From January 31 to February 2, more than 800 young people from more than 20 cities in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela and Italy participated in the Regnum Christi 2020 Youth Encounter at the International Congress Center in Merida, Yucatan. Young people of various ages participated and it was the first time that there was a meeting for “professionals” within the Regnum Christi Youth Encounter.
The directors of the youth section in Merida, Father Francisco Ramos, LC, and consecrated Lizy Dueñas Obregón said in their welcome message that the Encounter «strengthens the unity of Regnum Christi and reaffirms the commitment that as Catholics we have before society».
During the meeting, different activities were held with the purpose of making each one have an experience of God. The motto of the meeting “Speak to me Lord” invited to this listening and openness to God's message. The call made it clear that God is the one who summons and gives a mission, which we must listen to and be willing to respond.
The program included educational workshops on various topics and two keynote lectures, one of the most impressive of which was given by Patricia Sandoval, a former abortion promoter. She became pregnant three times and had abortions each time. She went to work at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in California and that revealed another reality to her:
«After my three abortions, I suffered a lot: I had a severe post-abortion syndrome with mental and emotional disorders. My self-esteem dropped a lot. I suffered from anorexia for many years, suicidal tendencies. Then I decided to help women in my situation and I was recruited by Planned Parenthood; they paid me very well, the salary was triple that of my previous job; they explained to me that I had to do everything to convince women to have abortions. I discovered that deep down they are only looking to promote sex among young people and teenagers because they know that many of them will fail and in their clinics they will have guaranteed abortions, abortions of living and perfectly well formed little people that leave them a huge sum of dollars”.
He concluded his testimony by saying that today's young people are the new pro-life generation.
On Saturday morning, a great mass was presided over by the Archbishop of Yucatán, Mons. Gustavo Rodríguez, and concelebrated by 20 Legionaries of Christ. In his homily he reflected on the value of conversion, to be aware that anyone can fall to the lowest, but with the humility of knowing how to be fragile, you can avoid falling into that. He also motivated the young people to overcome fear: “Fears paralyze, fears prevent us from walking, but he who has faith overcomes fears. To the extent that we trust in God and in his word, to that extent we walk with more security”.
For Andres Pintor Martinez, a graduate of the Cumbres International School Lomas, collaborator In El Salvador and a member of the youth section of Regnum Christi, the meeting helped him to reaffirm his mission and the sense of doing good: «It is very easy to do evil, you just need to not do good and keep quiet, so I would say that to save the world, you have to correct all these destructive thoughts, have courage, always defend the truth and walk towards good. So I would say that to save the world, you have to correct all these destructive thoughts, have courage, always defend the truth and walk towards the good, but you need to do it through God. He is the best way».
Another testimony was that of Sister María Guadalupe Rodrigo, an Argentinean and a religious sister of the Incarnate Word Institute. She spent 18 years as a missionary in the Middle East, first in the Holy Land, then in Egypt and since January 2011 in Aleppo, Syria, where she lived the armed conflict very closely. She could have left the country when the war started but decided to stay to be at the side of those who suffer the most. «The conflict in Syria was manipulated from the beginning, it was invented. It was not born in the streets by a popular revolt but it was a war, like so many others today, planned on a desk and defamed by some media networks.”.
The closing ceremony was held at the Anahuac Mayab University, The meeting was held in Saltillo, Coahuila, which opened its doors to all attendees and was a great support during the event. There it was announced that the next Encounter will be held in Saltillo, Coahuila. During these three days, all the enthusiasm of the young people who share the Regnum Christi charism was experienced. Currently there are approximately 23 thousand members in 21 countries.
