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7 Apr 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
“Press on! Don’t let yourselves be robbed of hope. Understood?” This was the message with which Pope Francis greeted the young detainees of the Casal del Marmo Jail in Rome, Italy at the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration on Holy Thursday. During the liturgy the Pope had washed the feet of twelve young detainees of different nationalities and religious faiths. Among them were two young women, one Italian Roman Catholic and one Serbian Muslim. Pope Francis is accustoming us every day to strong gestures that are unusual and even revolutionary. This gesture was particularly striking given its location and the fact that the Pope did it beyond the view of cameras.
Carlo Tedde, social entrepreneur from the Economy of Communion (EoC) and chairman of the consortium of social cooperatives in Sardinia, Italy (Consortio Solidarieta) and also representative of the Confcooperative Sardegna, has worked for years with the Cooperativa Elan that manages the laundry services of the juvenile detention centres in Cagliari, Italy.
Carlo, what do you think of the Pope’s gesture?
“It seemed to express the radicalness of Christianity. In today’s world where all that seems to matter is appearances, this was not an act that was done for appearances sake. It was a powerful but simple gesture, performed with the joy of a pope who did it so that we would believe it. It was a gesture that returns us to the purity of Jesus’ message and helps us to stay on the real Christian path.”
How do you interpret the fact that Pope Francis chose a juvenile jail to celebrate Holy Thursday?
“This is a very important fact for me. I have a personal experience of this myself. At a very difficult moment in my life I was in a juvenile jail in England, after having fallen to every possible low. But what I still had within me was the powerful energy of a young man who still had his whole life ahead of him, and an energy that needed to be redirected in the direction of hope.”
When my family was fed up with me and my misdemeanors, in that juvenile detention centre I met people who had faith in me, and this gave me the push that allowed me to begin again.
Yesterday, by choosing to wash the feet of the ‘least’ and by choosing an institution that often because of a suffocating bureacracy is not able to do what it ought to, the Pope wanted to give hope. His gesture truly presented the strong point of the faith that begins from the simplest things, from the least, from the ‘least’ who, if you think about it, are the ‘first’ because they’re our kids. Hope is conatgious and giving them hope means giving everyone hope.”
By Antonella Ferrucci
Source: EoC online
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5 Apr 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
It all began with a question: What can we do for Jànoshalma, our city? “Our first step was to make a pact with each other,” M. C. recalls. “We promised each other that we would put into practice Jesus’ New Commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12). This would mean sharing one another’s joys and sorrows, possessions and experiences. And we tried to extend this same measure of love to our city as well. It was a pact of mutual love that would require time, energy and sacrifice. We often found ourselves beginning again.
Together we had given life to the “Jànoshalma Association” which now has 25 members. We had so many ideas: helping the poor, implementing programs for youths and their peers, setting up exhibitions that valorised local traditions. Through these activities we also established close collaboration with several institutes and, through these events, more than one hundred people came into contact with us.
One activity involved the restoration of the city park, which was in a state of disrepair. We were aware that there were no monies for this project in our Association, nor in the City Council, so we came up with the idea of collecting paper for recycling. We contacted shops, but the results of the project didn’t render much revenue. So then we decided to organize a benefit ball in the centre of town. This time the profits were beyond our expectations. We contacted City Hall and our proposal to use these funds for restoring the park was accepted. A short time later there was the inauguration and, since the park did not have a name, we had the idea of involving schools and kindergartens in a naming contest. More than 100 children participated in the contest and when the winner was announced, we had a grand feast with the children.
For two years we also collaborated with the “embellishment of the city” project and now the Town Council has appointed people who are officially in charge of this activity. We instead continued our work amongst the poor, for which there is an extreme need. This has led to the establishment of a social network.
A short time ago, seeing the difficult state of public security, we organized another benefit ball to collect funds. Many people didn’t understand what motivated us in our efforts, assuming that public security was the responsibility of the State. Yet many intervened and supported the project with considerable generosity. One person said: “I’ve come to this ball because I know that you deliver on your promises.”
