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May 27, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
Spain has a long history. In 218 BC the Roman Empire set the stage for a cultural and territorial link between the Celtic and Iberian peoples who had already been settled there for centuries. The Basque people, however, who settled in the north-west of the country were not subjected to this influence. The Latin language evolved into Castilian – the official language – Catalan and Galician. Together with Basque these are the co-official languages of the country. In later centuries, Islam conquered most of the peninsula. The coexistence of Muslim, Christian and Jewish cultures created the necessaray conditions for the transmission of the scientific and cultural heritage of antiquity and Arabic science to the Christian West.
Today, Spain appears as a society that wants to take into account the diversity of these cultures that are contained in the Constitution, but that still have many challenges to resolve, such as the tensions between the autonomous communities and the State. It is a society that in the past has had great economic and social development, but now suffers the consequences of the social and economic crisis.
Una delle prime Mariapoli a Seo d’Urgell
The Focolare Movement arrived in Barcellona in 1959 through Piero Pasolini, an Italian focolarino. “There is a lot of God in this nation,” he would say, “and it seems to me that He has a very special love for this place.” Subsequently, people of all ages were drawn into the spirituality of unity. Mariapolises were held in Solsona, Seo d’Urgell, Avila. . . A few of the pioneers left a deep mark on this land. We remember the Italians Nunziatina Cilento and Gino Bonadimani, and the Argentinians Margarita Bavosi and Carlos Clariá.
The Focolare’s Gospel lifestyle became incarnated over the years in many social and cultural environments, giving rise to the Political Movement for Unity and to businesses that belong to the Economy of Communion. With the publication of Chiara Lubich’s first book, “Meditazioni,” publishing work was begun in 1964 with two magazines: Ciutat Nova (in Catalano) and Ciudad Nueva (in Castigliano), and several book series dealing with topics of spiriuality, theology, patristics and testimony.
There are currently some 25,000 people in Spain who live the Spirituality of Unity.
Chiara Lubich’s two visits (1989 and 2002) were fundamental for the life and development of the Focolare Movement in Spain. The first visit was to Santiago de Compostela for WYD, where she gave one of the catecheses before an audience of thousands of youths. In the second visit she went to several cities where some of the great mystics who influenced her had lived: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross (Segovia) and Ignatius of Loyola (Manresa). At the Monastery of Montserrat she was moved to say: “The movements can be living examples of the Gospel’s charismatic freshness. And the movements can learn much from the witness of the consecrated religious life that preserves so many treasures of experience and wisdom.” During the same visit Chiara offered a challenge to all the members of the Focolare: “In Spain you need to stress Unity, because the distinction is already there” (referring to the variety of languages and cultures).
Two permanent Mariapolises were begun: one named Loreto in Castell d’Aro (Girona) and another named Exterior Castle in Madrid. Exterior Castle quickly became a meeting place for all, where a visible witness is given of unity in diversity and multiplicity, which is characteristic of the sprituality of unity.
In 2011, during a visit of the president of the Focolare Maria Voce and co-president Giancarlo Faletti, she will reiterate how “each of these peoples that make up Spain has something to offer to all the others,” encouraging everyone to be a gift one for the other, precisely because of the unique identity of each individual.
Visit: Spain in Focolare Worldwide!
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May 27, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
“‘The Mine’ was set up in 2003 adhering to the principles of the Economy of Communion which Chiara Lubich launched in 1991. She was the one who called it ‘The Gold Mine’, in reference to the value of the people who would use it: the elderly. How it works is described by Elena Bravo and Jose Alonso, respectively director and administrator of the day centre of which, together with Miguel Monoz and Ana Vera, they are the founders: “We try to act so that at the heart of what we do is not profits but people. We do all we can so that everyone who comes feels welcomed and valued no matter what their physical or psychological state.”
This focus on the care for the older person is lived out practically in lots of ways: “One time”, says Jose Alonso, “one of our workers told us that two of our elderly visitors should be in residential care. We knew this would mean a financial loss to us if two left, but we said: ‘We must think of their needs and not ours’, and we began looking for a new residence for them’.
“We have been through difficult moments “ continues Elena Bravo, “ from illnesses to family problems, but mutual love has helped us to keep going ahead, and when necessary doing each other’s jobs”. In fact, you can feel the atmosphere of sharing and joy among the 18 staff at The Mine.
