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25 Oct 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
“When we got married we had many projects. And one of these was the great desire to have a child. It was a great disappointment to discover that there were problems hindering this conception. It was hard to accept and I was convinced that there had to be a medical solution, which made us hope for the best. I was 22 and therefore, they did not immediately suggest in vitro fertilization techniques (FIVET), but started with less invasive treatments. In the meantime, while waiting for something to happen, I turned to a priest of my parish for help and advice, and he encouraged me to consider the true value of life, the precious gift that God has entrusted to the responsibility of man. The suffering I was undergoing was caused by my strong desire for motherhood, to be achieved as soon as possible. I was torn as to the path to follow. Some doctors proposed the FIVET as the right solution. The other path was to put our trust in God. So, with great difficulty we decided to stop and not do anything anymore. It appeared to us that assisted conception itself refutes some important aspects of man. We believe that life is a gift of God and not a “product” to be manufactured in a laboratory, without the donation of love between spouses. In fact, with this technique the child is not conceived in their flesh but in a test tube. I had always considered adoption as a beautiful thing, a great act of love, but my desire to bear a child led me not to take this path into consideration. Our suffering had opened my eyes to go further and realise, as St. John Paul II said in his Familiaris Consortio, that “ married life does not lose its value but can be fertile beyond one’s capacity to procreate, and that fatherhood and motherhood can be fulfilled in a marvellous way in the many forms of relationships and solidarity towards those in need.” And so I started to consider the possibility of adopting a child, and when my husband listened to my wish and agreed too, it was then that we “conceived” in an emotional bond, the child that God wanted to give us. In the autumn of 2004 we submitted to the Court for minors, our declaration of willingness for a national and international adoption. So we waited. Our child still had not been born but was already in our hearts and thoughts. He still did not exist but we were already praying for him. Samuel was born in Vietnam and on 19 April 2007, the association we had addressed told us that a child had been assigned to us. It was the start of great, indescribable emotions. We shared this joy with our relatives and friends; we were so happy we wanted to shout it out to the whole world. We only had a photo which for us, adoptive parents, is like the first scan in which you see your son but still cannot cuddle him. After having undertaken a journey within the world of our emotions, we now had to take a real journey, get on a plane that would take us to the other end of the world to reach our son. On 29 May 2007 we held him in our arms for the first time, and it was an overflowing joy. Each year, we shall always remember this day as a second birthday because God has blessed our family with the gift of Samuel. We want to thank the Lord for all the gifts he has given us: Dorotea, adopted in 2012, and Michele, who was entrusted to our care.” (G. and G. – Italy)
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24 Oct 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
Photo – EPA
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23 Oct 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
In order not to interrupt the daily activities the students organised study areas in the open in order to continue studying.
The students leaving their messages and committing themselves to live this period in peace.
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22 Oct 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
There are many ways of implementing change today. And for once it is the youth who lead the way: from Occupy Wall Street, to the Arab springs, and the “umbrella movement” of Hong Kong. The times change, along with the instruments, weapons and of course, the causes, but the biggest drive engine to improve oneself and the world, will remain forever the same. And this was the message launched last 20 October, by the students of the Sophia University Institute, during the opening ceremony of the Institute’s seventh academic year. From the general view, to a close up on this tiny Tuscan university that has made its entry into the worldwide panorama – the 115 students come from 30 different countries – Ukraine, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, Cameroon and Congo. “Hot-spots,” but in search of redemption, as can be seen from the choice of many young people, who are the new assets of these nations, and last but not least, of Sophia. They are eager for knowledge, education, and the wish to prepare to work on themselves and the world they live in. With the globalisation phenomena it is undoubtedly much easier today, since there is also a Sophia Foundation that collects funds and awards scholarships that allow Indian, Brazilian and also European and Italian students to enrol and train themselves in a culture of unity. Sophia has undertaken its utmost commitment to balance the academic offer on the basis of the needs of humanity, the markets and the employment world, as the Dean, Piero Coda, underlined, though this is not all. The “gold mine,” the added value of this place is also its “human assets,” the students themselves, who had the sensibility to see the novelty behind it and the revolutionary capacity of the courses offered, whether in politics, economy or ontology. 
