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  • Africa
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    • Africa 2009 - 2017
      • Algeria: A meeting at Tlemcen: August 2011
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      • Democratic Republic of Congo: A visit to Goma
      • Meetings and retreats in Nairobi : program for 2017
      • Mauritania: A journey from Dakar to Nouadhibou
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      • A Brother Visits South Sudan
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      • In South Sudan, summer 2013
      • Tanzania: Meetings in June 2010
      • Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso: Visits and meetings
      • Visits in Uganda
    • 2016: Meeting in Cotonou
      • Cotonou 2016: Photos
      • Benin: International young adult meeting in Cotonou
      • Cotonou 2016: Echoes of the Preparation in Bénin and Neighbouring Countries
      • Video clip: The preparation of the meeting in Cotonou
      • Spring 2016: The Preparation Continues in Cotonou and Elsewhere
      • Cotonou 2016: Looking for Paths of Hope Together
      • Cotonou 2016: Hope and joyful gratitude
    • 2012: Meeting in Kigali
      • Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth
      • How to prepare for the meeting
      • Kigali: Echoes from the Meeting
      • Preparation of the meeting
        • Practical information
        • Rwanda 2011: A new stage towards the meeting in Kigali in 2012
        • Kigali: The preparation in March
        • February-March 2012: Travel Log
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        • Rwanda, September 2012 : News of the preparation
        • Kigali : Testimonies from Young People
        • Kigali Meeting: The last stage of the preparation...
      • Contacts
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      • From Kigali to Rome
    • 2008: Meeting in Nairobi
      • With 7000 young Africans in Nairobi Taizé creates a sign of peace
      • The meeting in Nairobi: Day by day
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    • Africa 2006 - 2008
      • February-March 2006 : In East Africa
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      • Malawi: "A house that’s complete"
  • Americas
    • Argentina: An important small step forward in reconciliation
    • Prayers with songs from Taizé in Panama
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    • Chile: A new stage in the pilgrimage of trust
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    • USA: Pilgrimage of Trust in St. Louis
      • Spring 2017: Pilgrims of Trust in Saint Louis
    • USA: Meeting in Pine Ridge
      • Pilgrimage of trust in the USA: Taizé at Pine Ridge: “Our pot is empty - you have to fill it”
      • Photos: Meeting in Pine Ridge
    • 2007: Meeting in Cochabamba
      • Day by day during the meeting
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      • Taizé and Bolivia
    • 2010: Meeting in Santiago
      • Taizé and Latin America
      • The evening before Palm Sunday
      • A welcome that is warm, close and simple
      • Celebrating life with the people of Chile
      • In Argentina: An un-hoped for joy
      • For a fraternal world: Meeting in Santiago, Chile
      • In Chile: the pilgrimage of trust continues…
      • Photos
    • 2012: Meeting in Chicago
      • Meeting in Chicago: An interview with two of the brothers
      • Meeting in Chicago: Taizé-Chicago: Three-minute version
      • May 2012 meeting: Taizé in Chicago
      • Photos of the meeting in Chicago
    • 2018: Upcoming Events in North America
  • Asia Pacific
    • Japan, spring 2016: "How to awaken in us the courage of mercy? "
    • India 2018: Visits and prayers
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    • Cambodia: Visits of Brothers
    • Taizé and China
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    • Visit by two brothers to Indonesia
    • Indonesia: October 2011: At the World Christian Forum in Manado
    • Visits of Brother Alois in Asia
    • Japan 2014: Meetings with a brother from Taize
    • Kazakhstan : A visit in August 2010
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    • A visit in Mongolia
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    • The Courage of Mercy in the Philippines
    • The Philippines, 2016: Living the Courage of Mercy
    • August 2018: Two brothers in the Philippines
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      • Regular prayer in Malaysia
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      • Regular prayers in India
      • Prayers in Vietnam
    • 2018 Meeting in Hong Kong
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    • 2010 Meeting in Manila, Philippines
      • Philippines: Meeting in Manila: "Most simply I am grateful for life"
      • Pilgrimage of trust meeting in the Philippines
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      • Brother Alois 2010: Liham mula sa Ttsina
      • Brother Alois 2010: Sulat gikan sa Ttsina
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        • A novel European meeting at Riga in Latvia
        • Riga 2016: Film
        • A short history of Latvia (1)
        • A short history of Latvia (2)
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        • Prague: Some clips on the European Meeting
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      • Strasbourg 2013
        • Strasbourg: 30,000 young Europeans make “a large community of friendship” visible
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        • Rome, January 2013: Some weeks after the European Meeting
        • The meeting from day to day
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        • 45 000 young people in Saint Peter’s Square to pray with Pope Benedict
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      • Berlin 2011
        • Meeting in Berlin: 30 000 young adults on the road towards a new solidarity
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      • Rotterdam 2010
        • 30 000 young people invited to reflect on joy and solidarity
