Focolare Worldwide – Page 111 – Movimento dei Focolari

Towards a new season of the Church in Italy

May 18, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

At the opening session, Bishop Nunzio Galantino, Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference (IEC), declared that «The spirit of the Episcopal Conference is to start from those involved,» underlining how this is also proven by the meeting which saw the participation of all the ecclesial organisations operating in the social fields. «The ecclesial congress of November will start in Prato, the ideal periphery of Florence and home to Chinese immigrants, and where the Pope is scheduled to make his pastoral visit.» In an interview, Prof. Coda summarised the objective of the two-day work session. «We want to reflect and offer our testimonial through the experiences of some dynamic groups of the Church in Italy, that are working in the frontlines of service to the poor and homeless and in creating an open dialogue in all spheres.» The preparatory meeting delved into the theme on “The Servant of the Lord and the humanity of mankind” (15-16 May), organized by the Abele Group and their magazine, “Il Regno,” with the cooperation of the Italian Catholic Action, Carits, CNCA and the Networks of Charity and the Focolare Movement. “Together with the others, Piero Coda continued, these experiences «open out to all the existential frontiers of society, as Pope Francis says.» Furthermore, «in Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis uses a beautiful expression: we must say “yes” to all the new relationships generated by Jesus. All the groups involved in this event actualise in various ways, this “yes to new relationships” with the cultural and social divides, marginalisation of all sorts, the world around us, and the home common to all Creation, precisely as an expression of this reality of relationships.» Maria Voce’s presence underlined the Focolare’s adhesion to this preparatory path which aims above all to highlight the life of those who give all their energy every day to creating this “new humanism.” «The Church breaks through the confines of the building of religious rites, and in full communion between the clergy and laity, comes closer to present day humanity,» she affirmed in her speech. This Convention «targets the start of a new season in the life and mission of the Church in Italy: not only with regard to the pressing need for “pastoral conversion” but also for the role and public conduct of Christians in facing the social, economic and political realities of our country and keeping an open attitude toward Europe and the world.» She then referred to the challenges of pluralism and the need to harmonise the multitude of diversities in the public field. «This new season stands for the transformation of the world, starting from the radical conversion of our hearts and minds in order to be ready to meet Jesus in each person. God cannot receive us alone, he wants us to go to him with our brethren… To give the Christian name of fraternity to social relationships means committing ourselves to harmonizing the weft of relationships, recognising our mutual belonging and the bonds of responsibility implied, and orienting personal and collective efforts towards the common good.» This is why «we must give a voice and dignity to those at the periphery, extend the spheres of inclusion, and heal and rebuild the frayed social fabric. It is primarily the youth who wish to give their own contribution. So many initiatives have started up locally, in the heart of numberless fragments of “fraternal” civil life!» As a confirmation of Maria Voce’s words, were the almost 200 members of the Focolare Movement attending the meeting, and involved in many ways in the ecclesial organisations, and active in various fields: interreligious dialogue, reception of immigrants, politics, culture and legality, schooling, and the real opening of worksites for the good of Italy. It is a participation which demonstrates their concrete commitment, together with many other active groups.

