Loppiano awaits Pope Francis

9 Apr 2018 | Focolare Worldwide

How did Loppiano take the news of the Pope’s visit? “Just a minute after the President, Maria Voce had spread the news on our social media pages and among the groups of inhabitants, there was a storm of messages expressing joy and wonder.” What does this event mean for you, as an inhabitant? “Even John Paul II was supposed to come here in the year 2000. The visit was cancelled four days before, due to a sudden change of programme. The desire for the Pope’s visit remained in our hearts then, and the same desire is present also today among the inhabitants. How would you describe the town to one who has no idea of what Loppiano is? “It is one of the places where one can more deeply experience the charism of unity that Chiara Lubich received from God, and from which the Focolare Movement was born and developed: that unity which is reached by building fraternal relationships, and living the testament of Jesus, “That all may be one.” About 1,000 people from 65 countries live in Loppiano, with various cultures, religions, and educational and social conditions. Here they learn first of all to become a community. What unites them is the desire to live the law on which the town is based: mutual love. This makes Loppiano a place of brotherhood.” What’s life like in the town? “There are various economic activities, 11 training schools, a university institute, a big church that will host the Pope, many houses and cultivated fields. The inhabitants study, work, socialize, and live the normal life of all the towns, only that they try to do so by living the law of mutual love.” The Pope will arrive in Loppiano after Nomadelfia. What relationship is there between the two towns? “They have a lot in common, though with completely different histories and charisms: both are places of brotherhood that look to the lowly people and have the Gospel as their law. There have been various occasions for encounters, even recently. So we are happy that the Pope will land here with his heart full of what he will receive in Nomadelfia. He will be welcomed with the same love and enthusiasm.” Wherever the Pope goes, the spotlight of the world media turns on: how will the choice to visit Loppiano be interpreted? “I think that behind this desire is firstly the love for the charism of unity, gift which God has given us through Chiara Lubich. Bergoglio had met the Movement in Argentina, but even more closely as Pope. Loppiano is the place where this charism is most visible.” How are you preparing for the visit? “What Maria Voce said has become an imperative for us. In these 100 days we have undertaken the commitment to intensify the life of love and unity rooted in the Gospel, so that the Pope may find that “Where two or more united in my name ” (Matthew 18,20),” the presence of Jesus in our midst, is a reality. The Pope will stop to pray in the Church of Maria Theotokos, where there is a chapel dedicated to Christians of other confessions: what does this place represent? “Precisely Chiara wanted the Church to be in the geographic centre of Loppiano, so it would become the entire town’s point of unity. It is the place where we inhabitants meet daily to pray, but it is a reference point for the entire territory. It is the city’s seal.” Is it also a way of underlining the centrality of the figure of Mary in the Movement? “Certainly. Not by chance the Church was dedicated to Maria Theotokos, Mary Mother of God, to underline the strongly Marian feature of the charism and of the Focolare movement. And precisely because Mary is the Mother of God and thus of humanity, the Church is open also to people of other Christian confessions, and other religions and beliefs. Inside there are various points where each one can pray, feel at home and contemplate.” The Pope’s visit will take place on the 10th anniversary of the passing of Chiara Lubich. A coincidence? “I think we can consider this visit as a gift of God, a caress, and a sign of His love for the Work of Mary. Then we shall see what the Pope will want to say to us.”

Orthodox Easter

8 Apr 2018 | Focolare Worldwide

Easter even in Saigon

7 Apr 2018 | Focolare Worldwide

Easter is now over: today is Easter Monday and it’s a normal working day. It’s really hot and the rain is menacing the skies. It is only the Christians who are feasting. Here and there one can hear the cheering and the cries of Alleluia seeping out from the homes. And yet I’m in a Communist country. But as one goes out of the church, the streets are filled with the incredible sound of motorbikes blocking the traffic. The police in front of the cathedral have to direct the traffic. In order to take part in the Easter Triduum, one has to arrive 30 minutes before to find a place. In church I leave the bag on the bench and nobody touches it. I look at the people: many children, young people, couples and the elderly with their sober but smiling faces. I think of Europe, of the half-empty churches even on feast days. In these parts, even at 5 o’clock in the morning of any day, children, even small ones, together with the adults are in the first rows to sing. Here, everyone knows the prayers and the hymns by heart. In Saigon every corner is swarmed in a disorderly and nearly savage life. Yet, there is a lot of faith, perhaps as in no other Asian city. Because here faith comes at a cost. Everything costs in Vietnam. Some time ago I made a journey by bus, five and a half hours with a throng of people and in the heat. At a certain point quintals of Indian maize were loaded onto the bus among the travellers, dragged underfoot into the baggage compartment. The people started to scream whilst the driver and his assistant shouted at them to shut up. A lady near me who felt embarrassed at seeing me in that confusion, told me: “Life here is hard. Don’t forget it if you want to live here”. I don’t know that lady’s name and perhaps I’ll never see her again. But those words opened a new dimension within me. Life, theirs as well as mine, has to pass through pain, weariness, suffering, to then flow with joy. I understood her this way. From that day everything in me was simplified. Like everybody, I experience joy, but also pain and fatigue. I am one of them. I’m not even considered special because I’m a foreigner, but just one among many foreigners. The story of that Man who hung from a cross, similar to those of many people I meet each day, reminds me of the words of that lady. I can find it in the poor who have nothing, in the sick man with a tumour, with bones jutting out from his ribs, who has no money to cure himself. Or in that lady, Giau, 64, who though poor, adopted a Down Syndrome child who had been literally thrown out by the parents. And yet, it’s Easter. Even for the Rohingya refugees, living between Myanmar and Bangladesh. It’s Easter in North Korea which seeks peace after having fired missiles. It’s Easter amongst the allied troops who are preparing for the umpteenth drill. It’s Easter for the children of Xang Cut, in the delta zone of Mikong, where the water is still infested through Agent Orange, thrown by the allies 40 years ago. And it’s Easter for the children of Saigon, gathered from the streets and given education by the teachers of Pho. They will have something to eat thanks to their heroic love. Even here, in the midst of many challenges, dangers, widespread pollution and an overwhelming sense of hopelessness, someone continues to smile, because they are loved and helped by a friendly hand. This is Easter: taking care of others, relieving their pain, sharing their tears. The world, the other, belongs to me. And my happiness passes through that of others, of many others.