EMMANUEL COMMUNITY
It is a Catholic International Community that gathers faithful individuals sharing a common call to strive for holiness and actively live out their faith in their daily lives. Inspired by the example of the early believers who were of "only one heart and one soul" (Acts 4:32), members of this community commit themselves to the principles of adoration, compassion, and evangelization. Founded in 1972 within the context of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, the Community originated with a prayer meeting in Paris, France spearheaded by Pierre Goursat and Martine Laffitte-Catta. Since then, it has rapidly grown, spreading not only throughout France but also across the globe. Recognized by the Holy See in 1992, the Emmanuel Community gathers individuals from diverse vocations, including priests, consecrated men and women, families, and single individuals. It embodies the spirit of the ecclesiology of communion encouraged by the Second Vatican Council. In response to the call for new evangelization and living the complementarity of the states of life, the Clerical Association of the Emmanuel Community was established in 2017, uniting priests and deacons in indissoluble connection with the Public Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right for the common good of the Catholic Church. Today, the Emmanuel Community is an active presence in 60 countries, touching the lives of several hundred thousand people annually through its apostolic activities.
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Charism
The members of the Emmanuel Community have experienced a personal encounter with Christ which has given rise to a desire to walk with Him towards holiness by allowing themselves to be led by the Holy Spirit. From this encounter, often called the “outpouring of the Holy Spirit” in the Charismatic Renewal, they have received a call to move forward together, in the communion of states of life, whether they are single, married, priests, or consecrated sisters or brothers.The presence of all states of life is constitutive of the call of the Emmanuel Community. It is essential both for evangelization and for sanctification. It is a gift of God to be able to respond together and in the Church to His call, listening to the Holy Spirit, in adoration, brotherly love, and praise.Following Emmanuel, “God with us,” the Community members live where God has placed them, in their family, professional and social environment. They commit themselves fully to society, serving it to the best of their ability. Thus placed at the heart of the world, they desire to live as authentic witnesses of Christ, in the world, without being “of the world” (Jn 17:14).“The deep grace of the Community comes from the Eucharistic Adoration of God present in our midst: EMMANUEL. From this Adoration comes compassion for all those who are starving, materially and spiritually. From this compassion is born the thirst to evangelize in the whole world and especially the poorest”. The members of the Community are called to be witnesses of the Mercy which springs from the pierced Heart of Christ, according to the message of Paray le Monial: “Here is this Heart which so loved men”. The preamble to the Statutes of the Community.
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Members of the Community have been present and evangelizing in the MDV area since 1999. This evangelizing has been and continues to be within local parish life and at various events that the Community is able to offer to the faithful. As a mulit-cultural group of members currently hailing from Europe or Africa as well as Americans, we meet weekly for small group prayer (households) and monthly for a time of prayer, formation and fellowship.
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