M. C. – Hungary
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4 Apr 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
Focolare.org/espana went online on 14 March, the day when throughout the world is celebrated the anniversary of the death of Chiara Lubich (1920-2008).
The new Spanish web page’s vocation is to bring together the life of the entire Focolare Movement and its members from all the peoples of Spain, its commitment in civil society and the church, starting from the spirituality of unity that animates it and leads it to build bridges of dialogue across the spectrum, in its attempt to contribute to a fairer and more united world.
The contents of the new site can be read in Castilian, Catalan, Basque and Galician, so as to meet the needs of the various peoples of Spain.
The new version of the site is a way to find out more about the Focolare Movement, its history, founder, spirituality, organization, projects, news and initiatives both in Spain and in the world.
Special attention is given to important events like the coming World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, critical situations in the world such as the war in Syria or other points of conflict across the globe. Situations are interpreted through the words of those who take part in them, Focolare members living in those trouble spots who seek, laying their own lives on the line, to help others in need and to build, on a daily basis, relationships of solidarity and fraternity that will lead to lasting peace
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3 Apr 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
“Our story has been a long and sometimes bumpy road, but our family has been the most beautiful gift that has come out of it. The name of our youngest daughter was like a promise: in Vietnamese it means “Springtime”.
Soon after marrying we met a girl who was around a year old. She was in the care of a centre for children with severe disabilities where my wife as working as a volunteer. Following a period of probation we were invited to adopt the child. Through her we experienced that maternity and paternity are more a matter of the soul and that it can reach beyond biology. Regrettably the bureaucracy forced us to give up our plan. But joy returned to us when our first son was born in Asia. This long and drawn out experience was our first encounter with the culture of the East where we lived for two years.
After returning to Italy we had our second son and then came the idea of adoption. We decided to approach the Focolare Movement’s Azione per Famiglie Nuove (New Families Projects) Foundation. On August 1st, they telephoned us to say that we should prepare to travel to Vietnam. We were there for a month and it was a truly beautiful adventure. Our firstborn – nine years old at the time – said “It was like giving birth all together.” The most touching moment was when my wife too her into her arms for the first time, and then we all held her. We visited Saigon and got to know about our daughter’s background. After a few days she began to smile; first for her brothers, as if she knew what an important role she would play in their lives and in the life of our family. They learnt to make room for her like when the second-born who was already six years old and loved to be in his father’s arms, was able to give up his place to the baby.
The network of families that we belong to since returning to Italy has turned out to be an important part of the experience we are living. It’s like one big extended family comprised of adoptive families from Vietnam and other countries. We also take long trips in order to meet and allow our children to grow with the awareness that adoption is a natural experience that many families share. It’s also a great opportunity to see that love is possible among people of different origins.
Our little daughter is now nine years old and is such a beautiful girl, well integrated both at school and in her larger family. With her two brothers she plays a lot of boys’ games but has managed to maintain her sweet and delicate charm. She love music and dancing and attends Celtic harp lessons with her mother.
The last few years – so beautiful but also so intense – led us to focus on the needs of our daughter. Now we may have to make up for a few lost steps with the other two. But the wave of springtime that has come into our family with her love for life and bubbly sweetness which is typical of her native land helps us to overcome even the most difficult and stormy of days.
