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European Council for Lay Dominican FraternitiesEuropischer Rat der Dominikanischen LaiengemeinschaftenConseil Europen des Fraternits Laques Dominicaines -

Dear friends,

The ECDLF European Council of Lay Dominican Fraternities as the lay branch of the Order of

Preachers, representing almost 9,000 lay Dominicans in 26 countries in Europe, sends its greetings

to all the participants and the organization team of the World Meeting of the International

Dominican Youth Movement (IDYM) and prays for the work of this important meeting to be

fruitful and successful.

We are all members of the Dominican Family, so we all share the same dream and hope as St.

Dominic: preaching the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. All the branches of this large family are

enthusiastic supporters of IDYM, as an organization that makes us all more complete, ensuring that

the Dominican Family covers all ranges of age, social status, profession and religious vocation. This

movement plays a very important role in our common mission: to be a living presence and

testimony among the young, in families, parishes, groups and movements, making an important

contribution to the Holy Word being known by an ever larger number of people. We are not just

individuals, but members of a family. And like all human families, the Dominican Family needs to be

complete with different vocations, ways of working and ways of looking and understanding our

world. So, the youngest are most important, with their fresh vision, their presence among those whoare far away from the Church or, as is increasingly common today, especially on our European

continent, those who have never heard the name and the Word of Jesus or know very little about it.

This is why the topic of your assembly in Ftima is so well-chosen: " Young adults: searching and

preaching in the Dominican way". We are sure that you will discover the great joy to be part of this

preaching mission that St. Dominic dreamt as an urgent need for the Church in his time and which

is still so necessary today, not only an activity but as a vocation for life, not only as a youth

movement, but as members of the Dominican Family, with our friars, nuns, lay people and

apostolic sisters.

Through the intercession of St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena, we pray that all the members

of the Dominican Family, especially those who will be present in Ftima, may grow in their

vocation as preachers.

Yours in St. Dominic,

Gabriel Silva, Anja Andersen, Bndicte Van Damme, Jean-Michel Solente and Anne-Marie Lee