Aug 17, 2023 | Senza categoria
Benoît and Chloé Mondou, a young couple from France, decided to start their married life by taking part in the World Youth Day in Lisbon (Portugal).
“Initially we thought our honeymoon would be a tour of Europe, but when the opportunity to go to WYD came up, we didn’t hesitate for a single second!” Benoît and Chloé Mondou were married in Haute-Savoie (France), a week before World Youth Day in Lisbon (Portugal). He is twenty-four years old and she is twenty-two. They met seven years ago in the scout group of which they are active members. Today they are volunteer guides. Benoît has known the spirituality of the Focolare since he was a child and, through him, Chloé began to live it too. They set off for Lisbon with a group of young people from the French speaking countries of the Movement: France, Belgium and Switzerland. They said, “We didn’t give up the trip to Europe but we thought that it was really important to go to the WYD. Now we can say that it put down an important marker for our marriage”.
In their home town, Benoît and Chloé are also involved in a social project in which they visit people in nursing homes. Chloé said, “We are lucky to have been brought up in the same religion but we are also fortunate that we like praying together. For this reason, taking part in the WYD has given an even greater dimension to the faith we both have. During the WYD, there were times when we were separated, but then we met for praise or adoration and so we had those moments to pray together”. Benoît continued, “It was very strong because in normally in daily life we don’t really have the opportunity to pray together. In Lisbon taking time together, even if you were in a group, was strong. Personally, I think it’s an experience you should have at least once in your life. And if you can do it as a couple, even better”.
The moments with Pope Francis were fundamental. Chloé said, “For me the most important thing that the Pope said was when he reminded us that we are all loved, each person as they are, because when you are part of a group, sometimes you tend to create your own personality to stand out, to be accepted. But in places like that you realize that this is how we really live with each other, this is how we are natural and this is how God loves us more.”
Benoît continues, “From the words of the Pope I feel I am taking up a challenge that is close to my heart: to try to be Jesus. The Pope invited the one and a half million young people who were in Lisbon to return to our countries, to spread the good news, to help others and to bring others ahead with the word of Christ. “
Chloé reflected “At the WYD I discovered a new way of living my faith. I realized that there are many different ways to live faith and it doesn’t matter if one person goes to sing in the street and another prefers to be alone at the back of a church. In a family, everyone has to find their own place and their own way of praying”.
Benoît concluded, “We left Portugal with greater faith. This experience increased the desire, which we already had, to raise our children in the faith and to educate them in the Gospel. After our wedding in the Church, we needed this WYD, this pilgrimage, recollection and prayer. It was really good for us”.
Anna Lisa Innocenti
Aug 8, 2023 | Non categorizzato
These were Pope Francis’ final words as he said goodbye to the young people and all the participants at the concluding Mass of World Youth Day 2023.
It is difficult to describe what we experienced during these unforgettable days of grace. I know it is a cliché to say that you have to experience it to understand it. But it is true! It is certainly true on this occasion. I have participated in four WYDs, the first two and the last two, and I can testify that there is something about these days that cannot be explained. A well-known Portuguese public figure, who is agnostic and a cinema lover, wrote in a newspaper article that what he contemplated on the streets of Lisbon in this scorching summer was the most beautiful film he had ever seen. It was impossible not to be uplifted by the cheerfulness and liveliness poured out in torrents by the young people who had come to the ‘city of light’ and who filled it with the other light they carried within themselves. We saw them everywhere, in the shopping malls, in the metro, on the buses, in the bars, in the parks or on the roads. They gathered in small and large groups, and were like multi-coloured, loud, talkative, multi-charismatic human rivers, with a kindliness that warmed the heart. Walking among them, I saw the inhabitants of the city; some were puzzled, some interested. If Lisbon, with its magical and indescribable beauty, was a gift for these young people, they were no less a gift for this city, which will be proud to have seen one and a half million young people come together to celebrate their faith in Christ, something previously unheard of.
