2026 will mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Città Nuova magazine. It was the 14th of July 1956 when, in Fiera di Primiero in northern Italy, during a summer meeting of the Focolare Movement called Mariapolis, the foundress and first president of the Focolare Movement, Chiara Lubich, had the idea of creating a “newsletter” so that all the participants could keep in contact.
Since then, thousands of publications have followed, and Città Nuova has always been committed to looking at the facts, reading and exploring current events from the perspective of universal fraternity. It is committed to dialogue on uncomfortable issues, to be close to the most fragile and the forgotten, to build bridges, to be present in the wounds of humanity, to highlight seeds of peace and hope, with a global horizon that looks towards a united world.
As the Movement spread throughout the world, editions were launched in different countries. Today there are 32 editions in 21 languages, both in print and online.
Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, addressed a video message on the 7th of January 2026 in which she stated that “today, faced with the terrible threats of our time – wars, polarisation of all kinds, environmental crises, an economy often based on exploitation, ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence – Città Nuova still and always chooses dialogue:
it chooses peace as a difficult but essential pursuit,
it chooses to believe that every encounter, every thought, every word can contribute to changing the direction of the world.”
Here is the complete video message. Activate the subtitles and choose the language you desire.
“In the midst of the darkness we are living through today in Venezuela, we remember that we are not alone. Under the roar of the bombs in 1943, Chiara Lubich discovered that there is an Ideal that nothing and no one can destroy: God loves us immensely.”
This is how the “Message of hope and unity” begins. It was shared on the evening of 5th January by the Venezuelan Gen (the young people who adhere to the spirituality of the Focolare Movement), both those who live in Venezuela and those in other parts of the world. They met online to pray and to share how each one is living this critical time for the whole population, never forgetting the choice to love everyone. There was a strong sense of the need to face together what they described as a “sacred” time: “we are not alone because we are supported by the prayer of all those who, from Venezuela and from all over the world, are asking for Peace.”
The message continues:
“Today fear wants to paralyze us, but the response is not hatred, rather unity. Chiara taught us that wheneverything collapses, the only thing that remains is Love. If we become “one”, if we look after one another and place God as our rock, fear loses its power.
Let’s not be afraid. Let’s make this moment an opportunity to:
have full trust that God is our Father and does not abandon us, even when the outlook is difficult;
become “one”: may the suffering of others be our own. Let’s help one another, let’s share the little or the much that we have and break down the walls of indifference;
be builders of peace: let our weapon be solidarity.
If we remain united, Jesus is among us and wherever He is, light ultimately overcomes darkness.
“A New Life” is the story of Hasan Mohammad, an economic migrant who arrived in Sicily (Italy) from Bangladesh. Thanks to the Formation & Communion (Fo.Co.) Cooperative, he found a home, a job and a new family. The “widespread reception” system is not limited to the integration of migrants but aims at reciprocity, where the encounter between different people becomes growth for everyone. Discover how solidarity can transform lives and geographical areas.
In the Muisne district, Esmeraldas, the ‘Sunrise’ project, set up by the Focolare Movement with the support of AMU (Action for a United World) and the Economy of Communion, brings together more than 500 young people in ecology clubs located in towns and villages along the coast. These clubs are not only concerned with ecology, but also with the integral development of the person as a response to the many risks to which they are exposed.
The world today lacks unity. To give just a few examples, we see this in the divisions that sometimes exist within families, among neighbours and between Churches and communities. It seems that polarisation prevails over understanding. This is a consequence of the growth of individualism that drives people to decide and act on their own behalf in a way that benefits their interests and personal prestige. This gives little value to the needs and rights of others.
And yet, it is possible to experience unity. It is a journey that always begins by taking small steps and with a “yes” that we say within: yes to welcoming, yes to forgiving, yes to living for others. It is not about grand projects but about small but faithful actions that, over time, transform a life, a community or an entire environment. And when that happens, we realise that fraternity ceases to be an ideal and becomes a visible reality and hope for all.
Martin Buber considers unity to be relationship. He states that it is the space of encounter, that exists between You and I, a sacred place where differences do not disappear but are mutually recognised. For him, unity arises when two realities allow themselves to be touched and shaped by the other and not when one imposes itself. This “between” can be understood as a space that welcomes diversity and, precisely for this reason, becomes a source of communion. Hence, for Buber, “All true life is encounter” (Ich und Du, 1923).
Therefore, in other people – whether friends, family members or just someone we meet along the way – we can discover the great ‘opportunity of relationship’. Other people ‘save us’ and enable us to go beyond our fears when we feel overwhelmed by a difficult situation. Living for unity means walking together despite our differences, transforming them into treasures rather than obstacles. It is an invitation to move from simple coexistence to encounter, where reciprocity enables what belongs to each person to become new because the relationship means it is shared. Unity, understood in this way, is not the sum of the two nor is it fragility that causes us to lean on others: it is strength that generates the hope that there is still a tomorrow. Diversity is no longer disunity, but mutual richness. It is feeling that what happens to others also resonates in me. ‘Union does not consist in equality, but in harmony,’ Rabindranath Tagore reminds us.
This month, may we experience the joy, light, life, peace and hope that come from unity that is lived
THE IDEA OF THE MONTH is currently produced by the Focolare Movement’s “Centre for Dialogue with People of Non religious Beliefs”. It is an initiative that began in 2014 in Uruguay to share with non-believing friends the values of the Word of Life, i.e. the phrase from Scripture that members of the Movement strive to put into practice in their daily lives. Currently, THE IDEA OF THE MONTH is translated into 12 languages and distributed in more than 25 countries, with adaptations of the text according to different cultural sensitivities. dialogue4unity.focolare.org
