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28 Dec 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
Situated in the West of Africa, Nigeria is a vast land with a tropical climate. It is rich in natural resources like natural gas and oil. This has placed it among the six largest exporters in the world. It is also among the countries with the most inhabitants with some 170 million people, half of which are under the age of fifteen.
It contains an extraordinary variety of ethinic groups and cultures: 250 spoken languages. Its people are profound and joyful with the joy of life. Good listeners, they have a distinct interior life and a faith that is deep and alive. More than 60% of the population lives in poverty on less than a dollar a day. Unemployment is quite high. The average life expectancy, which is presently placed at 48 years, is expected to drop due to AIDS.
Widespread corruption has paralyzed development of the State and of the common good. The large variety of ethnic groups is a major challenge that is often considered a major threat. With the rapid growth of the population, the struggle for survival has become more and more acute. And yet these people are strikingly able to carry on, never giving up, accepting the pain without ever losing hope in a better future while seeking new and creative strategies in the present.
The natural religosity that characterizes the people of this continent is sometimes exploited for political or religious interests. Extremist thinking and terrorist groups that are moved by socio-economic, historical and political motivations convey a falsified image of conflicts between Christians and Muslims. In the North the population is 50%Muslim and 45% Christian.
Twenty five years ago, at the urging of Cardinall Arinze, the Focolare Movement arrived in Nigeria and began communities in several regions. Today it has 5, 490 members across a network of 28 local communities spread throughout the country. These communities distinguish themselves by their strong commitment to witnessing to ethical, spiritual and human values. In fact, taking advantage of the deep spiritual roots of the Nigerians, they stands by their sides so that the faith might everywhere come to be translated into real life: at school, at work, in the marketplace. Their commitment has a positive impact on the social development and health.
The social landscape of this land of many ethnic groups, social levels and different religions is that of universal brotherhood through the practice of dialogue, witnessing to the possibility of fraternal relationships, but especially encouraging and supporting this people as they become bridge builders. No few times have they discovered a variety of riches in their diversity, with positive implications for the public life, creating a civic conscience and public opinion.
In the centre of the country, for example, where there are particulary violent clashes between Muslims and Christians, it is quite striking to hear their stories of “being put on the spot” by universal brotherhood as they reach the point of risking their lives to save the lives of members of the other religion.
Desiring to form a culture of fraternity, a centre of formation and witness is being begun in the village of Igbariam. This has been joined by other social projects: a kindergarten, a primary school, a small clinic and workshops for teenagers. These are all carried out in collaboration with the local population in the village that is actively involved.
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27 Dec 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
‘Still burning in the Kenyan soul is the pain of the blood-soaked battles of the election in 2007 when more than 1000 people died.
“Never again!” is now the cry of everyone’s heart, while the country prepares for the presidential election in March 2013.
‘Many young people are engaged in initiatives for a year of peace.
‘Sr Bernadette Sangma (Director of Youth Ministry) and a group from the Focolare Movement working in the Catholic University of Nairobi, have welcomed this and promoted the idea of the “peace caravan”, which would unify the voices of the university students in Nairobi and make an impression on public opinion. As a symbol of this “earthquake of peace” the idea was to have a song that would be heard loud and clear throughout the nation!
‘This was the request made to Gen Rosso. After the 2007 tour there was already a profound friendship with Tangaza College and after some of us in 2009 went back to Kenya to give lessons and run workshops to teach “music with values”. We had a tradition of working together. How could we refuse this new request?
‘And so the song was written:
Jivunie nchi yako, kabila si silaha
Nyuma twasema, kamwe haturudi
wito wetu ni umoja
Be proud of your country! Tribe is not a weapon. The past never comes back. Our call is to be one.
‘Tangaza College and the Catholic University began to “recruit” young men and women from the various universities in the capital. Other young people from elsewhere became involved. Enthusiasm grew.
‘Magdalene Kasuku, a young journalist, presented “Jivunie” at official State Functions and at the huge celebrations on the 49th anniversary of Kenyan independence, on 12 December, in Nairobi’s Nyayo Stadium.
