From its very origins, Spiritan spirituality has carried a profoundly Marian imprint. Poullart des Places intended Spiritan consecration to be inseparable from a special bond with Mary, the model of total docility to the Spirit.
Libermann was imbued with a deep conviction: God acts in life and in events through his Spirit. This discreet yet real presence gives sacred value to even the smallest details of existence. In every situation,…
The Spiritan is a man of community—not simply out of practical necessity, but because shared life is the lifeblood that sustains our spiritual and missionary identity. From the beginning, our founders understood that mission cannot…
Spiritan spirituality rests on a fundamental conviction: mission is born in prayer and fulfilled in service. These two dimensions respond to one another: prayer shapes the missionary’s heart, and service reveals the truth of that…
Across generations, a deep conviction has shaped our way of being: the Spiritan is one who is sent. This insight is woven into the very history of our origins. It is part of our spiritual…
In the light of our Founders, Spiritan poverty appears as an inner journey in which a person allows themselves to be shaped by God so as to become a source of apostolic life. It involves…
“Green Wenje” is an important environmental and ecological initiative designed to combat climate change, restore degraded landscapes, and improve community livelihoods. The project is led by Father José Martins Mandele, C.S.Sp, an Angolan Spiritan missionary…
Availability is one of the most consistent features of Spiritan spirituality. It is both openness to God and attentiveness to our brothers and sisters — an inner movement that runs through our history from Poullart…
Poullart des Places and Libermann each express, in their own way, this same understanding of docility to the Holy Spirit. For Poullart, it is expressed first and foremost as a trusting surrender to the divine…
The primacy of God is the foundation of Spiritan spirituality. It arises from an encounter: that of a heart which discovers that God has gone before it, that he loves it, that he calls it…
This novena seeks to help us welcome the Spirit’s work of renewing the grace of our vocation. May it become for each of us a time of visitation: may the Spirit surprise us, console us,…
D. Belmiro Cuica Chissengueti: as a Spiritan, it was a joy to help coordinate the Pope’s visit to Angola. Among those who greeted him at the conclusion of the meeting with missionaries was Father Bernard…
A momentous occasion for the country and for the Church. At a time when we hope to strengthen our Spiritan presence in Algeria, this visit encourages us in our apostolic mission, especially in the daily…
For us Spiritans, the Pope’s visit was a profound blessing and a renewed call to mission. Truly, “the Lord has been great with us, and we are filled with joy.” The theme of the visit,…
For us, Spiritan missionaries (C.S.Sp), these visits represent a call to rediscover our charism and the way we live out our mission, in the footsteps of Claude Poullart des Places and François Libermann. They invite…
On this 28th of February 2026, ninety years after his departure, we remember a missionary who was entirely devoted to the poorest of the poor and faithful to the intuition of the founders. His life,…
The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Teodoro Mendes Tavares, of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, as Bishop of the Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde (Cape Verde). He has until now served as Bishop…
On Wednesday, 29 October, the Church of Mauritius in general and the Spiritan family in particular were celebrating. And with good reason: Father Guy Simonet turned 100! A century of life, faith, service and passion…
For the 2nd consecutive year, the General Council has subscribed to the Institute of Anthropology of the Gregorian University of Rome (Italy) to participate in an online course on the Protection of Minors. This course…
The Vatican Press Office has announced the appointment of Fr. Pedro Alexandre Simões Gouveia Fernandes, C.S.Sp., of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans), as Bishop of the Diocese of Portalegre-Castelo Branco, Portugal.
The Vatican Press Office has announced the appointment of Rev. Fr. Frédéric Pierre Rossignol, C.S.Sp., of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans), as the new bishop of the Diocese of Tournai in Belgium.
From 16 to 26 September, six newly appointed Spiritan Superiors convened with the General Council for a time of fraternal exchange, formation, and shared discernment.
