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A friendship is truly worth a kidney

A friendship is truly worth a kidney

18 Aug 2026 | Focolari nel Mondo, Non categorizzato, Testimonianze di Vita

Video in English. Turn on subtitles and select your preferred language

For this story, I have to introduce you to my friend Anthony.

He was living in New Jersey at the time.

He had chronic kidney failure. And so, three times a week he had to go on for dialysis, which, of course, made it kind of hard to go about his regular daily life.

At one point in time, I was thinking, “Hey, you know, maybe I could be a kidney donor to him.” But these were kind of like mere thoughts and nothing—you know, I didn’t follow up. I didn’t talk to anybody about it.

A couple months go by, and at one point in time I find myself doing an Easter retreat. On the first day of the retreat, in order also to prepare myself a little bit, I went in for a visit to the chapel. Out of the blue, this question came back to my mind: “Hey, J.P., are you still willing to donate a kidney?”

I was kind of surprised because I hadn’t thought about it for months. But at that very moment there, I prayed about it, I thought about it, and I thought, “Yes, I want to follow up with it. And I want to see if that could eventually be a possibility.”

Then, on the next day of the retreat, one of the young people sharing was Gidget, Anthony’s daughter. First, she shared that during her teenage years, her mom went through a lot of suffering. She had lupus. She had kidney failure. And now, many years later, her dad kind of went through the same situation with the kidney failure. She said, “Even though we suffered so much as a family, I wouldn’t exchange this experience.”

Because recognizing Jesus on the cross in that suffering, she felt that she had come closer to God. And also, it had brought the family a lot closer together as well.

She walks off the stage, she comes back, she grabs the mic again, and she says, “By the way, just in case anybody is interested in knowing, my dad is O-positive.”

That came to me as a shock because I’m also O-positive. So I felt that the only reason she was sharing that was for me to hear that.

Then I understood also that God had allowed me, the day before, to make that decision in all peace and freedom, just between He and I at that moment in the chapel. So there was a gift.

Then we went ahead. We talked about it with some others in the Focolare community. We did some tests for the blood and the tissue. Everything was matching.

A few months later, we actually had the kidney transplant.

Of course, you hear also the consequences are—you know, you can live your life with one kidney. But it was, of course, not on my mind at all. I felt it was not just me wanting to do that, but I also felt kind of like that trigger from God, like, “Hey, if you want, this could be a possibility.” So it was kind of like a subtle invitation on His part to make me make that step out of love for Him. So that was also in the background here.

Of course, Anthony and I stayed in the hospital for a few days. I really felt a tremendous joy in my heart, you know. And I felt there was not just—not a joy because of, “I did something.” But I felt that joy came from God. That was very powerful and very tangible. It was a gift, you know, a special moment.

Jean Pierre Slee (Whashington – USA)
Photo: JP Slee’s personal archive

This video is part of the On Point series produced by Focolare Media. This web series explores the key aspects of the Focolare Movement’s spirituality through reflections and real-life experiences. Visit Focolare Media or the YouTube channel to access other resources of this kind, available with subtitles and dubbing in various languages.

From Atheist to Parish Council President

From Atheist to Parish Council President

14 Aug 2026 | Testimonianze di Vita

A few years ago, while living away from my family, I had to share accommodation for a while with a work colleague. My colleague, Alberto, was an atheist. We would talk about sport, culture, religion etc. On a couple of occasions, I told him what my own conversion and encounter with God through Jesus had meant to me. He always thanked me politely, although he naturally remained faithful to his own convictions.

At the same time, I knew that living the Word of God meant loving this person in a practical way, so I began to take a genuine interest in his life, his family, the things he enjoyed and the things that annoyed or hurt him.

Seeing that Alberto was extremely busy, I offered to do more than my share of the cooking and even washed his clothes. He loved running and although it was far from being my favourite sport, I started going for runs with him so that I could share more deeply in his interests.

One day he invited me to go out with him in search of female company. I politely declined and explained that, for me, sex was something deeply meaningful. He looked at me with some surprise and said, “I need to think about what you’ve just told me.”

Eventually, our paths went in different directions.
Years later, we unexpectedly met again at an airport. We embraced and he said, “Do you know where I’ve just come from? A meeting. I’m the president of my parish council.”
I was astonished. I could hardly believe it.

Alberto went on, “Miguel, do you remember all those years ago when you cooked on the days it was my turn, or when you washed my clothes and went running with me? I used to watch you, and I could see that there was something within you—a light, a strength in your life that I didn’t have. That was what touched me. Little by little, it began to stir my heart and my mind.
“The result was a profound inner dialogue with God. I began reading the Gospel and gradually changed the way I lived. Then I was baptised and here I am: from atheist to President of the Parish Council.
“Thank you for those months when we lived together.”