Living Peace 2015: Words and Images from Cairo

May 15, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

“The Peace Forum was a unique experience. I enjoyed every moment of the programme. Such a meeting (. . .) makes one hope that better days are coming and that one day poverty, hunger discrimination and violence will see their end.” This is how Rasha, an English teacher at Rowad American College, describes Living Peace 2015 which was held in Cairo on May 4-6, 2015, following a three-day congress in Alexandria, Egypt that provided the young people with the necessary background knowledge. In Alexandria there were moments of sharing and mutual understanding, sharing the joys and sorrows that they brought with them from their own countries. In Cairo, there was a beautiful welcome, with festivities along the Nile on a large boat, with games, dancing and song. Then came the actual World Forum of Students for Peace. The project was promoted by New Humanity, an NGO, through the Cayrus project approved by the European Union. Various partners and sponsors from different countries adhered to the project and sent youth representatives to Egypt. For three days 1300 students and professors from more than 20 schools and 8 Egyptian universities shared testimonies of their common commitment to peace: best practices, more than 50 educational projects for peace, workshops, seminars, exhibits and artistic performances. Also present were ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Guatemala, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Pakistan, Portugal, Croatia, Mexico, Germany and Sudan. Begun in 2011 by an English teacher at El Rowad American College of Cairo, as an educational project for peace, today, Living Peace involves more than 2500 students from around the world. A main feature of the project is the way it directly engages the students and teachers in the creation of an educational peace initiative, involving a global network of people and institutions. Membership in the project enables each school to develop projects in accordance with their own possibilities, favouring the creativity of the students along with the awareness that they are contributing towards a common goal. This creates a dynamic of participation that motivates the different components of the school, reinforcing solidarity amongst students, teachers, directors and families, with repercussions in civil society. The 2015 Forum was the occasion for presenting Scholas Occurrentes, the large global network that the Pope wished to see when he was still archbishop of Buenos Aires, and that now connects more than 400,0000 schools around the world. The presence of Dominicus Rohde from Germany, President of the World Peace Forum, raised the tone of the events. Since it was the first world forum held by young people, it opened the doors to a new road. The worldwide forum on peace has awarded the Luxemburg Peace Prize to New Humanity. The prestigious Nelson Mandela Medal was consigned to Cecilia Landucci who represented the NGO in Cairo. See video: Living Peace 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nugDbxgoccg&feature=youtu.be Source: ONG New Humanity, AMU e Umanità Nuova. Updated May 27, 2015

Kenya. Witnesses of the Massacre in Garissa

May 14, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

United World Week and Run4Unity 2015

May 12, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

Focolare Youth and children and their many friends. Signs of persistent commitment towards peace in the whole world. A focus on some initiatives, not amongst the most crowded or those held in well-known cities, but very significant because they show that everyone, anywhere can contribute towards peace. Kinshasa, Congo. A convinced crowd of a thousand young people, Christians and Muslims demonstrated in front of civil authorities: mayors, governor, members of parliament, ambassadors. (One boy managed to invite 70 friends who took part in the activity and paid their participation fee in advance). These youngsters marched for about an hour in the chaotic city of Kinshasa until they reached Petite Flamme, the school run by the Focolare Movement and found in Ndolo. This project offers many teens the opportunity to build a future in their own country without having to emigrate. Other young people marched in the unstable east region of Bukavu, Kikwit and Goma. Damascus, Syria. Syrian children have been asked to comment on their situation and answered through social networks: “I am M., and after managing to escape from home I now live in Damascus. During the night our neighbourhood was very heavily bombarded and rockets hit some of our friends’ homes. The Focolare families did their best to find accommodation for them….Some of us lost relatives, friends, school…. But in spite of all this we believe in peace, we live for peace and pray God for peace. We visited children in an orphanage. We organized ourselves and prepared for them sweets, salted biscuits, bracelets….. We played with these children and spent a very nice day together”. Another group of 65 youngsters, coming from different parts of the country, faced the risk of a journey to spend a couple of days together: “It seemed an oasis as it was for the people of Israel who for 40 years journeyed in the desert amidst many hardships”. Cascais, Portugal. 900 young Portuguese gathered at the small town of Cascais welcomed the Syrian youth’s commitment to pray and be points of reference for peace in everyday life so as to spread love and peace around them. “They instilled strength and determination in us, helping us to give relative importance to our small difficulties and challenges”. The commissioner for youth policies encouraged them saying: “Continue to believe in what already believe. Continue to be what you are. The world needs you!” Bahía Blanca, Argentina. Through the initiative “Papelitos in the city”, positive messages were scattered everywhere: on school benches, doors, in elevators, in mailboxes, on motorcycles, cars, bicycles…. The golden rule found in sacred books and in other texts stimulated the idea: “Cheer up everybody’s day and contribute to lessen violence”. Other groups (scouts, etc.) took part in this initiative through Whatsapp and Facebook. It has also aroused conflicting ideas that reinforced the youth’s determination to “write those words with their lives”. Hamm, Germany. Catholic and Evangelical youth walked together through the city and stopped at various places of worship, including a mosque and Hindu temple. Slovakia. Slovak and Ukrainian youth and children met at a town on the border between the two countries and organized different activities. Above all, they shared the suffering of a conflict that continues to cause death and destruction. Hong Kong And Macao: The necessity of peace and its absolute priority were promoted in one of the most busy commercial places in Hong Kong, which youth chose as their meeting place. Bethlehem. Christian and Muslim children from Jerusalem, Nazareth and Haifa, who took part in this year’s edition of the relay race for peace, met at the Square of the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. From there they walked to the Salesian monastery in the Cremisan Valley, where the local people protested without any violence and prevented the building of a part of the wall that separates Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Source:Press releases

Centennial of Brother Roger Schutz

May 12, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

Chiara Lubich, Gabri Fallacara, Frère Roger Schutz (1978).