For the first time in Charleroi – Belgium, on the initiative of the Spiritans, six Religious Communities pray together in the same place for world peace
From June 22nd to July 5th, over 50 Spiritans, from around the world, including members of the General Council, elected delegates, and functionaries, gathered at Chevilly Larue, the former Senior Scholasticate of the French Province,…
The 2025 Enlarged General Council (EGC) gathered in Chevilly for a time of shared discernment, renewal, and recommitment to the Spiritan mission. After eight full days of presentations, prayer, and reflection, delegates undertook the important…
On the morning of 30th June, Philip Massawe and Justi Tarimo presented a compelling reflection on Formation which remains at the core of Spiritan missionary life, shaping confreres, communities and leaders led by the Spirit…
On Sunday, June 29th, the Feast of the two Apostles St Peter and St Paul, over 40 members of the Enlarged General Council, after an early breakfast at Chevilly Larue, boarded a coach at 6.50am…
On the morning of 28 June, Jeff Duaime presented a compelling reflection on Living Diversity and Interculturality, drawn from Chapter 7 of Bagamoyo. His presentation emphasized the urgent call to cultivate intercultural communities as a…
On Friday, 27 June, the Superior General, Fr. Alain Mayama presented report, guiding the delegates at the Enlarged General Council 2025 to revisit the foundational principles of leadership and governance in our Congregation, reflecting on…
On the morning of 25th June, the Enlarged General Council consecrated its reflection to a deepening of Spiritan Mission through two essential expressions: Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation and Development. The reports titled Animating…
The Congregation of the Holy Spirit, in its ongoing journey of discernment, formation, and missionary renewal, convenes its ninth Enlarged General Council (EGC)—a sacred moment in the life of the Congregation that brings together delegates…
While it may be argued that insecurity is not new in Nigeria, judging from the prolonged menace of the Boko Haram in North Eastern and other parts of Nigeria, the conflict between crop Farmers and…
For some years now, the Generalate community has held a garden party in the grounds of the house for friends and members of other congregations, in the past, around the time of Pentecost and, in…
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, 8 May 2025, making history as the first pope from the United States. At his first appearance as Pope, Leo XIV was dressed in…
In preparation for the forthcoming Enlarged General Council (EGC) 22 June – 5 July, the General Council (GC) hosted a zoom meeting for Delegates and functionaries on Thursday 15 May 2025. A total of 102…
On Saturday, 3 May 2025, the General Council organized a meeting at the Generalate in Rome with the Superiors General of female religious congregations founded by Spiritans or sharing our spirituality. This meeting which was…
Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, 21 April 2025, at the age of 88, in his Vatican residence, Casa Santa Marta. His death was officially announced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber,…
On Monday, 24th February 2025, the Generalate community received a visit from El Hadji Thierno Amadou Bâ (in the picture: front, in blue), the Khalif General of Bambilor and representative of the religious families of…
As part of her mission to advance Bagamoyo II:88, the General Council’s formation commission organized, and held a seminar on key elements of Spiritan spirituality for Anglophone Novice Masters and other Directors of Formation within…
On 5th October, Scholastics representing all Spiritan theology scholasticates gathered online in a webinar to commemorate together the life and spirit of Fr. Claude Francois Poullart des Places our founder, soon after his 315th Anniversary,…
On 4th April, our Confreres in Haiti informed us about the situation at Port-au-Prince, the Capital of Haiti, which was getting out of control and more specifically about the attack by armed bandits breaking into…
The General Council held the Meeting of New Spiritan Major Superiors from 17th to 27th September 2024, with 12 participants. The new superiors were from many different circumscriptions around the globe – Africa, Europe, North…
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Collegio San Paolo Following the intuition of our founders and in the spirit of Bagamoyo II, the General Council has responded favourably to a call from the Dicastery for Evangelization, section for the First Evangelization…