Samar Bandak is 30 and a Jordanian of Palestine origins. He returned to Amman more than a year ago, after completing his course in politics at the IUS in 2012. He is currently one of the directors of the National Caritas association, heading the department for the educational support of millions of refugees who have sought refuge in a country with a total population of five million. This explains his academic choices which are not really “obvious,” considering that he graduated in Nutritional Sciences: «I discovered that the principle of universal brotherhood can be a real political category alongside with liberty and equality. It is a choice, an answer that mends injustice. We don’t only study at Sophia, but give experience a central role. » Patricio Cosso, currently student representative, comes from Argentina. «Five years ago my aim in life was to specialise in Finance or Business Administration in order to work in a bank or do something similar to what they do in Wall Street,” he said. “Then in 2011, in a bookshop I found a text that spoke of Economy of Communion. This byword seemed to me, quite impossible since it attempts to conjugate egoism and sharing. How can these two realities coexist? I would never have imagined finding myself here today, trying to make professional training comply with ethical convictions. Here I have started to discover that every query receives its proper importance in the quality of brotherhood I imbue in my relationships, cultural and religious divergences, wars, and the economic crises of our peoples.” “Imagine and experiment on a new culture in all fields of social life: from the family to politics, and economy. That is, the culture of relationships: in the words of Pope Francis.” Yes, because in his overwhelming video message, in Italian, for the 50th anniversary of the International Town of Loppiano, he also mentioned Sophia, (“wisdom” in Greek), among the experiences he recalled, and confirmed that the route to follow starts from “Wisdom, sparked by the sincere desire for education” and that “dedication to education is love.”
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20 Oct 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
Dieudonné & Emerthe Gatsinga from Rwanda
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16 Oct 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
Marriage preparation, support for women with unwanted pregnancies, willingness to leave everything behind in order to take the Gospel to faraway lands: “Real life” emerged at the seat of the Pontifical Council for the Family on October 12, 2014 in Rome during a meeting of Synod Bishops and auditors with a group of families from the Focolare Movement. They were welcomed by Focolare president and co-president, Maria Voce and Jesús Morán. Among those who attended were Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, Archbishop of Seoul, and the presidents of the Bishops Conferences of the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Uruguay. “How often do we parents make mistakes with our children? At times we’re too permissive, at times possessive, weak or inflexible when there’s no need to be. This is where the ‘begin again’ rule must apply, always being willing to recognise our mistakes and ask forgiveness. And when it’s a son or daughter who has erred, invite them to see their mistake, but at the same time demonstrate your trust.” Often wounded internally by betrayals and guilty silences, the family remains an irreplaceable setting where life is generated and transmitted. Anna Friso (New Families) went on to say that anyone who works alongside families today has decided to live life on the “peripheries” because, “as Pope Francis says, a person is not a Christian in order to stay in the camp but to go into the peripheries of the world.” “And in the peripheries,” Friso continued, “a Christian cannot ask whether people are married in the Church, whether they live together or are separated. We welcome all just as they are. We love them, listen to them deeply and try to help them with their needs if we can. And, at the right moment, to each and every person, no matter the situation or background, we extend the same message: God loves you immensely. No human being is excluded from God’s love.” 
The bishops also listened to the story of Tiziana G. whose 13-year marriage had been made up of lies, arguments, pseudo-explanations and new disappointments. Then she met an old school friend and a new family life began. “I could have gone to a church where no one knew me, and receive Holy Communion,” she recounted, “but out of obedience I never did so.” Tiziana did not hide from the bishops the strong sense of “self-exclusion” she felt, “the great spiritual loneliness” that she experienced and the “huge discomfort while watching everyone else approach the altar while I remained in the pew. I felt abandoned, rejected, culpable.” Then Paolo R. spoke who, although alone, remained in his marriage. It was a painful story that began with the abandonment by his wife, going through the separation and lawyers, until he found himself in an “interior desert.” But he decided to “wait” because “that,” he said, “is what Christian marriage is: a sealed box. You put your life in God’s hands, through the sacrament, through the person you marry, the person you’re in love with . . . but then love needs to be constructed, even amidst pain, one day after the other.”
Dieudonne and Emerthe Gatsinga from Rwanda
