#DARETOCARE: United World Week 2022

The “dare to care” theme will once again be the focus of this year’s United World Week on May 1–8, 2022. It’s an opportunity not to be missed throughout the regions.

It’s time! We are a few days away from the United World Week 2022, which this year will see thousands of people of all ages, races and creeds involved all over the world.

When thinking about this event, typically what comes to mind immediately are young people, large gatherings or events. Yet United World Week is much, much more, because it is not just about young people.

Throughout the year there is a wealth of life, with all the different generations of the Focolare Movement and others who work together for universal brotherhood.

Almost 27 years ago, the Youth for a United World proposed to dedicate one week a year to engage public opinion more actively in the journey towards a united world.

I remember the comments, in those days of May in 1995 during the Genfest, trying to figure out what that idea was, what we could do in the year that followed. The answer came in the following weeks and, as always, it came from life itself.

The invitation was, and still is, quite specific. The 25 years of history, from the first United World Week in 1996 to the most recent one in 2021, have confirmed this.

The first thing to do is to deepen and keep up all the activities that the Focolare communities carry out with courage, and in some cases even silently, to support the journey towards unity in the most diverse contexts. This includes in neighbourhoods, schools, workplaces – situations of fragility and neglect.

The campaign targets cities, institutions and the media to promote unity and peace at every level, together with all people who are inspired by the same principles and objectives.

It is not just young people, but together with those who are older, with the involvement of families, professionals, committed adults, politicians… united by the values of universal brotherhood. Together, by being inclusive, with wide-ranging actions that change and improve the social fabric, we can have a greater impact on world opinion.

David Sassoli (1956–2022), the recently deceased former president of the European Parliament, had this to say to Youth for a United World at last year’s United World Week:

“I believe that this is a work of civil education that in some way should concern us. It concerns us politicians and institutions, but also of course all the important world of European association. I believe that you in particular are in a privileged position, because you have already defined not only that it is important to take care of others, but also to take care in order to improve the living conditions of others.”

This is the care that the world needs. Even in this very special year, on every continent, it has not gone lacking.

“Caring for others is an act of courage,” says Jomery Nery, a young Brazilian tax lawyer who is also the director of operations for Anpecom (the Portuguese national association of the Economy of Communion). From Anpecom comes an initiative called Supera (a program for overcoming economic vulnerability). Jomery describes it this way:

“Throughout the year we receive messages, emails and other communications from people who need help to eat, to build a house because they live in cardboard housing, for rent, to study or to start a business. Supera is a campaign to collect money, which is then used to help people in need.”

It’s a “cure” directed towards fragile situations.

In Belfast, too, the capital of Northern Ireland, they have taken this on seriously. For close to four years the city has been hosting an initiative that you could say was both ecological and social, which also takes place in the same way in other parts of the world.

It’s called the Repair Café, that is, a bar for repairs, where volunteers are available to fix broken objects that people bring. As they do, they spend a nice morning together. The Repair Café is a real experience, both for the volunteers who fix things and for the people who decide to invest their time and bring an object to be fixed rather than throwing it away.

Their motivations behind this are the most diverse, from concern about climate change, to the wish to see a fond object work once more. And with that excuse, relationships and ties are woven, and the strength to face daily challenges is found.

In Lecce, Italy, a community made up of families, young people, professionals, artists, together with associations and the parish, works to redevelop a neighbourhood that has become marginalised, difficult and colourless from many points of view.

“The first idea was to make the wall of the oratory more joyful and colourful,” says Don Gerardo. “That’s where the idea of the first mural came from, and people truly appreciated it.”

Slowly, thanks to word of mouth, and to the young writers present in the area, artists from many parts of the world arrived to beautify the buildings of the Stadio district. With them came photographers, tourists and local administrators who were drawn by the true works of art that these murals represent.

Everything is the result of a fraternity that has been created between the artists and the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. It has triggered a virtuous change that everyone feels part of – a true project to help those most in need, which has included activities for economic, environmental and social redevelopment.

It is stories like these that give a soul to United World Week. These communities of active people who put themselves on the line will find a showcase from May 1–7, 2022 in many events around the world, both virtual and in person, that will do nothing more than collect and show the life that exists in the various regions.

The title once again be #Dare to Care – the same “care” that can still make people repeat what Chiara Lubich said about United World Week in 2002:

“It is always something a bit special. It is one of the initiatives that is most in keeping with the charism.”

Paolo Balduzzi