Focolare Movement

Brazil: Fraternity in political action, to plan the future

Dec 19, 2006

At the beginning of its 52nd session, the House of Deputies, convened in solemn session at the Parliament in Brasilia, celebrated the fifth anniversary of the foundation of the Movement for Unity in Politics in Brazil.

The celebration, on December 7th, which took place in the House of Deputies at the Parliament in Brasilia, was attended by more than 200 federal deputies. This was only a few weeks after the recent inauguration of the new government and legislative body. The President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Hon. Aldo Rebelo sent a message. The news of the solemn session in honour of the Movement for Unity in Politics (MppU) appeared on the official website of the House, within the official working timetable. “At this special historical moment for Brazil, faced with crucial political choices for its people both at a national and an international level, as for many emerging countries, we lived a truly important day”. That is how Hon. Lucia Crepaz, President of the International Mppu described it, on her return. “During the session I listened to deputies from different parties questioning and taking positions on the subject of universal fraternity, the principal idea behind the MppU. I must say that while in the political arena fraternity is seen as a fragile concept, unsuited to the painstaking process of bringing interests together, there on the contrary it emerged with the ability to plan, to be the content and the method of politics, and a guide for personal daily actions, as well as large scale political transformation.” The story of the Mppu was traced by Hon Luiza Erundina, who first of all called to mind the message of Chiara Lubich to parliamentarians delivered in 1998 by Ginetta Calliari – one of Chiara Lubich’s first companions and cofounder of the Focolare Movement in Brazil. After that the Movement for Unity in Politics was founded in 2001, followed by an expansion in the different states of Brazil, with a series of political initiatives throughout the country and in the institutional political centres, finally involving also the Parliament in Brasilia. In the following two days, the MppU Convention welcomed dozens more politicians and administrators, functionaries, interested citizens and students, coming from 25 states of Brazil, who reviewed everything that followed, from 2001 until today. For the occasion, messages of support came from the national centres of the MppU in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, where this experience has been developing in a similar manner for some years. The Movement for Unity in Politics – Started by Chiara Lubich in 1996, could be described as an international laboratory for political dialogue which brings together politicians from different tendencies working throughout the whole range of social and political situations, who find in the Charism of unity a source of inspiration, and a universal motivation for working together for the common good.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Subscribe to Newsletter

Thought of the day

Related post

The General Councillors have been elected

The General Councillors have been elected

Today, the 20 general councillors of the Focolare Movement were elected; during the new term of office, they will support the President of the Focolare Movement in her role.

Middle East emergency: outcomes and stories of solidarity

Middle East emergency: outcomes and stories of solidarity

The interventions carried out between 2024 and the first months of 2026 in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria tell of a concrete commitment to support the populations affected by the crisis.Thanks to the fundraising launched for the emergency and the contribution of many people, more than 3,300 beneficiaries received humanitarian aid, health care, food support and shelter.

Chiara Lubich: I have found you

Chiara Lubich: I have found you

As we mark the anniversary of the death of Chiara Lubich, foundress of the Focolare Movement, we share one of her meditations that expresses the inner journey of a soul that recognises God’s presence in the most varied places of human experience.