Entrevista a Ana Cristina

In October 2024, Ana Cristina visited Cafh members in Germany. On this occasion, we took the opportunity to ask her some questions.

1. Ana Cristina, you have been the Director of Cafh for 5 years. How has this experience gone for you up until now and what challenges come with this position?

   For me, personally, this has been a very intense and enriching experience, combined with constant learning. The most important thing for me up till now has been meeting with almost all the 4000 Cafh members, initially virtually and later in person. I am learning a lot about how Cafh functions and what is currently most important for our spiritual unfolding. This has opened me up to a broad perspective.

   It has taken me some time to accustom myself to the rhythm and challenges of this role. But Cafh`s method and my having lived in Community for more than 30 years has helped me.

   One special characteristic of this leadership role is that Cafh is an organization with a purpose and a spiritual theme; so, it is not the same as directing some other organization. Our mission relates to the individual spiritual development of persons and the transformational effect that this development can have on its surroundings and society. This demands flexibility, listening, recognizing and understanding the times we are living in as humanity: a time of many changes, uncertainty and external demands on individuals. Cafh accompanies these individuals in the process of personal development and provides the necessary tools—in terms of spiritual practices—to facilitate inner development and relationships with others.

   Individuals need to experience presence, silence, peace, meditation, self-knowledge, introspective exercises and to follow a method of unfolding which helps transform their lives into what they want to offer to humanity.

2. Like yourself, your two predecessors in this office lived in Community. Is this a prerequisite for the office of leader?

   Before answering this question, it is useful to clarify that Cafh offers different ways of living the commitment we have to ourselves and to Cafh: in a family, alone or in Community.

   Community life involves living in celibacy with other persons who share the same spiritual vocation, and with a method of life which includes meditation, prayer, study and also productive work to support itself. It also means sharing things in common.

   Even though the last three Cafh Directors chose at an early age to live in a Cafh Community, this is not a necessary condition for its leadership. For example, Santiago Bovisio, the founder of Cafh, was married and had children. You can offer yourself as a candidate to be the Director of Cafh if you are open to committing yourself totally. You can have a family, live alone, or as some few people do, live with like-minded persons in a community.

3. You carry out your function of Director with the help of a team. How many persons form part of this team? Do you gather to work at the same place, for example, in an office?

   My immediate team consists of 14 persons, 7 women and 7 men. They are all fully committed to Cafh. They come from different countries, different cultures and speak different mother tongues. We have no central office or building. Instead, we usually join virtually, through email, video conferences and other message providers. Cafh exists in 27 countries and on 5 continents. That is why the team members represent different cultures, languages, age groups and other characteristics.

4. How is your function as director financed? Do members of the directive team work exclusively for Cafh?

   All the work and commitment to Cafh is voluntary. Every person decides for themselves to what extent they wish to assume tasks with responsibility. There is generally no pay or salary. Every person is responsible for their own livelihood. Some members of the team have already retired, but others continue working in their professions. However, the quantity of tasks in the function of directing Cafh is so voluminous that I can take on no other work. That is why I receive a monthly stipend from the organization.

   The Cafh organization is financed by the voluntary contributions of its members. In some countries, non-profit institutions of Cafh exist that administer these donations. In principle, donations remain within each country. However, each country contributes a quota to the organization according to the number of members in order to cover common expenses such as different Internet platforms and the annual general assembly.

5. Cafh offers the opportunity to become involved at different levels. There are members who assume greater responsibility in Cafh`s work (ordained) and other members with fewer commitments. Which group has the most members?

   Cafh has three levels of commitment to activities and responsibilities. The process is gradual and progressive in which each person gradually comes to know, becomes comfortable with, and then chooses freely if they wish to assume the next commitment or remain where they are. Each level is a modality in itself and offers resources for one`s own development of spirituality.

