Apostolat Militaire International

The Apostolat Militaire International (AMI) was founded in 1965 by ten countries in Santiago de Compostela ( Spain ) and is an amalgamation of national Catholic soldiers' associations and military pastoral care . Out of the need to stand up for the ideal values of the Catholic soldiers in the armed forces , the idea of founding an international association arose. The AMI is an international Catholic organization recognized by the Holy See .

identification

From the Christian point of view and taking into account military life, AMI wants to promote values and build international understanding. She wants to promote peace using the teachings of the Catholic Church. She strives to help deal with spiritual , ethical , moral and social issues that are said to affect the lives of soldiers . For this reason, it organizes international conferences and events, takes part in congresses and pilgrimages and would like to promote cooperation with other institutions that serve in the cause of peace.

organization

The body of the AMI is the annual general assembly at which the Presidium, the Executive Committee and the delegates of the national member associations and military ordinaries take part. The General Assembly elects the Executive Committee, which consists of the President and two Vice-Presidents, the General Secretary and an ecclesiastical assistant . The committee is the executive board and takes care of the work. The General Secretary is the liaison body to the national Catholic soldiers' associations, the military bishops and the Holy See. The AMI is registered as a lay organization with the Pontifical Council for the Laity . A distinction is made between three groups of memberships: “Full Members”, “Friends or Associated Members” and “Open Membership”. Countries that have no independent Catholic soldiers' associations are represented by their respective military ordinariats. The AMI office is located in Best (Netherlands) . AMI President is Major General Mag. Norbert Sinn (Austria) until 2014 , assisted by General Secretary Nelleke Swinkels van de Vorst (Netherlands) and the two Vice-Presidents Colonel Michael Jedlička and Deputy Officer Markus Stromberger (both Austria).

Full members include: Germany : Association of Catholic Soldiers (GKS) and German Military Ordinary , Austria : Working Group of Catholic Soldiers (AKS) and Austrian Military Diocese , Belgium , the Netherlands : Algemeen Christelijke Organizatie van Militairen ( ACOM ) and Dutch Military Ordinary , France , Great Britain , Spain , Portugal , Italy , Croatia , Nigeria , Kenya , Ghana , Colombia , Latin American Bishops Council , Philippines .

Friendly or associated members are: Switzerland , Estonia , Latvia , Romania , United States , Dominican Republic , South Korea , Norway , Denmark , Sweden , Canada , Indonesia , Czech Republic , Hungary , Poland , Ukraine , Peru , Chile , Argentina and South Africa .

The "Open Memberships" include: Lithuania , Slovakia , Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Policy documents

With great interest and with worldwide attention and with international approval, the AMI published the basic document on the "Basic features of the self-image of Catholic soldiers" in 2000. The document proclaimed in Rome is entitled "The Catholic Soldier at the Beginning of the 3rd Millennium". Another landmark document is the declaration of the General Assembly of the AMI in Berlin from October 2010, it is entitled “The Christian Soldier as Servant of a Just Peace”.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ The Catholic soldier at the beginning of the 3rd millennium [1]

^ Institute for Religion and Peace Catholic Military Pastoral Care in Austria irf.ac.at ( Memento from April 8, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )

↑ MISSION GKS: Berlin Declaration of the AMI [2] (PDF; 2.0 MB)

[1] The Catholic soldier at the beginning of the 3rd millennium [1]