Jun 26, 2019 | Non categorizzato
Condolences to the family of Mayor Emanuele Crestini and to all the residents of Rocca di Papa (Rome, Italy) from the International Center of the Focolare, on behalf of the whole Movement. “Mayor, friend, hero”. This is how the municipal webpage of Rocca di Papa, near Rome, described the mayor, Emanuele Crestini, who died on 10th June in a fire caused by a gas explosion during maintenance work on the mains. The international center of the Focolare Movement is located in Rocca di Papa, and the Focolare has enjoyed a warm relationship with their local Mayor, and with all the councillors in the Castelli Romani region. Local councillor Vincenzo Eleuteri also lost his life in the fire. The two men were the last to leave the burning building after checking no-one was trapped inside. This act of exceptional courage and selflessness towards colleagues with whom Mayor Crestini had been working that day characterises an official who was prepared to defend “his” people with extreme dedication, not even sparing his own life.
On the right of Maria Voce, the mayor Emanuele Crestini
Patrizia Mazzola
May 30, 2019 | Non categorizzato
We asked young members of the Focolare Movement from different countries to give us their own take on Pope Francis’ recent apostolic exhortation “Christus Vivit”. First we hear from Noemi Sanchez, protagonist at the preparatory meeting of the Synod of Catholic Bishops on Young People in 2018. 
Noemi (28) is from Paraguay, of Brazilian heritage, currently completing a research doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Perugia, Italy. In March 2018 she participated in the pre-synodal meeting convened by the Pope in order to listen to young people from all over the world and prepare the subsequent Synod on Youth with them and for them. The apostolic exhortation “Christus Vivit” is one of the outcomes of this intergenerational process. Many young people have already read it and spread it among their own groups and peers. – In this document, the Pope repeatedly stresses the need for the Church to listen to young people. Has this been happening? I think the whole process around the Synod of October 2018 has been a clear example of the Church’s sincere desire to listen to us and welcome us wholeheartedly. There were 300 of us at the pre-Synod, from many different countries. We were free to say whatever we thought, as the Pope himself invited us to do. The “adults” listened to us and encouraged dialogue with us. What matters now is that this two-way experience between generations should take place in different environments, in parishes and Christian communities. – More than once, the Pope refers to the restlessness so characteristic of youth. Do you believe that it’s possible to listen to the voice of God in the midst of all the sounds, voices and digital stimuli which bombard us today? The Pope coins the phrase “flying on their two feet” because actually we young people are never really still, but always looking out for something. However, we also hit limits caused by our lack of experience, for example, or the fear of making a big mistake in any decisive choice. “High speed” is not enough, we also need meaning. Encouragement from being around the generations above us is always crucial to achieve this, and never more so than today with all its “false alarms”. Having experienced it for myself, I believe that the voice of God always makes itself heard through the “amplifiers” of love. – Why do you think it is so few young people today want to embark upon a serious journey of faith? What’s lacking and what are they searching for? I think there are many reasons for this: a growing disillusionment, ignorance or even laziness. Many of us don’t have a deep knowledge of the faith, and so we young people can become victims of the “rootless” society the Pope condemns all the time. At the same time, we feel a strong desire to get involved in social causes, there is a widespread sensitivity to the arts, as well as the desire to build lasting and meaningful relationships, to live authentically for something that gives meaning to our life, looking for authentic role models. I definitely think today’s youth are searching for God, it’s just they are not always aware of it. – In your opinion, what is the real contribution the Synod on Youth and this apostolic exhortation are having on the life of the Church, and in particular on the young people in the Church? This Synod has undoubtedly brought to light something new (a novum) in the history of the Church as regards methodology and its realistic approach. What came out most, I think, was inter-religious dialogue and how essential and enriching it is for the whole life of the Church. The Exhortation is a real treasure for all young people, not only Catholics. When I read it, rather than a formal document of the Church, it seemed more like a long letter from your grandfather, or from an old friend who loves you and really knows how to get through to you. Someone who can tell you what you need in this particular moment of your life in order not to fall away but how to get up, and keep on trying again and again. To keep on believing in beauty, in good, in love, in the truest nature of humanity – which is also divine. To believe in the possibility of reaching full happiness whatever sufferings and problems are part of life. To learn how to overcome them with courage and commitment
