The Seminar, in its second edition after the first one held in 2017 at the Federal University of Paraiba in Joao Pessoa, presented 15 academic papers produced by researchers from six universities, around the Chiara Lubich Chair of Fraternity and Humanism at the Catholic University of Pernambuco (Unicap). The seminar comprised of two days of presentations and dialogue, introduced by a warm greeting from Vice-Rector Prof. Delmar Araújo Cardoso, and followed by live streaming to an audience of about 350 people.
The event, which was organized with the support of the Chiara Lubich Centre, was held mainly in Portuguese and was particularly appreciated for its openness to an international dimension, for the consistent and qualified contribution of the speakers, for the interdisciplinary perspective that brought together papers around the theme of language, not just in the field of linguistics, but also in the fields of law, pedagogy, communication, sociology and architecture.
What emerged, in extreme synthesis, was how a language inspired by love, of which Chiara Lubich was an effective model, can contribute to building a world of peace and fraternity.
Anna Maria Rossi
(1) The Abba School is a Centre of life and study desired and founded by Chiara Lubich in 1990. It is composed of members of the Focolare Movement, united in the name of Jesus and experts in various disciplines, whose aim is to draw out and elaborate the doctrine contained in the charism of unity.
Links to the 2nd Seminar on Linguistics, Philology and Literature:
Pope Francis’ latest trip to Asia and Oceania has so far been the farthest, longest and probably the most physically demanding the Pope has ever undertaken. What does this visit mean for the local communities? We asked Paul Segarra, focolarino of the Indonesian community.
Paul, what was the significance of the Pope’s visit to your country?
“This heroic gesture of the Pope is for me an image of God’s love that knows no limits and reaches out to his most distant children, who are certainly not the least-valued in his eyes. The Holy Father took the time to look at them with love, marvel at their giftedness, share their sufferings and longings for justice and peace, then encouraged them to face their challenges together and transcend their limits. But he did not only utter words that inspired and encouraged. He also demonstrated, by example, the strength in faith, the openness to fraternity and the nearness in compassion that he invites his listeners to acquire. He did this through his planned choices and spontaneous gestures, he acted and lived from the heart”.
“As news of his arrival spread quickly – Paul Segarra recounts -, there were also many comments on various social platforms about his chosen means of transport: a sober white sedan, in which he preferred to sit beside his driver, instead of taking the usual presidential back-seat, I imagined because he wanted to converse with his driver face-to-face. Seeing this gesture of his, I realised with regret that I could have done the same with the driver who brought me to my accommodations in Jakarta that same evening. But thereafter, my rides became undeniably more enjoyable, as I took to the habit of getting to know my hired drivers through friendly conversation”.
Paul, how did the local Focolare community experience this event?
“Some members of our Focolare communities in Jakarta and Yogyakarta had the privelege of participating in some of the events that were graced by the pope’s presence. At the Jakarta Cathedral (dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption) the Holy Father acknowledged the work of catechists, describing them as “bridges of the heart that unites all the islands”. We were moved as he drew our attention to a statue of the Virgin Mary, and gave her as a model of faith that welcomes everyone, even as she keeps watch over and protects the people of God as the Mother of Compassion”.
Pope Francis and Imam Umar signed the Joint Declaration. What future do you see for Christians and Muslims together after this signing?
“Tomy, one of our photographers who covered the pope’s visit to the Istiqal Mosque and endured long hours of waiting under the city-heat, was visibly touched as the Holy Father finally arrived and greeted them from his car. Assuming a discreet position just outside the entrance to the underground, pedestrian tunnel that physically connects the Great Mosque to the Cathedral across the street, he managed to capture the moment Pope Francis and High Imam Umar signed the Declaration of Fraternity in front of a small crowd of bishops, imams and other religious figures, and said he had high hopes that this visit would create true harmony between all people of faith. And what is faith, if not seeing, acting and living from the heart?
‘Start Here and Now’ is the latest single from international band Gen Verde. A hymn of unity, strength, courage and joy featuring two youth music groups: Banda Unità (Brazil) and AsOne (Italy). ‘All of us, together with our diversity, are invited to go beyond borders to build a world where care, love, justice and inclusion are the answer to pain, the horror of wars and divisions,’ explains the band.
What is behind the song?
‘The new song is in itself a ‘beyond borders’ experience because of the way it was produced,’ the band continues. The vocals were recorded in three different parts of the world and the video was also shot in three different locations: Loppiano and Verona (Italy) and Recife (Brazil).
The project includes the participation of two youth music groups that share Gen Verde values. Banda Unità is a Brazilian band and AsOne is a band from Verona, Italy. These groups also want to share, through music, the values of peace, dialogue and universal brotherhood.
‘Start Here and Now’ has an intergenerational and intercultural mix,’ continues Gen Verde. “This single stands out for its highly engaging rhythm and powerful lyrics, sung in different languages, to bring out the creative process inspired by interculturality and the commitment to universal brotherhood that is emphasised in the international Genfest event”.
