Henk Baars is a member of EN-RE's Dutch member group Marienburg Vereniging
Strasbourg 28 October-31 October 2019 Council of Europe
We're staying at the Oblates of Maria Immaculata. Looks like a seventies building, but it's a bit worn out and they are going to build something new in their backyard and demolish this building. In the course of the week I do get the impression that this is the right decision. The building is populated by 80 plus Oblates and is no longer well maintained. Some of them speak English and one of them looks a lot like the present pope. He knows that and we laugh about it regularly. But we don't have to kneel before him yet. The fathers live very simply, their interior design is that of extremely austere celibates. Some of them still volunteer in the city, but the health of some of them is very fragile. There are also some African priests who study theology in Strasbourg. We, Hugo Castelli and I, sleep in rooms at the top of the building. We have a whole floor to ourselves.
Hugo is the Spanish co-representative of the INGO that we represent, the European Network Church on the Move, EN-RE. A critical Catholic network of which the Marienburg Association has been a member for many years. We obtained the NGO status associated with the Council of Europe. Yet there are also members of Andante who