Mechernich/Rome - In a special audience on Wednesday, 3 November 2021, the Superior General Haus laid the foundation of the Communio in Christo into the hands of Pope Francis.

He did so by handing over to the Holy Father the Rule of the Ordo Communionis in Christo, a cover letter in Italian language as well as the golden cross pendant that Mother Marie Therese wore the day that she founded the Communio in Christo on 8 December 1984.

The Superior General (88) thereby fulfilled a personal request by the charismatic foundress who died in 1994 and who was buried in Mechernich. The Aachen Bishop Dr. Helmut Dieser had arranged for the meeting of the Superior General and the Pope.

The Communio in Christo founded by Mother Marie Therese sees itself as the confirmation of the Second Vatican Council induced by the Holy Spirit. As to the mystic Mother Marie Therese the Council was also the instrument in the hands of the Pope that he was to use for leading the Church and the world out of the present crisis. Already 40 years ago Mother Marie Therese foresaw in her deep encounters with God the crisis and decline of Church and faith.

The encounter with the Superior General Karl-Heinz Haus and Pope Francis was an exceptionally cordial one. Fr. Dr. Robert Mutegeki translated into Italian. Upon handing over the mentioned Communio related things the Holy Father said: “Thank you very much, please pray for me always and we will remain united!”

Furthermore, Pope Francis confided to the Superior General that he was having “a very hard time”. The Superior of the Ordo Communionis in Christo assured the Pope the prayers and the solidarity of the worldwide spread and active Communio, the headquarter of which is in Mechernich.

Along with the Superior General Karl-Heinz Haus a twelve-member delegation from the Mechernich Communio was present in the Vatican audience hall. While staying in Rome all were accommodated in the St. Martha guesthouse under one roof with the Pope whom they twice had dinner with.

Part of the delegation were the Substitute General Superior Fr. Jaison Thazhathil, Padre Rudolf Amman, member of the Schönstatt movement, the managing director of the social institute Norbert Arnold, Sonja Plönnes, head of the homes of the social institute, the religious Sr. Rose and Sr. Lidwina as well as Jürgen Fahnenstich and Bernd Uhlenbruch, members of the Communio Chapter. Further three Communio members originating from Africa and living and ministering in Rome joined the group.

Love of neighbor as fulfillment

The letter to the Pope says: “We hereby lay the foundation of the Ordo Communionis into your hands. We are convinced that the foundress was a mystic gifted with an extraordinary charism and shaped by the Second Vatican Council who esteemed herself to be nothing before God and who emptied herself for God in order to understand and proclaim his will through many writings and by founding a social institute for the poorest of the poor, at present employing 300 people.”

“This charism seeks the Pope,” writes Mother Marie Therese in her last book of 26 (“I implore you, o holy Church”) “To it has been imposed the responsibility to discern and obey the Spirit, even if the Spirit choses the very weakest for this mission.

The letter to the Pope further states that the Mechernich community of the Ordo Communionis in Christo, every morning for many years already have been reading and meditating on what Pope Francis has said in the Sunday Eucharist, before the Angelus prayers and at his general audiences.

„Every day we are always impressed anew by the consonance of the content of Your words and the statements of our foundress,” the Superior General formulates it in the letter to the Holy Father. “We are convinced, that the Holy Spirit is working in you,” the letter further states.

All people are invited to the Church called into being by Christ. In the sense of the Council also the members of other confessions and religions are included. This unity cannot be achieved by laws and regulations, but solely by practically lived love: “Communio in Christo, Your Holiness, is a way for all. You are to invite all into this community, in the name of Christ in his love.

pp/Agentur ProfiPress