The Portuguese Church and the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, the organisers of the event, together with the city and its civil authorities, did an amazing job. But there is no doubt that the prize goes to the young people. Who could have imagined this happening after three years of a serious pandemic and in the midst of an institutional crisis, such as the one the Catholic Church is going through because of abuses of various kinds?! Even though today the Spanish press gave coverage to the case of a girl with 5% visual capacity who claims to have recovered her sight in the past few days, for me the real miracle was the living faith of these young people, expressed in their own words and with a multitude of bold and even disconcerting gestures.
In fact, while they showed an overflowing enthusiasm by singing and dancing, the most emblematic moment – indeed the real centrepiece of the event – was once again the Eucharistic adoration at the vigil: more than a million people knelt down without anyone telling them to do so, to adore in ‘deafening’ silence the One they consider the ‘heart of the world’! It was impossible not to be moved. And at that moment, the fado given to us by the singer Carminho gave us goosebumps: ‘You are the star that guides my heart/ You are the star that has lit my path/ You are the sign that I guide destiny/ You are the star, and I am the pilgrim’. And one wonders at the power of attraction that a small host can exert on such a large crowd of young people spread over a field over three kilometres long (100 football pitches).
You might think that the young people who gathered in Lisbon are good people, with an orderly life, polite young people, who do not get involved with other people’s problems. Nothing could be more mistaken. An international group of young people toiled for years to come up with an artistic framework of extraordinary beauty and visual effectiveness. They constructed a huge stage, a kind of giant scaffolding on which they moved around in an ethereal manner, letting themselves fall while securely tied to ropes, and carrying the cross from side to side, up and down. The feeling of vertigo was continuous, and the choice of this approach was not accidental: at each station, with a few words of reflection and a lot of visual impact, the ‘vertigo’ that imbues the lives of young people today was crudely expressed: addictions, lack of meaning, an uncertain future, contempt for life, toxic relationships. All motifs that the cross bore, or rather, that the crucified one bore on his shoulders, to be transfigured into new life.
Of course, the key moments of this WYD, as of the previous ones, were the meetings with the Pope. Another puzzling and characteristic feature of these events: why do young people love the popes so much, regardless of their (the popes) character, be it traditional, intellectual or reformist?
Apart from these highlights, the programme was filled with many other smaller events, but which were no less significant, such as concerts in key city locations, meetings in nationalities, sharing with people involved in the Church in parishes or associations and above all the various catecheses led by the young people themselves with bishops from different parts of the world as keynote speakers. These were all opportunities to deepen the WYD motto: Rise up.
“Have no fear, take heart, do not be afraid!” Pope Francis seemed to be speaking to the whole Church with these words. For there is no doubt that courage is needed and in this, young people are called to be in the front line. They are the present and the future of a Church renewed by the Spirit.
A Church that, as Francis has repeated several times, desires to be a home for all, without excluding anyone, and to recover the prophetic drive that permeates it. This Church walks with new confidence, the confidence it finds in itself and beyond itself, in Jesus Christ. A Church that desires to give hospitality to all humanity in the resurrected humanity of Jesus of Nazareth, as a well-known theologian says.
Perhaps I am too optimistic, but in these few days I have seen a young Church that has already gone a bit beyond the time of trial or is at least confident about overcoming it. The thousands and thousands of young people I met in Lisbon taught me this.
They don’t create problems; they do not become fossilised in criticism. Far from it, something (their purity, perhaps, refined in pain and uncertainty) leads them to focus on the core of faith with simple hearts. And, as the Master says, theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Mt 5:1-12).
Three images summarise everything I want to express in this article: young people on the move, all over Lisbon (a symbol of the world), sometimes exhausted by the heat and tiredness accumulated after nights of little sleep. Young people with the ‘vertigo’ of the cross on their shoulders, on which all their sufferings are written. Young people kneeling in adoration, aware that in a piece of bread there is all of life, a life that does not pass away. The living Church, the Church of always, the Church of today, the Church of the future.
Jesús Morán
Aug 4, 2023 | Non categorizzato
The young people who have been getting ready for the WYD for some time are excited to meet Pope Francis. In these first few days in Lisbon (Portugal), they took part in the “Rise Up” meetings.