M. N. – Messico
(source focolaresciudadnueva.com)

Foto: © Kampus by Pexels

Kala, an institution

Kala, an institution

12 Aug 2026 | Chiara Lubich, Dialogo Interreligioso

The news came suddenly and unexpectedly, on the morning of 10th August. Kala Acharya had just died on the campus of Somaiya University where she lived and where, at the behest of its founder, Shri Karamshi Jethabhai, she had spent forty years of her life. As Samir Somaiya, grandson of the founder and current President of this prestigious academic institution, defined her, Kala had become an institution in her own right through her presence and personality. In agreement with Dr. Shantilal Somaiya, who in the meantime had succeeded his father in the management of the Trust of the academic institution, she had established the Somaiya Sanskriti Peetham, an institution for the training of formal and informal teachers of moral and religious values. At the same time, she became deeply involved with Dr. Somaiya in interreligious dialogue, collaborating in the mid-1990s, with the St. Pius X Catholic Seminary in Mumbai and with various foreign professors and institutions, including some in Italy.
In September 2000, a few months before Chiara Lubich’s first trip to India, Msgr. Felix Machado, Undersecretary of the then Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (today the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue), asked Marina Pracchia and Roberto Catalano, the co-responsibles of the Focolare Movement in India, to get in touch with Professor Kala Acharya. He considered her a sister and hoped she might be able to take part in some moments during Lubich’s visit. The first meeting in Vidhyavihar, on the vast campus of Somaiya University, was immediately very warm. Kala readily accepted the invitation to attend the award ceremony of the Gandhi Peace Defender Award, which Chiara Lubich received from the Shanti Ashram in Coimbatore, in early January 2001. It was in Coimbatore, just before returning to Mumbai, that Lubich met the Indian academic personally. They immediately understood each other. The next day, the founder of Focolare wrote in her diary: “Yesterday, on the feast of the Epiphany, I had a rather special meeting, perhaps with a person who has a design of God, Kala Acharya. […] she is an expert, she has explored Hindu-Christian dialogue, knows the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue well and has been personally received twice by John Paul II. When she came into the sitting room, she immediately said that she felt blessed…: “It is the love of God that comes to me. I’ll work along whatever line you give me. That’s a promise.” […] She wants me to meet a group of highly qualified people of various religions in Bombay: she said, “Your word must go directly to all religions. The meaning you give to love is extremely important”. There will be professors, students, “we all want to become the vehicles of this word of yours” ”.

In the photos: From left: Chiara Lubich and Kala Acharya. In the second photo, between Chiara and Kala is Prof. Shubada Joshi, and on the right is Dr Shantilal Somaiya. In the third photo: Dr S. Somaiya, Kala Acharya, Chiara Lubich and Cardinal Ivan Dias of Bombay.

A few days later, in Mumbai, under a shamiana (a decorated tent) in the esplanade in the center of the large university campus, 600 people gathered to hear Lubich speak. She recounted her Christian experience and her yearning and commitment to dialogue. Shortly beforehand, Dr. Shantilal Somaiya had assured Chiara that he wanted to become a soldier at her command, to bring the spirit of unity and dialogue everywhere. It was the beginning of a unique season in the Focolare experience –not only because everything was always organized together with the new Hindu friends and the Vatican Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue and with the Diocese of Mumbai. The Movement, for the first time in its history, opened itself up to interreligious dialogue at the academic level. This was largely due to Professor Kala Acharya who suggested that Chiara continue the friendship together with a series of symposia to reflect on shared themes. It was during the first of these that Lubich felt the inner urge to share her most intimate spiritual experience. The resonance among the Hindus was surprising and Chiara continued this experience of communion during her second visit to India in 2003, when she spent a morning together with about twenty of these academics to share very deep spiritual realities in an atmosphere of communion difficult to describe.

Chiara and Kala have always considered themselves spiritual ‘sisters’ and Kala continued, as much as she could, with great fidelity, to carry on the interreligious dialogue born from her relationship with Chiara. Along with other Hindus such as Minoti Aram and Suresh Uppadhyaya, she had grasped the prophetic significance of the charism, expressing it in these terms: “In Hinduism we have three ways to get to God: bhakti yoga leads us to pray, Karma yoga leads us to act and jnana yoga leads us to think and meditate in order to come to know self and God. Chiara Lubich offers us a fourth way, the Prem yoga, the path of love for our brothers and sisters and among ourselves ”.

Roberto Catalano
Photo: © Anna Paula Meyer – Horacio Conde – Archivio CSC Audiovisivi

