Introduction: God, the One Who Accompanies 7
When the witness of the saints inspire new legacies of holiness, accom-
paniment even occurs across centuries. After reading St. Teresa of Avila’s
autobiography written around 1567, St. Edith Stein converted to Catholi-
cism in 1922, inspired by the witness of the life of her spiritual sister in Car-
mel. Even today, countless Catholics, both young and old, are emboldened
by the lives of holy women and men throughout the Church’s history. The
faithful imitate their witness through their contemporary lives and voca-
tions and are sustained by their prayers.
Though the shape of this apostolate has taken different forms according
to the historical and cultural situation of the faithful, accompaniment has
always been found in the Church. These ways fundamentally include a re-
lationship that leads to transformation in Christ through the sharing of the
journey of life, the interpretation and illumination of human experience,
and an embodied witness to imitate. Now, the Holy Spirit again breathes
life into the Church through a new iteration of this charism that reminds
the people of God:
He is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you. However
far you may wander, he is always there, the Risen One. He calls
you and he waits for you to return to him and start over again.
When you feel you are growing old out of sorrow, resentment
or fear, doubt or failure, he will always be there to restore your
strength and your hope. (Christus Vivit, 2)
Where are we currently?
Currently, the Holy Spirit has again inspired the Church’s contempla-
tion of the sacred space of relationship as a means of evangelization and
formation for present-day Catholics. The pontificate of Pope Francis and a
renewed focus on ministry to young people have prompted the Church to
turn to her tradition of holy friendship and sacred relationship for inspira-
tion; this tradition manifests itself today as spiritual accompaniment. Spir-
itual accompaniment affirms that “It is not good for the man to be alone”
(Gen 2:18), providing a living affirmation of the nature of humanity as “a
social being, and unless he relates himself to others he can neither live nor
develop his potential” (Gaudium et Spes, I.12). In the apostolate of spiritu-
al accompaniment, the communal nature of the Church is made present,