Gen Verde played this song for the first time in Aparecida, Brazil, together with the musical groups Banda Unità and AsOne on 20 July 2024 during Genfest, the Focolare Movement’s global youth event. This edition was entitled: ‘Juntos para Cuidar – Together to Care’.
The Gen Rosso international band recently visited Madagascar, performing eight shows in seven cities. They travelled extensively across this beautiful island to spread a message of peace and fraternity through music and dance.
The 950 kms journey from the capital, Antananarivo, to Toliara in the extreme south took two days.
Valerio Gentile, spokesperson for the band, told us, “The community of the Focolare Movement in Tolear welcomed us with a big celebration, gifting us traditional headgear and necklaces and expressing their joy through traditional dances and songs. We performed with a local group, the Choeur des Jeunes de Saint Benjamin, at a well-known restaurant in the city; that was the beginning of our tour in Madagascar”.
The next day Gen Rosso held workshops at the Don Bosco School, which culminated in a concert in the amphitheatre. One girl, moved to tears, said, “It was the best day of my life,”. And a young teacher added: “You have brought out real values for us to live by; I feel that I have to live my life according to the aims expressed in your songs and that we shared with you during the workshops.”
Valerio elaborated on the workshops, highlighting an innovative percussion session using recycled plastic bottles and yellow barrels, commonly used in Africa as water and oil containers. These became improvised musical instruments, turning the session into an environmental action promoting planet protection.
Another significant event took place at the École Père Barré School, where 300 high school students joined Gen Rosso on stage. In the introduction, the participants were invited to live out a saying during the workshop: “make space for love”.
Adelson of Gen Rosso began by saying, “We are not here to put on a show for you, but with you for the whole city”.
The final concert at the Jardin de la Mer came all too soon. It was opened by the Choeur des Jeunes de Saint Benjamin. However, an unexpected power cut interrupted the performance. When the power returned, Gen Rosso resumed, and the young audience participated enthusiastically.
A second blackout occurred at sunset, plunging the area into darkness.
Valerio explained, “We decided to improvise with torches. Several youth groups from the workshops performed, showcasing creativity and joy. The young people of Toliara were the true stars of the show!”
One participant remarked, “Thanks to Gen Rosso, we discovered our resilience,” echoing sentiments about uncovering life’s authentic values, talents, and the right direction to take.
Valerio shared, “These words encouraged us for our final event in Antananarivo at the Fanovozantsoa School. In just a few hours, the young people were ready to sing, dance—hip-hop and Latin American—and perform percussion. The concert on May 18th was a resounding success, filled with applause, hugs, and selfies. It was an unforgettable moment etched in everyone’s hearts.”
he tour concluded with a Mass for Pentecost in Akamasoa, near the City of Friendship, a community established 30 years ago by Argentine missionary Father Pedro to help the poor through job opportunities, education, and health services.
Valerio reflected, “We celebrated with a colourful Mass in the morning and a joyful show in the afternoon in the outdoor amphitheatre. The concert brought together families, young people, the elderly, and children, delivering a message of hope to build a new society based on love.”
On behalf of the band, Valerio concluded, “Thank you, Madagascar, for your millions of hearts beating every day with solidarity, resilience, simplicity, serenity, lightness, humility, joy, and peace. From now on, you ‘travel’ with us as a gift to take to the world!”
Our daily lives are never free from problems and challenges – health, family, work, unforeseen difficulties, etc. In addition, we are aware of the immense suffering experienced today by so many of our brothers and sisters due to war, the consequences of climate change, migration and violence. We may often feel overwhelmed by these situations.
It is normal to feel concern and to want to find security. We may not find a solution to the problem but the closeness of true friends comforts us and gives us strength. Facing difficulties together is a daily reminder to continue believing in those values of fraternity, reciprocity and solidarity that make the journey through life possible. Fraternal relationships help us experience the same security that children feel when they trust in the love of their parents. This helps them live with a sense of freedom and drive.
For Chiara Lubich and for so many who followed and follow her vision of life, this security comes from the faith of having a Father. Chiara said: “…the person knows he or she is loved and believes with all their being in this love….. abandons themselves to it trustingly and wants to follow it. The events that make up our lives, whether sad or joyful, are enlightened by the belief that everything happens because love has willed or permitted them all.” Her words can be applied to all those who have experienced true love at least once in their lives.
The characteristic of a good travelling companion is someone of service, someone who brings a personal dimension based upon knowledge and deep sharing in respect for everyone. This means living transparently, consistently, without a hidden agenda and with a pure and unconditional love that brings peace, justice and fraternity.
When this happens, it produces a new type of leadership that is so necessary nowadays. This leadership fosters a communitarian dynamic and enables us to recognise the unique contribution of each one without losing our individual identities. On the contrary, we know that it is when we are alone we experience disorientation and lack vision.
