Taizé Global Meeting for South Africa

South Africa will welcome several thousand young people next year for an international Taizé pilgrimage of hope, peace and trust.

Local young adults aged 18 to 35 will be joined by others from Africa and abroad in Cape Town from September 25 to 29 for the  Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth organised by the Taizé Community.

The ecumenical monastic Community was founded in the small village of Taizé, France, by Swiss Christian Br Roger Schütz, known as Br Roger, in 1940. Today the Community comprises one hundred Brothers from more than 25 different countries.

Br Roger, who died in 2005, devoted his life to reconciling all Christian denominations, and focused his work on youth.

The Cape Town Taizé pilgrimage, which will help young people in their search for God, will encourage them to have a profound trust in themselves and in others.

They will be invited to be attentive to the signs and people of hope present around them, and encouraged to take up responsibilities to become bearers of peace and trust in churches and in society.

Daily Programme

The daily programme will include common prayers, times of sharing in small groups, workshops on various themes (faith and life, cultural presentations), visiting and meeting people of hope in the neighbourhood, Bible readings, meditative singing, praying, being in silence, and sharing faith.

The morning programme will be in parishes/local churches, and from midday onwards at a common venue.

Participants will be accommodated in parishes and local communities. This personal welcome is an important aspect of the pilgrimage. The young people will be put up in families with simple means.

Every day a shuttle bus service (and/or train) will bring those attending from local parishes to the common venue at midday, and take them back after prayers in the evening.

Attending the Cape Town meeting involves full participation and preparation in advance.

The Taizé Community has organised meetings with local churches each year, in cities such as Johannesburg (1995), Calcutta (2006), Cochabamba, Bolivia (2007), Nairobi (2008), Santiago, Chile (2010), Berlin (2011), Kigali, Rwanda (2012), and Basel (2017).

All young people who participate in Taizé meetings are called to be witnesses of peace wherever they live, in their local communities, cities, and churches.

The Brothers, who commit themselves for their entire lives to the Community and live exclusively from their own work, also welcome young people every week throughout the year at Taizé itself.

The final date to register for the Cape Town Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth is July 21, 2019, and this can be done through your local congregation, chaplaincy, or youth office.

For details contact Brothers from Taizé, Saint Bartholomew’s, via e-mail at