![Last farewell to W.D. Mohammed, the Imam of peace]()
10 Oct 2008 | Focolare Worldwide
“We commit ourselves more than ever to travel together on the way opened up by our two great guides”, wrote Emmaus Maria Voce, the President of the Focolare Movement, to the followers of “our beloved Imam W.D. Mohammed who gave his life for peace and universal fraternity.” For more than ten years, there was a deep spiritual friendship between Chiara Lubich and the Imam. Through his moral authority, he was recognised as the most important African-American Muslim leader. He died at home in Markham, Illinois, on September 9 at the age of 74. “Thousands of people coming from all over the United States to his funeral” – said one American newspaper – “paid tribute to him as the greatest Muslim leader in the United States.” And it went on, “Muslim groups who have suffered in the past from internal divisions, found themselves united in the presence of a man who had given his life to bring unity.” One impression of the day was expressed by one of his followers: “ September 11, 2001 was a sad day for Muslims. Today however, is a day that fills us with pride.” In 1975, on his deathbed, Elijah Mohammed, his father, entrusted to him the leadership of “Nation of Islam”, the African-American community founded by him to improve the moral and social lives of African-Americans. W.D. strove to bring his followers to an interpretation of Islam true to its roots, emphasising racial tolerance and universality. He became a bridge builder between African-American Muslims and Muslim immigrants from the Middle East and Asia, with Christians, and between whites and blacks. For his extraordinary work in interreligious dialogue, in 1994 he was nominated one of the international presidents of the “World Conference of Religions for Peace”. The journey undertaken together by Imam Mohammed’s followers and Chiara Lubich began on May 18 1997 in the Malcolm Shabazz (also known as Malcolm X) Mosque in Harlem, New York. That was the first time a white Christian woman had spoken in the mosque. Three thousand people, Muslims and representatives of Focolare, were present. While Chiara spoke, telling her Christian experience, quoting the Gospel and phrases from the Koran that illustrated how much we have in common, she was frequently interrupted with applause and shouts of, “God is great.” Shortly afterwards, in a private meeting, W.D. Mohammed and Chiara made a pact in the name of the one God: to work unceasingly for peace and unity. Faithfulness to this pact brought numerous fruits of unity between Focolare communities and his followers: the dialogue that developed became a sign of hope, and a light for many. Its importance increased after the events of September 11. Imam Mohammed and his followers came several times to Rome, to take part in interreligious gatherings organised by the Focolare Movement. In 1999 he was invited to speak, in St Peter’s Square in front of Pope John Paul II, at the interreligious preparatory meeting for the Jubilee year, representing Muslims from all over the world. On that occasion the Pope encouraged and blessed the dialogue that had begun with the Focolare. In 2000 he invited Chiara again, this time to speak to 7000 Muslims and Christians gathered at a two-day meeting in Washington, called, “Faith Communities Together”, because, he said, “America needs to hear your message, to see this unity that binds us together.” Since then, in Washington, Los Angeles, Miami Chicago, New York, and other US cities, there have been regular “Encounters in the Spirit of Universal Brotherhood”, meetings for dialogue where a point of the spirituality of unity is explored from both the Christian and the Muslim points of view, with the sharing of practical life experiences. The most recent meeting between Imam Mohammed and the leaders of the Focolare Movement in Chicago took place only a few days ago. He had planned to go with a group of followers to the forthcoming international meeting for Christian-Muslim dialogue at Castelgandolfo (Rome) from October 9 to October 12, but had been advised not to undertake such a long journey because of heart problems. Imam Mohammed was a man immersed in God. When speaking to 4000 of his followers at their national convention in 2005, he affirmed strongly, “We must love everyone in the way we wish to be loved. We must love Christians so that they become better Christians, we must love Muslims so that they become better Muslims.” When Chiara was asked about her relationship with Imam Mohammed, she replied, “I feel at ease with him because it seems to me that the Lord has put him next to us, as he has put us next to him, perhaps for a plan of love of his, which we will be able to understand in as much as we go ahead in our communion and by working together.” And Imam Mohammed, in an interview, declared, “I think it is possible to free ourselves from the poison of prejudice if we are spiritually healed. This is what we can do, to recognise ourselves as people of different religions and part of a common humanity. I think that we are doing something great, making it possible for people who hated each other to free themselves from hatred, to find new life, new happiness, because the weight of prejudice has been lifted from their hearts.”