May 12, 2015 marks the centennial of the birth of Brother Roger Schutz, founder of the Taize Community. When did you meet him for the first time? “It was August 1974, at Taizé in Burgundy where the Council of Youth was being held. Chiara Lubich asked me to attend with several French young people from our Movement. The 40,000 attendees were welcomed by large wooden signs with the word “Silence” written in various languages. It was a simple and direct way to introduce us into the atmosphere of prayer and dialogue among everybody, a ‘creative space’ as Brother Roger called it: no smoking or alcohol, only prayer and dialogue among all, trust and freedom. There were Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, Orthodox, Jews, agnostics . . . a composition that mirrored that of the brothers living with Brother Roger, who was a Reformed Calvinist. Schutz was always around. With his sweet and humble features that seemed to speak of God, he greeted each and every person. When he heard that Chiara had sent us, he held my hand and said: “I’m happy to see you here; tell Chiara that I carry her in my heart.” In another moment he said: “Give Chiara an embrace on my behalf.” The final declaration contained the strength and commitment of all to living out the Beatitudes and being ‘seed of society without classes and without privileges.” It gave us a boost to live beyond our dreams, to live in peace and harmony.” Was that the first time the Prior of Taizé met anyone from the Focolare Movement? “No. His first encounter with the Focolare was in the 1950s. He spoke of it himself in the preface to the book Méditations by Chiara Lubich, published in Paris in 1966: “It was more than ten years ago that I welcomed some young men and women to Taizé. I listened to them with tranquillity and the more I heard, the more I recognized the light of Christ in them. Who were those young people? The focolarini. Then we met again several times, not only at Taizé, but in Rome, Florence, Milan and elsewhere, and it was always the same light of Christ. One day that I was in Rome, I invited Chiara Lubich over, the one who had founded this spiritual family of focolarini. That encounter remains memorable. Then I saw Chiara often, and the transparency of this woman is always the same page of an opened Gospel. I never forget that Chiara had been chosen from among the humble, the worker, to confuse the strong, the powerful of this world. I know that through a woman like Chiara, God gives us an unparalleled instrument of unity for us Christians separated for centuries by a long and drawn out divorce.”

Chiara Lubich, Eli Folonari,

A testimony of mutual respect and esteem between the two movements, and between the two founders. . . “Those words from the preface reveal the understanding that Roger had with regards to Chiara as an instrument of unity, for the reconciliation among Christians of different denominations that he also longed for. Chiara always held him in high esteem, also offering concrete support for his work. For example, she asked a focolarino to work for one year in the organization of the Youth Council. Later we collaborated in the Together for Europe project, which Roger so much supported. The Taizé Community has always been very present in the different manifestations, and it will also be there for the one that’s being prepared in Monaco for 2016. It was the first time that Movements from different Churches agreed to grow together in the Gospel life. Since each one will include many people, this innovation has handed over to history something very significant that does not go unobserved.” Since you knew him personally, what can you tell us about Brother Roger as an ecumenical figure? “With Brother Roger a new era was inaugurated. You prayed for each other, you shared with each other. Roger Schutz leaves us a message of assurance. He began his work by gathering refugees and the suffering, putting together so many young people. During his long life – he lived to be 90, had a special death as we all know – he really experienced the Father’s love for humanity. He was the transparent reflection of this Divine Love. For him prayer was a key that allowed you to, I would almost say, unlock the mystery of God and Roger had this Divine sense of prayer, outside of time. He believed in the unity among Christians, he believed in it completely. So he set out to do with other people what could be done immediately: praying. Unity will be a gift from God.”