Inauguration of the 4th Academic Year at Sophia University Institute
“Hopes and doubts. These are the sentiments we feel when we arrive in Sophia University Institute,” says student representative Gabriel Almeida. “Sophia for us means answering a call that God directs toward each one of us and which can be found in the story of many here, a call to be an itinerant community, which desires – not without struggle – a civilization of love.” The atmosphere at the beginning of this fourth academic year is one of change, of growth and innovation. Nearly one thousand professors, students and friends from all over Italy attended the opening ceremonies of the new academic year on 17 October at Loppiano. They were joined by mayors from Tuscany, political and religious leaders, and faculty from other European institutes of learning with whom Sophia is establishing fruitful study relations. In his opening statement, Giuseppe Betori, Chancellor of Sophia Institute and Archbishop of Florence, called Sophia “something young in its act of founding, but able to find ample space within the academic world (… ) for advancing its own new proposals in the current cultural context of dialogue and communion. I extend to you the exhortation of the Pope at the Seminary in Freiburg: ‘We are Church: let us be Church, let us be Church precisely by opening ourselves and stepping outside ourselves and being Church with others.’ 
The results achieved by Sophia in its first four years are encouraging: 83 students are enrolled so far in the Master Degree program, including 34 this year. Thirty-three have defended a thesis and obtained a degree in “Foundations and Perspectives of a Culture of Unity.” Fifteen are enrolled in the doctorate program, and 7 in degree courses at other academic institutions, where they are acquiring the necessary credits to gain access to the doctoral program. Also noteworthy is the presence of 31 students who follow personal study programs. And academic achievement is what is most encouraging about Sophia University Institute (SUI), as Maria Voce, Vice-chancellor and president of the Focolare Movement relates: “Each time I sign a certificate, I have the joy of knowing that another person has been immerged in this culture of unity and is bringing it into the world. Based on what has been accomplished so far, we can only feel real optimism for the future of Sophia.” And she set living the Word of the Gospel as the basic tenet upon which to develop the experience of Sophia: “I invite you to let yourselves be deeply permeated by this Word, which is Jesus’ way of thinking, of acting, and of loving.” While addressing some of the future challenges of this academic community, SUI’s President Piero Coda explained how today it is necessary to upgrade the course of study, so that degree titles may better correspond to empirical standards and be more expendable on an academic professional plane. “For this reason, three new courses of specialization are in the process of being defined in Political Studies, Economy and Management: Trinitarian Ontology.” M
ore space will be given within the Institute for study and research in the Social Sciences, thanks to the institution of a Chair in “Fundamentals of the Social Sciences” and through an upcoming congress in collaboration with the University of Trent. In the inaugural lecture, Brazilian sociologist, Vera Araujo, affirmed the belief that: “There have never been better times than these to be a sociologist.” “We also want to say something about the possibility of finding new paradigms and models: the human person, brotherhood, communion, agape-love, unity. Not only concepts or paradigms, but tools to equip the work areas of those in the social fields.” These reflections have the flavor of encouragement not only for the new sociology, but also – and perhaps above all – for the academic adventure begun by Sophia, which is called to sprinkle society with a new culture.
