Helmut Schift CLC SwitzerlandEurolink Meeting Hungary 2010 T1 Italy Austria France Germany CLC Switzerland on the Map Biel/Bienne Zürich Chur Luzern Bern Gümligen Basel 80 „members“ 5 formal CLC commitment Lausanne

Helmut Schift CLC SwitzerlandEurolink Meeting Hungary 2010 T2 CLC ExCo in Switzerland Susanne Brand (secretary) Dorothee Fischer (Euro-link) Christoph Albrecht SJ (ecclesiastical assistant) Bernadette Seeholzer (coordination)Martina Fäh (president) Missing: Lisbeth Ineichen (co-opted member)

Helmut Schift CLC SwitzerlandEurolink Meeting Hungary 2010 T3 Plenary meeting – March 2010

Helmut Schift CLC SwitzerlandEurolink Meeting Hungary 2010 T4 Meeting of group coordinators – Sept. 2010

Helmut Schift CLC SwitzerlandEurolink Meeting Hungary 2010 T5 Making CLC visible in Switzerland Ways of disseminations We posted this poster in churches and retreat houses We maintain and update our website, which was the point of contact to us for some new members We set-up a course on ignatian spirituality (3 meetings) open for people who are not closely linked to the church (low interest and problem how to reach them)

Helmut Schift CLC SwitzerlandEurolink Meeting Hungary 2010 T6 Twinning with Congo (Lubumbashi) Aim: Exchange: How do we live in Switzerland / Congo feeling as a world community  Concrete projects find support by Swiss CLC community members  Contacts only between single persons / big technical communication problems ● We support with finances a project from a CLC group in Lumbumbashi helping girls to have a better school formation ● We are in the process to discern if we send one oder two members of CLC Switzerland for a visit in Congo in January 2012 CLC initiatives in Switzerland

Helmut Schift CLC SwitzerlandEurolink Meeting Hungary 2010 T7 CLC initiatives in Switzerland Spiritual exercises for families/parents with small children Often difficult with small children because of constraints in time and budget We decided to continue this successful project (exists since 12 years in cooperation with child care/program) CLC Switzerland will take over the complete organisation, the spiritual lead and the financial support for the 7 day retreat (until now the organization was done by a retreat house)

Helmut Schift CLC SwitzerlandEurolink Meeting Hungary 2010 T8 CLC initiatives in Switzerland The special oecumenical perspective Some CLC group members are from the protestant churches (protestant/reformed/mennonite) Oecumenical exchange becomes the „normal case“ in Switzerland. There are more and more married couples from different denominations – in church and in CLC groups Exercises in daily life are offered as oecumenical project (by CLC members) – currently running in Biel/Bienne in a protestant church (the Jesuits have been banned from Switzerland until 1973)

Helmut Schift CLC SwitzerlandEurolink Meeting Hungary 2010 T9 CLC initiatives in Switzerland Contact with the poor in our society: Once a year at our December (Advent) meeting we visit a social „hot spot“ (trouble area) as a community 2009 Visit a sub-district in Zurich connected with prostitution, meeting with a social worker who works with prostitutes 2010 Meeting with poor immigrants in Basel for dinner on their Sunday meeting point

Helmut Schift CLC SwitzerlandEurolink Meeting Hungary 2010 T10 For the future: a common apostolic project?! Our ecclesiastical assistant is currently starting a „Warming room for refused asylum seekers “ in Basel (daily open 9-19 h) within the framework of JRS Switzerland CLC members and other volonteers are asked to work there