Jul 29, 2019 | Non categorizzato
Young writer Andrea Cardinali shares about the fourth Harmony Among Peoples summer camp for kids, held in the Holy Land in July. This story is both his personal experience and that of a country which, perhaps more than many others, has the ability to touch the soul. There are trips that leave you relaxed because they’re holidays, others that you need to take days to rest and recover from. Then there are trips that when you come back you ask yourself, “Where was I?” 
Sometimes you live everything so intensely that there’s no time to question – that stage when people ask themselves about why things are, where things are headed, and the meaning of it all. That’s not necessarily bad – quite the contrary. This can particularly happen when you spend most of your time with children who have yet to understand that they are “prisoners” in their own birthplace, Palestine. And the fact that there is no time to question is not a symptom of a lack of reflection. Some trips, perhaps the greatest ones, work like that—you say a somewhat ignorant “yes”, take off and go all in to the full adventure. You can’t even think of what it might mean from outside looking in; you are so beyond yourself that you go through it and find meaning within.
I was in Palestine for 18 days, having been dragged there by Antonella Lombardo and the brilliant girls from the Dance Lab at Montecatini School (Italy), some of whom I had met at the unforgettable “Let’s Bridge” Genfest in 2012. “Harmony Among Peoples” began in 2005, with the idea to use art and dance as tools to unite peoples and cultures. After various editions in Italy and workshops with youth from a number of countries, some years ago the “Children Without Borders” project began, thanks to a collaboration with Father Ibrahim Faltas. This summer the fourth edition was held in Palestine, and I was the newest addition to this band of artist-educators. Together with Luca Aparo of Sportmeet, we also took a sports angle. We know that sports are just as important to learn how to enjoy while respecting all kinds of diversity. After two weeks of artistic workshops we opened with the children on July 14 at the Notre Dame Theatre in Jerusalem, and on July 16 at the John Paul II Foundation in Bethlehem. It showed the historical meeting between St. Francis of Assisi and the Sultan of Egypt, Malik Al-Kamil, which happened 800 years ago in 1219. To enhance the two evenings, singer Milad Fatouleh also performed with us. He is known in Italy for Una stella a Betlemme, which was voted best foreign song at the 2004 Zecchino d’Oro. There were many political and religious figures who attended the two shows, which celebrated the meeting between Christianity and Islam. It was a prophetic sign of interreligious dialogue and possible peace.
Andrea Cardinali
Jul 28, 2019 | Non categorizzato
The present and future challenges of humanity in the light of Chiara Lubich’s intuitions and experiences of summer 1949. The theologian Hubertus Blaumeiser relates about the recent Abbà School seminar held at Tonadico (Trent, Italy). Who are we? How do we achieve our fulfillment? What relationship do we have with others? What are our goals and what about our roots? Today, these questions are being asked with a new urgency, because, scientifically, man can appear to be simply the result of evolution, determined by his genes and brain activity, and because he can be empowered by new technologies, and also manipulated by them. Today, these questions present a certain emergency because masses of people are compelled to flee from their countries or forced to experience the poverty of slums, and man’s interventions may risk to compromise the planet’s state of affairs. These very complex challenges cannot be tackled in a sectoral way; they need new approaches, they need “light”. The 65 scholars, who met at Tonadico, on the Dolomites, from the 14 to 16 July, are fully convinced of this. They got together for a seminar that involved the “Abba School” (the interdisciplinary centre of studies of the Focolare Movement), the “Sophia” University Institute (Loppiano, Italy) and the “Chiara Lubich Centre”. What was the objective of these scholars engaged in about twenty academic disciplines? While putting aside ideas that might have led to the expectation of rapid conclusions, they aimed at avenues of research that could be followed together. Place and time offered the perfect setting: Chiara Lubich and the first nucleus of the Focolare Movement were in this same mountainous spot exactly 70 years ago when a period of overwhelming experiences and insights started. While being led to feel enraptured in God, Lubich and her companions discovered that they were looking at the world not from “above” or “below”, but from “within”, if one can say so. This experience left an indelible mark on them, and it was decisive for the Movement’s development. Later on, one realized that it was also a source of light for new cultural developments in the whole range of scientific disciplines. The vision of the human being that emerged from this seminar was varied yet convergent. Piero Coda, the Dean of the Sophia University Institute, spoke about the need of further development in universal, “panchosmic and pan-human” self-awareness, quoting Chiara Lubich: “my ego is humanity, with all men who were, are and will be”. While speaking about a vision of man and society that is not at all static, Anouk Grevin, the French economist who is a scholar in the dynamics of giving, said: “Giving and receiving are both based on the ability of discovering myself in the other person, of owning all that is his, in such a way that we can communicate fully and receive one another totally “. Whilst referring to environmental issues, the political scientist Pasquale Ferrara and the nature scientist Sergio Rondinara indicated that: “World politics adopt an anthropocentric view of the globe, while the socio-natural dimension of our planet’s life still remains in the shadow”. Urgent is the need to move from a “despotic” anthropocentrism and pass on to “an anthropology that is not hegemonic but oblatory”. In his comment at the end of the seminar, Fabio Ciardi, the coordinator of the Abbà School said: “As the hours went by, we delved deeper into the realities of existence. We need to move ahead: we must work in our own field and confront with the other disciplines”. Jesús Morán, co-president of the Focolare, indicated a twofold task: an adequate hermeneutics of the charism of unity and “the service to humanity, addressing at least some of the most important issues of our time”.
