![Australia: a Church open to new challenges]()
Jan 31, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
Catholics comprise 26% of the population in Australia. Therefore they belong to the most widespread Church of the Christian world that brings together more or less half of the country’s human population. The Conference of Catholic Bishops is comprised of 42 bishops under the guidance of the Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis James Hart.
The Australian Church is undergoing many challenges at the moment: growing secularisation (“a real challenge for the civil and religious conscience of the country,” says Bishop Peter Elliott, Auxilliary Bishop of Melbourne); the phenomenon of immigration that brings with it the faithful of other religions (“Our Church is on the way more than any other, because it is mostly comprised of immigrants,” according to the director of Migrant Ministry, Fr. Maurizio Pettena); the accusations being made toward the Catholic Church because of the sexual abuse of minors (“that has removed a lot of credibility from the word of our pastors,” affirms Bob Dixon, director of the centre for studies of the Australian Bishops Conference); because of the teaching of a sexual ethic that the majority of young people do not share (“though there is a strong sensibility, also among non-Catholics for the Christian notion of the human body,” explains Matthew MacDonald, executive officer for Melbourne’s Archdiocesan Office for life, family and marriage.
Some Bishop Friends of the Focolare were invited to the Thomas Carr Center next to the cathedral in Melbourne. This movement is very much loved by the bishops because of its “Marian nature” Bishop of Sale, Christofer Prowse pointed out.
The meeting had been organised by Bishop Prowse. He recounted his encounter with the Focolare, when he was still a seminarian and had ascertained that the Holy Spirit was working in Chiara Lubich. The fact is that “someone would place the Word of Life under my door . . . Then I came to know the Movement and was able to appreciate it, also for the conciliating character of its ecclesial presence. The Focolari, without ever imposing their intuitions, set in place a great welcome, one based on dialogue and friendship that wins hearts.” He concluded: “I had an extraordinary experience at the Mariapolis on Phillip Island, which very much helped me and strengthened me in the faith. The Holy Spirit works gently but firmly in the Focolare Movement.”
A dozen bishops were present, including Anglican Bishop Phillip Huggins who has known the Focolare since 1990. Archbishop Francesco Kriengsak, moderator of the Bishop Friends of the Focolare and Archbishop of Bangkok, sent a message to the group in which he underscored how “the charism of unity is a great help in bringing ahead the New Evangelisation.”
Bishop Prowse introduced Maria Voce in a climate of simplicity that the Australians know how to create. The Focolare president then presented the Movement’s thought on the New Evangelisation beginning with her recent experience as an auditor at the Synod of Bishops: “The Church has come out poorer in glory and honour following a period of humiliations, but richer of God and therefore more strong.” The Synod particularly focused on the Words of the Gospel that regard love.” And concerning the Synod Fathers desire that the Gospel be brought out of the churches: “I think this has happened in many parts of the world also by the Focolare community, especially because of the presence of Jesus in the midst of His own.”
During the course of the discussion Bishop Elliott told how the spirituality of unity had helped him, especially at the beginning of his ministry, and he asked Maria Voce to say something about Jesus Forsaken and Jesus in the midst. “If you don’t choose Jesus Forsaken you cannot have Jesus in the midst. But when Jesus makes Himself present, the joy arrives as He takes up His dwelling among His friends,” she explained. She was also asked about her trip to Istanbul, “where I experienced that mutual acceptance was possible with the Muslims.” They spoke about the present spreading of the Movement and the frontiers that lie ahead, following the death of the founder. Finally, Giancarlo Faletti offered a reflection on what the Movement proposes to priests and to bishops.
By Michele Zanzucchi
![Australia: a Church open to new challenges]()
Jan 30, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
Australia, a land for the new evangelisation? There are many who believe that it is, because of different reasons. This country is quite multicultural and continues to be so with a recent influx of immigration from Asia; the crisis in the Catholic Church because of the sexual abuse of minors; the persuasive force of consumerism; the presence of youths from around the world and not only children of local families; numerous mixed marriages; the ecumenical and interreligious challenge. The list could go on, leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind about the need for an evangelisation in this country as well. But it would have to be first of all a re-evangelisation of the Christian life of the individual.
During the visit of Focolare president Maria Voce and co-president Giancarlo Faletti, the local Focolare community wished to pause and publicly question itself concerning the new frontiers of evangelisation in Australia and its own contribution toward this. Above all by offering “good practices”, small but great witnesses to ecclesial life, work in public office, living with unemployment, commitment in hospitals, rejecting clientelism, education and family life. The simple Gospel lived in a society where competition is encouraged and in which individualism often wins out over altruism and corporate interests over the common good.
