on the two days. It is truly an unprecedented
program, of great charismatic and kerygmatic impact: receive it and share
it!
Pope Francis will be with us from 5 to 6.30 p.m. on Sunday, June 1st. Together, we will experience an
extraordinary and very intense spiritual program which will remain "a surprise"
to be discovered at the Stadium itself.
Now, I request you to follow with the greatest attention the information
that follows, to honor it and get others to do so. We ourselves are in submission to
procedures, protocols, rules and new norms which we would prefer to avoid or simplify.
But we cannot do so: for the good name
of the Renewal and for the safety of all, we are obliged to apply them in the
best possible way.
Presence and pass
As of today, we have over 49.000 confirmed
registrations which is certainly of great importance, but we also know that the
Lord is still calling others to the Convocation.
Important Information re the "Personal
Pass" of the Convocation
The authorities for law and order
and security have laid down precise rules to access the Stadium (we have had
several meetings with the Police, Municipality, Fire Department and other
public services). Compared to the Fiera of Rimini, they are totally new and
therefore, we are obliged to treat them with great respect.
In order to enter the Rome Olympic
Stadium it is compulsory that each single participant provides us with his or her
full generalities which will be printed on the Pass. So each pass is
strictly personal and we have to submit to the authorities a general list
of names.
From this flows the following consequences:
- To enter the Olympic Stadium, each
Pass is personalized, with a bar code identification, and will be
issued in advance to those participating in the Convocation. So before you
leave for the Stadium you must possess this personal Pass.
- Each Pass, will have a specific
color, which refers to a specific Sector in the Stadium.
- No passes will be distributed
in the Stadium.
- Entry to the Stadium will be
allowed only through the turnstiles, just like on the occasion of a
football game. The personalized bar
code will help avoid counterfeiting of passes and through the scan of the
bar code and it will be possible to verify the real flux of participants
in the various sectors. To avoid "fraud" or being "naive", please remember that the pass
cannot be copied in any way; in case of loss or damage it is necessary to
activate a lengthy procedure at the Secretariat of the Stadium.
- Please let us know, if in your
group, there are very elderly persons, or someone who has difficulty
moving about, mothers with small children, expectant mothers, so that we
can reserve a good number of places for them in the stands in the specific
Sector (as
close as possible to the entrance).
The procedure for distribution of
passes will be on our website.
If you are a group leader, we
recommend that you do not distribute the pass immediately to the individual
participants, but
at an opportune time so as to avoid forgetfulness, loss, damage or other
factors that could create unresolvable difficulties.
You can see that we are very tight for time, but by
the grace of God and our good will, everything will go well.
Instructions on how
to enter the Olympic Stadium
Check our web site to get detailed
info on all organization aspects, the way
of entry, a map of the Stadium,
parking, the routes to follow (both by transport and on foot) once you reach
the Stadium.
Prepare the participants well,
keeping them informed of all details both before and during the trip. Do not underestimate the "sense of
feeling lost", many will be entering a Stadium for the first time (and what a
Stadium...); just as it will be necessary to contain the exuberance of others who
consider themselves "experts" and therefore not bound to rules.
Important: it's
absolutely necessary to indicate, in advance (not all have done so) how
you will arrive at the Stadium. 700
buses are expected. We have a specific plan for Buses to enter the
Stadium area, with participants getting off in proximity of the entrances (500/800
meters), within the specific sector, and then the Bus will move to the reserved
parking area.
The bus drivers must follow a
specified route, which will be indicated some days before the Convocation, so
as to avoid participants being made to get off far away from their specific
entrance (the color of the Pass refers to the color of the specific Sector in
the Stadium).
Attention: the
Municipality of Rome will allow access to the Olympic Stadium area only to
those Pullman who have received from us a numbered "PULLMAN PASS" from us.
The Olympic Stadium will be a large "pedestrian
area". Our volunteers will help participants get into the right color lanes and
move towards the "turnstiles" for identification of participants. Passes must
be "visible" to these volunteers so that they can check to see if the
participant is in the right lane, and helping those who are in need.
So each pass, together with the generalities
of the participant will have a precise color corresponding to a specific Sector
of the Stadium. The
participants will to the Sector indicated on the Pass and identified by a
different color on the background of the Pass, numbered, with a barcode. As
soon as you near the Stadium area you find your color indicated sector and it
will lead you to the stands reserved for you in the Stadium.
I repeat again:
It will not be possible to enter a Sector different from the one indicated
on the pass. The bar code of each individual, and
consequently the Sector assigned to the participant, will be readable only by
the turnstile (entrance) in that specific Sector.
After going through the turnstiles, the
participant moves towards the stands in a peaceful and orderly manner. All seats are under a covered roof. Attention,
from where ever you are seated, the
distance from your seat to the stage is practically the same. Both the audio e video systems are of an
exceptional quality (we are sharing the structures with an Italian singer Ligabue
who is holding Concerts in the Stadium on the two evenings before our
Convocation; please pray so that this
collaboration - with regard to the time factor and methods - gives the best
results with the least consumption of energy and resources.
Some more important communications:
- Unlike as at Rimini, there will be no Confessional room.
Priests will be able to confess, offering their ministry not in a
reserved space only to those who could not do so before and who feel
the particular need. We want that the priests present (around 900) to be
involved personally in the program of the Convocation in the best possible
way. For this reason we invite you to celebrate
a penitential service in your Group/Community or to confess before leaving
for Rome.
- For the distribution of our editorial products (books, cd, magazine, gadget), we are preparing a brochure. We
will send it to you, so that you can buy the "new items" on discount in advance.
In this way, you can take delivery of your purchase directly at the
Stadium. Apart from this possibility, we will have outlets at the Stadium
to serve the largest number of participants.
- We have received many requests
for a "gadget" as a souvenir of the
Convocation. We are preparing a limited edition of this gadget. We will send you a list of this gadgets
"The Renewal with Pope Francis" which can be ordered.
- We are preparing a "participant's kit", which will be distributed to each
participant at the Olympic Stadium, for use during the Convocation.
- The traditional "Agenda"
containing the activities of the current year and the brochures of the
various Summer initiatives (Courses,
Pilgrimages, Events) will NOT be distributed at the Stadium. Instead a
"Newspaper of the Convocation"
will be distributed; it will contain all the information traditionally
found in the Agenda and various brochures.
*****
I hope you have arrived to the end
of this letter without "wavering". One after another, it appears to be many
things (and we have to refer still other details); as a matter of fact one
choice follows another, one procedure another. What is necessary is to be
patient and strengthen our will for good. The Work of God which we are serving
for months now, is so great, and greater will be His mercy on us, that we
cannot but say "Amen" and continue with our preparation, with love, trust, communion
and collaboration.
United
in prayer, greet the brothers and sisters with "a holy kiss". May the "Virgin with raised hands" sustain us! Alleluia!
Salvatore Martinez
President
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See also:
rns@rns-italia.it