edited by Stefania Tanesini
May 23, 2019 | Non categorizzato
Interview with Dr. Pál Tóth: “Applying the principle of fraternity to Europe as a political category means building institutions which pursue collaboration in diversity, to achieve the common good”. European elections are underway for the representatives of the 27 member states of the European Union in the European Parliament. 400 million citizens have the right to vote between 23 and 26 May, considering two opposing ideas of Europe: pro-Europeanism and Euroscepticism. This polarization is identified by some as following the geographical East-West divide of the so-called “Old Continent”. Pál Tóth, originally from Hungary, cultural advisor on the Planning Committee of Together for Europe , a network of over 300 Christian communities and movements promoting a “culture of reciprocity” in the European context and beyond, gives his perspective. “It’s important to realise that as the European Union expands, whereas new member States may quite quickly embrace a market economy and democratic legal system, actually synchronizing all the very different cultural realities present in the Union is a much slower process. I use the word ‘synchronize’ and not simply redressing or adapting after the social and political conquests of the West (of Europe), because I’m personally convinced that East Europe possesses values which are the fruit of a long history of suffering and as such are of great value. We just have to think of the love for truth expressed by the Czech people, from Jan Jus to Vaclav Havel; or the small communities emerging within the “Church of silence” witnessing to the life of the Gospel; or the people who continued to fill the churches in Poland throughout the period of national secularization; or the Orthodox icons which give such unique access to the Christian mystery, especially potent in such an image-dominated era. As I see it, East Europe is not yet capable of expressing these values adequately. It continues to react impulsively to phenomena it identifies as stemming from a moral decline into decadence. But progress is not made by criticism alone; there needs to be a journey of growth together, a ‘synodal process’ – as Pope Francis would call it – involving welcoming, understanding, speaking with clarity but without being offensive, deconstructing our prejudices, and discernment as a community”. The Brexit issue poses an existential question to the remaining States of the European Union: is it better to face present and future challenges alone or in a cohesive unit? “I believe the radical transformation of the world in which we live places challenges before us which we simply cannot manage on a national level. German sociologist Ulrich Beck speaks of a metamorphosis of the world, which calls for a completely different way of thinking than before. Climate change, migration, organized crime, the ‘common evils’ of global capitalism, cannot be addressed effectively on a simply national level, but rather with the force of an integrated political approach.” Chiara Lubich and Igino Giordani, founder and co-founder of the Focolare Movement, were very clear on the idea that a united Europe should promote world peace. In the light of the charism of unity, how do you rate the chances of adopting fraternity as a political category? “Democracy in the modern world has developed as a competitive system, involving the distribution of power, a battle between different parties, a process of checks and balances, civil society curbing the excesses of public power. Applying the principle of fraternity as a political category means building institutions which pursue collaboration in diversity, to achieve the common good. Over the past two centuries, the principles of liberty and equality have been translated into legal and political categories. Now it’s time to work on the category of fraternity, which incorporates the values of reciprocity and mutual responsibility. On the political scene, alongside the political parties as agents of competition, we could see the institutions of civil society emerging to take on public roles. There are alternative models, and movements for spiritual and cultural renewal, such as the Focolare, could play a significant role in this process.” The Focolare’s commitment towards unity in Europe is evident in the Together for Europe project. Ilona Tóth, member of the project’s planning committee, describes how the initiative came about. “At the eve of the Third Millennium, founders and leaders of Christian communities and movements active in Europe (Chiara Lubich, Andrea Riccardi, Helmut Nicklas, Salvatore Martinez and others) pledged to place their charisms at the service of the continent, on a common foundation of mutual love. The aim was to invigorate Europe from a spiritual standpoint, based on Christian values, alongside the established geographical and economic perspectives.” What has been achieved so far? “The Together for Europe network is generating ‘leaven’ for people in Europe with a culture founded on Gospel-based fraternity. These gatherings throughout Europe help to demonstrate unity in diversity. In their own environments, the protagonists launch initiatives promoting peace, the family, protection of the environment, solidarity and a fairer economy etc. They are seeking ways to respond to the demands of a continent in crisis.”