Kala, una istituzione

Kala, una istituzione

12 Aug 2026 | Chiara Lubich, Dialogo Interreligioso

La notizia è arrivata improvvisa e inattesa, la mattina del 10 agosto. Kala Acharya si era appena spenta all’interno del campus della Somaiya University dove viveva e dove, per volere del suo fondatore, Shri Karamshi Jethabhai, ha speso quarant’anni della sua vita. Come l’ha definita Samir Somaiya, nipote del fondatore e attuale Presidente di questa prestigiosa istituzione accademica, Kala era ormai lei stessa una istituzione con la sua presenza e personalità. D’accordo con il Dr. Shantilal Somaiya, che intanto aveva rilevato dal padre il Trust che gestiva l’istituzione accademica, aveva dato vita al Somaiya Sanskriti Peetham, un istituto per la formazione di insegnanti formali e informali di valori morali e religiosi. Contemporaneamente, si era impegnata insieme al Dr. Somaiya nel dialogo interreligioso, collaborando già a metà degli anni Novanta, con il Seminario Cattolico St. Pius X di Mumbai e con vari professori e istituzioni straniere, fra le quali alcune anche italiane. Nel settembre del 2000, a pochi mesi dal primo viaggio di Chiara Lubich in India, Mons. Felix Machado, Sottosegretario dell’allora Pontificio Consiglio per il Dialogo Interreligioso (oggi Dicastero per il Dialogo Interreligioso), pregò Marina Pracchia e Roberto Catalano, corresponsabili dei Focolari in India, di mettersi in contatto con la professoressa Kala Acharya che considerava una sorella e che sperava potesse partecipare a qualche momento del viaggio della Lubich. Il primo incontro a Vidhyavihar, nel grande campus della Somaiya University, fu subito molto caloroso. Kala accettò immediatamente l’invito a partecipare alla cerimonia di conferimento del Premio Gandhi, Difensore della Pace, che Chiara Lubich ricevette dallo Shanti Ashram a Coimbatore, all’inizio di gennaio 2001. Proprio a Coimbatore, poco prima di ripartire per Mumbai, la Lubich incontrò personalmente l’accademica indiana: si capirono al volo. La fondatrice dei Focolari scrisse sul suo diario, il giorno successivo: «Ieri, giorno dell’Epifania, ho avuto un incontro un  po’ speciale, forse con una creatura non senza un disegno di Dio, Kala Acharya. […] Colta, ha approfondito il dialogo indù-cristiano, conosce bene il Pontificio Consiglio per il dialogo interreligioso ed è stata ricevuta due volte personalmente da Giovanni Paolo II. Entrando nel salottino ha subito detto che si sente benedetta…: “E’ l’amore di Dio che viene a me. Lavorerò su qualsiasi linea mi darai. E’ una promessa!”. […] desidera che io incontri un gruppo di persone molto qualificate di varie religioni a Bombay: “la tua parola deve andare direttamente a tutte le religioni – ha detto – è importantissimo il significato che tu dai all’amore”. Ci saranno professori, studenti, “vogliamo tutti diventare i veicoli di questa tua parola”».

Nelle foto: Da sinistra: Chiara Lubich, Kala Acharya e dietro Roberto Catalano. Nella seconda foto, tra Chiara e Kala la Prof.ssa Shubada Joshi e a destra il Dr. Shantilal Somaiya. Nella terza foto: Dr. S. Somaiya, Kala Acharya, Chiara Lubich e il Card. di Bombay Ivan Dias.

Infatti, qualche giorno dopo, a Mumbai sotto una shamiana (un tendone decorato)nella spianata al centro del grande campus universitario, c’erano 600 persone ad attendere la parola della Lubich che raccontò la sua esperienza cristiana e il suo anelito e impegno per il dialogo. Poco prima, il Dr. Shantilal Somaiya aveva assicurato Chiara di voler trasformarsi in un soldato ai suoi ordini, per portare lo spirito dell’unità e del dialogo dovunque. Fu l’inizio di una stagione unica nell’esperienza dei Focolari – e non solo perché tutto fu sempre organizzato con i nuovi amici indù e insieme al Dicastero vaticano per il dialogo interreligioso e con la diocesi di Mumbai. Il Movimento, per la prima volta, nella sua storia si aprì ad un dialogo interreligioso anche a livello accademico. E questo fu il merito proprio della professoressa Kala Acharya che suggerì a Chiara di proseguire l’amicizia insieme con dei simposi per riflettere su temi comuni. Proprio durante il primo di questi simposi la Lubich avvertì la spinta interiore di partecipare la sua esperienza spirituale più intima. La risonanza fra gli indù fu sorprendente e Chiara continuò ancora questa esperienza di comunione durante il suo secondo viaggio in India nel 2003, quando trascorse una mattinata insieme a una ventina di questi accademici per condividere realtà spirituali molto profonde in un clima di comunione difficile da descrivere. 

Chiara e Kala si sono sempre considerate ‘sorelle’ spirituali e Kala ha continuato, come ha potuto, ma con grande fedeltà, a portare avanti nel suo ambito il dialogo interreligioso nato dal suo rapporto con Chiara. Aveva colto – insieme ad altri indù come Minoti Aram e Suresh Uppadhyaya – la profezia del carisma che esprimeva in questi termini: «Nell’induismo noi abbiamo tre vie per arrivare a Dio: il bhaktiyoga ci fa pregare, il Karmayoga ci fa agire, lo Jnanayoga ci fa pensare e meditare per arrivare a conoscere Sé e Dio. Chiara Lubich ci propone una quarta via, il Premyoga, la via dell’amore al fratello e fra di noi».

Roberto Catalano
Foto: © Marcello Casubolo e Horacio Conde – CSC Audiovisivi

What’s UP?

What’s UP?

12 Aug 2026 | Centro internazionale

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