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Earthquake: “Financial embargo suspension to Syria for humanitarian organizations”

Earthquake: “Financial embargo suspension to Syria for humanitarian organizations”

8 Feb 2023 | Non categorizzato

Call from the Politics for Unity Movement – Focolare

“A heartfelt and strong call for an immediate end to the embargo in Syria that makes it difficult even to get aid through at this terrible time”. This is addressed by the International Center of the Politics for Unity Movement, an expression of the Focolare Movement, to the international community, governments and the European Union. “At least temporarily suspend the financial embargo in order to promptly allow the humanitarian organizations already active on the ground to provide the necessary aid”. Dramatic news is also arriving from communities and families in the earthquake-hit areas. The Focolare Movement, which has already been working in Syria for years with humanitarian aid and projects, has taken action with a special worldwide fundraiser. However, the difficulty of getting aid to Syria remains due to the measures introduced with the financial embargo. The Politics for Unity Movement is also activating all possible channels of contact with other Movements and Associations and with those who have decision-making power and political persuasion, “but let’s do it quickly, to save as many people as possible”.

Stefania Tanesini 

Earthquake emergency in Turkey and Syria

Earthquake emergency in Turkey and Syria

7 Feb 2023 | Centro internazionale, Non categorizzato, Sociale

The donations, collected through the NGOs Azione per un Mondo Unito (AMU) and Azione per Famiglie Nuove (AFN), will be used to provide with basic necessities the people of Turkey and Syria affected by the strong earthquake on 6 February 2023, also in collaboration with the local Churches.

The Emergency Coordination of the Focolare Movement has launched an extraordinary fundraising campaign in support of the people of Turkey and Syria, through the non-profit organisations Action for a United World (AMU) and Action for New Families (AFN). The donations will be jointly managed by AMU and AFN to bring basic necessities for food, medical care, housing, heating and shelter to the people affected by the earthquake of the 6th  February 2023 in various cities in the two countries, also in cooperation with local churches. You can donate online at: AMU: www.amu-it.eu/dona-online-3/ AFN: www.afnonlus.org/dona/

or by bank transfer to the following accounts:

Action for a United World ONLUS (AMU) IBAN: IT 58 S 05018 03200 000011204344 at Banca Popolare Etica Codice SWIFT/BIC: ETICIT22XXX

Action for New Families ONLUS (AFN) IBAN: IT 92 J 05018 03200 000016978561 at Banca Popolare Etica Codice SWIFT/BIC: ETICIT22XXX

Reason for payment: Middle East Earthquake Emergency T

ax benefits are available for such donations in many EU countries and in other countries around the world, according to different local regulations. Italian taxpayers will be able to obtain deductions and deductions from their income, according to the regulations for non-profit organisations

Chiara Lubich: The Resurrection of Rome

6 Feb 2023 | Non categorizzato

The Resurrection of Rome is one of Chiara Lubich’s most famous writings and was the fruit of an experience she then related in an article in ‘La Via’ magazine in 1949. The text shows both the mystical dimension of a charismatic experience, expressed in language that is particularly rich in images, and the practical application of this experience in contact with humanity. The text marks a turning point in Chiara Lubich’s experience in 1949: her return to Rome, and therefore to normal life, which was lived as bringing light and life into daily routine and bearing fruit in a renewal not only of one’s personal existence but of society. For the author, the way of looking at Rome means, in fact, a way of looking at all the cities of the world. The video we present is the result of long and patient work by Javier Garcia, with the original voice of Chiara Lubich taken from the reading of the text addressed to the Focolare leadership on 3rd October 1995. Activate English subtitles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acrJDXY6Lig