Hubertus Blaumeiser
Jul 20, 2019 | Non categorizzato
The event will be held from 26thto 28thMarch. Present among others: Yunus, Frey, Meloto, Petrini, Raworth, Sachs, Sen, Shiva and Zamagni Registration is underway for the three days commissioned by Pope Francis for young economists, entrepreneursand change-makersfrom around the world. From 26th to 28th March, Assisi will host the international event The Economy of Francis: young people, a commitment, the future. The invitation to participate comes directly from the Holy Father and is addressed to young people up to the age of 35. You can submit your application by 30 September via the website www.francescoeconomy.org. The Economy of Francesco event will consist of workshops, artistic and plenary events with the best-known economists, experts in sustainable development and business people who are engaged today worldwide in a different economy and will reflect and work together with young people. Nobel laureates Muhammad Yunus and Amarthya Sen have already confirmed they will attend. Other participants include Bruno Frey, Tony Meloto, Carlo Petrini, Kate Raworth, Jeffrey Sachs,Vandana Shiva and Stefano Zamagni. It is not a traditional conference but an experience where theory and practice engage to build new ideas and new ways of working together. A programme where time slows down to leave room for reflection and silence, for stories and meetings, for art and spirituality, so that the thought and economic action of young people will emerge. The meeting is aimed at young people under 35 involved in research: students and scholars in Economics and other related disciplines (master’s students, doctoral research programmes, young researchers); and in business: entrepreneurs and managers. Participation is also open to change-makers andpromoters of activities at the service of the common good and of a just, sustainable and inclusive economy. The proposal is to make a commitment with the young people, beyond differences of beliefs and nationalities, to change the current economy and give a soul to that of tomorrow so that it is more just, sustainable and with active engagement by those who at present are excluded. 500 young people will be chosen from among all the candidates to attend apre-event scheduled for 24th and 25thMarch: it will be an opportunity for work and study that will continue during the days of the event (26-27-28) together with all the other participants.
(source: press release)
Jul 14, 2019 | Non categorizzato
Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians, members of Chiara’s family, got together for the first time and spent a week together. Liridona is a Sunni Muslim from the North of Macedonia. She was asked to share her experience during an interreligious meeting for youth when Pope Francis recently visited her country. She spoke about her experience with other Christian and Muslim Focolare youth, and at the end she asked the Pope: “Am I dreaming too much?”(1) Liridona, who was at Castelgandolfo from 17 to 23 June, discovered that others shared her dream. She was there with a group of forty people who follow 5 different religions and come from 15 different countries. A team of people, responsible for interreligious dialogue at the Centre of the Focolare Movement, welcomed these members of Chiara’s family, and the first item on their programme was a visit to the chapel where Chiara Lubich is laid to rest. (2) There, Vinu Aram, the Indian leader of the Shanti Ashram Movement, sang a song through which she expressed the love of all of them, a love that binds them to the “source” that has changed their lives. 
And Dr. Amer, a Muslim, professor of comparative theology shared: “I come from Jordan, where the Jordan river flows and reminds me that our journey starts with the purification of the soul. Very often I wonder why radical extremism incites people to kill others and themselves. I ask God for the courage needed to give our life for what is Good, to be witnesses of this love among us and to all”. 
One fourth of the participants were younger than 35 years. Among them, there were Kyoko, a Buddhist from Japan; Nadjib and Rassim, Muslims from Algeria; Israa and Shahnaze, Shiite from USA and Vijay, a Hindu from Coimbatore. They lived days of “prophecy” while they delved deeply into the mystical experience of summer 1949. Shubhada Joshi, a Hindu, related: “The first time that I heard someone speak of “Jesus Forsaken” I was going through great suffering and I could not manage to understand. I started to look at him as the other side of the coin of love. Now I understand my tradition in a better way”. On the fourth day, another hundred people joined the first group who were participating in this “workshop”. These were mainly Christians involved in the Movement’s journey of fraternity The message delivered by Msgr. Ayuso Guixot, the new President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue expressed a sign of profound “harmony” with Pope Francis’ work. When Rita Moussallem and Roberto Catalano spoke about this dialogue in the teachings of the last Popes, they highlighted the openness and prophetic spirit of Vatican II.