   It doesn`t matter at which stage of development one is, whether a beginner or a long-term member. No affirmation or evaluation about the level of spiritual unfolding is associated with these stages. This means that a beginner in Cafh can be living a profound spirituality. Therefore, even though there is individual progress in this development, one is not running a “race”, there is no spiritual hierarchy of people who are “more developed”. The greater the commitment, the greater the responsibility to oneself and to Cafh. We are talking about around 35% of members who are still getting to know Cafh, and as new-comers, they do not have any major responsibility. 50% of members are decided and convinced about this path and have expressed this through their commitment. Around 15% have assumed a great commitment to delegation tasks and leadership functions. Everyone is free to choose the level at which they want to participate.

6. Cafh describes itself as a “mystical body” and it develops as a group and through its members` individual work of development. In Cafh there is a possibility of having a “spiritual guidance” dialogue. What`s the intention of this possibility?

   Spiritual guidance is one of the elements of Cafh`s method, just like meditation, prayer, spiritual reading, weekly meetings and retreats. Together they form a global concept.

   Spiritual guidance adopts the form of a dialogue between the person who requests it and the one who offers it. The latter is someone who already has experience with the method and the process of unfolding. They offer the person who requests it a “space” of trust, affection, receptivity and safety, and free of judgments. Here someone can look at themselves, work with their difficulties and find suitable responses. The guide`s work consists of assisting in this process of self-knowledge by listening and posing questions or making suggestions. Each person decides for themselves how they want to live and what they wish to share in this dialogue as well. It often proves useful to the person who seeks guidance to pose their own questions first.

   One of Cafh`s fundamental principles is to respect each person`s freedom to think, feel and decide about their own life without the interference of others. That is why individual freedom is also absolutely respected during a guidance session.

   Cafh is a path for creating inner peace and freedom in each human being.

7. You are in contact with Cafh groups in different countries and on different continents. Do you perceive different concerns, problems or priorities?

   I realize that persons have the same questions, longings, difficulties and the same quest, regardless of their culture or origins. Cultural nuances play a secondary role when dealing with spiritual unfolding.

   The need to respond to life`s basic questions such as: Why am I in this world? What am I here for? What meaning does life have? are common among all human beings regardless of country or age.

8. Is Cafh a new religion?

   No, Cafh is not a religion. Cafh is open to whatever is in agreement with Cafh`s objective and mission; that is, spiritual unfolding and the expansion of consciousness in order to live with more peace, balance and inner freedom.

   That is why anyone can join, even though it is of course desirable that they have honor, that is, moral integrity. The only requirement is an interest in working on oneself in one`s own process of spiritual development. Cafh is not seeking followers. Cafh has no dogmas, nobody has to “believe” in anything. There is content (teachings) and a method, that is, a set of tools for this work of development in which everyone has their own experiences and discovers the process of unfolding by themselves.

9. What do you think is Cafh`s fundamental task, and why is it so important to humanity?

   Cafh proposes each person`s individual work on themselves to stimulate their own consciousness and unfold the greatest human potential and possibilities, such as love, peace, and good relationships.

   It also proposes work in small groups to practice. This allows for creating harmonious relationships based on values like respect, acceptance, friendship, inclusion and everything that emphasizes what is essential rather than differences. We also give this work a transcendental dimension: when an individual changes and when groups change, a change in society also beings—a change towards more consciousness, inclusion and respect for life in all its manifestations. Change is produced from within outwards.

   And this development is not just beneficial for the individual, but it is also a way of contributing to humanity. Humanity`s great advances are not usually the result of great movements. And we often don`t even directly see the effect: perhaps our efforts may be a contribution to future generations, but it goes beyond ourselves.

   Cafh offers the necessary tools for developing these works: different types of meditation, inspiring readings, courses, spiritual retreats, individual spiritual guidance, prayers, group study, among others.

10. Do you have a final message for us, the Cafh members in Germany?

    I want you not to lose hope. The work we have chosen to do has neither brilliant nor sensational results. It is more like a silent work on the roots of human problems. It is a way to efficiently contribute to a better world, just as we are and with what makes us like we are.

Ana Cristina, thank you for this interview!

Questions, interview, translation and editing by: Dorothee Engels, Claudia Calzada, Michaela Recht

Ana Cristina Flor has been a member of Cafh for 40 years and is currently its director. She firmly believes in the possibility of a world with greater awareness and love and that each one of us has the power to create it. She feels deeply committed to this transformation.