The Generalate community has held, for some years now, a garden party in the grounds of the house for friends and members of other congregations; in the past, around the time of Pentecost and in…
Eighteen Spiritan Bishops of various dioceses across the globe convened at the Generalate from 14th to 16th May 2024, responding to an invitation from the Superior General, Fr. Alain Mayama. We have already hosted a…
Dear confreres and friends, the situation in Port-au-Prince is getting out of control and we are more than ever the victims. Monday, 1st April 2024, at 5 p.m. local time, armed bandits broke into the…
On 4th February 2024, the Circumscription of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic celebrated 20 years of the Spiritan presence and mission in the Diocese of San Juan, Dominican Republic. Although the Spiritan community and…
The Meeting of Spiritan Provincial Superiors of the Union of European Circumscriptions (UCE) was held from Monday 22 to Friday 26 January 2024 at the Luther King Centre in Manchester, England. Among the participants were…
In 1923, the Congregation of the Holy Spirit was asked by the archdiocese of Paris to take over the management of the Orphelins Apprentis d’Auteuil foundation. The congregation appointed Fr. Daniel Brottier to manage and…
18 new Spiritan superiors met with the General Council from 18 September through 29 September. The last such two Meetings were held in March 2020 and September 2022 the former having concluded just two days…
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On Sunday, 14 May 2023, Mgr Oscar NGOY, CSSp. Bishop of the Diocese of Kongolo, celebrated in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Mary, the Solemn Mass of the opening of the diocesan investigation…
Saturday 29 April, 2023 was indeed an eventful day in Bagamoyo, Tanzania mainly because of the Silver Jubilee celebration of the existence of Marian Girls School built on the location of the former Marian freedom…
This year, towards the end of March 2023, the Superior General had applied for a papal audience to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the fusion of our Congregation in 1848 and on 3rd May we…
Kilimpe Garbicha, Superior of the Spiritans in Ethiopia, has just shared with us news of the catastrophic situation of the nomadic communities in the remote part of the country where the Spiritans have been working…
The celebrations of the tercentenary of the of the foundation of our congregation in 2003 brought together different groups working in the region of Latin America with a theme “the spiritan presence in Latin America.”…
Pope Francis landed in South Sudan, the youngest independent country, on the afternoon of 3 February. The trip had to be postponed because of his health problems, but Francis never thought of postponing this important…
Pope Francis has filled the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with courage before visiting South Sudan. At least, he wanted this and tried it with this bold and prophetic visit to sadly symbolic places, where…
Saint Pope John Paul II instituted the World Day of Consecrated life in 1996 to answer the intimate need to praise the Lord more solemnly and to thank him for the great gift of consecrated…
From 19th to 29th September 2022, the General Council held a meeting of 17 new Spiritan superiors. The last such Meeting was in March 2019 which had concluded just two days before the official announcement…
On October 2, 2022, the Superior General of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Rev. Fr. Alain Mayama, launched the process of animation of the Congregation, following the decisions of the General Chapter of…
Today, 11 May, the Holy Father appointed Rev. Fr. Toussaint Ngoma Foumanet, C.S.Sp., a member of the Province of Congo Brazzaville and Coordinator of the Union of Circumscriptions of Central Africa (UCSAC), as Bishop of…
On 16th April 2022, Dieudonné Cardinal Nzapalainga, Spiritan, was invited by the National Episcopal Conference of Congo to an international colloquium marking the 65th anniversary of the Catholic University of Congo (UCC), in which he…
On 4th April, the Holy Father appointed Rev. Fr. John Mbinda, C.S.Sp, a member of the Province of Kenya, Bishop of the Diocese of Lodwar, Kenya. Since Archbishop John Joseph McCarthy, the first Archbishop of…
Our confreres in Europe are being faithful to our Spiritan charism as they put themselves at the service of the refugees knowing that they are helping them to survive and sort out their lives.
