Hakuna is a community of young people who evangelize the Church through music and prayer. The groups are highly present across Europe and now have missionaries expanding to countries such as Korea, Chile and Peru.
The priest who initiated the movement, Fr. José Pedro Manglano, told this to Pope Francis when they met for the first time in a private audience.
FR. JOSÉ PEDRO MANGLANO
Founding priest, Hakuna
I wanted to tell you that now, in the month of October, the first Hakuna missionaries are on the move, so to speak. People from Spain, where the movement was born but has since expanded to 30 countries, are going to live in other countries where the groups are growing. They will serve the different groups of Hakuna and of course, the Church. But they will also support the people so that the charity of Hakuna is alive.
Hakuna has impacted thousands of young Catholics through its work and motto of "living the joy of following Christ." The movement was born in Madrid and includes weekly holy hours often accompanied with live music.
Every year since 2018, the members of Hakuna have met in Rome to celebrate a holy hour in St. Peter's Basilica. On two occassions, they were even accompanied by the Pope.
Hakuna was born in 2013 after World Youth Day in Brazil. The founding priest took advantage of his meeting with the Pope to update him on what they have been up to.
FR. JOSÉ PEDRO MANGLANO
Founding priest, Hakuna
My particular objective, I must say, is to show that the youth have a good time. I want to tell him that the youth are alive, that this whole movement began in Rio after meeting with him at World Youth Day and that we have been following his guidelines.
Another part of the movement is Hakuna Group Music, the band of young Catholics that widely shares their songs across social media. Fr. Manglano did not want to leave the audience without giving Pope Francis a special edition of the album.
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TR: AT