‘The song was heard with enthusiasm and it had been the government to propose that it should be sung at this major event in the presence of President Emilio Mwai Kibaki.
‘We recorded “Jivunie” with a choir to make it more “Kenyan” and to make it suitable to be left as an audio support for all the initiatives that will take place until next March.
‘Ponsiano Pascal Changa created a choreography for the performance on the 12th. We wanted a choir that danced with energy and joy and the kind of moves young people make.
‘We recorded everything, mixed it and prepared the choreography in just three days!
‘A group of 120 young people, called Kenya Youth for Peace, were brought together up for the occasion. The choreography captured people’s imagination because of its energy and freshness. The young people sang and danced in a stadium full of people: “Jivunie”: “Be proud! We are brothers and sisters of one nation!”
‘We are really happy to have given a platform to Kenyan youth so that they can proclaim to all who they are, expressing their infinite desire for a world at peace. We have become a single family with them. Family: the experience that Africa can give to the whole of humanity.’
Beni Enderle
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21 Dec 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
The first Summer School in the Mariapolis Lia, the Focolare little town in Argentina, called in Spanish Escuela de Verano, is without doubt an extremely important step, with far-reaching consequences, in the academic development of Latin American young people.
It is not the first time that this little town has hosted an intense university-level study programme. It already hosts various well-attended seminars and courses in politics, economics and the arts.
The Escuela de Verano is the first such educational project run jointly with the Sophia University Institute, based in Loppiano, near Incisa Valdarno (not far from Florence, Italy), whose international educational status means it can give academic accreditation to the Summer School. Among its aims, Sophia offers a course of life, study and research that explores a deeper understanding of Christian culture, as inspired by the life and work of Chiara Lubich who founded Sophia in 2007. The ideal of universal brotherhood, which she proposed and developed, can be seen in the experience of that culture and in the way it expresses itself. It is a culture that seeks to shed light upon the many dimensions of human knowledge, in its various disciplines, as it searches for the common good.
This first Summer School will look at: Epistemological Foundations for a Culture of Unity from the Perspectives of Theology, Science and Politics. Apart from established Latin American lecturers, it is significant that Prof. Piero Coda the President of Sophia will be present and will give a lecture on The Trinitarian God and the Historical Development of Christian Faith. Prof. Sergio Rondinara, who works in the fields of epistemology and cosmology, will give two lectures on The Relationship between Humankind and the Cosmos, Scientific Rationality and the Relationship between the Natural Sciences and Faith, and Ecology. Dr Daniela Ropelato, lecturer in political sciences, will also give two lectures on Contemporary Forms of Democracy, New Social and Political Agents, and Fraternity as a Political Category.
The Escuela de Verano offers university-level education to young men and women through the medium of an intense experience of study and of a shared life with others. It builds an academic community and is designed to enhance the students’ career development and their intellectual progress in their various disciplines. This communitarian enterprise, rooted in a dialogue sustained by a mutual exchange of experiences, fosters both the personal and corporate growth of its participants.
There seems to be great enthusiasm for this first Summer School in Latin America, which will begin on 28 December 2012. Already 100 university students from Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Argentina have asked to be enrolled. From these 61 have been accepted on the courses.
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20 Dec 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
Specializing in emotional psycho-biology, Catherine Belzung has made a crucial contribution to our understanding of the human being, particularly in the study of depression. This is why this professor of neruosciences and collaborator of Nouvelle Cite was decorated a Knight of the Legion of Honour on 11 December 2012 at the Francois Rabelais di Tours University in France.
In her research Belzung has highlighted how, contrary to what has been assumed up until now, in a certain region of the brain, there are cells that renew themselves and control the hormonal and nervous systems. But what most contributed to choosing her for this award was her ability to share the questions and knowledge of science and to allow them to be shared at a humanistic level.