Dear Spiritan brothers and sisters, Greetings from Bagamoyo! On October 3-24, 2021, more than 100 hundred professed and lay Spiritans gathered in Chapter on the beautiful coast of the Indian Ocean at the birthplace of…
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This article is also available in: Français Português
The General Chapter of the Spiritans, meeting in Bagamoyo, Tanzania since 3 October, has elected as General Assistant, on 21 October 2021, Fr. Jeffrey Duaime. Fr. Jeffrey Duaime is the Provincial Superior of the United…
The General Chapter of the Spiritans, meeting in Bagamoyo, Tanzania since 3 October, has elected as General Assistant, on 21 October 2021, Fr. Tony Neves. Fr. Tony Neves, from the province of Portugal, is currently…
The General Chapter of the Spiritans, meeting in Bagamoyo, Tanzania since 3 October, has elected as General Assistant, on 20 October 2021, Fr. Jude Nnorom. Fr. Jude Nnorom is a member of the province of…
The General Chapter of the Spiritans, meeting in Bagamoyo, Tanzania since 3 October, has elected as General Assistant, on 20 October 2021, Fr. Philip Massawe. Fr. Philip Massawe, is a member of the Province of…
The General Chapter of the Spiritans, taking place in Bagamoyo, Tanzania since October 3, has elected, on October 18, 2021, as its new Superior General, Fr. Alain Mayama, a member of the province of Congo…
Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Cardinal of Courage’
Information on the presentation of the ‘Positio’ regarding the virtues of our Founder, the Servant of God Claude François Poullart des Places On the 16th of November 2005, the Diocesan Enquiry carried out in…
Dear Confreres and Lay Spiritan Associates, Further to our previous message informing you of the sad and unexpected death of our confrere Fr. John Dimba on March 24th, I now wish to inform you of…
We have received with great sadness the news of the death of our confrere, Mgr. Sergio Eduardo Castriani, on March 3, 2021 at the hospital in Manaus (Amazonia, Brazil), aged 66 years. A Brazilian Spiritan,…
Dear Confreres and Lay Spiritan Associates, At its meeting on 15th February 2021, the General Council reviewed the current global situation in regard to the Covid-19 pandemic and decided regrettably to postpone the General Chapter…
Archbishop Benedito Roberto, C.S.Sp., left for the Father’s House. We have received the sad news that the Archbishop of Malanje, Angola, Mgr. Benedito Roberto, died at Malanje Hospital on the night of 8 November.…
On the occasion of the solemnity of All Saints, a special feast for the whole Church, I want through this newsflash to send you some news regarding the causes of our founders and Spiritan confrères:…
NEW DATES FOR THE XXI GENERAL CHAPTER Dear Confreres and Lay Spiritan Associates, Greetings from the generalate in Rome. I hope and pray that you, the members of your local community and of your family…
NEW BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF CAXITO – ANGOLA BISHOP MAURÍCIO AGOSTINHO CAMUTO On 15 June 2020, Pope Francis appointed, Fr. Maurício Agostinho Camuto, CSSp, as Bishop of the Diocese of Caxito (Angola). Father Camuto…
PENTECOST VIGIL 2020 Opening song In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen Alleluia. Christ is risen. R. Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia. This article is also available…
Come, Holy Spirit, and Renew the Face of the Earth (cf. Ps 104, 30) In the midst of winter, I discovered within me an invincible summer.” Albert Camus, the French philosopher, wrote these inspiring words…
Dear Confreres and Lay Spiritan Associates, At our meeting this morning, 15th April 2020, the General Council decided to postpone the 21st General Chapter of the Congregation indefinitely in the light of the uncertainty created…
Dear Confreres and Lay Spiritan Associates, In a short few weeks our lives have been changed in ways that we could never have imagined. What began as an isolated viral outbreak in a distant part…
The current coronavirus pandemic has given rise to considerable uncertainty in regard to the feasibility of different events over the coming weeks and months. At the moment the General Council is maintaining the dates for…
From February 24th to March 6th, 18 new Spiritan superiors came from 13 countries, but one superior could not make it, because he was sick. After the warm and fraternal welcome of the new superiors,…
God of new beginnings, God of our founders and ancestors in the Faith, As we prepare for our forthcoming General Chapter in Lichen, Poland, we pray to you in gratitude for the charism we have…
VIVAT International is a Non-Governmental Organization which has a membership of 13 Catholic Religious Congregations, working in 120 countries for promotion of human rights through advocacy in international and local levels.
