Dec 25, 2018 | Non categorizzato
On the way to sainthood: an Italian teenager who lived the Focolare spirituality. On 10 December the diocesan phase of the process of Pietrino Di Natale’s Beatification was launched at a solemn ceremony in Teramo Cathedral. In a year in which the Catholic Church has dedicated great attention to the youth, it seems fitting that Pietrino’s name was proclaimed as a model for all, in a packed Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral, in the heart of ancient Teramo, in the Abuzzo region of Italy, on what would have been his birthday. In 1984, Pietrino De Natale was a 17 year-old high school student when he drowned in the waters off Silvi, a coastal town near his home. Every year since then on 20th August an increasingly large crowd gathers at the small cemetery of Colledara to pass on testimonies, remembering his example of being a “cornerstone”, a fulfilled Christian, someone whose life “has to do with holiness”. Pietrino – “little Pietro” – was named after his father who died in a work accident before Pietrino was born. He grew up in the small village of Ornano Piccolo, which offered a protective environment for the young widow, Adelina and her son. At 11 years old, Pietrino got to know the Focolare spirituality through two young parish priests, don Gianfranco De Luca, now Bishop of Termoli-Larino, and don Giovanni D’Annunzio, currently responsible for the Focolare’s Diocesan Movement. It was a crucial meeting for young Pietrino. He drew from it the gift of a luminous certainty in the love of God, which propelled him to seek Jesus in every day life. Don Giovanni recently wrote: «Pietrino’s heart was only for God. An important step ahead was his participation in the Focolare congress for young people in 1978. (…) When he came back from there, I noticed how launched he was in living every moment profoundly. His race towards holiness had begun». In the months ahead, testimonies of those who knew him will be collected. In the meantime, there is a short biography in Italian (Teresa D’Orsogna, Pietrino Di Natale. … sono scattato ad amare…, ed. Palumbi, 2018) for those who would like to get to know more about this young man who continues to inspire many young – and not so young – people to follow Jesus along the pathway to unity.
Chiara Favotti
Dec 19, 2018 | Non categorizzato
The little focolare town in Argentina is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Pat Santoianni, Cecilia Gatti, Adriana Otero and Israele Coelho speak about its contribution to the formation of young people. The little town of O’Higgins in Argentina has just celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. It is one of the twenty-five permanent Mariapoli in the world. Considering that its purpose is the formation of young people, 1968 – a year of great protest and unrest among youth – was a perfect time to begin. The little town seemed to have had a star shining down upon it. Nowadays, O’Higgins is known as Mariapolis Lia. It is named after Lia Brunet who was one of the first people, in the 40’s, who shared Chiara Lubich’s life and ideals. She was courageous and open-minded – a real pioneer in this Focolare town in South America. To date, over 3,500 young people from all over the world have gone to Mariapolis Lia for an “experiencia”; in other words, they have chosen to spend a few months or a maximum of two years in the little town, working, studying and experiencing what it means to live in a multi- cultural environment where the spirituality of unity reigns. After this time, they return to their own homes, enriched by this human and intellectual experience that has opened their hearts and minds to other people and cultures. Pat Santoianni, anthropologist and co-responsible for the Formation at Mariapolis Lia said, “Over the years, we have developed the formation process: one of the chief elements is that the whole social body contributes to formation. Therefore, our course is anthropological and existential and impacts upon life, thought and action.” Adriana Otero, biologist and one of the formation co-ordinators said that the course has a holistic approach. She said, “We try to keep up with both the challenges and risks that young people face in today’s society – relationships, choices, freedom, social and civil commitment, dialogue among different cultures and among different generations and technology. Work is also an important element as, for many young people, this is a new experience.” Cecilia Gatti, a researcher in education, said that relationships lie at the heart of the educational process. “Education means relationship. This is a concept drawn from the Focolare spirituality of unity that is central to our formation programme. Relationships with other people enable me to build strong bonds, to see my life in a different way, to contribute to and engage with society. Our school is a little town where everything provides an opportunity to learn – every relationship, every dialogue, every meeting.” In an age of technological advances such as Web 4.0, the obvious question is how can O’Higgins, a small village in the middle of the Argentinian pampas, really work as a location for the formation of these young millennials. Israele Coelho, a Brazilian expert in education and co-responsible for the formation course said the experience itself is proof of its validity. “Although this place, in the middle of nowhere, could seem to be a contradiction in terms, it still continues to be an environment where young people can focus upon themselves, experience an interior silence and develop their relationship with God and other people. For many young people, this “experiencia” is an important time for making fundamental choices in life.”