This atmosphere touches the 50 elderly at the Centre and all those who come to visit: “Recently, Elena says, various youth groups have been here with their economics teachers”. “Some of them, explains Jose, are moved by the happiness of the elderly people, by the family atmosphere and the enthusiasm of the staff. These are the very things that are important to us.”
The existence and development of The Mine is in a great part due to its ‘secret Partner’, who ensures they lack nothing. Divine providence, in fact, always comes when there is greatest need through: office equipment, fabric, linen, sewing machines to use for teaching needlework…and other more specialised apparatus. “We needed a hoist for lifting our elderly but we didn’t have enough money to buy one. We decided to buy one anyway, thinking of the discomfort of the elderly and their helpers. On the Friday a hoist was delivered for a trial period. On the Sunday we got a phone call from the director of a centre for people with physical disabilities. He who knows how we work and offered to give us an electric hoist. I went to collect it and, with surprise, saw it was exactly the same as the one we had for a trial”
After almost 10 years of faithfulness to the principles of the Economy of Communion and to the “culture of rights”, always putting the person in the centre of our actions even in difficult moments, Elena and Jose can confirm that “In spite of all the difficulties and sharing the profit with those in need, the EdC project grows and stays in the market, even in moments of crisis.”
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May 25, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
“We have had the experience that our differences are not a reason to divide, but represent a multiplicity of gifts and a resource”. This is an extract from the Manifesto which was read in the Square Meeting Centre in Brussels, at the conclusion of the day meeting Together for Europe 2012.
More than a thousand people came together in Brussels from every part of Europe. Tens of thousands linked via satellite in 22 countries, all shared the message of hope, unity and peace for Europe.
“Together for Europe”: the underlying characteristic of this event set it apart from all other events for Europe: it was the complimented by a fine-mesh net of events simultaneous meetings held in 144 cities throughout Europe.
A mix of events, some small scale others large held in places of symbolic high profile in places. They brought collaboration between movements and ecclesial communities. These relationships show a glimpse of hope for future moves to act together for the common good of local communities: from Breslavai in Poland to Belfast in Northern Ireland, Oslo in Norway to Valletta in Malta. There were lots of initiatives involving people of all ages, walks of life and creeds.
In Augsburg, in Germany, the programme started with a ‘flashmob’ in the central square: seven giant balloons were released each displaying one of the seven yeses which mark up to today the commitment of the movements and communities for families, life, peace and a more balanced economy.
In Breslavaia, Poland the aim was to highlight the delicate process of meeting and reconciliation between the people of Poland and Germany (to heal the hurts lingering after the Second World War) with an event called “Christians of Germany and Poland Together for Europe”.
In Ischia, Italy, a human chain ‘encircled’ the perimeter of the island as a symbolic gesture defending the environment and of welcome. Still in Italy in Florence, at the Sala dei Cinquecento, in the Old Palace, the event had a direct live link with the main event in the Square Meeting Centre in Brussels.
And if, for some of the Movements and Christian Communities the way of brotherhood of “Together for Europe” has been an experience over a number of years, for others the events in 2012 were the chance of experiencing at first hand working together and getting to know one another better. A couple from Laudau in Germany explain: “Brussels 2012 has been an excuse to get to know one another better, to take an interest in Movements we had never heard of. We are very enthusiastic and want to concentrate our strength to bolster the Christian soul of Europe starting in our own city”.
These stories of collaboration and fraternity give credence to the possibility of giving Europe the hope that Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Sant’Egidio Community, spoke of in his talk in Brussels: “The greatest European mystery is the lack of hope” Because of this “we need to generate a climate of sympathy and solidarity, a sense of a common destiny has to rise up, a social network has to be born’.
“Together for Europe – Maria Voce underlined in her talk – is a fascinating undertaking: we have the possibility, also through events such as this one today, to give witness to the men and women of our times that live on the earth in a spirit of sharing opens a future of fraternity and peace for the individual, peoples, to our continent and the whole of humanity”.
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Flickr photostream: www.flickr.com/photos/together-for-europe/
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May 23, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
May 23, 1992: Italian magistrate Giovanni Falcone was killed in a Mafia bombing together with his wife and bodyguards. 57 days later, on July 19, another prosecuting magistrate, Paolo Borsellino, who was also investigating the Mafia, died in a second attack. Those sad events marked a civil re-awakening, starting from the new generations, which today is living in a new phase.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the massacre, ships carrying 2000 students will arrive in Palermo. Various activities have been organised involving the local citizens, including one by the Focolare’s “Youth for Unity” who will promote the “Golden Rule” as the basis for a culture of justice in the public squares of Palermo as well at the site of the “Falcone Tree” (a magnolia tree planted in front of the magistrate’s house which has become a focal point for the anti-Mafia movement) during the solemn commemoration.