Chika Onyejiuwa works at AEFJN as Executive Secretary, in Brussels. He speaks on the side of the workshop that he animated, in October 2019, for the spiritan JPIC (Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation) meeting…
On Mission Sunday, 20th of October, 2019, the Superior General, Fr. John Fogarty, and all the members of the Generalate community welcomed our three bishop confreres who are participating in the Pan-Amazon Synod: D. Altevir…
Final Message. The International Meeting of Spiritan Formators (IMSF) was held in Dakar from 25 June to 4 July 2019. It was organized by the General Council of Spiritans in preparation for the General Chapter…
As part of the final phase of its Animation Plan, the general council asked the Center for Spiritan Studies, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh (CSS) to organize an essay competition on Spiritan Mission Today among professed Spiritans…
Dakar welcomed with open arms and heart the Spiritan Formators coming from the four corners of the earth: 32 in all, accompanied by the Superior General and four members of the Generalate, the Provincial and…
At the end of the ad limina visit to the Vatican, the Bishops of Angola went to the Generalate of the Spiritan Missionaries in Rome this Saturday, to visit John Fogarty, as well as all…
Documentary by Fr. Jean-Yves Urfié on the European Congress of the Spiritan Lay Associates, in Portugal, last April.
Letter from the Superior General on the occasion of the Fest of Pentecost. “May the coming of the Spirit this Pentecost renew our hope, our confidence and our courage in the midst of the difficulties…
Of note at this forum is the youthfulness of most of the participants with a good representation from sub-Saharan Africa, many of whom are recent arrivals at their places of mission. This highlights the importance…
The General Council in collaboration with the Spiritan Conference of circumscriptions of Africa and the Islands (SCCAI) are hosting a Spiritan Inter-religious forum (IRD) in Zanzibar, Tanzania – 3 to 9 December 2018.
The general council announces an essay competition for all Spiritans in formation on “The Challenges and Future of Spiritan Mission”
A series of short documentaries about the Spiritans in USA, produced by Fr. Jean-Michel Gelmetti and edited by Dr. Dennis Woytek.
On June 2, 2018, the Spiritans in Taiwan gathered with their friends and co-workers to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost which is also the Feast of the Congregation.
Fr. Marc Whelan, Provincial of Ireland, explains the reasons behind the meeting held in Rome (June 1-2, 2018).
Sunday the 20th of may, the Spiritans in Rome and their guests celebrated the feast of Pentecost. It’s the anniversary of their foundation, in 1703. The celebration was presided by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican’s Secretary…
On Pentecost day, Cardinal Arinze was among us at the General House of the Spiritans in Rome. He was interviewed by Fr. Bede Ukwuije, First Assistant to the Superior General.
On Monday, May 14, 2018, Father Reynold Joseph, a Haitian Spiritan, parish priest of Bocozelle was the victim of a bandit attack in the town of Cabaret, around three in the afternoon.
The Archbishop of Owerri has given us an interview on May 9, 2018. He speaks about the contribution of the Spiritans to the history of the Church in his country, and about the meaning of…
Fr. John Dimba was born in Mozambique in 1969. During the civil war, like millions of other people, had to flee the country. It was in a refugee camp that he met the spiritans and…
Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, has informed our Superior General, Fr. John Fogarty, that Pope Francis has decided to put an end to the status of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon as a Vicariate Apostolic. From…
Orlando Zanovelli, Postulator General to the Congregation for the Cause of Saints at the Vatican, gives us some updates on the Causes of our Funders and other members of the congregation.
Mgr Gabriel Mendy CSSp has been ordained Bishop of Banjul
On 2 February 2018, as in all other Spiritan communities, the Generalate House celebrated the anniversary of Fr. François Libermann’s death.
The Spiritan Family in Latin America had the 13th “Encontrão” (Big meeting), from the 30th of January to the 3rd of February in Ypacarai, Paraguay.
Talk by Fr. John McFadden, Superior of the General House in Rome, on the 2nd of February 2018.
In December 2017, Jude Nnorom the coordinator of our Spiritan JPIC desk in Rome visited Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania, home to over 140 thousand refugees, from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries…
Bishop Ludwig Herbst, Spiritan Bishop, died in Cruzeiro do Sul on the 31st of December 2017. He was the titular bishop of Cruzeiro do Sul, in Brazil, from 1979 to 2000.
