Chiara Lubich on unity
From the Conference Call “Unity” – Rocca di Papa, September 26th, 1996. https://vimeo.com/490435602
God changes our plans – Fr Lucio Dalla Fontana
Fr. Lucio Dalla Fontana came to the Focolare Centre to work for a period of time, but, instead, he lived the last months of his life , sharing an experience of deep communion with the community he was living with. Fr Lucio Dalla Fontana was really happy when in October 2019 he arrived at the Focolare Diocesan Priests’ Centre at Grottaferrata (Rome-Italy). His bishop, Mgr Corrado Pizziolo, granted him the opportunity to dedicate three years’ work to the Focolare Movement. He came from San Polo di Piave, located in the vast Veneto plain in northern Italy, with a population of about 5,000 inhabitants. For ten years he shared his life with the community of this locality, where he was appreciated for his culture, his ability to build relationships and his very effective homilies. Previously, he spent some years in Germany, with the communities of Frankfurt and Bad Homburg, where he did mission work with Italian immigrants. Fr Lucio met the Focolare Movement at the age of 16, and since then his life was inspired by the ideal of unity. He was ordained priest on May 3, 1986. When he arrived at Grottaferrata he fitted in so well in the life of our priests’ focolare, one of the small communities where diocesan priests and permanent deacons live an experience of brotherhood in the light of Chiara Lubich’s charism. Then the pandemic started, and there came also unexpected news: signs of a serious illness showed that Fr Lucio migħt have “to change his abode” to the other life within a few months. Visits, treatments, hospitalisation meant that plans for the focolare and the community also had to change. Difficulties were not lacking. How could we help him in the best way possible? How could we get news of him when we were not allowed to visit him in hospital? This experience helped us to grow in the art of listening and in respecting diversity, even cultural diversity, which led to different ways of dealing with the problems that arose. This was really a gift and gradually we realized that it was Jesus in our midst who was guiding us. There were times when we were really scared, but we reminded ourselves of the ‘washing of the feet’, a model for our way of life given to us by Chiara Lubich. With the help of friends, we quickly managed to prepare two rooms with all that Lucio needed when he came back from hospital. Everything became an opportunity. He needed to be supported to do his first steps? Lucio created an opportunity for us; he became our gym. Did we need to go to hospital or the pharmacy? These were an opportunity for good walks, healthy exercise for the body, and also for the mind and spirit. Was it necessary to prepare food that fitted into his diet? This made us improve from a gastronomic point of view. At times we had to go from his room to the chapel: this helped us experience the proximity and care of our brother to which the Eucharistic celebration directed us. At a time when the pandemic was suggesting social distancing, we could have easily shut ourselves away from others, yet the experience our focolare lived with Fr. Lucio taught us to be more open to others, to live ‘outwardly’ . As the days went by, the situation became worse. At times it was not easy to find the right solutions, but we tried our best, giving him the care and the full attention he needed. And Fr Lucio repaid us in abundance, because till the very last days of his life he offered us a smile that tasted of heaven.
Don Natale Monza
Merry Christmas
GCPS Consulting conducts the independent investigation
The President of the Focolare entrusts the independent investigation into the case of abuse perpetrated by a former consecrated member in France to the firm GCPS Consulting
On 23rd December Maria Voce and Jesús Morán, respectively President and Co-president of the Focolare, entrusted the investigation into the sexual abuse committed by JMM, a French, former consecrated member of the Movement, to the firm GCPS Consulting, based in the United Kingdom. In addition to the immense suffering, especially for the victims, and the unconditional collaboration of the Focolare in order to shed full light on this case, expressed by the President in the press release of 22 October last, the decision was also announced to entrust the investigation and ascertainment of responsibilities to an independent body. GCPS Consulting is a consulting firm that specializes in helping organisations ensure the safety of children, vulnerable or ‘at risk’ groups and improve their systems for preventing and reporting abuse. It deals with the identification of risks and issues related to safeguarding, and has extensive experience and expertise in policy development, training, review, evaluation, as well as investigations. The task of GCPS Consulting will therefore be to listen to the victims and gather further testimonies, as well as carry out investigations into any omissions, cover-ups or silences by the leaders of the Focolare Movement. In addition, it will gather other reports that may come to light. The investigation is expected to start in January 2021. The independent commission, after the time needed to establish terms and procedures, will begin gathering the stories of the victims in March 2021. By December 2021 a public report will be presented which will detail the findings and recommendations of the inquiry commission. ——————————————— Stefania Tanesini Focolare Movement Press Officer +39 338 5658244 stefania.tanesini@focolare.org ——————————————— Contacts at GCPS Consulting for this case: inquiry@gcps.consulting info@gcps.consulting (Media)
A General Assembly held online
The next General Assembly of the Focolare Movement will be completely online. A worldwide survey has identified four themes to be explored. The General Assembly of the Focolare Movement, postponed from the beginning of September 2020 to the end of January 2021, will be held completely online. Such was the decision announced by Maria Voce, president of the Movement, at the beginning of December following a survey among all those responsible for the Movement around the world and a subsequent assessment by the General Council of the Focolare. The decision to hold the Assembly online was also helped by the preparations underway after the initial postponement. A survey amongst all the members of the movement identified a number of key themes to focus on in this Assembly. These are: Charism, Incarnation, Environment and Future, Together with the New Generations. Issues Relating to Integral Ecology and Journeying Together with the New Generations. Participants have already been provided with material on these subjects, and experts in these areas have offered their reflections in a number of webinars. The path Due to the aggravated situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was obvious that many of the 362 participants in this six-year event would not be able to travel. This left two options: to either postpone the Assembly further, or hold it partially or completely online. Besides the legal and technical issues to be resolved, other serious questions had to be addressed: how would it be possible to create, in an online assembly, the kind of communion among the participants which would help them to get to know one another and share views about candidates and issues? And how could everyone be guaranteed the same level of technical access and participation in the dialogues? It was also clear that, because of the different time zones, the programme had to take place within a specific timeframe which was equally acceptable to participants from Vancouver in Western Canada as those from Oceania. In short, how could the challenges that the global situation was also imposing on the Focolare Movement be overcome within such a short space of time? Discussions at different levels revealed an overriding willingness to face these challenges with responsibility and creativity rather than postpone this important event any longer. And to make the choice easier, it was just at that time the Vatican gave extraordinary permission to hold the Assembly online, provided that the confidentiality, secrecy and freedom of expression of the vote during the elections were guaranteed. Consequently, Maria Voce decided to organise an online Assembly for everyone – even those who would have been able to meet physically. The technical challenge and online voting Technicians and computer scientists are currently working on ways to create multiple possibilities for formal and informal online meetings. An internationally recognised voting system has successfully passed its first tests. A worldwide communion of goods is trying to ensure that all participants have the tools they need for a stable Internet connection. And for the participants who (from a European perspective) live “on the other side” of the world, solutions are being sought to ease the burden of time zones. The pre-assembly journey also offers the opportunity to look at the legal issues related to how the meeting is conducted and get to know the candidates nominated for the different roles.
Joachim Schwind