Dear Pope Francis, you may not remember, but we met on 26th September, 2014, when you received a delegation from the Focolare Movement in a private audience. I was part of it, Luciana Scalacci from Abbadia San Salvatore, representing the non-religious cultures that also have a home in the Focolare. I am one of those people who, as Jesus Moran once told me, “helped Chiara Lubich to open new horizons for the charism of unity”. I am a non-believer who has received a great deal from the Movement.
On that extraordinary day, I had the privilege of exchanging a few words with you that I will never forget and that I recall here:
Luciana: “Your Holiness, when you took office as Bishop of Rome, I wrote you a letter, even though I knew that you probably wouldn’t read it with all the letters you receive, but it was important for me to send you my affection and my best wishes, because Your Holiness, I do not recognize myself in any religious faith, but for more than 20 years I have been part of the Focolare Movement, it gave me back the hope that it is still possible to build a united world.”
Pope: “Pray for me, but you are not a believer, you do not pray, so keep me in your thoughts, a lot, think of me, I need it”.
Luciana: “But Holiness, in my own way I do pray for you.”
Pope: “A secular prayer and you keep me very much in your thoughts, I need it”.
Luciana: “Holiness, stay healthy, with courage, with strength! The Catholic Church and the whole world need you. The Catholic Church needs you. ”
Pope: “Keep me in your thoughts and pray for me in a secular way”.
Now, dear Pope Francis, you are in a hospital bed and I am too. Both of us are facing the fragility of our humanity. I want to assure you that I continue to think about you and pray for you in a secular way. You pray for me in a Christian way.
The President of the Focolare Movement, Margaret Karram, sent a message to Pope Francis assuring him of her affectionate closeness and fervent prayer.
She wrote, “May Mary envelop you with her maternal love and all the tenderness that you have always recommended that we should have for the good of every person next to us and every nation.”
She added, “I send you the embrace of everyone in the worldwide Focolare Movement who is praying and constantly offering up everything for you.We are infinitely grateful for your life completely given to God and given for the good of humanity.”
Margaret, why did you choose “closeness” as the theme of the year for the Focolare Movement in 2025?
I asked myself what kind of world are we living in? And it seems to me that at this moment in time there is so much loneliness and so much indifference. And there is an escalation of violence, of wars that bring so much pain all over the world. Also, I’ve been thinking about the technology that has connected us in ways we never knew before, but at the same time it makes us more and more individualistic. In a world like this, I think closeness can be an antidote; an aid to overcoming these obstacles and curing these “ills” that make us distant from one another.
Where can we start?
I have been asking myself this question for months. It seems to me that we need to re-learn how to approach people, re-learn how to look at and treat everyone as brothers and sisters. I felt that first of all, I had to examine my own attitude. Are the people I approach everyday brothers, are they sisters to me? Or am I indifferent towards them or even consider them enemies? I asked myself many questions. I have found that sometimes I want to avoid a person, because maybe they will bother me or annoy me or want to say difficult things to me. Because of all this, my reflection on closeness that I presented to those responsible for the Focolare Movement in mid-November was entitled, “Who are you for me?”
Could you tell us some of the main ideas you developed under this title?
Gladly. I’ll mention four thoughts. The first closeness that our soul experiences is its contact with God. He himself connects with our neighbours also through us. The desire to love the other person is like a movement from God in me directed to God in the other.
A second thought: Closeness is dynamic. It requires that we be completely open, that is, welcoming people without reservation, entering into their way of seeing things. We are not mass-produced! Each of us is unique, with a different character, mindset, culture, life and history. Recognizing and respecting this, calls for stepping outside of our mental and personal patterns.
You were talking about a third aspect …
Yes. The third aspect I want to emphasize is that closeness does not necessarily coincide with being near, with being similar, with belonging to the same culture. The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) expresses this very well. I was struck by the attitude of the Samaritan: The man who had fallen among the robbers was a person unknown to him, he was even from another people. He was a person who was distant both in culture and tradition. However, the Samaritan made himself a neighbour. This is the key point for me. Everyone has their own dignity, above and beyond the people and culture they come from, or their character. The Samaritan did not approach just to see if this person was hurt and then turn away or, at the most call for help. He made himself a neighbour and took care of the person. The fourth aspect …
… would be …
… is to let ourselves be wounded. If closeness is to bear fruit, each of us must not be afraid and must allow ourselves to be wounded by the other.
And that means, allowing ourselves to be challenged, being open to questions to which we have no answers; being willing to show that we are vulnerable; presenting ourselves as perhaps weak and incapable. The effect of an attitude like this can be surprising. Just think that a nine-year-old boy wrote to me that for him, closeness means “lifting up the other person’s heart.” Is this not a wonderful effect of closeness? Lifting up the heart of the other.
