Apr 15, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
Many years ago, trying to convey a vision of the various continents that underscored the human wealth of their peoples, in Latin America Chiara Lubich took the heightened sensitivity to sociality as a defining characteristic of this region of the world. During these first fifty years of the Focolare’s presence in this land no one here has ever forgotten this vision. And this was the dimension that emerged so strongly at the festive gathering with Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti and the communities of the Southern Cone (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay), on April 14, 2012 in Buenos Aires.
In a large tent auditorium that was filled with almost 3,500 people a parade of folkloristic music and dance accompanied by audiovisual shows presented the various countries that were represented, often referring to situations of poverty, inequality, marginalization… to which the Movement has often responded.
Then Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti began an intense dialogue with the audience, responding to a series of questions. How to grow and be fruitful even in times of crisis? Maria Voce responded by saying: “Moments of crisis are always moments of growth even when we’re not aware of it. Mothers know well that when their teenage children are growing they feel awkward and uncomfortable. . . but they grow just the same, even though they aren’t aware of it. I have found so much esteem and appreciation for our Movement in the Church. . . so let’s trust in what others see in our Movement. In this land of hope we must also hope because it’s a theological virtue. We mustn’t lose hope because God, who is Love, is bringing things ahead.” What about becoming involved in social issues? “We can’t be dispassionate,” Giancarlo Falleti responded. “Chiara has taught us to construct pieces of society that are renewed. We should bring forward whatever God may put in our hearts, with the help of others, together.” And Faletti added: “The difficulties of today invite us to reinvent while remaining faithful to our spirituality, but being moved by new creative thinking in order to understand how to fit ourselves into today’s history, today’s Church and today’s world.”
Asked about the significance of the New Evangelization, Maria Voce stressed: “The Gospel should be our clothing, and living it should be our way of proclaiming that Jesus is alive. And not only must we proclaim it but permit others to actually encounter Jesus present among us because of the mutual love that we live.” With so much cultural, social and ethnic difference, how are we to avoid exclusion? “God has made the universe with all these differences,” replied Maria Voce. “We should see them as He does, that they are all actually rich expressions of his unlimited ability to express Himself in an infinite of ways. This rich diversity of the Latin American peoples can be a gift for the whole world in discovering the beauty and the richness of God.”
What about difficult situations such as the breakdown of the family? “This spirituality is to be incarnated in the issues of today,” Faletti insisted. “When the Movement spread beyond the Iron Curtain, we were completely blocked, unable to run any activities. But this turned out to be one of the most fruitful periods. These difficult times in Latin America are a time of grace. Let us love: the answers to all problems are in God and they are born from an abundance of love.”
Maria Voce concluded by saying: “You need to show the beauty of this diversity to the world, the beauty of these peoples whose roots are no longer separated but intertwined.”
Alberto Barlocci
Apr 15, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
The República Oriental del Uruguay, its official name, has three and a half million people and is one of several smaller countries on the continent between two giants: Argentina and Brazil.
Its name comes from the river Uruguay – ‘river of painted birds’ in Guaraní – which forms its Western border. It has rolling countryside, vast meadows, wide expanses furrowed by water courses and a huge oceanic coast with stunningly beautiful beaches. A tranquil land, with hospitable people who have welcomed with open arms various waves of immigrants – from Italy and Spain, but also less numerous groups from Germany, France, Switzerland and Africa. All have felt at home and mixed harmoniously with the other inhabitants.
Uruguayans are friendly, respectful and naturally on the side of others. They are gifted with a strong critical sense: they love debates, lectures, art and football (a real national passion) and are deeply attached to their families and their friends. They have a strong democratic tradition.
The capital, Montevideo, was built in 1726. Today the city is still small enough to be comfortable and about 40% of the country’s population live in it. This is where, at the end of the 50s, Fr Pedro Richards, the founder of the Christian Family Movement, invited Chiara Lubich, whom he had met in Rome, to take part in a general assembly of his movement. Chiara was unable to come but in her place she sent Marco Tecilla, the first focolarino, at that time in Brazil. On 12 January 1959 Marco found himself telling the story of the beginning of the Focolare to the assembly. Among the people present was Guillermo Piñeyro who became the first Uruguayan member of the Focolare Movement.
Marco went back in the April of that year and brought with him with Lia Brunet, a focolarina from the first group in Trent in Italy. In 1963 the first focolare house was opened and later, in 1967, a second.
The life of the Movement, in the meantime, spread also to other cities: San José, Canelones, Durazno, Mercedes, Tacuarembó, Salto, Florida, Paysandú and Treinta y Tres.
