15 Aug 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
“My name is Sandra, I’ve been an entrepreneur for thirty years. At present I’m the owner and director of some handicraft companies. I work in designing with tropical fabrics from Amazonia, and I do research in that region. I’ve always been sensitive to the needs of those who are less favoured. I’d say that it’s part of my nature to dedicate myself to those who are most in need of help and solidarity. As a young woman I worked with prisoners in a jail. Then I became the director of a business. I’ve always tried to use my knowledge to promote others by offering vocational training and job opportunities. In 1999 a family tragedy changed my life completely. In a single moment that marvellous “island” I was living on completely crumbled. The earth was taken from beneath my feet. I was desperate. During this dramatic period, this painful period, I deepened my relationship with some friends in the focolare, whom I had met three years earlier. I found much support in them and gradually I was able to lift myself up again. Coming to know the experience of Chiara Lubich, it was as if a reflection of her light was giving me the hope of finding a way out at the end of the tunnel. I realized that her example was contagious towards me. Thus I had the strength to begin again. In 2009 I attended the Congress on Dialogue for people with no religious conviction at Mariapolis Ginetta, the Focolare town near San Paolo. It made me feel motivated and I entered into concrete collaboration with them. A possibility was found for opening a course on making handicrafts with coconut fibre and “buriti” palms, which are native to Brazil. Coming from a family of specialists in using vegetable fibres, I create a job that not only increased the workforce, but also secured the conservation of the environment. And Project Ratan was born. At present our workshop is active three times a week and is frequented by a group of eight youths who work there. They are followed by a worker from one of my factories, and I provide the supervision and targeting of designs. The products are useful for decorations, like vases, decorated boxes, with woven designs. At the end of last year, we had a cultural afternoon during which we presented our work and sold some pieces. Quest’anno è già iniziata una seconda tappa del corso, con l’ampliamento dei lavori. Essendo un corso professionale, i giovani potranno essere inseriti poi nel mercato del lavoro. Le iscrizioni sono in crescita.This year the second phase has already begun with the expansion of the work. Since it is a professional course, the youths will be equipped to insert themselves into the work market. Enrolment is on the rise. This project has been a gift for me. I realize that I also receive so much and, at times, much more than they. I feel such enormous joy at being able to collaborate in some way. From the moment I dedicated myself to this project, I felt reborn. And for as long as I live, I hope to continue working for this cause.” S.G.
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23 Jun 2011 | Non categorizzato
To be “the builders of new cities” was the wish of Maria Voce, President of the Focolare, for the 20th of June encounter, in Naples, commemorating the birth of the Political Movement for Unity (PMU). “In the present context of the general disenchantment of the citizenry concerning public institutions,” stated Maria Voce in her message, the achievements offered by the PMU – small perhaps, but significant – “make us hope in the season of “new politics” made of dialogue and mutual acceptance. The roots: May 2, 1996, in Naples, Italy. A group of politicians posed a question to Chiara Lubich: How is it possible for those who are active in different parties on opposite sides of the aisle, to live out the fraternity which she proposes, in the field of politics?”. In her answer, she called for new determination, for unity around shared core values must come before the legitimate affiliation to a political party, and the common good can only be reached with the contribution of all. The PMU was born from these basic ideas, which were also wholeheartedly supported by the politicians in attendance. Fifteen years later on 20 June 2011, a conference entitled: “Brotherhood: A Challenge for Politics” was held at the public auditorium of the Regional Council for the purpose of acknowledging the entrance of Chiara Lubich’s charism in civil history. More than 150 attended – among them parliamentarians and administrators from other regions as well. The first presentation was given by Eli Folonari who spent fifty years at Chiara’s side and is now director of the Chiara Lubich Centre. She offered her listeners an outline that traced the excursus of this journey: from interpersonal love to a social love for the commonwealth. Today, the PMU operates in every region of Italy, various European nations, Latin America, and Asia. The various experiences that develop over the years converge in the spirituality of unity, beginning with the paradigm offered by Igino Giordani. The basic lines of the PMU were presented by Marco Fatuzzo, president of the International Centre, beginning with the definition offered by Chiara herself: “an international laboratory of common political work, between government officials, scholars, and politicians at various levels, from different party lines, who place fraternity at the basis of their life.” Within this same framework, some significant examples were offered: the laboratory of dialogue and policy design that is animated by the PMU in some of the parliaments of various countries – in Italy, for example, Brazil, Argentina, and South Korea – the international network of political training schools, in which youths can experience a politics of communion. Cities have also joined the network: “To date, more than 100 have joined the “City for Fraternity Association,” said the mayor of Rocca di Papa, Italy, Pasquale Boccia, who is also the association’s current president. And why not the Regions? It was truly emblematic, therefore, that in the context of a more inclusive vision of Italy, just at the conclusion of the conference, the president of the Regional Council of Campania, Italy, Paolo Romano, announced the unanimous membership of the assembly in the City for Fraternity Association, signing the memorandum of understanding. Published by the Movement for Unity in Politics