What would change within the Focolare Movement if we live closeness well?
If we really live it well so many things will change. I wish, hope, and pray that they will. But I also want to point out that many people in the Focolare Movement are already living closeness. There are so many initiatives, many projects for peace and for helping the poor. We have even opened focolares to give assistance and welcome to immigrants or to care for the environment.
And what should change?
The quality of relationships between people. Sometimes it is easier to treat people outside the Movement well and it is more difficult among us who are part of the same family. We are in danger of living relationships of “good manners” with each other: We do not hurt each other; however, I wonder, is this an authentic relationship?
So, I hope that, beyond the projects, closeness becomes a daily way of life; that we ask ourselves several times during the day: Am I living this closeness? How am I living it? An important expression of closeness is forgiveness. To be merciful to others—and to ourselves.
What message does it contain for society?
Closeness is not only a religious or spiritual attitude, but also a civil and social one. It is possible to live it in any environment. In education for example or medicine, even in politics, where it is perhaps more difficult. If we live it well, we can have a positive influence on relationships wherever we are.
What about the Church?
The church exists because, with the coming of Jesus, God became close. So, the Church, the Churches are called to witness a lived closeness. Recently we had the Synod in the Catholic Church. I was able to attend the two sessions at the Vatican. There we were more than 300 people, each from a different culture. What did we do? An exercise in synodality, an exercise in listening, in getting to know one another deeply, in welcoming the other’s thinking, their challenges and pains. These are all characteristics of closeness.
The title of the Synod was “Walking Together.” This walking involved so many people all over the world. The logo of the Synod expressed the desire to broaden the tent of the Church so that no one feels excluded. It seems to me that this is the true sense of closeness, that no one is excluded; that everyone feels welcomed, whether it is those who attend the church, those who do not feel that they belong to it or those who have even drifted away for various reasons.
I would like to mention for a moment the limits of closeness. How can we live it well?
This is an important question. Are there limits to closeness? As a first answer I would say there should be no limits.
However?
We cannot be sure that what is closeness and solidarity for us or for me, is necessarily closeness and solidarity for the other person. And in a relationship, we can never lack respect for each other’s freedom and conscience. These two things are essential in every relationship. That is why it is important that when we approach a person, we will always do it in a delicate way, and not as something imposed. It is the other person who decides how much and what kind of closeness he or she wants.
We have a lot to learn, don’t we?
Absolutely. We have made quite a few mistakes. In thinking we are loving the other person, instead we have hurt them. In the rush to communicate our spirituality, we have built relationships in which the other person has not always felt free. Sometimes it seems to me that with the good intention of loving a person, we crushed them. We did not have enough delicacy and respect for the other’s conscience, the other’s freedom, the other’s time. And this has led to certain forms of paternalism and even abuse.
Certainly, this is a very painful situation that we are facing, and where the people we have hurt have a unique, a really unique importance. Because on our own we cannot fully understand what has happened. It is the one who has been hurt who helps us understand the mistakes we have made and to take the necessary steps so that these things don’t happen again.
A final wish?
I hope that this theme can bring us back to the essence of what Jesus himself gave us in the Gospel. He gave us so many examples of what it means to live closeness.
There is a thought of Chiara Lubich that resonated very strongly with me in thinking about this theme. She says, “There are those who do things ‘out of love,’ there are those who do things trying to ‘be Love.’ Love places us in God, and God is Love. But the Love that is God, is light, and with light we can see whether our way of approaching and serving our neighbour is in line with the Heart of God, as our neighbour would desire it, as they would dream it to be, if it wasn’t us next to them, but Jesus.”
Thank you, Margaret, from the bottom of my heart, for your passion for a closeness that is lived with decision and respect.
The Holy Year has its spiritual roots in the Jewish tradition, where every 50 years a “jubilee” was celebrated, bringing freedom to slaves and prisoners. In the Catholic Church Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Holy Year in 1300. Since then, an “indulgence” has accompanied the Holy Year, which the faithful can obtain, under certain conditions, by passing through a “Holy Door”.
However, Lutherans like me generally don’t feel comfortable with the word “indulgence,” as it brings us back to the Reformation period and the scandal of the sale of indulgences in the Catholic Church. This practice was banned by the Council of Trent and therefore no longer exists. However, I have noticed that the term “indulgence” is still loaded with misunderstandings among believers of all denominations. One of the most widespread misconceptions is that indulgences can forgive someone’s sins but according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, this is not the case. The forgiveness of sins takes place, as it does in the Lutheran Church, through confession, penance and absolution by a pastor who acts in the name of Jesus.