Their manifesto reads: “Our motto is the Golden Rule found in all the sacred books of the great world religions and the basis for Natural Law”.
In the Gospel it says: “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. “ (Mt 7:12)
In the Old Testament: “What is hateful to you do not do to others. This is the whole Law” (31st Sabbath, Babylonian Talmud)
In the Qur’an: “None of you is truly a believer until he he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” (Prophet Mohammed, 13th of the 40 Hadith Nawawi)
In the Buddhist holy book: “Treat not others in ways that yourself would find hurtful.” (Udana-Varga 5.18)
“Living the Golden Rule in our cities also means abiding by the law,” continues the appeal of the Youth for Unity. It means rejecting all forms of bribery and not giving in to bullying ; it means becoming involved in civic life and refusing Mafia dealings and corruption.
The young people’s aspiration is that there be lawfulness in the city “where the underprivileged, the least in our community are looked after,” “keeping in mind the blood of the martyrs which has been shed over the years in our lands”. Their desire is that this message can reach the Youth for Unity throughout Italy and as many young people as possible so that together they can be “the answer and the fruit of the bloodshed of martyrs in order to build a better future for our country and the world”.
At the conclusion of this initiative aimed at peace and justice, the Youth for Unity will invite all the young people in the various towns and cities of Palermo and Sicily to meet on June 2nd in a symbolic place: the Brancaccio neighbourhood. This is where the Fr Pino Puglisi was killed by the Mafia. He was a priest who gave his life for his people through his mission of re-education. School materials and supplies collected on the day will be donated to the “Puglisi” high school.
May 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
“Together for Europe” could not be missing a session on the economy. In fact, in the prestigious headquarters of the European Parliament, at Pace de Luxembourg – in the hall after Alcide De Gasperi, the noble father and co-founder of what would become the European Union, – a group of experts, politicians, business people, youth and citizens met for a conference on: “The Economy: a Matter of Gift.” Certainly the stakes are high: the current crazy course of the financially ill market has lost its direction for the Common Good.
Hendrik Opdebeeck, professor of philospohy and economy at the University of Anwar and a member of the Ethics Center, in opening the session, described in seven points the concept of responsibility and connected it to freedom, alterity, encounter with others, the responsibility of global institutions,the limits of the market economy and to globalization.
The recent French and Greek elections, with their different societal tensions, according to the professor, pose a question: Is it the case to give merit-based salaries, according to the vision of liberalism, or to give everyone their part in conformity to their needs, according to the socialistic model? In our current European society, the economic, social, legal and financial aspects risk being shaped by egocentrical and irresponsible organized structures, at the national, international and global levels. From this point of view, Europe in crisis should look to another important future paradigm: that of responsibility.
Luigino Bruni, associate professor of Economy at the University of Milan- Bicocca and the Sophia University Institute of Loppiano, offered a clear analysis, without mercy for the current crisis, but also with a proposal: the Economy of Communion. He highlighted that right from its birth, the economy found strength and inspiration in charism, from Monastic Communities that knew how to create living laboratories from which emerged the initial categories and the first institutions to give life to a market economy. « And it is undeniable that also Christian humanisms,” he continued, “with their charitas and charis, played a decisive role.» But more than putting the economy on trial, it is the increasingly speculative finance sector that should be on the guilty bench. According to Bruni, we need «to do something» and bring back from the margins to the public square those charisms that encourage reciprocity, gratuity-gift and the common good. How? By bringing the finance sector and the economy into the public debate because «it’s too risky to leave them only in the hands of those who work in those sectors.» To begin again from the poor and to relaunch the idea of a new social pact, and to trust that the epochal changes can be a fruit also of a prophetic minority, as has already happened in the past. Finally, the young people: they are the ones who can bring a new turn to the economic and financial sector.
From the proposals, they then passed on to the supportive projects that can be carried out at a European level: a moratorium on advertising that targets children, which has to be taken away from those who seek profits: a moratorium on gambling games, a Tobin Tax, or something along that line, so that risky financial endeavors pay the right amount; finally, a strengthening, also through adequate legislative tools, of the social and civil economy in Europe.