        • The Meeting Day by Day
        • Meditations by Brother Alois
        • “The party is over but the legacy remains.”
        • Photos
      • Poznań 2009
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        • “Poznań, capital of European Christian youth”
        • Meditations by Brother Alois
      • Brussels 2008
        • From the newspapers
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        • Two addresses by Cardinal Danneels
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      • Geneva 2007
        • Geneva elated to have welcomed the 40,000 young adults of Taizé
        • Photos
      • 2006: 40,000 young Europeans fill up with hope
      • 2005: Milan filled with the spirit of Brother Roger
      • 2004 Lisbon: The Urgency of Peace
      • 2003 Hamburg: The Face of the Church as Communion
      • 2002 Paris: A Larger Europe Breathes the Good News
      • 2001 Budapest: Hospitality, A Face of God
      • 2000 Barcelona: Sharing a Hope
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      • Lviv 2018: A first meeting of Taizé in Ukraine in the spring sunshine
      • Lviv 2018: Pictures
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    • Albania: “Visits from abroad”
    • Austria, March 2011: Meeting in Vienna
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      • Graz 2018: Graz 2018: Sharing the Future
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    • Belarus, September 2014: Discovering the Source of a Unity Beyond Borders
    • Autumn 2016: A Visit to Belarus
    • Bosnia-Herzegovina: After the meeting in Sarajevo
    • Bulgaria: 2010: Welcomed as long lost friends
    • Croatia: “Something that they want to share with others”
    • Czech Republic: Preparing “Vigils of Trust” in Prague, November 2012
    • Denmark: Visits in May 2010
    • Estonia 2012: Renewing trust
    • Hamina, City of Peace
    • Finland : A Chain of Friendship
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    • Germany, 2012: A visit to Cologne
    • France, All Saints 2016 : The testimony of refugees in Taizé
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    • Hungary: Accompanying the refugees
    • Hungary Octobre 2009: Meeting in Pécs, October 2009
    • Ireland: News from Ireland
    • Italy: March 2011: Prayers and visits
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    • Lithuania: Meeting in Vilnius in May 2009
    • Malta: “A silent cry that no one hears”
    • Moldova, February 2016: Come Back in the Spring!
    • Norway, Spring 2013: "We are truly one in Christ"
    • Pilgrimage of trust in Norway: Weekend meeting in Oslo and Trondheim
    • Sweden: Pilgrimage and apples
    • Taizé in Brussels: New paths of trust
    • Poland, October 2014: „Days of Communion” in Katowice
    • WYD 2016: Praying with the Songs of Taizé in Kraków
    • Portugal: Evening prayer in Porto
    • Romania, Easter 2016: Pilgrimage to Bucharest
      • Pilgrimage to Bucharest
      • Getting ready to take part
      • Celebrating Easter in Bucharest: Day by Day
      • Echoes from participants: To the Wellsprings of the Romanian Orthodox Tradition
      • Pictures from the Pilgrimage
    • Romania: Brother Alois’ visit in May 2008
    • Russia: Pilgrimage to a second springtime
    • Russia, Easter 2015: A Pilgrimage to Moscow, in the Light of the Resurrection
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      • Easter Celebrations in Taizé and Moscow
      • A Pilgrimage to Moscow
      • The pilgrimage to Moscow day by day
      • Pilgrimage to Moscow: Saturday 23 April
      • Pilgrimage to Moscow: Sunday 24 April
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      • Short film of the pilgrimage
      • Russia: Easter 2011: What did you experience in Moscow during the pilgrimage?
    • 2016: Continuing pilgrimage in Russia
    • Ljubljana, May 2012: A mosaic of encounters in the midst of the Slovenian springtime
    • Spain: Meeting in Seville: May 2009
    • Sweden 2016: Refugees, coffee and prayer
    • Sweden 2016: Prayer with Brother Alois in Lund
    • Istanbul, January 2013
      • Taizé and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
      • Pilgrimage, day by day
      • A word of welcome by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
      • Meditation by brother Alois
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      • Young People’s Impressions
    • Turkey: Prayers in Istanbul
    • UK: Birmingham 2017
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      • Birmingham 2017: Meeting Christ in the discarded
    • UK: Weekend in Edinburgh
      15-16 March 2014
    • Ukraine, October 2014: Faces of Hope
    • Ukraine, April 2015: An Eastertide Pilgrimage, between suffering and hope
    • Europe 2006 2007 2008
      • Austria: A journey through Austria
      • Bosnia-Herzegovina and Taizé
      • Denmark: “The great day of prayer"
      • Germany: In the North of Germany
      • In Greece and the Republic of Macedonia
      • Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina
      • In Latvia and Estonia: 2008
      • Russia: Brother Alois in Moscow in 2006
      • Russia: In Moscow in 2006: Taizé’s gratefulness for the Russian Orthodox Church
      • Russia: A visit in October 2006
      • Russia: A visit in November 2007
      • In Spain: 2008
      • Sweden: 2007 Meeting in Stockholm
      • Sweden: 2007 Stockholm meeting day by day
      • UK: 2006: Prayers in Bradford Cathedral and Westminster Abbey
      • Ukraine 2006: Just before the elections
  • Middle East
    • Lebanon 2019: International Ecumenical Youth Meeting in Beirut
    • 2017: Pilgrimage of Trust in Egypt
    • Egypt 2017: Taizé on Pilgrimage to Egypt with Coptic Christians
    • Egypt 2017: Pictures of the pilgrimage
    • 2017: A Christian-Muslim initiative of hope in northern Lebanon
    • A Jew’s prayer for the children of Gaza
    • Prayers in Jerusalem
    • Israël, Palestinian Territories, Lebanon: Journal of a pilgrim of trust
    • Lebanon 2013: Visit of a brother
    • Autumn 2015: Two Brothers in the Middle East
Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso
 

