The International Community of the Congregation of the Mission in Kharkiv, Vice-Province of Saint Cyril and Methodius, organized the 10thNational Pilgrimage of IMCS from 26-28 April 2019. This is the apostolate of the vice-province with the foreign students from Africa and Asia in Ukraine. It is comprised of medical and engineering students in about 15 cities of Ukraine. The cities include: Kiev, Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Dnipro, Chernivsti, Uzhorod, Lviv, Odesa, Zaporizhie, Vinitsa, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Nikolaiv, and Kirovograd. The confreres, Jan Martinček, Anthony Ekpunobi, and Sherin Dominic are involved in this apostolate. Jan Martinček serves as the leader of the team and National Coordinator of IMCS, while Anthony and Sherin travel to these cities as Spiritual Directors. In attendance were 350 students. This is the biggest number in the history of the movement in Ukraine.
The 10thNational Pilgrimage had for theme, Marriage and Family Life. The choice of the theme was due to the contemporary secular attack on family values and the fact that the graduating students are formed to embrace the family values of the Church. The fear that grips the students upon graduation, coupled with the confusion associated with it, has become a challenge to the apostolate. They grapple with the fact that a new phase of life begins after graduation. The confreres thought it wise to devote the 10thpilgrimage to address this critical issue. The National Coordinator invited an expert in the person of Claz Gomez, from the United Kingdom. Claz is a Life Coach, Registered Change Management Practioner and Holistic Therapist, based in Brentford, United Kingdom.
Claz treated the theme from a completely Catholic tradition. She cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church(CCC) and Saint Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. She also used her personal experience as an individual and the resources from her work experience to launch the students into the reality of the beautiful human body, love relationships, and marriage. With her clear understanding of the passion of youthfulness among her audience, she merged everything in the mood of prayer in order to remind the young students of the power of God to heal wounds of youth and to save.
The diversity of cultures that comprise the students of IMCS is something that strikes every guest speaker at the National Pilgrimage. Asia and Africa are brought together as one family. French translators are always available among the Cameroonian students in order to carry the Francophone students along. This is a bigger picture of the internationality that flows from the confreres involved in this apostolate. Europe, Asia, and Africa overcome the challenge of language and culture. The students are placed into three groups – English-African, French-African and English-Asian. This form of organization promotes integration and a sense of belonging among the students. The confreres work toward the goal of establishing a community of students. The students are able to integrate into the programs not because they are culturally neutral, but because they are culturally inclusive.
The social session of the National Pilgrimage gives a clear picture of what unity in diversity truly means. In the same choir, students from Asian and Africa sing Catholic songs that spell out the common human heritage of the gospel. It is amazing to witness an Indian student singing African songs with ease and vice versa. The cultural dance presentation makes room for cultural contact that tells the story of diverse human cultures. It is also a moment of interaction, for they make new friends in order to visit each other during the summer holidays.
Feeding the 350 students has its own challenges. At the planning of the 10thNational Pilgrimage, the students decided among themselves what to eat! The host city, Kharkiv, handled everything about the planning and organization of the pilgrimage. The African-English group handled the cooking; the Asian-English group handled the cleaning; while the African-French group handled the registration and accommodation of students from other cities who were housed in the pastoral center of the parish. It was a memorable moment for everyone.
The challenge for the Congregation is to promote the international community as a mission toward one goal. The IMCS has given the confreres in Kharkiv a common goal and voice amid the diversity of cultures.
Fr, Anthony Ekpunobi, CM
Kharkiv, Ukraine.