Maria Voce spoke before an audience that included professors and journalists, religious leaders and professionals about the cornerstones of the Focolare’s style of evangelisation, which is to live the Gospel in order to continually re-evangelise ourselves, sharing with each other what the Gospel life has brought about in our lives, finding longer moments in which to experience the power of God’s love together. By acting in this way you finally manage to have a deep impact on environments that before could have seemed impenetrable by the Gospel, from parliaments to factories, from sport arenas to charitable institutions. This evangelisation is one that happens outside the church building. One convincing example was offered by Giancarlo Faletti concerning Rome, Italy. In 2000 after Chiara Lubich had been awarded honorary citizenship, she launched a project for the revitalization of urban life, which she called RomaAmor (Rome-Love).
Maria Voce did not try to hide the fear that the Movement felt at the death of its founder. But the fruits of evangelisation that are, after all, nothing more than the life of the Gospel very soon crushed that fear. These fruits demonstrated that focolare spirit still had much to give to today’s society. This was also noticed by many who attended the recent Synod on the New Evangelisation in which many bishops shared with Maria Voce who was an auditor at the Synod, the many Gospel fruits that they had seen continuing to come forth from the Movement.
Among those present there was also Professor James Bowler, a well-known Australian geologist, who discovered the remains of the oldest human being on the continent known as Mungo Lady and Mungo Man. Surprised by the great turnout, he commented: “It was a moment of great spirituality and openness. The recognition of the other is the right path for a just and coherent social life.” Professor Anne Hunt head of the Theology department at the University of Melbourne underscored “the importance of the presence of the new movements in the new evangelisation, which are able to open unique and original horizons for the faith and for the Catholic Church in fields that are otherwise deserted, especially in the professions and in the media.”
By Michele Zanzucchi
Source: Città Nuova
![Australia: a Church open to new challenges]()
Jan 29, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
Spontaneity is a trait that immediately stands out as a characteristic of the Australian youth.
It is this that makes the representatives of the new generations present at the Focolare meeting in Melbourne to welcome Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti in a dance circle, beating to the rhythm of their music. Two chairs on the carpet, at the centre of an imaginary circle, and that’s it. They want to move, and above all, to communicate. They are in T-shirts or sleeveless T-shirts (although we are in a cold “summer”), in black or in bright colours, barefoot, with the most original haircuts, piercings and tattoos.
What follows is the sharing of their stories, beautiful and not so beautiful, their search for happiness and a life worth living; they speak about friendships, which are sometimes deceiving, and sometimes fill the heart. In the same way, they ask some questions to their guests, which are sincere and demanding. They address various issues: on the sense of suffering, on the need to keep in touch with those who live the same spirit, on how different the adults’ views are from theirs.
In the background of all these issues, a question seems to arise: how can we listen to Jesus’ voice? Maria Voce explains: «I don’t know what Jesus is telling you, but I can assure you that listening to His voice is the most intelligent thing one can do». Burst of applause. «Jesus –she continues– wants something great for us. In the creation, God said a Word, and He created you. He could also do it now, but He wanted to be with us, to have His Son descend on Earth, so that all can cooperate with him. And this is how Jesus speaks with each one. But His voice is subtle, and is covered by different noises, noises that destroy us and leave us lifeless».
And here is the right path: «When we love, love becomes a loudspeaker for this voice. The more we love, the more clearly we can hear it. Maybe it will seem that it is asking things too great for us, but we need to have the courage, and He himself will help us to realize whatever He asks. And in the end our life will be wonderful ».
To a young boy who asked her what she thinks when she meets young people all around the world, she replied that she really feels glad, because «everywhere there are young people who live Chiara Lubich’s ideal. Even though their potential may not be entirely disclosed as yet, but still they have that strength, that hope and that life that will break forth sooner or later».
And she concluded: «Therefore, fortunate Australia, fortunate New Zealand, and fortunate Pacific Islands! And how can we allow all this potential to break forth? By loving, by loving you will do great things. And we will follow you! ».
By Michele Zanzucchi, correspondent
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Jan 28, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
The introduced themselves with a short video showing the park near the Sydney Opera House, a room at Wellington, a beach on a Pacific island. Some of the Focolare’s local communities offered dances from their local traditions that exuded the natural radiance of the cultures found in Oceania.
January 26-27 2013: Different cultures, traditions, Churches and religions. Oceania is the most cosmopolitan culture in the world. “The Spot” Hall at the University of Melbourne is a spectacle in itself because of its unique architecture and shiny cubes of light, but also because of the variety of people found in the audience. Everyone was an imigrant here, except for the original natives of the Pacific Islands.
Australia Day. Today is the national holiday but the aboriginal population far more prefers the Sorry Day which is celebrated in May. This is the “day of excuses” that was instituted to recall and repair the wounds inflicted on the local populations by colonialism, especially Australia where the impact was most felt by the aborigines. But it also recalls the paths of reconciliation, like the New Zealand one that has led to the creation of effective organisations of ethnic and cultural harmony. Before Sunday Mass, an aboriginal ceremony is performed that recalls the wairua tapu (mother earth), since she is worthy of honour and respect.