At this level each one both brings and ‘loses’ his own scientific reasoning. This way of dialogue is a veritable challenge among university crowds, where the differing points of view are often incompatible with each another. Belzung’s conferences are being attended by many young people and students who are thus trained in the practice of dialogue and are opening new paths for further research.
Source: www.focolari.fr
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19 Dec 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
Video on VIMEO (Italian only)
“My name is Fidelia. I’m Congolese and have been living in Central Africa for four years. I’m the director of a school with 1083 students between the ages of three and eighteen.
I always try to keep the Gospel before me as I carry out my work for the children. How can I live the Gospel with them? I’m always mindful of Jesus’ words: ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little ones, welcomes me.’ One time I had so much work to do that I closed myself up in my office where I could work in peace.
Suddenly a small boy of six years arrived, and I remembered those words of the Gospel regarding the little ones: if you do not convert and become like these little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so I opened the door and the child entered my office telling me that he hadn’t attended school for a week, since his parents separated. ‘I didn’t want to go with my father or my mother, and so I am staying with my grandmother,’ he told me. Then he continued: ‘You’ve been always teaching us that we should love everyone, even our enemies. And so I’ve come to ask you: ‘Can you do something for me?’
I asked for his parents’ telephone numbers and was able to speak for a long time with his mother. Then I telephoned his father but neither one of them wanted to forgive the other and accept their mistakes. This went on for some time until after a long conversation they were finally able to reconcile with each other. In fact they wanted to come and stand before me as they asked each other forgiveness. They forgave and were reconciled. Now they’re together again, which is a great joy for me and for their son.”
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18 Dec 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
It’s not every day that you go to a government ministry to receive official recognition. This is what happened to Youth People for a United World (Y4UW) in Hungary, after they had worked hard for a year in their own country to organize the Genfest. It was a huge event that from 31 August to 2 September 2012 drew together 12,000 young people from all over the world. Among them were 2000 from Hungary. Rita and Agoston, among the key figures, spoke of receiving the prize at the end of November. What was the prize for? ‘At the beginning of October the Hungarian Ministry of Human Resources sent us a message to say that, in recognition of our professionalism at the Genfest, the Focolare’s Young People for a United World was to be given a certificate of merit. We were surprised and happy at the news. It immediately spread to all the young people of the Movement. The minister, accepting our candidature, was recognizing the youth of the Focolare Movement and was giving us a prize. This took place on 20 November on the occasion of Universal Children’s Day.’ 
Someone within the ministry had nominated Y4UW. This person and the Minister of State for Social, Family and Youth Affairs, Miklós Soltész, had been at the opening of the Genfest. Rita and Agoston continued, ‘Both of them were struck by the dynamism, enthusiasm and sense of fraternity they experienced with the young people.’ On 20 November a delegation of five young people representing the Focolare and Y4UW went to the ministry. ‘The prizes, 14 in all, were given to organizations and persons who had done something special for children and youth. In his speech Miklós Soltész emphasized that all the prize winners were ‘examples’ who, with their activities, poetry and prose had educated young people and, through them, had also given help to parents, supporting them at critical moments.’ 
In the official citation, the youth section of the Focolare Movement received a certificate of merit for having put on the Genfest collectively, efficiently, professionally and in a way that was effective and exemplary in the youth sector. For Y4UW this contained a pleasant surprise, ‘We really liked hearing that word “collectively”, because it showed us that there was an understanding of our intention of building universal brotherhood by living the spirituality of unity.’ After the Genfest, new prospects have opened up for young people in Hungary, especially with regard to the United World Project: ‘After the ceremony the Minister of State said again how, at a personal level, that international meeting had been an important experience. He said that he hoped in the future to work together with us for the good of young people. We gave him as a gift a copy of Új Város [the Focolare Movement’s magazine in Hungarian] which contained articles on the Genfest.’ Rita and Agoston concluded by saying, ‘Now, together with many young people who’ve worked with us in the last few years, we will carry along the way of building a more united world “together”, as highlighted by the prize’s official citation.’