Stefania Tanesini
Dec 13, 2018 | Non categorizzato
The Islamic-Christian Workshops, which took place in the little town of Loppiano and the city of Trento, deny the current narrations of hatred and mistrust between the two religions. Trento, 7 December 2018. The Week of Unity, which was organized by the Focolare Movement: Sophia University Institute (IUS) and the Center for Interreligious Dialogue, in concordance with the Risalat International Institute of Qum (Iran) has ended. The date, place and research group set-up are not casual. In Fact, the date marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of Chiara Lubich‘s choice to dedicate her life to God, leaving everything to follow him. The protagonists, majority youth, are composed of about fifty people, Shiite Muslims and Catholics, coming from various countries: Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, United Arab Emirates, USA, England, Canada, Argentina, and Italy. 
This initiative took shape about less than three years ago, marking the twenty-year long path of friendship between Prof. Mohammad Shomali, his wife Mahnaz, and the Focolare Movement. From this friendship, both intellectual and personal, Prof. Shomali of the Risalat International Institute of Qum and Prof. Piero Coda of IUS, had the idea of leading a small group of Muslim and Christian academics from both institutes, to reflect on a crucial theme: unity of God and unity in God. This brought about the understanding of the Islamic sensibility of absolute monotheism that opens up to the Christian perspective of God as dialogue. There were many voices of reflections, which bring different thoughts and traditions that demonstrate and not impose the Truth, but walk together towards it. The lectures touched on key points like the world’s globalized culture and the fundamental truths proposed by the two faiths, but above all, it made an experience of hearts and minds leading to a real Shekinah, which is the presence of God’s peace among the faithful. This experience did not limit itself to the sole participants, but expanded in two precious moments of sharing. The first was in the International Centre in Incisa Val d’Arno (Loppiano), while the second was in the Mariapolis Chiara Lubich Center in Cadine (Trento). Those from Loppiano and Trento did not only listen to an experience that seems to dramatically contradict the current accounts regarding the relations between Christians and Muslims, which speak of fear, rejection, and invasion. They were able to make a profound experience of mutual enrichment, in a climate of peace that makes living and building, what Pope Francis calls, a ‘culture of encounter’ possible.
Roberto Catalano
Dec 12, 2018 | Non categorizzato
The most important message from their beatification? The loyalty of these Christians to “their” people to the end.
“What do these 19 Christian martyrs teach us Algerians today? To give our lives for each other, without distinguishing by race or religion. They sacrificed their lives for us foreigners, for the Algerian people, Christians and Muslims. They also died for those who made war against them. This is why there was no question: we immediately made ourselves available and worked together for their beatification.” This was how Karima Kerzabi, a Muslim woman from the Focolare community in Algeria, responded when we telephoned her. We also called Giorgio Triulzi, one of the first focolarini to live at the Tlemcen focolare, since 1983, so we could hear insiders tell of the beatification of Christian martyrs at Orano on December 8.
It was a one-of-a-kind beatification, since this highest recognition given by the Catholic Church to its members occurred in Algeria, which is 99% Muslim. It is a country that from 1991 to 2001 – the “black decade” – saw death and destruction from Islamic fundamentalism. “Now the heroic lives of these Christians are being recognized,” explains Triulzi, “but what’s important to know is that, besides them, there were also thousands of Muslims among the population who were victims: imams, intellectuals, artists, journalists, doctors, lawyers, judges and teachers, as well as women and children. I think that the most important message that this beatification in the land of Islam can say to the world is that these martyrs stayed faithful to ‘their’ people until the end.”