We ourselves will only be able to be ‘guides’ for those who are living through difficult times if we, in turn, have experienced trust in others. As the Brazilian educationalist and philosopher, Paulo Freire, says: ‘No one educates anyone; no one educates his or her self; people educate each other through the mediation of the world.’ 1 In other words, in the educational community, no one teaches anyone anything, but everyone learns from everyone in a context of dialogue and critical reflection on reality.1. We ourselves will only be able to be ‘guides’ for those who are living through difficult times if we, in turn, have experienced trust in others. As the Brazilian educationalist and philosopher, Paulo Freire, says: ‘No one educates anyone; no one educates his or her self; people educate each other through the mediation of the world.’ 1 In other words, in the educational community, no one teaches anyone anything, but everyone learns from everyone in a context of dialogue and critical reflection on reality.
1 Freire, Paulo (2012)”Pedagogía del oprimido” Ed. Siglo XXI
THE IDEA OF THE MONTH is currently produced by the Focolare Movement’s “Centre for Dialogue with People of Non-religious Beliefs“. It is an initiative that began in 2014 in Uruguay to share the values found in the Word of Life with friends who do not have religious beliefs. Currently, THE IDEA OF THE MONTH is translated into 12 languages and distributed in more than 25 countries, with adaptations of the text according to different cultural sensitivities.
“Embracing Hope.” With this wish, about 200 people from the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and all over Europe met at the Mariapolis Center in Castel Gandolfo (Rome) from May 16 to 19.
They are the contact persons of the Umanità Nuova, movement, the social expression of the Focolare Movement, New Humanity the NGO with consultative status in the United Nations, along with representatives of disciplines that dialogue with contemporary culture, the contact persons of Ragazzi per l’unità and of AMU (Action for a United World), the NGO that deals with special projects and development.
Also in attendance was a delegation of very young high school students who are part of Living Peace International, along with young ambassadors for peace, such as Joseph,
from Sierra Leone, who narrated how at the age of six he was recruited as a child soldier and has now become a young peace leader.
For some time now, these various social expressions -each with its own characteristics and goals- have been working together to help provide concrete responses to the burning issues and expectations of the contemporary world: “Together for Humanity” is their new name. Taking up the Pope’s invitation to the Focolare Movement during a private audience on Dec. 7, 2023, which was to “be artisans of peace in a world torn apart by conflict,” they wanted to dedicate the meeting precisely to peace.
An experience of listening, communal reflection and concrete planning, carried out in the eight communities distinguished by areas and passions. A journey that will continue with the Genfest in Brazil next July, intertwine with the United Nations Summit for Future in September 2024, and with the event in Nairobi with the youth and cities of the world, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. During the meeting, those present, with the help of experts and testimonies, professors, diplomats, social and cultural actors, and organized citizens, reflected on the issue of what is peace, if it is indeed possible to achieve it and by what means.
So many touching experiences from countries in conflict. From Syria, they recounted the brutality of the war they have been experiencing since 2011, aggravated by the embargo affecting an exhausted population. AMU projects such as RESTART, which supports micro businesses with loans and personalized mentoring, have helped slow constant migration processes. Christiane, from Lebanon, despite the situation in her country, characterized by very high inflation and high emigration rates aggravated by the impacts of the war in the Middle East, did not give up: she set up with her husband a productive enterprise for family support and to also help other artisans and rural producers sell their products. The productive initiative also extended to Egypt. From Congo, the fruits of the school for training leaders for peace were presented. A graduate of this school, Joëlle, a journalist and a presidential candidate of the Republic of Congo, launched her presidential platform with the values of peace and social justice. Youths from Ukraine greeted those present with a video, and so did some youths from Bethlehem, Pakistan, Cuba, and the Philippines. The “Together for a New Africa” (T4NA) project for African youth interested in changing the continent was presented: trained hundreds of youth and involved another 9,000 youth in an experience that reached 14 African nations. The same is being done in Mexico with the National Agenda for Peace, in the United States with courageous conversations against racism.
There is a need for true peace and human rights education as well as the need to name conflicts, exploring their reasons, trying to resolve them with a community strategy that listens to diverse and plural positions which precedes and accompanies every negotiation. It has been said that peace is not only the absence of war. Not everything that is called order is peace. It is not ideological: it is not pacifism. It is the condition in which each person can think and realize his own future. But we need to learn dialogue as a methodology, with which to be willing to lose something for the greater good. This is basically the reason for which perhaps negotiations are not progressive and even international organizations do not seem to be able to handle the crisis. Dialogue, trust, local and global networks, inter-generation, community. We start from here, from these key words, encouraged also by Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán , President and Co-President of the Focolare Movement, who were present on the final day. This is the road to peace, to which we want to contribute concretely, and together.