In the presence of the Vice President of Europe, Laslo Surjan from Hungary, responsible for dialogue with the Churches, “best practices” for the economic sector were delineated: three businesses (one in Belgium and two in Croatia) shared how to convert these principles of gift into a commercial exchange where “investors”, share holders and workers, even though having different roles, have equal value. Jan De Volder, from the Community of Saint Egidio in Belgium, shared on the”revolt by gratuity,” while Claude Matz, from the Association for a United World (AMU) of Luxemburg, demonstrated the development projects sponsored and implemented throughout these years.
Steve Vanackere, federal vice-minister and Minister of the Economy in Belgium, concluded the session by highlighting some critical points in the proposals, in order to encourage a dialogue even more pertinent to current economic systems, and he dared the political establishment to give «not only answers, but the right answers.» Then addressing Professor Bruni on the importance of a prophetic mionority, he underscored: «this audience is one.»
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May 21, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
Finally, in the afternoon of Saturday, 19th, the much awaited meeting was held with Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti, to celebrate the big feast for all. The event was held, a few kilometres away from the capital, at the Multiversum of Schwechat, a modern multi-functional structure that hosts concerts, cultural and sports events, and fairs. Around 700 persons attended from the nine regions of Austria.
In their initial greeting, Maria Magerl and Andreas Amann, who are responsible on a national level for the Focolare Movement, expressed their joy, and most of all, their gratitude to God for Chiara Lubich and the spirituality of unity that have given to many a new profoundness and fullness in their lives. They expressed gratitude also to all those who during these fifty years have contributed, each one in his own place, to the development of the Movement. They were particularly glad that after, in some cases, years of absence, there were present at the celebration many “persons who had built and accompanied them on the journey in the past”.
During the first part of the meeting, the fundamental stages of the story of the Focolare Movement in Austria were reviewed, through historical photos and filmed witness, as though going through a family album. Up to the point, in 2001, when Chiara had passed 10 days in Austria, and had given important indications on the fields of action that the focolari community had to be committed. A video film with extracts from her speech at the Mayors Congress “1000 cities for Europe” (Innsbruck) revived memories of this special event in many of those present. This flash back was concluded with the memory, full of gratitude, of many members of the Movement, of different age and vocation, who have already reached the heavenly homeland.
The Focolare Movement in Austria “today” then followed, beginning with a presentation on the permanent Mariapolis “Giosi” and the Mariapolis Centre Am Spiegeln. From the “family treasures”, the experience of Reinhard Domig was presented, who in August 2008, was a victim of a violent robbery in his postal office, and who forgave his aggressor. There were various experiences of “dialogue” within the Catholic Church, and contacts with Christians of other Churches, and also with faithful of other faiths (mostly Muslims) and with persons without religious convictions, as the several years’ contacts with members of the Communist party. It is mostly a dialogue of life, sharing and participating in common action, such as projects for the integration of those in need, and pedagogy. Other initiatives at a more cultural level are those in the realms of economy, ecology, sport, and communication.
The young people presented the Social day for the homeless, aged, and children of refugees, the worldwide relay race for peace Run4unity, and the actions to allow ten Indonesian youths to participate at the coming Genfest in Budapest. All this is done to contribute to fraternity in Austria, a Country that is always becoming more pluralistic.
At this point, many wished to know Maria Voce personally, and she therefore gave a brief greeting. The feast then continued on stage with songs, games and artistic numbers; followed by a rich buffet.
On the 20th, Sunday morning, a new appointment was held at the Multiversum, with the more committed members of the community. The programme included a Mass animated by songs from the gen, followed by a dialogue meeting with Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti. The replies to the questions were simple, illuminating, encouraging. The questions were made by youths and adults on themes regarding the witness to offer in today’s challenges so as to have more effective impact in the various spheres of society.
The joy of all exploded in a great applause, and the president of the Focolare concluded with this prospect: “The notion that ours is a life and not an organisation has over the years always accompanied me, and made me understand what it means to be children of God. I do not know whether I am being bold, but I would like to wish you liberty which means: be free also from the desire to be efficient, from the need to do things well, from the memory of things that did not happen as you would have wished, from the historical situation. Be free, to have the happiness of being able to say yes to God, and know that He awaits your collaboration, to make of the “ideal” Austria and example of true, profound liberty; it is a freedom that comes from recognising and accepting our limitations, from thinking that in spite of these limitations we can do good (this is more difficult!), believing that God works beyond them and with them. God acts if we say yes to him. He brings fire, that which is mentioned in the Word of Life of this month, which is drawing to a close, but we still have a few days to continue the blaze. This is my wish for you: that you are free to ignite the fire!”
By our correspondent Oreste Paliotti
