"Epiphany, time for sharing"

January 2022, Bulletin no. 10 of the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood has been released under the theme "Epiphany, time for sharing" on its cover. The theme is described by Efrain Salazar Colmenarez, of the Archdiocese of Bucaramanga (Colombia), who writes "The Epiphany and the Society of Missionary Childhood are an invitation that urges us, with the strength of faith, to share, since we are reminded that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life" (Jn 3:16) and concludes: "As a Church  that goes forth, and with the impulse and the testimony of Missionary Childhood and Adolescence (IAM), we encourage children and adolescents, like the three wise men, to share their own and innate characteristics of childhood with the Church and society, so that they do not go unnoticed, but on the contrary help the rest of the community, with their relationships of friendship, joy, spontaneity, imagination - dreams, curiosity, innocence - transparency, nobility, etc…". 

On the subject, in the article "The light of the child Jesus shines on our children in Laos and Cambodia", also Fr. Paul Chatsirey Roeung, National Director PP.OO.MM. Laos and Cambodia highlighted: "We have many challenges when our countries open up to receive all the new opportunities for developing countries. Children, especially in the city, know how to watch Youtube or Facebook on their mobile. Who will that star be to lead them to meet Jesus who awaits them in the silent manger ... This is the challenge of missionary work for the future of the local Church. We have very few Catholic schools in Cambodia and we cannot run any private school in Laos without the permission of the authority. But local churches never give up on their mission of being the star to bring children close to Jesus. There are nearly fifty church-run kindergartens in Cambodia and the same in Laos. We are grateful to the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood which supports children in various ways. We can say that the universal church is the strength of the local church to be that "star" that shines on those children and makes them meet Jesus in the kindergartens of the church and in many educational programs". 

2022 is a year full of significant anniversaries: 200 years since the birth of the first Society, the Propagation of the Faith, founded by Pauline Jaricot who will be beatified on May 22 in Lyon; 100 years of the title of Pontifical for the first three Societies: the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood, and the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle for the formation of indigenous clergy in mission territories; 150 years since the birth of Blessed Paolo Manna, founder of the Missionary Union. Sr. Roberta Tremarelli, Secretary General of the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood writes in her editorial: "We give thanks to the Lord for what the Pontifical Mission Societies have been able to accomplish in favor of evangelization and missions over the years, with the collaboration of many Christians and in particular with the contribution of so many children and young people who in every part of the world have allowed themselves to be involved by the example of Jesus and becoming a brother to everyone". Sister Roberta, in recalling the decision of Pope Pius XII to call a Day of Holy Childhood without tying it to a fixed date, underlines "I also believe that the difference in dates gives us the possibility to better live the universality, diversity and belonging in their beauty and uniqueness. And this is also one of the aims of the Bulletin, to share the reality of the universal Church, with the hearts, eyes and experiences of children, to make Jesus, the Gospel known and also to promote the charism and spirituality of the Society of the Holy Childhood and the Pontifical Mission Societies". 

Among the other topics covered in the Bulletin: the voice of children from the national Directions of Paraguay, Poland, India, Chile; news from the dioceses: Chad, Indonesia, Niger, Mozambique, Benin, Syria, Guinea Bissau; Little missionaries… in Korea; between the lines ... from the projects: the "street" pastoral care office and helping children to learn to live together and to bear witness to Christ among their peers.