As the time of writing, the XXXVIII World Youth Day has just reached its halfway point. The first 4, very intense days, have permeated the life of over half a million young people who welcomed Pope Francis on 3rd August 2023 in the heart of Lisbon (Portugal). They gathered at Parque Eduardo VII, which was renamed “Hill of Encounter”, as a sign of the profound significance of this WYD, which underlines: relationship with God, with oneself and then with others, to build a peaceful, sustainable and fraternal world.
With the cry of “God loves everyone”, in a Church where there is room for everyone, Francis officially inaugurated the Portuguese World Youth Day which the media is amply covering every day.
However, what risks being overlooked is the important work of updating that the Church, in the most universal sense of the term, has carried out, so that this World Day could be a place where young people “find themselves” in their questions, in their conscious or unconscious search for God to have him as a partner in their lives; in the creation of spaces for sharing, inspiration and mutual listening. This process has involved young people, their teachers, priests and bishops, and many ecclesial realities.
“Rise Up” Meetings: spaces to think, share and be inspired
Undoubtedly one of the biggest novelties of this WYD are the “Rise Up” meetings, the new model of catechesis which invites the young people to reflect on the major themes addressed during the pontificate of Pope Francis: integral ecology, social friendship and universal brotherhood, mercy.
There are 270 meetings held in 30 languages which are all linked to the general theme of the WYD: “”Mary arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39).
The Focolare Movement has been involved in the Rise Up meetings, offering 3 half-day appointments for English-speaking pilgrims, attended by an average of 5,000 young people a day. Eunice, a member of the organizing team told us, “I immediately felt responsible. The theme of this WYD inspires me a lot: I too feel driven to get up and go quickly, like Mary; I feel a strong motivation to give more, to overcome limits, tiredness and difficulties, as she did when she went to visit Elisabeth. She didn’t stop, but she loved”. Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán, President and Co-President of the Focolare, shared the stage with Card. Patrick O’Malley from Boston (USA), Archbishop Anthony Fisher from Sydney (Australia) and Bishop Robert Barron from Winona- Rochester in Minnesota (USA).
Teenagers at the WYD in Lisbon
Experiencing God’s love and taking it wherever you are or feel called to be, was the thread running through the meetings enlivened by music, prayer and a lot of sharing. Pete, from the United States, at his first WYD, said, “I felt that after a year and a half of ‘isolation’, after Covid, something in me had changed. I decided to get involved and come with my diocese. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, meet young people from other countries, see how they deal with problems. I still have many questions, I have found some answers here”.
For the young people from Slovakia it was a big decision to come and open up to people of other cultures and ways of doing things. They are greatly looking forward to what the Pope will say in the coming days. “We are sure that his words will remain in our hearts forever and will help us in the different situations of life”.
This meeting one another, recognizing each other as brothers and sisters is perhaps the most characteristic feature of this event. This is why personal stories are central to the Rise Up meetings.
Real life at the Centre of it all
For example, Lucas, who lives in the Brazilian Amazon. At the WYD in Panama he was captivated by the person of Jesus. When he went home, with about twenty young people he got involved in a project to help the indigenous communities of his country. They spent a fortnight with a team of doctors, nurses and psychologists who bring aid, treatment and support to many people who live far from treatment centres. Lucas said, “It was an incredible experience: giving myself from morning to night, without stopping. The Amazon Project has made me grow a lot as a person. The first result of all this is me: I have changed, I am no longer the same”.
Sofia, from Argentina, talked about her existential journey of searching for meaning. At one point she heard about Blessed Chiara Luce Badano whose yes to God, even in her pain, gave her the strength to dedicate her life to God, following the spirituality of the Focolare Movement.
And we could go on and on because we heard many testimonies and also the responses of the bishops and leaders to the questions of the young people.
Pat, aged 19, from Sydney, said, “I came to this WYD with a group of friends and this is important to me because I believe that we need others in order to be able to make a difference in the world and even to make personal decisions. Loneliness is a challenge for many young people of my age and I want to do something about it by starting with loving my friends. I understood here that this is the right path”.
These young people have many questions and also fears, but there’s more: they want to open up, to learn; they come from very different backgrounds and experiences, yet they are all here to meet Pope Francis, to discover God in their lives and to meet friends with whom to share this discovery. This is the essence of the WYD in Lisbon.