7 Sep 2008 | Focolare Worldwide
My husband and my children are all alcoholics. Until last year, my eldest son Tom was living with his girlfriend, and both of them became drug addicts too. About a year ago my son came back home because he had fallen out with his partner. In the meantime however, she had had a child. It really upset me to think about the situation of this little grandchild. I blamed the mother and one day when I met her on the street, I openly accused her of all sorts of things. This left a lot of bitterness on both sides. When I got home you can imagine how guilty I was at having failed to love her. No matter how many excuses I gave myself, telling myself that I was right, that I did it for my grandchild, I was not happy. Something inside me was telling me to call her and ask her to forgive me, difficult as it was. I didn’t know whether she would even listen to me. In the end, when I asked her to forgive me, she was eager to forgive me too. Some time after this episode, Dorothy was sent to prison. Things were going from bad to worse, and I was so worried about my grandchild’s situation that I began to resent the parents who had brought him into the world into such a situation. Since they were unmarried, the child would be taken into care. My resentment grew bigger and bigger, and Jesus’s words about forgiveness brought me no peace. I ought to love Dorothy, what ever happened to my grandchild. After several attempts, the Word finally broke through and in a completely different state of mind I went to see her in prison: she gave me a big hug and broke down in tears. I think she felt that I went to love her and accept her as she was. She spoke to me about her child and asked me if I could look after it. We arranged for legal custody to be passed to my son, and now they both live with me. It seemed like the hundredfold promised by Jesus to whoever looks for his Kingdom, doing his will, and the result of my commitment to love, right to the end. (J.S. – USA)
9 Apr 2008 | Focolare Worldwide
The application form in front of me, for a teaching job, reminds me that my student days are over. I have to choose a destination, and the box is staring at me. Should I stay in my Southern town, or go somewhere else? I am in front of a real life choice. Many of my companions choose the North, where there are more opportunities, and they can get away from the things that so often come up in the papers: illegality, irregularity, and criminality. But so many things link me to my town! Not just my family, my feelings, my friends, my interests, but also the hope of doing something, of going against the current, in spite of my limits. The challenge that Chiara gave to young people came to mind: “to die for your own people…”. The idea of staying, with the risk of less work opportunities, in “difficult schools”, is growing, rather recklessly, inside. I speak about it at home, with my girlfriend, with my companions. It is evening and the form has to be sent in the morning. The choice is made: I’m staying. I think, “What can I do in this quarter, an area affected by the Camorra, where people are shot and killed? I can love! May God help me.” I select some “frontier” schools as well as “élite” ones. God will help me understand where he wants me. A few months later, I am given a year’s work. It is amazing, I enter my school career through the main door, with the best contract! On the first morning the lessons are suspended, because of vandalism the previous night. I understand straight away that God has taken me at my word. The moment of trial has arrived. It is a very special situation and the social unease can be felt. The days go by, some with difficult moments where nothing seems to work, and others where the children’s faces light up, and they come to me, because they want to improve and have a better future. I hold on to this hope, and my pain has a meaning. I don’t know whether I can keep it up, because it is hard to confront bullies, to gain respect, and to speak about mathematics in these situations. But I know that moment by moment I can try to bring God into the classrooms. I can bring him through reprimands, through marking, through conversation, through discussions, through explanations, through silence, through ticks on the register. If he wanted me here, there’s a reason. (P.D. – ITALY)
14 Feb 2008 | Focolare Worldwide
I work as an English teacher in a school in Cairo. The pupils are mostly Muslims, and from very well off families. I began my job just before Ramadan, and as a first activity with my new classes, I suggested putting up decorations suited to the season. The other teachers, mainly Muslim, were very struck because they knew I was a Christian. Through this small gesture a very nice atmosphere of friendship was created among us, and while we put up the decorations in the class, it became clear that the most important rule was to love one another. The best result in the class. In one class there was a child who suffered from autism. He was often distracted, and found it hard to join in. Although he was ten years old, he couldn’t write, and everything had to be repeated for him. His mother was very worried and didn’t know what else to do, not having found a school that could take him. I tried to spend time with him during break times, playing, talking and encouraging him to study more at home. He was normally very serious and reserved, but one day he came in to class and gave me a big hug, exclaiming, “I love you, Sir!”