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22 Jun 2011 | Non categorizzato
A sports coach from Saxony, East Germany describes how a long friendship with a Catholic priest began, in spite of the fact that the coach had no religious faith. “After the revolution of 1989 in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) sport club membership was no longer free due to cuts in subsidies, and many young people went over to neo-Nazi environments. And nobody did anything. In desperation I even approached a Catholic priest with whom I had never had anything to do before, to complain to him: Why doesn’t the Church do something?” Change of scene. An ex-officer in the people’s army and professor at the superior institute of state security – the GDR secret service – attended his 50th high school reunion where he met a classmate who had chosen a different path. His friend was now a priest. But their differing paths were not an obastacle to their being friends; indeed, it helped. During the final years of the German Democratic Republic (DDR) the professor had begun some research and for this reason was removed from his work post. His conception of socialist society was not compatible with the interests of the power system. Like others, these two characters – the coach and the professor from state security – have found a new perspective in the gatherings of the Focolare Movement. So it was that last May they attended meetings between Christians and people without a religious reference, at the Mariapolis Centre in Zwochau near Leipzig (5 – 9 May 2011).
The Mariapolis Centre in Zwochau
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10 Jun 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
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“Let’s get together again please!” wrote a German girl on her Facebook account, expressing the longing of many of the fifty participants of the Media Education seminar, which was aimed at young people and their coordinators. The course, sponsered by trade associations from six countries and prepared in detail by NetOne and the Charism Community Projects (UK), received financial support from the Youth in Action programme of the European Commission.
The course provided a theoretical part – three lectures held by the Media Education Professor Luciano Mele from the International Telematic University of Rome (UNINETTUNO), who were the external project partners; evenings with professionals in the areas of communication: social networks, journalism and advertising , and four creative workshops for the remaining of the day. The quality of content was much appreciated by the young people as well as the creativity in the experimental groups on multicultural living.
Arco-Iris, the Focolare’s little town at Abrigada proved to be quite the suitable place for hosting the seminar, not only for the environment but also for the great hospitality and attentive service.
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3 Jun 2011 | Non categorizzato
This year, on this occasion, a group of young people decided to do something concrete for their city. Recently, they had taken part, in partnership with other youth groups of German and Italian schools, in a European project called “Heimat Europa” (Europe, Home to All). The project was begun in Germany in 2010 through the initiative of the German association Starkmacher, in collaboration with the Movement for Unity in Politics. It was a training course which lasted more than a year, where they worked and comparing their views on immigration in from the viewpoint of integration, the environment, the future of Europe, with particular reference to the development the Federal European Union which should be able to accomplish it. It was a compelling journey that left a mark in their hearts but also in their minds and, begun as a game, it gradually grew and became a true political experience. The Mayor of Solingen and other city authorities were enthusiastic about the project and immediately offered their support. Before the anniversary event even began, knowing that the memorial spot had to be cleaned, they offered to do it. In collaboration with their school, they got many other students involved. A working group assembled information on the tragedy of 1993 for the younger students. And, since the 20th of May occurred during “European Week”, they took the occasion to present the idea of Europe as home for all, including immigrants. 
The suggestions were many. After observing a minute of silence, a “tree of peace” was planted, and the young people present were invited to write on cards the values which they hold to be important (peace, brotherhood, unity, solidarity, responsibility …). Then the cards were symbolically placed in the hole in which the tree was planted. It was an apple tree. A young person: “The tree has many leaves, which symbolize Europe in its communion in diversity. The fruits, the apples, symbolize the new generations and new ideas.” And another: “The little apple stands for a great goal, peace in Europe but also in our city.” And what came out in the end, is something interior which confirms that “you can hope for a different world; the change depends on our personal sense of responsibility and our ability to work together.” “You could even become passionate about this kind of politics.”