Stefania Tanesini
To read the full speeches:
Margaret Karram, Catechesis of 2nd August 2023, Rise up meeting, WYD Lisbon (Portugal)
Jesús Morán, Catechesis of 2nd August 2023, Rise up meeting, WYD Lisbon (Portugal)
Margaret Karram, Catechesis of 3rd August 2023, Rise up meeting, WYD Lisbon (Portugal)
Jesús Morán, Catechesis of 3rd August 2023, Rise up meeting, WYD Lisbon (Portugal)
May 19, 2023 | Non categorizzato
We have come to the Australian stage of THE journey BY Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán, President and Co-President of the Focolare Movement. IT IS a continent with extraordinary cultural riches and a diverse and multicultural Focolare family.
Suva to Sydney
Margaret and Jesús have certainly taken radical leaps throughout this trip. (Just think of their jump from Japan to Fiji.) The flight from Suva to Sydney 9 May was certainly similar, as the sudden shift from seeing the handful of fishing villages on the south coast of Fiji’s main island to the bright shiny jewel of a city in Australia is nothing short of extreme.
The shimmering lights of iconic Sydney harbour were on full display as our plane circled closely, almost as if to proudly show off this ‘beaut’ of a city.
Stepping into this multicultural metropolis, our diverse local community is there to welcome them in their many languages. They hail from South Korea, Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Bangladesh, Brazil, and of course Anglo-Celtic Australia. They are Catholics, Melkites, Chaldeans, Anglicans; the local Focolare region of Sydney includes Brisbane, Australian capital Canberra and their surrounding areas.
Meeting the Archbishop of Canberra
Connecting with the local Church remains top priority. During a profound yet light-hearted meeting with Archbishop Christopher Prowse, currently the archbishop of Canberra, he spotlighted the life of Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first saint.
“If Mary McKillop were alive today, she would be very comfortable with Focolare,” the archbishop said, pointing to her interfaith works.
He took us to her tomb and prayed that like her, the charism of unity would bloom like a rose, spreading its scent throughout Australia.
In through the art door
A clear window into an indigenous culture is through its art, but to know what you are looking at, having a guide is essential.
Enter Alexandra Gaffikin, an English Volunteer in Sydney with extensive experience in the museum and heritage sector. Her roles have included ‘head of interpretation’ at a museum, which certainly was handy as the group visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales for an exhibition on contemporary Aboriginal art.
Iconic bark paintings, for instance, were shown to be so much more: they are at once histories, maps, title deeds, and rulebooks even. They can be three dimensional, with underpainting showing underground water sources, for example.
In Aboriginal culture, these artworks are alive as people (and could even be painted on someone’s body). These are living collections displaying knowledge passed down through millennia.
Moments to enjoy Sydney
Amid a day full of meetings, Margaret and Jesús were able to fit in some time to take in Sydney, hopping on one of the many ferries and heading towards Circular Quay and the iconic Sydney Opera House. The views are spectacular! Happy to get behind the camera for a bit, Margaret ended up snapping quite a few pictures herself.
The upside of merging across the globe
This visit was an opportunity for focolarini from across the region – including from as far as Perth, Wellington and Fiji – to come together for some meaningful sessions. It is a time where the movement’s organisation has been merging, and now as a result exceedingly different cultures (think Korea, Japan and Chinese speaking areas, for instance) now need to adjust and collaborate directly.
“I think up until now we didn’t understand all the consequences and all the positive things, even though it has been very difficult all this process.
“But we will see the consequences, I think, in a few years. Because what it is helping us is to really break down all the barriers… first of all in our hearts, and the barriers between nations…
“If we want to have peace, we have to have peace among us focolarini and among communities. We have to look at other countries… as our own countries and discover that we can be this ‘connecting family’…
“We don’t have to give other people our richness, we have to help them to discover theirs.”
Margaret Karram
A special presence despite medical challenges
There was a particularly meaningful moment when three married focolarine who are seriously ill were able to greet everyone remotely.
“I just want to assure you of my unity. Much as I would’ve wanted, I was fully booked, but I had to change because of what God had in store for me,” said one.
“It’s been good because I feel where I’m where God wanted me to be, but it’s not where I wanted to be,” another told the group.