Download the full original text

Mariapolis in the Holy Land: vocation to community  

3 Feb 2023 | Non categorizzato

Being a community is more than just being together.It means responding to a call to build: giving life to a family sustained by the Word and meeting each other. Here, in this video, is what some people who participated in the Mariapolis of the Holy Land last July told us. There is a light breeze which caresses the ancient ruins of the Church of St. George, in Taybeh, the only entirely Christian village in the Holy Land. According to Scripture, it is the place where Jesus came to rest with his followers before the Passion. And it was here, on 8th-9th July 2022 that adults, young people and children of the Focolare Movement gathered together to live a truly special Mariapolis, a moment of fraternity and true communion. “Mariapolis is a time for the family to get together,” says Mayra, from Bethlehem, “It usually takes place every year but due to the pandemic we couldn’t have it. This year, after three years, we could and for me it’s like taking a break from my life and recharging myself spiritually.” “To be witnesses of love” was the title of this two-day event that saw the participation of people from many regions of the country, from Haifa, Nazareth, to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Gaza. Despite the socio-political and cultural challenges of the Holy Land, the desire to enjoy beauty and to live as a community give the strength to overcome physical and often inner barriers. The community is the place where we find the values that become nourishment, where we build a present and a future which respect the dignity of all; the place where listening to and witnessing to the other in the light of the Gospel invites us to better understand the work of God in our lives and, more than anything else, it is the place where no one is alone. Marcell and Boulos, from Nazareth shared this with us: in their life-journey, they were able to experience support and family during the most painful moment of their lives, the death of their youngest son, Jack. And Khader, from Gaza, who despite the daily hardships to be faced in the context in which he lives, places his hope in God, joyfully recognizing the beauty of the vocation to which he is called: that of happiness.

Maria Grazia Berretta

Activate English subtitles https://youtu.be/cCMZ1jlYzhA

Communion, a Mission

Communion, a Mission

21 Jan 2023 | Non categorizzato

On 19th January, 2023, the first “Communion in Action, A Lifestyle of Sharing” Report of the Focolare Movement was presented at the “Focolare Meeting Point” premises in Rome. It is an overview of the activities and initiatives promoted by the Movement in the world in the two-year period 2020-2021. The first report of this kind published by the Focolare Movement was presented to an audience from the diplomatic, political and religious worlds and to journalists from the Italian media.

Margaret Karram

The document describes a lifestyle made up of spontaneous sharing, not only of goods but of experiences and needs. It is all inspired by evangelical love. Contemplating the fruits of this sharing encourages a renewed dialogue to increase communion even more. Alongside material resources, the invisible goods which have been donated, invested or gathered in this period are given equal importance. The journalist Claudia di Lorenzi facilitated the event. It opened with a greeting from the President of the Focolare Movement, Margaret Karram, who said. “I hope that these pages mark the beginning of an ever greater sharing. We desire to be credible seeds of hope that contribute to renewing the world with love”. Geneviève Sanze, Economist and Co-Responsible for the aspect of “Economy and Work” at the International Centre of the Focolare Movement, explained that “this Report is an instrument of dialogue, an attempt to offer a glimpse of what we try to bring into society to progress the path towards fraternity”. Sr. Marilena Argentieri, President of the CNEC (National Centre for Religious Community Economists) said that what “the Report conveys the idea that nothing belongs to us (…) because everything I have is in communion with others”. Then she added a personal note, “I think the Report makes me grow in freedom and detachment, because at its centre is love for God and love for the poor”.

From left:: Dott.sa Geneviève Sanze, Prof. Luigino Bruni, Prof. Andrea Riccardi, Sr. Marilena Argentieri.

Andrea Riccardi, Historian and Founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio, said, “This document highlights the effects of this communion, of what we have and what we are, in a voluntary and free sharing. And to some extent the more communion there is, the less the effects can be controlled but perhaps the more the Gospel is lived. The Focolare Movement, which has spread silently in many countries of the world, is like a network in society and in the Church, that protects the earth from landslides. We are in a time of human, ecological and religious unease and then there is this network of friendship in the world and here I insist on the value of unity, but a unity that is rooted in so many places in the world, has a much greater value”. In his turn, Luigino Bruni, Economist and Professor of Economics at the Lumsa University in Rome, said that “the Report reminds us of the importance of the relational capital, the spiritual capital and the invisible capital that make our community beautiful and rich (…) Charisms are capable of activating energies deeper than money, that is, people act for higher aims”. The “Communion in Action, A Lifestyle of Sharing” Report is a 112-page document, in which you can visualize the life of the Focolare Movement, from the many initiatives to the aspect of formation and study, from communication to ecology and in which it is clear that, as Geneviève Sanze said, “it is not money that changes the world but “new” women and men who bring a new culture of fraternity. This is what we want to highlight”.

Carlos Mana

Watch the video of the presentation here https://youtu.be/HcJ5poGmq8A