Almost paradoxically, in a world that is always more global and in communication, there is an increase of the sense of being left out and of areas of solitude, with definitive negative consequences both at the individual and collective level, so much so that OMS has forcast that in 2030 depression in youths could become the second absolute cause of death. Yet, there is an increasing perception in all directions – as documented in the intervention prepared by the International Commission of Education for Unity – of the “need for community”(according to the expression of Z. Bauman), and starting from this radical need, one recognises the necessity to “form the man- in relationship” the key idea of Chiara Lubich in the Education area. It was underlined by her in the lectio on the occasion of the degree “honoris causa” in pedagogy (USA, 2000), and now referred to with vigour in this 5th pedagological meeting of EdU. An engaging and fascinating gamble that has involved the 270 partecipants (university professors, teachers, parents, students), together with many that have followed direct through internet, from Sicily, Albania, Malta, Slovenia right up to Colombia and other extra european countries. There were not only reflections on the essentiality of weaving autentic relationships as the foundation of the authentic community, but also the possibility of experiencing them in the entwining of the various moments of dialogue and the exchange-presentations of educational experiences. They dealt, in order to remain coherent with the theme of the meeting, with the not easy construction of the reality of community in various contexts-involving families, schools, the institutions present in the territory-beginning with the intradependence of persons capable of weaving relationships and alliances, inverting in that way the temptation to be individualistic, and injecting doses of hope, an indispensable element of any educational project. The intervention of prof. Domenico Bellantoni (Pontificia Universita` Salesiana, Rome) was very stimulating to delve into the meaning of relationship in the communitarian context. He took part for the whole day, and in particular, starting from the logotherapy of Vicktor Frankl, he delved into the idea of person-autotranscendence, open therefore to relationship and responsibility. Other interventions that will soon be available on Education for Unity website (
He thanked me and the conversation ended there. But I can assure you: The satisfaction and happiness that I experienced in that moment were worth far more than the cement. This little incident caused surprise among my employees who at first didn’t understand, and I had to explain to them that the most important thing wasn’t the incident in itself, but what can come from it, both for inside and outside our business. That month we had record sales, and right in the middle of the economic crisis we are managing to sell around 30% more compared to the same period last year. This way of dealing with people, placing ourselves at the service of others has strengthened our reputation and brought new business opportunities every day almost without having to go out in search of them anymore. I believe that if businesses were to discover the value, also the economic value that is generated by the principles of the Economy of Communion when they are applied in a radical way, they would not hesitate to put them into practice.’ By Germán M. Jorge Source: “Economy of Communion – A New Culture” n.30
Benedict XVI visited the land of his birth for four intense days between 22 and 25 September. Even though the Masses – celebrated in the open at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, in the Square in front of the Cathedral in Erfurt, in Etzelsbach, the shrine of Thuringia, and in Freiburg, in the Black Forest – marked some of the high moments of his trip, the Pope gave clear testimony, through many additional encounters, that he had not only came for the 30% of Catholics. He also met representatives of the Jewish faith and of Islam, he gave a noteworthy speech at the German Camera of Deputies and entertained guests from Orthodox Churches. He had a meeting with representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in a very significant location: the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt where Martin Luther had studied theology; joined the Augustinian Order and was ordained a priest. On this occasion the Pope clearly expressed his esteem for the spirituality of Luther and for his commitment in the search for an adequate answer to the question of God, Benedict XVI invited the Christians of both Churches to “witness together to the presence of the living God, offering the world in this way, the answer it needs. May we help each other in living it. This is a grand ecumenical task which introduces us into the very heart of the Prayer of Jesus.” The President of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EK), Nikolaus Schneider showed appreciation and underscored what Benedict XVI said: The two Churches should “help each other in intensifying and in enlivening the life of the faith in our society – truly and ecumenical task.” Those who had hoped that the Pope would take concrete steps in ecumenism, and those who had hoped that Benedict would have traced a new itinerary regarding a common concelebration – especially in view of the 500 years since the Reform, which will be celebrated in 2017 – were not contented. Even for couples of different confessions, who cannot approach the Eucharistic Table together, he did not offer anything “new.” The faith is not something that you can bargain over, as you can with political agreements – this was his motivation: “Unity in the faith does not grow by weighing the advantages and disadvantages, but through a profound identification in life and in thought.” Benedict XVI did not want to offer superficial answers or concrete solutions to the ecumenical field or to the underlying questions of the Catholics. He wanted to enter into the roots of the “crises of the Churches” upon which basis he sees a crisis of the faith. He had come to encourage trust in God and to reinforce the faith in Christ, which he considers to be fundamental to change and renewal.”
“The ‘Together for Europe’ vocation has not gone out of fashion, but is increasingly necessary because the world is heading into a deep crisis which is not only economic and structural, but a crisis of relationships,” affirmed Marco Impagliazzo during a conversation with some representatives of the group that is promoting 