Visits and meetings

From March 12th to 29th, two brothers were on pilgrimage across Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo, where one of them comes from. Here are some extracts from their daily diary.

Benin

Our stay in Benin began at the large seminary of St Gall in Ouidah, a historic town known as a departure point for slaves. We had a long conversation with the rector and shared a meal with the seminarians and trainers, which allowed us to talk to a few of them. There are more than 150 seminarians from the second year of philosophy to the last year of theology, before ordination.

At Cotonou, the economic capital, we visited young people who had been to Taizé, to discover how they were living and to share the parish life. For the last three years it has become harder for young people from Benin to obtain a visa so as to come and take part in summer meetings at Taizé. We stayed in the centre where are found the diocesan office for work and chaplaincy of young people, just behind the parish church of St Michael, where there is intense activity. We prayed with twenty or so youth leaders, belonging to various groups from across the town – exams had prevented others from coming. They pray together regularly and also meet up to organise events which are requested of them across the diocese.

After Cotonou, our next stop in Benin was at Gbozounme. Here, the men and young people often work in the town and come back at weekends. On Sunday morning the 6 o’clock Mass is full of elderly men, women and children. Everything happens in the local language, Gon – marvellous rhythms sung with a whole troup of tiny children sitting on mats to the right of the altar. In the afternoon, we will have time to sing together. Straight away, at the end of Mass, the priest jumps on his motorbike to get to the next service in a series of communities, whilst the people form up around the church in little groups, to meet each other, to have instruction, and, for some, to prepare for baptism.