Claudia Di Lorenzi
May 13, 2019 | Non categorizzato
The focus for discussion was safeguarding the Amazon – not only one of the richest ecosystems on the planet but also a “forest of cultures.” Look at the Amazon with the eyes of those who live there, “make yourself one ” with the indigenous peoples who inhabit it in relationships of exchange and perfect balance. While the Earth is a mother who gives life, it is humanity’s role to care for it – to protect the wealth of its creatures, while being at the same time a creature within Creation. This is the over arching vision of both the promoters and the participants of the fourth edition of the Village for the Earth, which was held in Rome promoted by the Focolare Movement together with Earth Day Italy. From April 25 to 29, they addressed the theme of safeguarding the Amazon, which has an ecosystem among the richest on the planet and at the same time contains “forest of cultures.” From the park at Villa Borghese, the appeal was renewed for the protection of the environmental and ethnic-cultural biodiversity of the Amazon. Described as one of the Earth’s “lungs,” the Amazon has been exploited and looted for too long by multinationals and governments who see it only as a source of income. The extraction of oil, gas and precious materials, and the growing deforestation of areas destined for intensive agriculture or for the construction of dams and other infrastructure – reports Francesca Casella, Director of Survivor International Italy – is a “deliberate attack” that puts at risk the survival of the ecosystem and the tribes that inhabit it. These tribes are illegally evicted from their lands, deprived of sustenance or even exterminated. “We are hungry and thirsty for justice for all those who have died fighting for our people and for our lives,” Hamangaì, an indigenous student representative of the Patax people in the Brazilian state of Bahia, said. “We ask humanity to stop and listen to the original peoples, the bearers of thousands of years of wisdom.” This cry was answered by the hundreds of organizations, institutions and entities – civil and ecclesial – that took part in the event and agreed to work together for the protection of the Amazon, this land that constitutes an inestimable ecological heritage, but which also offers itself as a model for the coexistence of hundreds of populations with different cultures, ethnic groups and religions. It’s a model to be protected, therefore, according to the spirit indicated by the Lord to Moses in the Bible: “Take off your sandals, for the place on which you stand is holy ground” (Ex 3: 5). This was the biblical passage that Pope Francis quoted during his apostolic journey to the Amazon, in 2016, and that Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, proposed once again to the participants in the Village as the model of how our we should approach encounters with the indigenous inhabitants and their land. The bishops of the world will meet in October to discuss the theme of the Amazon, searching for “New paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology.” This is the title given to the coming Synod by the Pope. The cardinal added that the presence of the Church in the Amazon is significant, with “7 Episcopal Conferences, 106 bishops and thousands of priests and pastoral workers.” A special attention that comes from the awareness that everything is connected, as the Holy Father underlines in Laudato si ‘, where he invites everyone to an “ecological conversion”, or, in other words, to assume the interdependence of all Creation, of nature with humanity and among all peoples, and therefore to change lifestyles in order to overcome individualism and to adopt global solidarity as a criterion for action. In this sense we can look at the work of the Capuchin Friars of the Holy Land, who are present in 72 villages living alongside indigenous peoples. They are also engaged in the fight against prejudice towards the indigenous peoples. While the indigenous are seen, by some, as backward peoples, the Friars assert that there is much to be learnt from them. “We are slaves of time, while being with them you understand how sacred it is to be together, to listen to each other,” says Father Paolo Maria Braghini, a Capuchin missionary for 20 years in the Amazon. He adds, “St. Francis would be happy to live today in that part of the world.” According to Rafael Padilha, professor at the University of Vale do Itajaì, in Brazil, this Amazonian model in its biodiversity, can and must be replicated elsewhere – while adapted to individual realities. He also emphasized the importance of promoting an economy that puts the person at the centre, for example through projects like those inspired by the Economy of Communion born of the charism of the Focolare Movement. Father Laurent Mazas, Executive Director of the Cortile dei Gentili, stated that the challenge, even in the so-called developed countries .is to move from multiculturality to interculturality, “from duel to duet, respecting the treasures of each culture.” At the end of the talk, in the Magnolia Avenue of the Villa Borghese, as a testimony to the common commitment to safeguard the forest and the peoples that inhabit it, a holm oak tree was planted in some soil from the Amazon.