“Physically I can’t run, but inside I really want to run, I’m so excited,” said the third. “Enthusiasm does not have any age.”
Welcome to country
Aboriginal culture in Australia is the oldest continuous culture known, dating back at least 60,000 years. The proper protocol when beginning meetings in Australia is to have a ‘welcome to country’ from an Aboriginal elder, or a formal acknowledgement of the traditional custodians of the land.
As the Focolare community gathered from throughout Australia, we were privileged to have ‘Aunty Ali’ Golding, a Biripi elder, to welcome us all.
She grew up on an Aboriginal mission and later lived in a suburb of Sydney for over 20 years. In the 1980s, Ali was one of the first Aboriginal education assistants, and in 2004, she gained her diploma in theology.
She has contributed to various local, national and international forums, including the New South Wales Reconciliation Council and Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation. This has helped deepen public understanding of indigenous culture and history for the public.
Aunty Ali’s presence at our Focolare event with Margaret and Jesús certainly deepened our appreciation for this national treasure and her rich heritage. “It has been one of the most heartfelt welcomes that I have ever experienced,” she said. “Here I felt the Creator’s spirit.”
The best meeting of the whole trip (so far)
Margaret and Jesús had a dynamic, insightful meeting with close to 30 young people. When asked about their challenges, they did not hold back, but spoke candidly of the indifference they encounter with their peers daily. Their numbers are small; the distances are huge.
Margaret shared her early Gen life in Haifa with her sister, and how they started small, receiving the Gen magazine by mail. She was proud of how they had begun, and said she was just as proud of those present for moving forward with their Gen life.
Jesús encouraged the young people as well, making the effort to reassure them that sharing their difficulties was not negative at all. “This was the best meeting of this entire trip,” he said at the end. “I liked it a lot.”
Drawing on rich experience
Rita and Antonio, who look after the Focolare Oceania region from Rome, have also been travelling with the group. When asked how they live dialogue and fraternity in conflict situations, they reached into their own vast backgrounds.
“My experience in interreligious dialogue has been discovering that we are walking together towards God,” said Antonio.
“Dialogue is an encounter,” Rita added. “What is really important is to meet the other and discover that love drives fear away.”
How to bodysurf (spiritually)
The surf was certainly ‘up’ on the beaches around Sydney, with young and old donning their wetsuits and grabbing their boards to catch a few waves. ‘Bodysurfing’ is also popular – people ride the ocean waves without a board as well. It’s truly exhilarating.
But to get out to where the best waves are to ride, first you have to deal with the powerful ones rolling in towards you — the ones you don’t want to ride, the ones you aren’t ready for.
“Someone explained to me the dynamics of this sport, and right away what came to my mind was our love for Jesus Forsaken,” Margaret said.
Bodysurfers essentially dive deep below those incoming waves they don’t want to ride, so low that they can touch the sand at the bottom. Doing so, they avoid getting swept away by the power of the ocean. Once the wave rolls over, they come back to the surface to find a wave worth riding.
“Like those who bodysurf, you don’t fight the waves, you don’t ‘fight the trials’, but you go to the bottom of your heart, recognising Jesus in every pain, and continuing to love him, you come up again, finding the light through love.”
