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I recently attended the World Meeting of Families in Dublin, Ireland.
It all started as a diocesan call. One family from each of the four dioceses in Russia was asked to attend.
The family chosen from our diocese, geographically the largest in the world, was from our parish—Okanna and Yura. Their good friends, Polina and Andrei, decided to join them, and this little group invited me to come along.
After prayer and permission from our directors general, I took the last part of my holidays and joined them on their pilgrimage.
The first step consisted of applications for visas, which were delayed as we waited for the family from Kaluga, Russia, a family which had been chosen to give a witness talk for Aid to the Church in Need (an international pastoral aid organization of the Catholic Church), to get passports for their six children.
This meant that we didn’t hear from the visa office until the last minute, when we received the sad news that Okanna and Yura as well as a family from Tomsk were denied visas.
(We heard later that many travellers to the meetings had similar problems. Even some priests and bishops from other countries were denied visas. )
After shaking off the shock of the news, Polina and Andrei and I and their baby Katia made our way to a place about 400 kms. (250 miles) from Dublin. There a couple, Carmel and Dermot, who had made contact with us through Marriage Encounter, had invited us to spend a few days before the meetings at their home in County Kerry.
My first impression of this family was of their Irish hospitality. (I really don’t have words to describe how beautifully we were received throughout our entire trip.)
They took us around and showed us many historical gems; they are very proud of their cultural and religious roots. We even visited the museum of the Skelligs, a monastic settlement on an island dating back to the sixth century.
Our next stop was Rathvilly, a small town of about 500 parishioners located 80 km. (50 miles) from Dublin.
We had faced many challenges preparing for the trip, and we couldn’t help wondering at times if it really was God’s will that we go. But as we journeyed, it became more and more clear that God had prepared special blessings, blessings that came mainly through the people we met.
Here I have to mention Brid and Jim who live in Rathvilly and who, independent of one another, offered to host a family even though they live quite far from Dublin.
When Brid found out about Jim, she, along with her team, Trish, Sophie, and Eithne, launched a project for the whole parish to host people attending the conference, calling it, “Welcoming a Nation.”
What remains most vivid in my mind and heart was the reception we received there. It brought us all into the theme of the World Meeting of Families—The Joy of Love—and carried us into the week.
There were posters at both ends of the town welcoming the three nations they were hosting—Russia, Poland, and Belarus—and banners lining the route to the church. And they had decorated the entrance to the church beautifully.
As was so appropriate, we began our “Meet and Greet” with a very beautiful prayer service, which was led by Fr. John McEvoy. The local bishop of County Carlow, Bishop Nulty, and Cardinal Turkson of Ghana, were there as well.
After the prayer service, we were led to a beautifully prepared and lavish food table. During the meal, we listened to live Irish music and entered more and more into the joy bubbling up around us.
I wondered how many people were involved in hosting us; it felt like the whole town was present.
Most of all, I will remember the people of Rathvilly and the open arms and hugs that greeted us. Their beautiful smiles and genuine words of welcome felt like the welcome given to family members. They made us feel like part of the bigger Church, the family of the universal Church, something that is not experienced in our little parish in Siberia.
Of course the news of sexual abuse both in Ireland and the United States was evident—mostly in the pain we felt, but the blessing was that the reality of these difficulties was experienced in the context of the graces one receives on pilgrimage.
Our fellow pilgrims from Belarus somehow found the wisdom to ask appropriate questions and find ways of discussing the situation. I was grateful to be able to help somewhat in this area.
This is the background out of which we entered into the three days of the meetings. Two talks stand out in my mind. One was by Bishop Robert Barron, “Pope Francis on the Gospel of the Family: What is Jesus Calling Our Families to Be?”
The other was given by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, archbishop of Manila, in the Philippines. His talk was called, “Choose Life: Pope Francis and the Throw-Away Culture.”
His main point was that the environmental ecology must include human ecology, that is, caring for the human person, and he had us laughing and crying. It was excellent, and I strongly recommend listening to it on YouTube.
Having attended the meetings with Russians, I returned to our house in Russia with a clear conviction that it is very important for the East to be present to these events.
As the East received much from experiencing the universal Church, so, too, something very precious was passed on to the community of Rathvilly. In the Russians, I felt that our Irish friends were observing and touching a faith lived out, which I believe awakened their own longing for truth.
As the Church moves through all the scandals and confusion, the little people, who are trying to keep the faith, need each other. My conviction is that East and West need one another now more than ever. I pray that more of this kind of encounter can happen.
I’d like to finish this article with part of the thank you note I sent to our new friends in Rathvilly.
At our final Mass there, it all came together for me. As we prayed together, I realised that we had witnessed the Gospel of Love lived out in a very simple but profound way. The gospel passage that came to mind was Matthew 25:31-46:
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The Joy of Love
I was a stranger and you welcomed Me to Rathvilly, not letting language be a barrier.
I was hungry and you prepared hundreds of lunch bags for Me.
I was thirsty and you were always ready with a water bottle to quench My thirst.
I was naked and you lent Me your rain jacket and always made sure I was warm enough.
I was sick and you went to a pharmacy and made sure I had the appropriate medicine.
I was in the prison of not knowing English, and you visited Me with your smile, always a smile.
Come, you whom My Father has blessed. Take for your heritage the Kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world.