Claudia Di Lorenzi
May 12, 2019 | Non categorizzato
The Focolare president and co-president returned to Lebanon where they celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Movement with the community and various civil and religious leaders. It sometimes happens that the great currents of history are concentrated in the small history of an individual. This happened on Saturday, May 11, during the meeting of the members of the Focolare movement in Lebanon, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the Movement in the Land of the Cedars. In front of the 450 who were present, the presenters had just retraced some of the main stages of those 50 years, when one of them announced: “In the war from 1975 to 1990 my brother died. I was one of those who had a weapon in his hand. Then in 1993 I met the Focolare and the spirituality of unity changed my life.” These few words are a concentration of reality: there is the richness and beauty of Lebanon, the gateway to the Middle East, where three continents and three great religions meet. They say it’s a country that’s been privileged by history. That it lives out the continuous challenge of fraternal coexistence among peoples, religions, Christian rites and denominations. It is referred to as a nation that never gives up and that always finds new resources to start again. This presenter’s announcement expressed the drama and the trauma of a war that lasted 16 years, a war whose origins and roots have never really been addressed. Hidden within this one individual’s story is the seed sown by the first men and women members of the Focolare who arrived in Beirut in 1969. Their witness of a life based on love has not only survived the war but it is manifested in the various expressions of the Movement and in the many ecclesial and social activities that are presented on this day of celebration. 
Maria Voce and Jesús Morán, president and co-president of the Focolare, who came to celebrate with the Lebanese community, were not satisfied with a jubilee that started with the past and arrived at the present. In their answers to questions, they challenged the Lebanese Focolare community to look to the future and to never tire of announcing the Gospel in the style that’s typical of the charism of unity – which means, like Christ, to make themselves one with everyone. They encouraged them not to avoid the differences and conflicts that could challenge their own cultural classifications, but to reach a new evangelical mentality. They encouraged them not to live a superficial witness to ecumenism, but to live a true unity in the diversity of rites and denominations and before ecclesial authorities. They asked them to live inter religious dialogue – especially with Muslims – the way that Chiara Lubich lived it. In this way the prophecy inherent within inter religious dialogue would become manifest. Maria Voce summarized all these challenges in her greeting after the Mass on Sunday, May 12th, the official act with which the fiftieth was celebrated. In the Resurrection Cathedral at Antélias near Beirut, Maria Voce expressed the wish that Lebanon’s people could withstand any fragmentation. This way Lebanon could be a living ‘message’ of coexistence and fraternity throughout the world. This is the special characteristic of the Lebanese people that Pope John Paul II perceived in the 1980s. He saw that in Lebanon cultural and spiritual diversity could be found in the journeys of individuals and of peoples. Maria Voce repeated the words of the Pope, who is now a saint: “Lebanon is more than a country, it is a message of freedom and an example of pluralism for the East and the West.” (1) The 50 years of the Focolare in this country show that the spirituality of unity has the capacity to keep this message alive and up to date.
Joachim Schwind
(1) John Paul II., Apostolic Letter to all the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the situation in Lebanon, 7 September 1989.
