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Promoting the “culture of encounter”

May 21,  2013

The commitment of the Focolare Movement  at the conclusion of the Pentecost meeting with the Pope.

«We are all committed to live to the letter what you have said, especially to go out and meet people so that they can encounter Christ». This is what Maria Voce told  Papa Francesco this morning  at the end of the Mass at Casa Santa Marta, while expressing  the Movement’s gratitude for the Pentecost meeting with him.   «This is what is needed», the Holy Father  replied, «the culture of encounter!».

This brief greeting concluded the intense experience lived by 200,000 members of movements and lay groups during the Pentecost meeting with Papa Francesco. On behalf of the Movement, Maria Voce expressed “the great joy of having participated in this event, and even more, for having contributed towards assuring the Pope of the vitality and vigour of the Church”. At the end  of the vigil on Saturday she had the opportunity to assure him that “the Movement wants to give witness of a Christianity full of courage and joy”.

“The Pentecost message delivered to us by the Pope through the three words: newness, harmony and mission is a very strong one”, Maria Voce said. “I was particularly impressed by the word ‘newness’. It is the one that challenges us most of all”.

“We have received the strong confirmation that communion is an essential mark of today’s Church.  Hence our commitment to live more and better the specific charism of our Movement,  and  live it as a service to the whole Church”

Press Release

Updated on May, 22nd 2013

BF – UF

SIF – Focolare Information Service

Joy and Expectation for the meeting with Papa Francesco

18 – 19  May 2013

Thousands of members belonging to Movements, New Communities and Lay groups will  participate in the Pentecoste Vigil  and Sunday Mass  in St. Peter’s  Square.

“We would like the Pope to feel  he is meeting thousands of people who yearn to be witnesses of the vitality of faith, of the richness of God’s gifts, of the ability to respond to today’s major challenges through the various  charisms that the movements and associations  are endowed with”.  This is what  Maria Voce augured on the eve of the Pope’s meeting  with  thousands  of members of various ecclesial associations.

 15 years have passed since that first large gathering of movements with John Paul II on May 30, 1998, and seven years passed since a similar meeting with Benedict XVI  that took place on June 3, 2006.  Later on, Papa Ratzinger said: “The ecclesial movements and new communities are one of the most important innovations inspired by the Holy Spirit for the implementation of Vatican Council II”.

The fruits of communion among movements that matured during these years  are abundant. And their openness even towards movements that belong to other various Christian Churches gave rise to the initiative “Together for Europe”,  a contribuition towards the much hoped for “New Europe of the Spirit”.

Press Release

Interview with Maria Voce

Updated on May, 20th 2013

BF

SIF – Focolare Information Service

United World Week 2013 comes to an end

1-12 May 2013

United World Project in progress: more than 700 initiatives towards universal brotherhood, the first developments regarding the permanent observatory.

“A united world begins with me”, said a young Frenchman summarizing this year’s experience achieved by Youth for a United World, who had the leading role in a myriad of concrete activities organized at local level.  In Nigeria, for example, 1000 Christians and Muslims, from various ethnic groups participated in the first national Genfest.  The Governor of Anambra State  and the Imam of the Muslim Community were also present. One of the participants said: “ Seeing Christians and  Muslims together at the Genfest I felt that building unity is not a dream but a reality”.

The kick-off to the United World Week took place on May 1 at Jerusalem through   a worldwide live transmission  that linked the 250 young people present there with thousands of others  the world over.  The two-way link-ups with Loppiano (FI), where 3000 young people were present, with Mumbai and Budapest reached more than a million people through social networks.

The United World Project launched last September to the 12,000 youth present at the Budapest Genfest was presented everywhere.  Through the initiative of collecting signatures on site www.unitedworldproject.org , thousands are opting for the commitment to live the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. This Project also includes the setting up of a permanent observatory, that has already registered more than 700 “fragments of fraternity”, that is, occasional or continuous initiatives carried out  by individuals or groups to promote brotherhood in everyday life.

Press Release

Updated on May, 16th 2013

LH

SIF – Focolare Information Service

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