Spiritans returned to India in 2009 for several reasons, the pioneer being Fr. Gabriel Myotte Duquet of the French Province.
The Spiritan presence dates from December 1977. From that time to now 25 Spiritans from 7 different countries have lived and worked here.
Our Spiritan mission in Vietnam arose out of a number of circumstances: the presence of vietnamese confreres in the US Province, the interest shown by a local group of religious in Vietnam to join our…
On 12 December 1977, feastday of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, Patroness of the Philippines, four Spiritans from four different continents, landed in this country. They based themselves in Iligan, in northern Mindanao. There, they began…
Formal opening of the Enlarged General Council on 22nd June 2025 by Fr. Alain Mayama, Superior General
2017 marks 20 years of Spiritan presence in Taiwan.
The 150th anniversary of the Spiritan presence in Portugal was an occasion to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion and to look at the future with hope. “Joyful in hope”…
On 30 November 2017, Pope Francis appointed Fr. Gabriel Mendy CSSp to succeed Mgr Robert P. Ellison as Bishop of Banjul (Gambia).
The golden jubilee of Spiritans mission in Paraguay was the occasion for the group to launch a website
Short video presentation about the Spiritans in Paraguay, in Spanish.
In 200 years, more than 260 Spiritan priest or brothers, whether natives or coming from more than 80 dioceses in France and 15 other countries, have worked in Reunion for some years or for all their lives.
The Spiritans, celebrating 100 years of presence in the State of Acre, in Brazil, are honoured by the local authorities.
The bishops of Paraguay are in Rome to their visit “ad limina”. Among them is Mgr Pierre Jubinville, a canadian spiritan, bishop of San Pedro (Paraguay). He answers the questions of Fr. Jean-Yves Urfié.
The Spiritans in Paraguay celebrated 50 years of presence and mission in that South-American Country.
Cardinal Souraphiel, archbishop of Addis Abeba (Ethiopia), visits the General Council of the Spiritans, and is interviewed by Fr. Jean-Yves Urfié, CSSp.
The Spiritans in Portugal have just published a new issue of “Missão Espiritana” dedicated to the late Fr. José Manuel Sabença.
Fr. William Doctor, Superior of the Spiritans in Central Africa, talked to KTOTV and shared about the dramatic fate of the forgotten victims of the crisis in the Country.
The new spiritan superiors met in Rome to prepare themselves for their new leadership role.
Pope Francis has appointed the Spiritan Fr. Altevir da Silva as Bishop of Cametá, in the Brazilian state of Pará. Fr. Altevir is the Superior of the Spiritan Province of Brazil.
Spiritan Superiors and formators from Africa and the Islands together with representatives from the Generalate in Rome, met for their bi-annual meeting from 22nd until the 27th August 2017, in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
The Rome Committee of the Center for Spiritan Studies met at Chevilly, France from july 18 to 20
At the last Enlarged General Council, Fr. Pat Palmer presented the history of Spiritan presence and mission in Asia and particularly in Vietnam and India. We have collected his testimony.
Over the past two years we have reflected together on our Spiritan Mission and, hopefully, each circumscription has been able to assess its missionary engagements and specified its missionary orientations in fidelity to our charism…
26th June 2016, the Spiritans celebrated the 50th anniversary of presence in Clivo di Cinna.
‘‘Called to grow as evangelizers’’ is the slogan chosen by the province to celebrate the jubilee of 150 years of the missionary presence of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit in Angola.
For the past couple of years the General Council and the two Spiritan Communities in Italy, (Torino and Palmarola), have been engaged in a process of reflection and discernment regarding the status and the future…
Throughout 1851, Fr. Libermann exchanged a series of letters with Mgr. Kobès, coadjutor to the Vicar Apostolic of the Two Guineas (Mgr. Bessieux). Three months before he died, Libermann wrote a long letter that can…
Libermann exhorted us to practice charity at all times, to identify with those we serve and value peace, solidarity, justice, and freedom, which find their fulfillment in Jesus. His writings bring to life the principles…
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