Founded in Wake of WWII
VATICAN CITY, 10 MAY 2006 (ZENIT)Here is the description of the
Catholic Integrated Community, which appears in the Directory of
International Associations of the Faithful, published by the Pontifical
Council for the Laity.
* * *
Official Name: Catholic Integrated Community
Acronym: KIG
— (Katholische
Integrierte Gemeinde)
Established: 1945
History: The Catholic Integrated Community was established in Munich in
Germany, under the name "Junger Bund" immediately in the wake of the
Second World War and the tragic events linked to it.
Under the leadership of Herbert and Traudl Wallbrecher, a group of young
people began to reflect on the reasons why Christians fail to oppose the
emergence of ideologies and dictatorships that sow death, or to
contribute to solving social injustices affecting men and women; in
other words, why baptized Christians are unable to become a people whose
existence and lifestyle make God's project for the world visible.
Communities like this would become the place in which the Christian
faith is lived as history in which we can always play a part, based on
the conviction that God is acting among us today as he did at the time
of Abraham.
In 1968 the group changed its name to "Integrated Community," and in
1996 it was given its present name. It was approved in 1978 by the
archbishop of Paderborn and recognized that same year by the then
archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
Identity: In a world estranged from God and where people no longer
believe in his saving presence in history, KIG sets out to retrace the
biblical experience of the covenant between God and his people and to
recover the substance of the Catholic faith.
Its members endeavor to make the Gospel present in all the dimensions of
daily life in a way that enables even the most distant to find or
rediscover access to the Church. The specific dimensions of the
formative process for its members are the experience of the Christian
message lived in unity, theological reflection on history, on the Old
and the New Testaments and the history of the Church, and the
proclamation of the Gospel message in contemporary society.
Formation covers a period of six years, of which three are the
catechumenate, in which members and associates play an active part in
the life of the community.
The preferred spheres of action are the world of labor, education,
politics, health care, art, crafts, and missionary commitment. KIG is
subject to the authority of the local churches in whose parishes it
operates. Individual communities are established at the diocesan level
and taken together they constitute the Confederation of Catholic
Integrated Communities. In the pursuit of its objectives, KIG cooperates
with the community of priests and the community of unmarried women and
unmarried men that place themselves at its service.
Organization: Membership of KIG is open to members, co-workers,
aspirants and friends. Each community elects a management council which
coordinates and is responsible for the life and for the pursuit of the
objectives of the community.
Each community is under the spiritual direction of a diocesan priest who
is a member of the community of priests at the service of the Catholic
Integration Communities, appointed by agreement with the local bishop.
Membership: KIG has about 1,000 members in seven countries, in Africa,
Asia, Europe and North America.
Works: Members or groups of members of KIG have taken the initiative
under their own personal responsibility to set up Catholic schools, a
small clinic and nursing activities. In 2003, KIG inaugurated The
Academy for the Theology of the People of God at Villa Cavalletti (Grottaferrata,
Rome).
Publications: Gemeinde Heute, a fortnightly publication
Heute in Kirche Und Welt, a monthly online magazine
Web site: www.kig-online.de
Headquarters:
Confederazione delle Comunità Cattoliche d'integrazione
Via Domenico Silveri, 30
00165 Rome
— Italy
Tel. (39) 06.6390774
—
Fax 06.39386505
Secretariat
Katholische Integrierte Gemeinde
An der Isarlust 2
D - 83646 Bad Tölz - Germany
Tel. (49) 8041.77900
—
Fax 8041.71444
© Copyright 2006
—
Libreria Editrice Vaticana [adapted]
ZE06050908
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