Ecumenism: the dialogue of life
“Coming in this zone, something has exploded. This idea has exploded: truly God has given us a new ecumenism. There was already the ecumenism of charity, that is, the dialogue of charity, as when Athenagoras brought gifts to the Pope, the Pope brought gifts to Istanbul, to Athenagoras; as when Ramsey brought gifts to the Pope, the Pope brought gifts… in order to indicate a drawing closer to one another. There was already the dialogue of prayer, in which we all pray together, especially during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. And there was already the theological dialogue, which has been blocked in many parts, also here in England a little… held back a little. We realized, especially in coming here, that we have a fourth dialogue, a fourth line. Our dialogue is the dialogue of life, the dialogue of a people which is already Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed… of a people who are already all united and who are a people… they are the Christian people of the year 2000, of our times. We realized that this is our way of being involved in ecumenism, that is, of awakening the Christian instinct of Christians, joining everyone together because the bottle is almost full, joining everyone together and bringing ahead this people. Years ago, the Pope said: “You are a people,” but he intended to say “because of your number.” Now we are four times as many as we were then, when the Pope told us that…. But what people do we intend? The Christian people. The people… we are this people, we are this people. When I spoke with the focolarini the other day – there was Lesley and Callan * – I said: “Who will ever separate me from Lesley and from Callan? No one, because Christ has united us! Jesus in our midst has united us. No one can separate us!” Now, who says anything like this in the ordinary Christian world among Orthodox and Catholics and Lutherans? Everyone goes off on their own. Everyone follows their own Churches, of course; in the meantime this must be done, looking after the people entrusted to them, following their own current, their own denomination; but who says: “No one can separate me, because Christ has united us!”? The fact is that Christ has united us and He has made us one people, and this is the small “bomb” that has exploded here in England. Dearest all, thank you also for this applause. I never thank people for applause, but it means that you are with me, it means that we are together in living this way!” Chiara Lubich, London, 16 November 1996 – to the Focolare community of Great Britain and Ireland
“I love to be among children because they are the ones who have best interpreted my ideal!”, 
Children are often bombarded by messages that are counter-educational and that do not respect their age. How can we offer them a formation that is both human and Christian? Difficult situations are lived within the family, causing loss of trust in adults and consequently in God: how do we make them experience the love of God? These were some of the questions they reflected upon during the week long course of formation. “Our method of transmission starts with ourselves,” the organisers summed up, “by being the first to put the Gospel into practice.” 
There was a lot of discussion and exchange of experiences and the program included in-depth studies on psycho-pedagogical themes in the light of the collective spirituality, the rights and protection of children, group workshops and plenary dialogue. Everything was done with great dedication towards children and their formation and there was renewed effort and commitment among the participants to work to this end. An experience was shared by participants from Egypt: “The Gen 4 saw the older children of the Focolare carrying out initiatives for our city, Cairo, and they wanted to do something as well. ‘Why not bring peace and joy?’ we said to each other. We bought flowers to offer the passersby. Before going out on the streets, the Gen 4 boys and girls thought of the phrases they would say while they distributed the flowers: “If you love Egypt, when you eat sweets don’t throw the wrapper away on the ground”,and similar phrases. Many – both Christians and Moslems – were amazed at this. A street sweeper exclaimed: “A flower for me?” “Yes,” said the Gen 4 because we want to love you.” And he, visibly moved, replied: “It’s the first time that someone has given me a flower.” A story from Brazil was recounted: Christina, a Gen4 girl, suffers from an illness that can provoke heart failure. After a very serious heart attack this summer she was at risk of losing her life. The doctors had to carry out numerous tests. Christina was peaceful throughout, because having heard the story of Chiara Luce Badano, she was not afraid of undergoing tests and treatments. A doctor said to her: “Did you know you were very close to the door of Paradise?” Christina replied: “Yes, but I did not go in because my backpack wasn’t yet filled with enough acts of love.” On hearing this, the doctor wanted to know more about her life. These were some of the experiences shared during the week of work at the service of the new generations. The formation course was both complex and delicate, and it was done in collaboration with families and experts in different fields, however we are all summoned to do our part as educators.