Although each participant arrived for this meeting with a bagful of one’s own experiences, they discovered that sharing with brothers and sisters of various faiths is “the best school”; they experienced a “presence of God”. They realized that this goes beyond dialogue and that they can look ahead together. Hence the need of training and change.
After all, Pope Francis told Liridona that we need to “become expert carvers of our own dreams (….) with concentration and effort, and especially with a great desire to see how that stone, which no one thought was worth anything, can become a work of art” .(3)
Gianna Sibelli
(1) www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-05/pope-francis-travels-north-macedonia–meeting-young-people.html (2) In the chapel, at the Focolare Movement Centre at Rocca di Papa, one finds Chiara Lubich’s tomb and those of the two co-founders of the Work of Mary: Igino Giordani and Fr. Pasquale Foresi (3) www.vatican.va, apostolic journey in North Macedonia, Discorso di Papa Francesco all’incontro ecumenico e interreligioso con i giovani, Skopje, 7 maggio 2019.
Jul 11, 2019 | Non categorizzato
Maria Voce and Jesús Morán were in Birmingham (UK) from 29 June to 4 July to take part in the meeting of the General Secretaries of the European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE). They also met with the Focolare community and visited one of the Sikh centres in the city. Known for centuries as the “city of a thousand trades” and “workshop of the world”, Birmingham is the second most populated city in the United Kingdom. It currently has a youthful appearance with 25% of its inhabitants under 25 and is markedly multicultural – largely due to the movement in and out of Birmingham of workers from all over the country and the world who have walked and built its streets and the country’s economy since the Industrial Revolution. It was here that the meeting of the General Secretaries of the European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) took place from 1 to 4 July on the contribution of Christianity to a re-awakening of consciousness that can truly be described as European. Maria Voce was invited to give her testimony on the importance of charisms within the Church, with a report entitled “Petrine profile and Marian profile: together for a new Pentecost”. Despite it being a lightning visit, the president of the Focolare Movement still managed to get to know the small community of the Movement that also reflects the variety of nationalities and cultures present in the city. There were people from Burundi, Uganda, India, Malaysia and the Philippines alongside those born in Great Britain. They were Sikhs, Muslims, Christians from the Catholic and Anglican Churches as well as those of non-religious convictions. 
In a simple and spontaneous dialogue, Maria Voce showed them a way: “Universal fraternity is our goal and each one of us has to follow our own path; and we do so when we love because love makes us see what others need. This city of a thousand trades can become the city of a thousand faces, a thousand flavours and a thousand encounters with the many people you meet. I hope everyone you meet will really be touched by the love you have for everyone.” 
She also visited the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewa Jatha Gurdwara, the centre for one of the city’s Sikh communities. The President, Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh, warmly welcomed her together with a group of children from two secondary schools in the city, the Sikh Nishkam High School and Catholic Saint Paul’s School. The Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, and a representative of the Anglican Bishop David Urquhart, were also present. For years the two communities – the Sikh and the Focolare – have been working side by side for peace, to bear witness to the fact that there is much more that unites us than divides us. The visit to Birmingham of the international group Gen Verde last November was an example of this. Many young people of different faiths participated in the workshops organized by the band and performed in the final show. During the visit to the Gurdwara, Maria Voce was given the “Peace Charter for Forgiveness and Reconciliation“, signed by several leaders and international religious organizations which seeks to “foster healing, harmony, justice and sustainable peace in our world”, as the preamble itself states. “Division is not God’s plan; God’s plan is unity and we believe in this” – Maria Voce concluded – “what binds us are not only the efforts of collaboration for the common good. We are bound by a gift from God: the dream of unity for the whole human family”. She then stressed the centrality of forgiveness in a way of life and relationships centred on dialogue and mutual acceptance: “Only by taking these small steps will we be able to overcome even the conflicts that every day try to divide us. Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh then gave the President of the Focolare a passage from the Sacred Sikh Scriptures that speaks of the love and union between God and creation, with the wish to continue to walk together for peace and harmony amongst all people. On July 2, the President of the Focolare gave her speech at the meeting of the General Secretaries of the European Bishops’ Conferences; Jesús Moran, Co-President, was also present and participated in one of the dialogue sessions. Maria Voce stressed the “co-essentiality between hierarchical and charismatic gifts in the Church”. For the President of the Focolare, the different realities “arising from a charism need to live strongly grafted onto the whole ecclesial structure of which they are a part and cultivate a fruitful exchange with all the other realities.” “It is not a question of everyone doing the same thing together, staying ‘at home’, but of setting out in the most varied directions, driven by a shared eagerness to reach the ends of the earth”. Finally, she indicated the Marian profile of the Church as a dimension that “teaches how to give life to pastoral care which is authentically generative.
Stefania Tanesini