T. M. Hartmann
May 12, 2023 | Non categorizzato
The third stage of Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán’s journey to Asia and Oceania was to Fiji. The spirituality of unity began to spread in this part of the Pacific at the end of the 1960s. The Focolare in the Pacific, one family Although Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán arrived in Fiji on 3rd May, the official start of the stage of their journey in Oceania took place two days later, with the “Sevusevu” ceremony. Over 200 people attended, including representatives of the local Church. The ceremony sealed their entry, and the delegation from the Centre accompanying them, into the Fijian community, both ecclesial and social. Sevusevu: the gift of welcome 
Those arriving in the archipelago are welcomed with the ceremony of ‘Sevusevu’ – meaning ‘gift’. And from that moment on they are no longer visitors, but part of the community and members, with all the rights and privileges of being on Fijian soil. The President and Co-President of the Focolare received precious garlands and the Kava root, derived from the pepper plant, which has ancestral significance. The two ‘candidates’ were presented to the community by ‘heralds’, who spoke on their behalf. They then drank the drink made from Kava in one go and received the ‘Tabua’, a whale tooth which has sacred meaning: it is the most precious object in Fijian culture, and it was offered to them as a sign of the highest esteem and honour. Traditions in the Pacific: where the present and future of peoples are rooted Right from the start, we realised that, in the Pacific, traditions feature in a significant and living way, which is relevant for today They are not relegated to a past that has nothing to do with people’s daily lives but form the foundation of their way of life. Among the values that traditions continue to hand on are respect, welcome, reciprocity, social solidarity, and a very deep and longstanding bond with nature. “Margaret Karram, Jesús Morán and the Focolare delegation have arrived at a particular time in the life of the Fiji Islands,” explained Peter Emberson, a Fijian, engaged in multilateral consultancy and a political analyst for the government of Fiji and the United Nations, who has known the movement since he was a child. “The present government is more open and democratic, and I see Margaret and Jesús’ visit as part of this process of social and political renewal. There are two questions that here in the Pacific we always ask an official delegation that lands on the shores of our islands: ‘Where are you from?’ and ‘Why have you come?’ At the ‘Sevusevu’ Margaret stood before the Fijian people and offered her commitment and that of the Focolare Movement to build unity here too. It is an identity-making response, which says a lot about the contribution that the Movement can make to our country. And this builds trust”. A region that is still too little known 
Oceania is a little-known continent and although, in a territorial sense, it is the largest on the globe, in terms of land mass it is the smallest. In addition to Australia and New Zealand, it includes the Pacific region, consisting of 26 nation states and territories. The main ethnic groups are Melanesians, Micronesians, and Polynesians. In total, the Pacific region has a population of 16 million people and in the last 100 years, the Fiji Islands (almost one million inhabitants), have become the political and economic heart of the region. There is a diverse religious landscape in which Christianity is the most practised faith, followed by Hinduism and Islam. Catholicism arrived in the 19th century and today Catholics number just over 82,000. Father Soane Fotutata, secretary of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC), during a dinner in the focolare, spoke about the challenges facing society and the Church in this vast territory, where the Catholic Church has 14 dioceses. He explained that the ecological crisis threatens the very existence of people and communities. It is seen in rising sea levels, acidifying oceans, droughts, floods, and extreme weather events that have become more frequent. Then there are social wounds such as economic and climate migration from many islands; prostitution, alcoholism, and poverty, to which the local Church is trying to respond. 2022: the arrival of the focolares in Suva It was in this ecclesial context that the women’s and men’s focolares opened a year ago in Suva, the capital of Fiji. Their presence, in fact, is also linked to a project supported by Missio Scotland and Missio Australia, to collaborate in the diocesan pastoral care for young people preparing for confirmation and post confirmation with a programme that focuses on supporting the handing on of cultural riches between generations. Lourdes Rank, from Brazil, and Stephen Hall, from New Zealand explained: “On our arrival, the Archbishop asked us to be first of all at the service of the Church and to be part of its activities and projects. We got involved in catechesis, with young people and in the life of our parishes. This approach has been very positive: we are now truly part of the life of the Church and we have begun to build relationships with a number of priests, religious and lay people’. In this regard, the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Suva, Mgr Sulio Turagakacivi, expressed his gratitude for the service that the focolares give in the local Church. Thanking him, Margaret said: “We can learn from the Church here how to live the synodal process and how to maintain the freshness of the encounter between the Gospel and the local society and culture“. In Futuna the first seed of the spirituality of unity The first seed of the spirituality of unity in the Pacific was planted in the island of Futuna in the late 1960s by Sr. Anna Scarpone, a Marist missionary. The first Pacific focolare was then based in Numea (New Caledonia) from 1992 to 2008, accompanying the growth of a vibrant local community. Today, the two focolares in Fiji are ‘home’ for all the Movement’s communities in the Pacific region, which, besides New Caledonia and Fiji, are in Kiribati, Wallis and Futuna, with some people who already know about the spirituality in Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu. Together for the first time 