Br. Christian De Chergé (left) in 1989 in Tlemcen with Bishop C. Rouault and Giorgio Triulzi
Triulzi remembers the many meetings with some of the Thibirine monks who have just risen to the honor of the altar, especially their prior, Fr. Christian De Chergé. “I got to know Christian because he often stayed with us at Tlemcen on his trips to Morocco. It was a simple rapport, as people who had given our lives to God, and for this reason we recognized each other as family. He was without a doubt a man of God, as he confirmed in writing his spiritual testament: “If one day it happens that – as it could even today – I become a victim of the terrorism that threatens to involve all foreigners who live in Algeria, I would want my community, my Church, my family to remember that my life was ‘given’ to God in this country.” “Christian and the others,”
Triulzi adds, “are saints because of the choice they made to stay among those who had become ‘their’ people. God puts us somewhere and we stay faithful to him. I must say that the beatification also confirms the lifestyle of faith of many who have stayed during this decade. It is the Church in Algeria that should be beatified, precisely because of the choice to stay faithful to the people here.” “What stays with me from this experience?” asks Karima. The fact that we can give our lives for all our brothers and sisters, and that this is something magnificent. In time we will understand the value of the gift of these lives.”
Stefania Tanesini
Dec 10, 2018 | Non categorizzato
During this time of political crisis, Igino Giordani and Tommaso Sorgi encourage us to work on all levels of society to bring democracy back to its very essence –that is to “we”. 
Two meetings about Igino Giordani and Tommaso Sorgi have taken place recently in Cremona and Teramo, Italy. At both gatherings, there was considerable focus upon the role of the politician as a person who values the common good – the good of humanity – over and above the well-being of his or her own community or nation. This idea and practice is not popular nowadays in this period of unbridled local and national demand. We asked Alberto Lo Presti and Letizia De Torre about the relevance of these two politicians today. Lo Presti is a lecturer in the Social Doctrine of the Church at LUMSA and president of the Igino Giordani Centre and De Torre is a member of the Italian parliament and international co ordinator for the Movement for Politics for unity. What relevance can Giordani and Sorgi have nowadays at a time when the common good seems to be understood only within the context of nationalism and the defence of regional identity? Alberto Lo Presti. There is a great need to tune into figures such as Igino Giordani and Tommaso Sorgi. They lived at a time marked by deep and apparently insurmountable periods of division. They believed in friendship among nations when the whole of history seemed to be taking a turn for the worse and they had a profoundly Christian view of the world. Giordani suffered personally in the two world wars and was regarded as a supporter of peace and justice. He paid the price for his choices of freedom and solidarity. Sorgi was one of the protagonists in the reconstruction of Italy after the second world war and greatly facilitated dialogue between opposing political forces during the time of the Cold War. These two figures teach us that every small action that favours peace and co-operation is a decisive step in the building of a civil order based upon the common good. They would be extremely surprised that in the twenty-first century there is growth in political ideas based upon national supremacy because they personally experienced the destruction brought by such political attitudes in the past. It is not our place to disregard their witness. Both regarded the relationship between the public and their political leaders as very important: Sorgi even formulated the so-called “political pact”. Is this relevant and practical nowadays? Letizia De Torre. Igino Giordani regarded politics as “charity in action – the servant and not the master”. He would never have been able to understand or practice politics based upon injustice and deception of the general public, aiming at power and personal gain. He thought of all citizens as the “masters” that he was called to serve. It was the same for the Honourable Tommaso Sorgi who witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of corruption which is still present in Italy. It was after many episodes of tension and conflict with politicians and public administrators that he drafted an agreement between the elected parliamentary representatives and the public. The agreement had an ethical basis and outlined policy involving everyone. It was a stroke of genius and is very relevant to our current crisis in democracy. We are living through a “post-representative” time; our politicians do not represent our highly complex societies and citizens know how to operate collectively, exerting direct influence. We need to overcome this continuous drift towards individualism and bring democracy back to its essential meaning – “we”. To this end, at our next international meeting “Co- governance and Co-responsibility in our Cities today” which will take place in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, 17 – 20 January 2019 we will work together to produce the outline for a “Pact for our Cities”. This will be the fulfilment of both Giordani’s understanding of politics as charity and the prophetic vision of Sorgi’s “agreement”.
Stefania Tanesini
