Brussels 2012. A symbolic site, the seat of important institutions of the European Union, an important date – a European Year of Solidarity Among Generations. Brussels 2012 is also the next step in the free assembly of movements and communities who, while maintaining their own autonomy, occasionaly act together for common goals, offering the contribution of their own charisms and spiritualities. This journey began on 31 October 1999 and was entitled “Together for Europe”.  Today it has become a network involving more than 250 movements and Christian communities: Catholics, Evangelicals, Anglicans, Orthodox, members of free churches and Pentecostal communities. They work together for the common good of the continent, as an accompaniment to the path of reconciliation that has been set forth. (10 years for Europe http://vimeo.com/25805381) Many events are planned for 2012 in many European cities, both in preparation for the events in Brussels and simultaneous to the events. For more information go to www.together4europe.org where you will also find many documents and the history of “Together for Europe”. Especially worthy of mention are the two major events in Stuttgart in 2004 and 2007 with their keynote addresses, known to history as the 7 SI’.

An internet link will connect cities involved in the events into a single multi-event spread throughout different countries. Objective: to show what the various charisms do for the good of society – as Francesco Maria Greco, Italian ambassador to the Holy See pointed out during a meeting for diplomats  held at the international headquarters of the Focolare in early June (https://www.focolare.org/it/news/2011/06/09/diplomazia-internazionale-a-confronto-con-wojtyla-e-chiara-lubich/); and to witness the presence of a unifying force that lives within Europe, despite the diversity of individual people and groups. The Young for Unity have proposed coinciding the Run for Unity event – the celebrated Relay for World Peace – with the Brussels 2012 date, offering to youths of different movments in several areas an opportunity to collaborate with each other for this event. Meanwhile the Together for Europe working group, which is comprised of represenatives from different movements, recently met with Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for the Unity of Christians. His esteem for the Movements emerged, which he described as a “garden of flowers” and he is expected to be one of the guests at the events in Brussels. Maria Voce, president of the Focolare Movement will also attend. In preparation for the events in Strasbourg, there will also be a meeting of the Political Movement for Unity for European parliamentary, which is entitled “Europe and Dialogue. A Political Value for a Globalized World.” To know more about Together for Europe 2012: http://www.together4europe.org/it/insieme-per-l-europa-2012.html