On the occasion of Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán’ visit, the communities met in Suva for a few days. It was their first meeting in one of the Pacific Islands. Many events and customs, such as welcoming and appreciating each other, showed the extent to which everyone realised how precious those days were. For these peoples, coming together as a Focolare family does not only mean having a spiritual communion, but means contributing to daily life. This involves cooking, preparing the liturgy of the Mass, the songs and the dances – each one offering their specific human and cultural “gift” that is shared with that of the others. Margaret and Jesús met with the men and women focolarini for a morning of deep sharing and were able to spend a lot of time experiencing different aspects of the life of the community, such as meals, Mass, with many opportunities just to talk together. The sharing of experiences gave them an insight into the challenges and commitment of the Movement in the Pacific. In New Caledonia, the community is engaged at the service of the Church and, on a social level, in creating opportunities to build up unity between the different ethnic groups on the island. In Futuna and Kiribati, the Word of Life is central, generating experiences of forgiveness and reconciliation in families and also establishing social projects at the service of women and the needy. In Fiji the community is growing and shares a commitment serving the Church together with the focolarini. Run4Unity in Fiji: journeying together The 6th of May was Run4Unity day, and Margaret Karram started the worldwide relay from the Pacific, where we see the world’s first sunrise. With the Teens for Unity, she and Jesús planted two trees typical of the Fiji Islands: “the native sandalwood tree and the citrus tree, which need each other to grow,” she explained. “The sandalwood has the fragrance and the citrus, provides it with all the nutrients it needs. It is a wonderful example of mutual care found in nature. This is what the Pacific Islanders want to say to all of us: the only way to give our precious gift, unity, is to journey together, taking care of each other. In this way we can transform our world’. It is a message that highlights what is perhaps the main characteristic of these islands: living as a community. This emerged clearly in the afternoon and evening of 7th May at the meeting Margaret and Jesús Morán had with the community. “I have come here to be close to you and to share your life at least for a few days,” Margaret Karram told everyone. “What I have found here is very close to my heart and to the culture I come from, which encourages respect for other people and their language, and a sense of family. There are just a few of you, but do not worry: what matters is living the Gospel and bringing unity to those we meet. What you have shared with us during these days has impressed me greatly. Through your love, hospitality and welcome, you have given Jesus to us. But listening to you, I realised that the most precious pearl we possess is Jesus forsaken for whom we have left everything and who is the secret to loving everyone“. Jesús Morán added: “The experiences of forgiveness that you have told us have touched me deeply, and they show that you are living the Gospel, because forgiveness is the greatest newness that the Gospel contains. Forgiveness is not something merely human, only Jesus in us can forgive, and you have shown us this with a unique clarity“. When Margaret Karram was asked her hopes are for the future of the Movement in Oceania, she answered by saying what her hopes are for the whole Movement in the world: that it may become ever more a family, which is not closed in on itself, but is open to dialogue with all so as to fulfil the prayer of Jesus to the Father, which was Chiara Lubich’s dream. At the end she added: “I would like to say that in order to contribute to achieving unity, each country, culture or continent must not lose its own identity. We must remain ourselves. This would be a great gift for the whole Movement and also for the world: to be ourselves, with our riches and our challenges, and to live the charism of unity without leaving aside what we are‘. The applause that followed showed everyone’s gratitude at feeling they were understood. Having begun with the ‘Sevusevu’ ceremony, the visit could not but end with equal solemnity. The farewell ceremony, ‘I-Tatau’, seemed to close a circle. Heralds, speaking in Fijian on behalf of Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán, thanked the community and asked, on their behalf, permission to take their leave. The speaker representing the Fijian community granted them permission to leave and wished them a safe journey in the hope of seeing each other again. The concert that the Pacific communities had prepared for that evening was an extraordinary ‘expo’ of the artistic talents of the peoples present, where dances and songs spoke of their deep connection with the earth and with nature, their pride in their traditions and the desire to share them. But what will remain in everyone’s minds, we believe, were the greetings exchanged between the communities of New Caledonia and Fiji. Sitting opposite each other, they each sang their own farewell song, they waved goodbye to each other looking into each other’s eyes, as if they were leaving their own brothers and sisters. The said to Margaret Karram: “We assure you that we will be one family and, even with our weaknesses, we will do all we can to keep Jesus in the midst in Oceania.
Stefania Tanesini