. During the end of term exam I saw him take up his pencil confidently, and write down the answers to all the questions quickly and correctly. His was the best result of all! Pupils, parents, colleagues, all involved in a “game”. Each pupil, feeling loved in a special way, responded by making more effort during the lessons, doing their homework as well as they could, and voluntarily taking more work home. In class, whenever anyone finished their exercise, he or she offered to help someone else, making a kind of “game” among them. I began to receive lots of letters and phone calls from parents, thanking me for the way I look after their children, and often sharing personal situations with me. At break times I get asked by other teachers for advice on my educational methods, and this leads to a deep sharing with each one. At the end of the school year, a big surprise. At the prize giving, I received “teacher of the year”, for “the new spirit that gave new light to teaching” that many teachers now ask me about and want to copy. My latest practice was to introduce a daily rule for my two classes using “the cube of love”. Each morning we throw it, and one of the pupils explains (in English) how to live the rule of the day. In their weekly test they have to write about their experience of putting into practice the different rules on the cube. One day I came into class and found 22 letters on my desk. Twenty two experiences which, on their own initiative, they wanted to share with me. Be the first to love, love everyone, love your enemy… during lessons, at break time, in the school bus… I took them to the school principal. At the end of the morning all the teachers were called together for a special meeting. “This school needs a new spirit”, said the principal, “and this cube is the way to obtain it. From next term onwards, education using the cube of love will be introduced into all the classes”. Now each morning the teachers arrive with the cube under their arm, presenting “the art of loving” to everyone. The atmosphere in the school is changing, not just among the pupils, but also among the teachers and the whole administrative and teaching staff. (B. S. – Egypt)
![Last farewell to W.D. Mohammed, the Imam of peace]()
25 Jan 2008 | Focolare Worldwide
In a society experiencing the limitations of science and technology, there is a thirst for “wisdom”, on the part of academics and people in general. This is the background to the future collaboration between Liverpool Hope University and the Focolare Movement, and especially with its embryonic “Sophia University” at Loppiano, near Florence, which will open its doors for the first time next Autumn.
Professor Gerald John Pillay, Anglican vice-chancellor of this English University, spoke about this recently in an interview with New City. It was an immediate response to the challenge issued by Chiara Lubich in her message written for the award ceremony of the Honorary Doctorate in Divinity (Theology). The University wanted to recognise the contribution of Chiara Lubich “to the life of the Church, to peace and harmony in society, to the unity of Christians of different denominations, and to dialogue and understanding between religions”. The award was the opportunity for the University and the Focolare Movement to get to know one another better. In her message, read on January 23 in a ceremony in Liverpool, Chiara Lubich said how “deeply struck” she was by the sharing of ideals rooted in unity, and looked forward to a collaboration that promised great hope for the future. Liverpool Hope University, with over 7000 students from many parts of the world, aims to be “an academic community”, inspired by Christian values, “ a sign of hope” open to the other faiths and belief systems, with a commitment to religious and social harmony, in “education, and religious, cultural and economic life”. The collaboration anticipated by Prof. Pillay – who at the beginning of January travelled with a delegation from the University to Rocca di Papa (Rome) to give the award to Chiara in person – is still being worked on. Some early ideas, Prof Pillay told New City, emerged at that meeting. “Already in Chiara’s writings, which I studied because of this award, I found that sense of unity and the centrality of faith in a very stimulating and interior way. When we met in Rome, I was very struck by the great synergy between Focolare’s vision and that of Hope University. We would like to establish ways of collaboration between teachers, and for the students, so that they can easily have access to the programmes of both Hope and of Sophia. This is a really fascinating opportunity.” Representatives of Hope University will be present at the inauguration of the Sophia University Institute, which will be an opportunity to further this project. An economist from the Focolare Movement has already been invited to take part next June in “The Big Hope”, a week-long conference for young people, future leaders, from many different countries, promoted by the University to mark Liverpool “European Capital of Culture 2008”. Liverpool Hope University is an academic institution that offers a wide range of disciplines. It has 7000 students from Great Britain and other countries. It is one of the newer universities, but its tradition in the sphere of higher education goes back over 150 years. It began with the coming together of two existing colleges, one Anglican and one Catholic, and later a second Catholic college. These formed an ecumenical federation in 1980 with the support of the Liverpool Bishops, Archbishop Derek Worlock (Catholic) and Bishop David Sheppard (Anglican). Both of these were actively involved in ecumenical dialogue, and their motto was, “better together”. They saw in this new cultural initiative a “sign of hope”. On that basis Liverpool Hope University was founded in 2005.