Compiled by: Marzia Rigliani
Source: “Spazio Famiglia, Azione per familiglie nuove” monthly newsletter (www.afonlus.org), March 2013, pp. 12-13
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2 Apr 2013 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
Nel volumeIn his new book “Communione, le parole nuove dell’economia” (Communion, the new words of the economy), economist Luigino Bruni presents the Economy of Communion (EoC) with the help of a few keywords, such as “gratuity”, “work”, “business”, “cooperation”, “happiness”, “reciprocity”, “fraternity” and “poverty”. Taken together all these words suggest communion. They are age-old words that in the experience of the EoC take on different meaning. In the introduction of the book the author states: “Communion is the deep tension of the economy and the basis of the Economy of Communion project that seeks to give rise to businesses that are run according to a new culture, the culture of giving.” The EoC is an economic project that now involves hundreds of businesses, but it is also something more. In fact, the Economy of Communion also incorporates a humanism of sorts. Companies associated with the EoC are private enterprises, fully integrated into the market that, while retaining private ownership of property, put the profits in common. In the premise to his book, Bruni writes that he intends to state the significance of living communion in the economy today, but also to testify to the evolution of his understanding of the EoC as it was extricated in the early years of its existence. “I travelled in several countries and have had the opportunity of entering into the various dimensions of the project, which – it is always necessary to remember – was born of a spirituality and is therefore always finds itself between ‘heaven and earth’; that is, between prophecy and history. The chapters of this book are therefore like the stages on a journey, each distinct but all linked with each other. It is a personal and collective journey that still continues. It particularly gives witness to a new understanding of the dimensions of a business, the market and, above all, of poverty, a reality that gradually opened itself to me as I searched for it in several regions of the world.” 
According to the author, “communion” is the new name for peace. In the 1960’s much was said about development and it was hoped that by spreading development to those countries that up until then had been marginalized would have resolved the reasons for war at their roots. Now, after decades of strong economic development we have to admit that this on its own is not enough for assuring peace. Economic growth can come at the expense of other important values for civil society, such as the environment, justice and solidarity. For this reason the author is convinced that the prophetic words of Paul VI his the Encyclical Letter Popolorum Progressio: “Development is the new name for peace,” could be articulated today as: “Communion is the new name for peace.” The fact is that without communion there is no real and sustainable development, not for the individual, not for the peoples and not for the planet. By Gina Perkov Source: EdC online
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23 Mar 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
“Ever since she was very young, Sandra showed a great openness towards others. We, her parents, had taught her to act so, but one day when she asked if we could welcome one of her friends into our home we were a bit taken aback. Her friend was going through some problems in her life.
But Sandra was so strongly determined that we couldn’t say no to her request. So it was that we decided to put our prejudgements aside and welcome her friend as our own daughter. Little by little, as the girl felt our love, she began to reveal some of the problems in her family. She stayed with us a few days and then, as she was leaving, thanked us very much. In reality it was we who were grateful to our daughter for having given us the opportunity to open our hearts and to create such a deep relationship with her friend. Later, along with our daughter she helped to organize projects for the victims of earthquakes, gathering a large collection of clothing, toys and Easter eggs.
One day we were all surprised by our son, Massimo, when he opened the door of our home to a poor man and his young son. Massimo ran to his bedroom and returned with a small model car, his favourite, which he gave to the child. When he grew older Massimo seemed to distance himself from us, to be indifferent to what we said to him, intolerant of our willingness to help others. We knew as parents that this was no time to assail him with sermons but we were sure that God would continue to show him the correct path. Last year, as he was about to board a plane that would take him to another country for his studies, he handed us a letter for his friends. He told us we could also read it. It was his way of revealing the treasures in his soul, that we weren’t able to see. It was such an unexpected gift and it filled the void in our hearts.
We had always tried to transmit to our children a sense of openness towards everyone. This was how the story with Joe began. The doorbell rang. When we opened the door, we were met by a young Nigerian man who wanted to sell us some household goods. Like many of his countrymen, he supported himself as a travelling salesman. We bought a few things, a kitchen mop, a small kitchen tool. But its seemed little. We invited him inside, we exchanged telephone numbers and promised to invite him to one of our gatherings in the parish.
As the day of the gathering drew near, we remembered Joe. We were doubtful as we telephoned, but he answered with enthusiasm saying: ‘Everyone is polite at first, but then they immediately forget you.’ From then on a strong bond of friendship was formed between us. We shared in his difficulties and helped him to find a job, which wasn’t easy due to his immigration status. We found him a place to live and helped him in many things. Joe then married and had a son. When he asked us to be the godparents of the little one, we were deeply moved as we considered the long and profound friendship that had been formed between us, one of the many friendships that were born by opening the door of our home.”
(Maria Luisa and Giovanni, Italy)
