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 different ages participated and it was the first time that there was a dinner for “professionals” in a Regnum Christi youth meeting.
The directors of the youth section in Merida, Father Francisco Ramos, L.C., 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 in order to achieve the mystique of union, integration and encounter among the members of the various youth sections and above all an encounter of each one with God. The motto of the meeting “Speak to me Lord” invited to this listening and openness to God's message. The motto “Called” made it clear that God is the one who calls and gives a mission, which we must listen to and be ready 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 an abortion. I found out that deep down they are just trying to promote safe sex among young people and teenagers because they know that many of them will fail and their clinics will have guaranteed abortions, abortions of living, perfectly well formed little people who will make them a huge sum of dollars.
[gdlr_button href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/139606473@N02/albums/72157712968550077″ target=”_blank” size=”medium” background=”#990000″ color=”#ffffffff”]View full gallery[/gdlr_button]
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 Andrés Pintor Martínez, a graduate of Cumbres International School Lomas, collaborator in El Salvador and member of the Regnum Christi youth section, the Encounter 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 remain silent. 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 strong testimony was that of Sr. Maria Guadalupe Rodrigo, an Argentinean religious of the Institute of the Incarnate Word. 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 began 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, which opened its doors to all attendees and was a great support during the event. There it was announced that the next meeting 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.