![Last farewell to W.D. Mohammed, the Imam of peace]()
18 Jan 2008 | Focolare Worldwide
The “Sophia” University Institute, born from an intuition of Chiara Lubich, founder and president of the Focolare Movement (Work of Mary), and developed together with an international group of academics, was officially set up by the Holy See with a decree on December 7 2007. Campus – The Institute’s campus will be in Loppiano, the Movement’s little town near Incisa Valdarno (Florence). Beginning with the 2008/9 academic year, the Institute will offer a two-year Master’s programme in “Foundations and perspectives of a culture of unity”. Initially it is expected that there will be fifty students per year, and in time there will be a corresponding doctorate programme. What is offered – In the first year of the Master’s there will be courses in four principle areas: theology, philosophy, social sciences, and scientific and logical reasoning. In the second year the student can specialise in either the philosophy/theology or politics/economics track. 
Main features – the Institute will be like an academic laboratory, combining formation, study and research, and deeply rooted in Gospel relationships. It will be an original opportunity for human and cultural growth, bringing study and experience together in a community of life and thought, in which the relationship between people is the basis for the relationship between the various disciplines. The study, research and lessons aim to establish a constant dialogue between the teachers, and between the students and teachers. The result will therefore be harmony in what is taught by the teachers, and active and personal involvement in common research on the part of the students. The theoretical lessons will be integrated with practical exercises, guided visits, meetings with people of relevant experience, and periods of training or stages in various environments, especially professional cultural or social situations that express the “culture of unity”, like the businesses of the “Economy of Communion”. There will also be encounters with the civil and ecclesial world, with communities of various Christian traditions, with experts in the major religions and with representatives of the contemporary cultural world. Objective – The course aims to equip those who take part with a solid cultural base, with a humanistic and anthropological emphasis, building on the university education that they have previously acquired in different disciplines. They will be expected to integrate this with new specific skills of an interdisciplinary, intercultural and relational kind. The teaching staff – The President of the Institute is Piero Coda, who is presently Ordinary Professor of Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome and president of the Italian Theological Association. Among the teachers in residence who will also lead research in the main disciplines, are: Antonio Maria Baggio, Associate Professor of Social Ethics at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome; Luigino Bruni Associate Professor in Political Economics at the University of Milan-Bicocca; Judith Povilus, former mathematics lecturer in De Paul University, Chicago and coordinator of the international research group “Mathzero” in the field of formal logic; Sergio Rondinara, lecturer in Philosophy of Science in the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome and Environmental Ethics at the Pontifical Gregorian University; and Gerard Rossé, Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the Istituto Mystici Corporis in Loppiano and at the École di Foi at Fribourg (Switzerland). Pontifical decree – The decree was signed by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education. In his accompanying letter to Chiara Lubich, he underlines the novelty of the Institute that “is rooted in the Spirituality of unity and in the wealth of experiences of the Movement” and extends his good wishes for “this important project, well rooted in the academic tradition while at the same time courageous and forward looking” The Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, also spoke about this new academic Institute at a meeting with the diocesan priest focolarini (Centro Mariapoli, Castelgandolfo Rome January 15, 2008), calling it “a gift for the Church and for contemporary society”. He emphasised its “objectives of communion”, its markedly interdisciplinary nature, the consequences for “formation of leaders”, and its possibilities of influence in the “political and economic, scientific and philosophical” field. for more information: e-mail: info@iu-sophia.org