The celebration consists in placing hands on a mound of earth placed in the hollow of a large and welcoming bank. The little children together with Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti are invited to place their hands. Then the president of the Focolare receives from the hand of the aboriginal celebrant a wooden blade on which is inscribed a picture of the Australian landscape, the nine territories into which it is divided, according to the cosmogony geography of the Aborigines.
There is the long intense history of the lands of Oceania and there is the history of the local Focolare Movement. And exciting film presented a few moments of this history with the arrival of Rita Muccio in 1967, then the arrival of Maddalena Cariolato, the first locals to welcome the “spirit of Chiara”, individuals and families, youths and the not so young, in Melbourne and Perth. Then there was the “landing” in New Zealand, Wallis and Futuna, New Chaldonia and the Fiji Islands. Some of those people are still living, and some have already “arrived”. Among these are Margaret Linard and New Zealander Terry Gunn. All of them bear witness to having met in the charism of Chiara Lubich the possibility of living the Gospel. With the simplicity and radicalism that characterises this “very new world” coupled with love for neighbour, their lives were changed.
And it was precisely love of neighbour that was the main theme of Maria Voce’s remarks: Just as the three Kings recognized the greatness of the Son of God in a tiny baby boy, so too must we come to recognise Jesus in every neighbour, also beyond appearances. The open discussion that followed immediately took on an existential tone, when a child asked how we can believe in a God we do not see! The youths asked how they were to resist the solicitations of modern society. The elderly discussed their role in the communion among the generations; some brought up questions on how to advance the ecumenical or interreligious dialogue. Serious issues were not avoided, such as the sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church, the growing stress in the cities that impedes progress in holiness, the temptation of consumerism that snuffs out witness to the Gospel, the absence of God in people’s lives, and the courage it takes to bear witness to His love.
Maria Voce ended with a wish: “Australia is a big land, we need to bring her love and unity. Our big family cannot live on memories in a photo album, we need to move forward. Then we’ll be writing a new album.”
By Michele Zanzucchi, correspondent
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Jan 27, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
The priests of the Focolare share their experiences during a meeting in Castelgandolfo
“I’m Fr. Carlo, a priest for 22 years in the diocese of Milan. I’ve left this parish community and will soon move to the Focolare’s international school for priests in Loppiano, Italy where I’ll stay for three years or so. In Milan I was often in contact with people, especially children since I was in charge of groups that were preparing them for First Confession and First Holy Communion.
I realized that at the basis of every pastoral endeavour there should be a living love for neighbour, striving to see Jesus in everyone, from the pastor to the Muslim teenager who came to play football at the oratory. I could tell many small stories that demonstrate how these small attentions to each person helped to create a close network of very beautiful relationships, that helped to facilitate many in drawing near to the faith and made the community appealing even to those who were unbelievers. I will share just two episodes.
I got to know Emilio during a chess workshop. His temperament was reserved and he didn’t really fit in with his peer group. To my great surprise at the end of the workshop he asked to join us on a holiday excursion in the mountains. There he began to fit in better with the group of boys, to the point of proving his courage by walking across a rope that was attached to a safety cable at a height of six metres: the “Tibetan Bridge”. His peers encouraged him, chanting his name in chorus and, in the end, he managed to walk the length of the course amid the general applause that gave him much confidence. When he returned home from camp his parents wrote to me saying that they had watched a young boy go off to camp and a young man return.
Then there was Eleonora. She wasn’t baptized. Her parents had preferred to allow her to choose when she was older. She had been invited to catechism classes by the enthusiasm of Maria, a very enterprising classmate who was only ten years old at the time. So Eleonara arrived, accompanied by her mother, who asked the pastor if her daughter could attend catechism classes. About two years later the pastor, seeing her faithfulness to the journey of faith, he decided that the moment had arrived for her Baptism and First Holy Communion, and he entrusted me with preparing her for the Sacraments and with the task of discussing it with her parents, who opened their hearts to me with honesty and candor.
The great day arrived. Eleonora arrived accompanied by family and relatives. We did everything we could to make them feel welcomed. The celebration was simple and very intense. Alongside the godmother were the catechist and friends who had been so important in her journey of faith. When I left the parish a few months ago, her parents wrote me a letter recalling “that unforgettable Sunday in April, the radiant and joyful smile of Eleonora that had illuminated all of us believers and non-believers alike, all who had gathered to celebrate her entrance into the Catholic community. For us it is the indelible image of a faith that goes directly to the heart.”
Loving our neighbours is always a grand adventure, you know how it begins, but you never know where it will lead.
![Australia: a Church open to new challenges]()
Jan 26, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
Following the visit to the Focolare communities in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, the visit of Maria Voce and Gicancarlo Faletti now continues in Oceania.
In the first phase of their journey that began on 22 January 2013 and ends on 31 January 2013, several appointments are planned in Melbourne with men and women focolarini for their annual retreat and with who are close to the Focolare in Australia and in the Islands. There there will also be a lively presence of young people with several acitivities just for them on(26-27 January. Thern there is an encounter with a group of Australian bishops and priests on 20 January.