Towards the end of the 60s, near Canelones a place for the long-term formation of young people was set up. The dream was to begin a little town like the international town of Loppiano, Italy. This dream was later realized in Argentina and all the young people went there to rebuild a disused religious house in the midst of the Pampas given by the Capuchins. Nowadays it is known as the ‘Mariapolis Lia’.
In 1968 the first Mariapolis in Uruguay took place. From the gospel life of its members, over the years, there have developed contacts and initiatives with members of other religions (especially Jews, whose community in the capital is one of the biggest in South America); with Christians of other Churches (Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Armenians); and with people whose convictions are not religious. Indeed Uruguay is not a typical country in the region: only 55% of the population claims to be Roman Catholic. There are many agnostics.
Ciudad Nueva, the local edition of the Focolare magazine, began in 1980. From 1985 onwards it has also covered Paraguay. In 1994 construction began on the centre for formation or ‘Mariapolis Centre’, which Chiara Lubich named: The Pelican. In 2003 three members of parliament from three different parties, at the launch of a book about Igino Giordani, discovered that they shared many of the same values. This gave rise to the Political Movement for Unity in that country. In the ‘temple of secularism’, that is the seat of government, in October 2008, in a hall filled to overflowing, Chiara Lubich was gratefully commemorated just months after her death.
Even before the creation of ‘Comunión para el Desarrollo Sociale’, a civil body that works for the poor, there were activities for those most in need. But from 2000, following a request from the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Montevideo, the Focolare took over Nueva Vida (New Life), an initiative active among the starving and poor of the capital. Thanks to the charism of unity, work is done together with the people who are served and a network has been set up with other associations that work in the same area. Today there are about 9.000 members and adherents of the Movement, and many Uruguayans are in touch with the spirituality of unity.
Apr 15, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
Uruguay, on the border between Brazil and Argentina, is one of the most developed countries in Latin America and has the most equal distribution of riches. Nevertheless, it is also possible to find areas of extreme poverty such as the Borro quarter, north of Montevideo. This neighbourhood is inhabited by some 4,000 families, nearly 26,000 people. In tourist brochures it is marked as a place to be avoided, since many of its inhabitants live by their wits on the edge of legality. And it is here that the Nueva Vida social centre was begun.
Its origins go back to 1992, thanks to the work of Sr Eva Aguilar from the Congregation of the Sisters Slaves of the Sacred Heart and the assistance of her community, until 2000 when she was given another assignment. The bishop then appealed to the Focolare Movement, which took charge of the neighbourhood’s needs and began the Nueva Vida project, a project for “new life” (nueva vida) brought about through love for the poorest and most marginalized. In 2001 the bishop officially entrusted this nascent social project to CODESO (Communion for Social Development), a civil entity founded by members of the Focolare Movement.
The primary objective of Nueva Vida is to create a positive environment for the growth and development of children, teenagers and their families, beginning with those in greatest difficulty, using an individualized and “holistic” approach. The activities are carried out in two 300 square-metre wharehouses, and are organized according to age groups. There is a kindergarten for children up to five years of age, a Children’s Club (6-12 years) and a Youth Centre (13-18 years).
Today Nueva Vida Centre is a permanent part of the quarter, with a well-constructed building for forty workers, and the recognition of local educational authorities. It regularly welcomes more than 250 children, teenagers and young people involved in extracurricular activities including psycho-motor skills for the youngest, artistic workshops, after-school programmes, languages classes, recreational, cultural and environmental activities, and professional workshops. The centre also provides a daily meal, paediatric medical care and legal assistance thanks to financial aid from Distance Support from the New Families Association.
Natural Neighbourhood Outreach
After a few years of working with children and teenagers, the directors of Nueva Vida programs saw the need of working also with their mothers. The typical family is comprised of a young mother with four to five children; and so it is the woman who is responsible for raising the children and supporting the family. Economic hardship and family instability (absenteeism among fathers at a rate of 80%) have produced negative effects and social isolation.
One answer has been the Natural Neighborhood Outreach project, which proposes the development of woman entrepreneurship, through courses on wool processing (dyeing, spinning, weaving and packaging.) The project which is fully supported by AMU, was begun in 2007. Up until the present it has involved more than twenty women, who have learnt a trade and acquired professional status which is very rare in this environment.
One of the professional course directors remarked: “Uruguay is a very secular land and culture, in which it is not common so speak of religious aspects and values. One day we met to talk about one of the main attributes of the project, that is, of the communion that we strive to live and the spirituality that nourishes us. After having listened, everyone told what they had understood about putting into practice reciprocity of this gift-giving. Perhaps their economic situation is not changing very quickly, but one thing that is certainly changing is the way of facing it and of living as a family.”
