Ecclesial Reality: People of God, Crossroads of Diversity

On 21^st November, 2022, at the International Centre of the Focolare Movement (Rocca di Papa- Italy), a meeting entitled “People of God, Crossroads of Diversity. Many nodes, one network” took place. It brought together the different ecclesial realities linked to the charism of unity.

“We are a portion of the Church with different colours, with different shades of colour, as many colours as there are charisms, ministries, places of birth and peoples. Our task is to build unity in this diversity, above all to give rise to communities in which the Gospel is lived in a full way”. These are the words of Sister Tiziana Longhitano, of the Franciscan Congregation of the Poor, Coordinator of the Centre for consecrated members of the Focolare Movement, who was one of the participants at the meeting, which brought together people from many countries and vocations. There were about forty present in person and about 600 connected via zoom. It was an opportunity to share and to discern what the next steps on the beautiful journey which began in April 1982, in the Nervi Hall, in the Vatican, with the Congress “The Priest today, the Religious today”. About 7,000 Priests and Religious participated in that event in which, through testimonies from all over the globe, they highlighted the fruits of meeting the charism of unity and the renewal it brought to many religious communities and parishes. Today many realities continue to reap those fruits, a symptom of an ongoing process, not only within the Focolare Movement, but throughout the Church; realities illuminated by a “prophecy”, as Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, defined it, in her intervention: “a prophecy that has made its way and continues to mature to increasingly become a reality which is shared (we hope) and practiced throughout the Church”. Throughout these 40 years, dioceses, parishes, priests and various charismatic communities have shared experiences and generated communities in the light of the charism of unity, presenting themselves no longer as individual pieces of the Church but as a single body, a people that lives the culture of communion, listens to each other and walks together. Suffice it to mention the important development of the Parish Movement and the Diocesan Movement in recent years and the commitment of priests, religious, consecrated persons and lay people in the Synodal Journey. There were many experiences shared during this event. From Brazil, Desi, a married Focolarina and Matheus, a seminarian, told how the call to synodality and to work in synergy with all the realities of the Focolare Movement led to the birth of some pastoral Congresses that focused on listening, knowledge and formation. Desi said, “Our hearts are expanding towards our aim, ‘May they all may be ONE’.  From Ecuador we heard the testimony of the Apostolic Nuncio, Msgr. Andrés Carrascosa and of some priests of the Archdiocese of Quito who, following a retreat, decided to start a group to meditate on the Word of Life: Father Ramiro Ramirez said, “I have had a deeper experience of the Word. It has become more alive in me, I have learned to understand the Gospel better (…) and also my brother priests (…). Father Charles Serrano added: “I heard that there would be a meeting of about 15 priests and that the Nuncio would be there. When I arrived I met priests in need of healing, fragile, suffering and broken-hearted. I felt like that too (…).The first time I attended, I thought I would be mad to go back, now I think I am mad, because on the second Tuesday of each month I cannot wait for the meeting (…).

The Church today needs to live fraternity in order to strengthen itself, as Sister Maria Inês Vieira Ribeiro, connected from Aparecida (Brazil), said, “to form a people at the service of the Kingdom of God, protecting life, especially in the places where there is most suffering”. This is why the diversity of each reality becomes the true wealth of the Church which, despite the difficulties of this time, regards her children as the possible saints of tomorrow. This is the experience of the young people of the “Charisms for Unity” Movement, who, from getting to know the Ideal of Chiara Lubich, wanted to put their charisms in contact. From this idea, during the pandemic they had a series of Zoom meetings, a kind of workshop, to share experiences, put the Gospel into practice and encourage each other to live out their consecration with enthusiasm. They called it, “Saints together, on Earth as in Heaven”.

Maria Grazia Berretta

To see the full meeting click on: (3) PEOPLE OF GOD, CROSSROADS OF DIVERSITY – YouTube