In Paris, 15,000 young Europeans gathered for the Taizé meeting
We prayed at Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette in the 15th arrondissement this morning, we will pray at the Sacré-Cœur in the 18th this afternoon and we will pray at Créteil Cathedral this evening. The thermometer may indicate 0°C, but Gautier Eich is not afraid to explore Île-de-France in all directions. For five days, the 28-year-old young man supervises a group arriving from Alsace to attend the Taizé European Meeting in Paris. Between December 28 and January 1, this ecumenical community invited young people aged 18 to 35 to come together for “a pilgrimage of trust on Earth”. Every year for forty-seven years, a European city has hosted this meeting.
This time, there are nearly 15,000, notably from Poland, Germany and Ukraine. Gautier is experienced: he has already participated in six editions, the last of which was in Estonia, a country with an Orthodox majority. “For me, meeting Christians of other faiths is a path to meeting God,” he explains.
Diversity and unity
Participants are housed with volunteer families. The same morning, with around fifty young people and the faithful of the parish of Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, Gautier participated in an initial time of prayer and sharing: “The biblical texts resonate differently depending on our origin. It’s not the same to be a Christian in Poland and in France.” The prayer is punctuated by the songs of Taizé, refrains in several languages inspired by liturgical texts.
The community of Taizé – named after the village of Saône-et-Loire where it was founded – lives under the sign of diversity and unity: first a small Protestant community in a Catholic village, it welcomed Jewish refugees in 1940 then German prisoners in 1944. Having become ecumenical, it launched its first youth meeting in 1978, in the midst of European construction.
Gautier brings Catholics, Protestants, and also young people far from the Church into his group. Two vigils bring together participants for a time of prayer. For the Strasbourg resident, “forming friendships with young Europeans is something very strong. We share the same questions, the same desire to work for peace. With these meetings, I act beyond my own life.”
