Last year, the International Leading Team (ERI) entrusted two Teams that had been established in Romania a few years ago to the Italy Super-Region.
On February 3, 2017, we flew to Transylvania, to Cluj Napoca, where we were welcomed with warmth and enthusiasm by local Team members and where we discovered young and dynamic Teams that were expanding.
The Movement in Cluj was launched by Cristina and Calin Sechelea, a couple who, having got to know the Teams in Austria during their studies, moved to Romania and created the first Team, following a request from a few couples, who were looking for a proposition for married couples. During this time, Calin became a priest (possible for Eastern Orthodox Christians of the Byzantine Rite) and in his Team, he became the Spiritual Counsellor, as well as continuing to participate as an ordinary Team member with his wife. After a short while, they piloted a second Team in Cluj and now a third Team is being piloted in a village close by.
Furthermore, two couples are currently running the Tandem programme for two Teams in Cluj and we believe that soon a new Team of Our Lady will emerge from this experience. The Team members do not all belong to the Byzantine Rite (some are Roman Catholics, others are Orthodox), but these differences are not treated as a problem in a town where different religions live side by side.
On our visit, we noticed a great interest in the Movement and an availability to participate in events organised on the international level: we suggested that they participate in the Italian National Session for Spiritual Counsellors and in the International Gathering in Fatima in 2018. Soon the Cluj Team members will begin to receive the Teams of Our Lady Letter from the Italy Super-Region, given that our language is sufficiently understood there. It will undoubtedly be useful to translate some of the Movement’s documents that will be used for further expansion and piloting.
While there, we were lucky enough to participate in a meeting of priests, coordinated by Cristina and Calin Sechelea and held in a town in the centre of Transylvania. This group of priests and their families meet in turns in the different parishes, where after the prayer moment, they share a meal and celebrate a mass “in the Team style.” During each meeting, they study a topic in particular and during our encounter, we talked about prayer. We shared with them our experience of married, family and Team prayer.
Our visit to the Cluj Teams ended on a Sunday after a lunch, during which we were able to explain and expand upon a few specific arguments concerning the method and the organisation of the Movement.
Teresa & Gianni Andreoli
Responsible Couple for Italy Super-Region