From my point of view, indulgences instead touch a psychological dimension of sin, the part that often remains in our memory (even after absolution), perhaps a wound or a feeling of fear or sadness… In any case, there is still psychological work to be done. That is why, in the passage through the “Holy Door”, I see an invitation to open a door in my heart to compassion and reconciliation, to let go of whatever blocks me on the path to true freedom and authentic peace. It is a conscious decision, a process that is set in motion. The fundamental thing, from the Christian point of view, is that the success of this process does not depend on me, but on the hands of the One who holds the world in His hands. Only His grace can finally heal the wounds in my life or reconcile humanity.
“In the passage through the ‘Holy Door’, I see an invitation to open a door in my heart to compassion and reconciliation, to let go of whatever blocks me on the path to true freedom and authentic peace”.
For me, therefore, passing though through this door symbolizes the decision to follow Jesus (once again) and choose the path of true life. As He says in the Gospel of John (Jn. 10: 9): “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved”! To my great joy, the Bull of Indiction “Hope does not disappoint”, in which Pope Francis announces the 2025 Holy Year, has a clear ecumenical dimension. It starts from God’s grace, in which all human beings partake and defines the Holy Year as “an invitation to all Churches and Ecclesial Communities to persevere on the path to visible unity and in the quest of finding ways to respond fully to the prayer of Jesus: ‘that they may all be one`” (Jn 17:21).[1]
Therefore the theme of “hope” for the Holy Year 2025 has a positive resonance for all Christians. The Lutheran World Federation has chosen “Sharing Hope” as its motto for the year 2025. And the World Council of Churches, which represents the majority of Protestant and Orthodox Churches, anticipates an “Ecumenical Year” along the “path of justice, reconciliation and unity”. If goodwill leads to concrete actions, then the 2025 Holy Year could open doors for ecumenism, which could bring separated Christians closer. As Pope Francis wrote, ” Let us even now be drawn to this hope! Through our witness, may hope spread to all those who anxiously seek it.” [2]
Corinna Mühlstedt
[1] Pope Francis, Spes non confundit, Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025, 9 May 2024, 17. [2] Papa Francesco, ibidem, 25.
The Focolare Movement is organizing an international ecumenical conference entitled: “Called to hope – key players of dialogue” to which all are invited. It will take place from 26th-29th March 2025. As Christians, in a time of divisions and great challenges, we are called together to witness the hope of the Gospel and to be protagonists of dialogue and unity, committing ourselves to live for peace, to build fraternity, to spread hope. Through round tables, interviews and testimonies we aim to offer method and spirituality to dialogue together with good practices and ecumenical initiatives already underway Link to the invitation
I meet regularly with the synod team in my Parish. At a local assembly, seven people are elected for one year to work on the implementation of the synodal process. We meet in the evenings, sometimes carrying with us the weight of our fatigue and personal worries, even if we try to set them aside in order to put ourselves at the service of the community.
At one meeting, using the excuse that it was the “Week of Sweetness”, I brought a bar of nougat for each one. We were all happy as children, we relaxed and the atmosphere changed. I realized that communion is built with small gestures.
(C.P. – Argentina)
They chose peace
Marc and Maria Antonia, both in their fifties, were surprised to inherit a small industrial machinery company from Marc’s godfather—an uncle who had loved him dearly. They thought long and hard about what to do but eventually decided to keep the company rather than sell it, partly to preserve the jobs of the six employees and partly with the hope of running their own business, involving their son, who had studied materials engineering.
Despite their enthusiasm, dedication, and effort, they faced tough times. The business was struggling. A year after taking over, they had to lay off two workers and return machinery they couldn’t fully pay for. They also had debts with banks and family members.
In the evenings, exhausted, they started wondering if they had made the wrong decision. But they didn’t give up; they pushed forward, looking for new clients. Slowly, the company stabilized, stopped losing money, and they began repaying their debts. However, they were left with very little to live on.
They endured another difficult period until a new client approached them with a large, ongoing order that could finally give them financial stability. They were thrilled—until they realized that their production would be for the arms industry, specifically cannon parts. They were shaken. Could they just turn a blind eye? After all, if they didn’t take the job, someone else would.
They had many conversations, including one with Pedro, and spent several sleepless nights. But they knew they did not want to contribute, even indirectly, to violent death. They refused the order.
After this difficult decision, incredibly the company got other jobs and managed to keep going, despite the difficulties.
We are raising funds to travel from our country, the Philippines, to Rome to participate in the Youth Jubilee. Recently two elderly ladies came to us bringing us some coins from their piggy bank. One of them handed us the coins and said, “These were collected over the course of a year on the small altar I have in my house.” this humble but profound gift, a result of faith and sacrifice, left us stunned.