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At Parakou – 330 km north of Cotonou, in the centre of the country – a young priest who came to Taizé a few years ago has become the Diocesan Youth Chaplain. We prayed and talked about the Nairobi meeting with a whole team of young leaders from various groups and parishes in the diocese.

At Dassa-Zoumé we also visited the new president of the Methodist Church. He is still serving in the Methodist parish of the town; thanks to our visit he understood better the meaning of the pilgrimage of trust and assured us that the youth of that Church could take part in meetings at Taizé in during the summer. Awaited at Gouka, we arrived late in the evening and found the pastor, a few old folks and the choir waiting for us. The little chapel overflowed with songs and we were thus able to pray together joyfully (…)

Burkina Faso

In Burkina Faso, the “country of upright men”, we were welcomed at the Lavigerie Seminary of the White Fathers at Ouagadougou. From the first evening, we were able to meet with the thirty young “interns” from various countries, who are preparing to serve as missionaries: during the day, up to a hundred of them are in training. Early in the morning, we leave for Dori, 250 km to the north. On the way we are surprised by the village of Bani with its numerous mosques and a conical minaret. We arrive at Dori on market day: the “taxis” on donkey back indicate the rhythm of life. The parish comprises close to a thousand faithful. Almost all the thousand parishioners are “passing through”: most of them are civil servants who have been posted to Dori for two or three years in this region that is traditionally Peuhl, and therefore Muslim. We were able to visit three families of young people who came to Taizé last year. Father Juvénot, a Congolese priest who himself stayed at Taizé during his training, made this conversation possible – the great simplicity of the sharing touched us greatly since their living conditions are not easy.

In the evening, in the parish, we met for a time of prayer with a few young people who meet together regularly – with plenty of challenges to living their faith in this setting. The question returned: how to live more and more of Christ? After two days at Dori, we took to the road again towards Ouagadougou. On the way back, at midday it was over 42º C in the shade and numerous women, with children on their backs, were walking along the road with their tools to get to places where they know the earth contains gold dust. Not far from there, the multi-national mining companies do the same thing: open casting on a much bigger scale.

From Ouaga where we had spent the night, we left early in the morning for our next stopping place which would be in Togo. There is not a bus every day, so we had to take a bus that goes only to the Burkina-Togo frontier, then find another means of transport to get to a priest who was waiting for us in Kara.

Togo

The first Home of Charity in Africa is at Aledjo, where a priest friend, and a young person who came to Taizé in 2008, live in a tiny youth centre which is still in construction. Seven young people live in tiny round cabins. They have just cleared part of the fields and are building a hen house. In the evening a few youths and children from the parish welcomed us for a prayer together.

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At Atakpamé, the church has passed through so many trials that it was lovely to meet up again with a young bishop: a musician and guitarist …who, after one year of service is full of gratitude for the present and of hope and trust for the future.

On the Saturday, we were back at Lomé, in the parish of Notre Dame under the cross of Agbalépédogan. We were joint animators for a parish day of recollection: some 400 people of all ages came together for a morning prayer followed by a bible introduction in French and in Ewé about the love of God for us and our freedom; a bible text and the Letter from Kenya served as the starting point for reflection on the interior life and our involvements with and for other people. A very committed young man witnessed to his life as a thief before having a “meeting with Christ that bowled him over”. During the feedback of what had been shared in small groups, a child spoke so simply of the way of forgiveness that those listening gave spontaneous applause. The Way of the Cross went round the neighbourhood before coming back into the area around the church – the people smiling and freely kneeling, even on the dusty ground: these were real reminders of a way that follows Christ.

At the closing Mass joy shone on faces, gratitude for living a perceptibly strong time of communion. On the Sunday we were again at a children’s Mass in another parish: the children gave their all to the songs and at the end of the service we learned that they belonged to the aptly named choir – “the Friends of Jesus Children”!

Last updated: 28 April 2009

Daily Bible Reading

SUN, 17 February
Looking at his disciples, Jesus said: Happy are you who are poor, the kingdom of God is yours.
Luke 6:20-23
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