BELLMAWR – With the theme “Living and Proclaiming Hope,” nearly 250 faithful from various ecclesial movements in the Diocese of Camden recently gathered to participate in the Diocesan Encounter of Ecclesial Movements.
The evening included moments of praise and worship, formative teachings, testimonies of transformed life and Eucharistic Adoration.
The encounter, celebrated in Spanish on June 14 at Saint Joachim Parish, was part of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, proclaimed by the Church as a special time of grace and spiritual renewal. In this context, the Diocese wanted to give visibility and strength to the work being done by the ecclesial movements, highlighting their key role in evangelization and in the growth of living communities within the Church, organizers said.
PHOTO GALLERY: Diocesan Encounter of Ecclesial Movements
“We are instruments to bring the Gospel to others, but we are not the only ones,” said Julio Diaz, a parishioner of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Camden, and coordinator of the John XXIII Movement in the Diocese of Camden. “If others want to live the faith in another way, with other charisms, we must support them,” he said. “The important thing is that we all walk with Jesus. Although we may be different, we form one body, and Christ is our head. This is what the Church is: diversity in communion.”
In early June, Pope Leo XIV addressed key international leaders of lay associations and charismatic movements who gathered in Rome, extending two key invitations: unity and mission.
“[These] are two essential aspects of the Church’s life and two priorities of the Petrine ministry,” the pope said. “For this reason, I ask all ecclesial associations and movements to cooperate faithfully and generously with the pope, above all in these two areas.”
Among those to participate was Andrés Arango, director of evangelization and the bishop’s delegate for Hispanic Ministry for the Diocese of Camden. He said he returned from that encounter energized in the Holy Spirit.
“I experienced a deep movement of the Holy Spirit that confirmed what so many in the Church are sensing: God is preparing a global revival – and the Catholic Church is called to be at its very center,” he said upon his return.
As such, the Diocesan Encounter of Ecclesial Movements on June 14 was more than an activity: It was a living sign that the Church is united in its diversity, guided by the Holy Spirit and enkindled by hope, organizers said.
“The ecclesial movement has been a profoundly beautiful experience,” said Sofia Casca, Eucharistic Adoration of Families coordinator at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish, Newfield. She gave her testimony on behalf of the Emmaus.
She invited those in attendance to open the door to the Holy Spirit, to allow Him to guide, comfort and transform all. “When we allow God to act in us, change is not only felt, it is lived and shared.”
Arango expressed joy of seeing the Diocese’s ecclesial movements come together. “It was a great sign that demonstrated the unity of the movements. They went out with a new impulse of the Holy Spirit to bring the presence of Jesus to so many in need in our Diocese of Camden.”
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