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Nov 4, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
The Focolare town in Holland is located a half hour’s drive away from Eindhoven Airport and is called Marienkroon (The Crowning of Mary). The journey was nice and easy. The cars transporting Focolare President, Maria Voce, and co-President, Giancarlo Faletti ,were literally swarmed by ringing bicycles decorated with small bike lights and balloons. This cortege accompanied them to the entrance of the center, and darkness soon began to fall. The heavy gate was locked and Maria Voce was the one to open it, symbolically, with an over-sized key. Beyond the gate is a lush green lawn, encircled by the buildings of this ex-Cistercian monastery, which has taken ten years to renovate and to adapt as a center of spirituality for modern times. As the trumpet sounds, the flag of the Movement with its golden four-pointed star on a blue background was hoisted on the flagpole. It was a simple gesture, an intimate moment charged with meaning. Each of the small town’s inhabitants wanted to give a personal welcome to the president and co-president. 
They toured the complex which often welcomes groups of school children and associations who are interested in the place and the life that dwells within these walls. The cultural events that regularly take place on the grounds are deeply appreciated by the people of the area. Each year a large book fair is held, a week-long vacation for teenagers from the region, a plant auction and various spiritual gatherings. Marienkroon draws people of all kinds: young people and adults, Christians, people belonging to other religions or without any religious affiliation. After searching for ten years, in 2001 the Focolare Movement purchased the property from the Cistercians at the symbolic cost of 1 euro. Two Cistercian fathers still live here, together with Cardinal Simonis. All three are close friends of the Movement. Many projects are foreseen for the coming years in order to modernize this Focolare town, to make it functional and corresponding to the prophetic words of Chiara Lubich who, when she visited Holland in 1982 had this to say: “Firstly we must show the life of a community, the place in which you strive to live the Gospel together. This will draw attention and evangelization will happen as a consequence.” By our correspondent Giulio Meazzini
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Nov 2, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
What are you impressions following the events in Assisi and Rome? 
I have a very positive impression. It especially makes me think of John Paul II and Chiara Lubich and their long sightedness in the field of openness and dialogue. They had understood that it was worthwhile to invest in people and infrastructures to develop the topic of dialogue. I refer particularly to organisms that work specifically for this: the various Pontifical Councils (for the Unity of Christians, for Interreligious Dialogue, for Culture, for Justice and Peace, within the Church) and the Centers that are occupied with the various dialogues within the heart of the Movement. It highlighted how many relationships that have been constructed over the years. To me this seems like a novelty compared to encounters of other years. Each one of us did a lot over the years, even though it could have seemed little compared to the results that have been obtained. In summary, I think we have reached a point in which there are true relationships of mutual love. There are a few significant facts that everyone noticed. When Patriarch Bartholomew’s book fell to the floor, Rowan Williams, the Primate of the Church of England, reached down to get it; the Pope was often smiling as he glanced first at one then at another. They seem to be small things, but they are gestures that everyone notices, and they give a testimony. Then there was the presence of people with no religious convictions. This was truly a substantial and important novelty, especially because of the way the Pope presented them as in search of the common truth. He underscored that the truth transcends everyone and no one can claim to possess it completely. It was beautiful the way he presented it. This was clearly a novelty. Assisi 2011 was not only an encounter in the spirit of fraternity and peace, it was also a moment to elevate our spirits in the search of something that went beyond this. You were invited together with Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio and Father Julian Carrón, who is guiding the Communion and Liberation Movement. It is quite a noteworthy sign of recognition for the new ecclesial Movements and Communities. How do you see the role of the movements and especially the laity in the field of dialogue? Many cardinals and bishops have come to thank me for the delicate and discreet relationships that we build with people of different religions. This was, therefore, an acknowledgement of what our movement and the other movements in general do in the field of dialogue. I found much appreciation also for the way in which lay people are able to understand the diverse contexts and concrete situations and traditions of the religions and of the believers. The laity more easily have daily contact with those of other faiths and, therefore, they are acquainted with vital aspects and traditions of these religions. This can also help the institutional Church to move in its relations with the faithful of the other religions. No one can know everything and everyone. One example: I was having lunch with the Sikh delegation, who were not afraid to tell everyone that they knew the focolare and attended all the events that we promote. And with many others it was the same. The relationships that the movements have established with these religious leaders came out in a very spontaneous way. It seems to me that the hierarchy of the Church is quite happy and grateful. By Roberto Catalano
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Oct 31, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
More than two months of continuous rain, more by far to what is forseen every year, are beating Thailand and around eight million persons. The worst hit provinces are those of Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, and Nakhon Sawan, where the level of the water has gone beyond four metres high. Some members of the Focolari, who live in Bangkok, write to us: “ The consequences of what has happened are before the eyes of all: whole villages evacuated, industrial zones invaded by the water with the loss of tens of thousands of places of work, schools closed for an undetermined period. Years will be required to recover what we have lost.” But even in the midst of this situation, there are facts taking place that speak of still possible hope, of the desire for new birth stronger than sorrow. Thus, they continue to write from Bangkok: “What nobody expected, at least under these dimensions, is concrete love, the help that very many people are giving to who is suffering. A reporter from CNN has defined as “an incredible social effect” what is happening in Thailand. And it is so. All help each other, all try to do something for for those who have been hit; thousands of volonteers have worked 24 hours on 24 to prepare 1,200,000 sand bags to mend or raise the banks of some important canals in the zones of the floods.Those working are in the majority young people, who wanted to contribute to save what can be saved.” The work of the Focolari to bring material, spiritual, and moral help, forms part of this common work that involves the whole country, encouraging fraternal experiences that make every hope credible. Amongst the many testimonies that are reaching our editorial office, we have chosen that of S.C., university teacher, who thus relates: “I have tried to understand together with my students what to do for the victims of the floods. The youths consulted each other and decided to gather money approaching the people on the street, going up on the trains. It required a bit of courage, and yet…Around twenty of them agreed to meet each other in front of the big shops, equipped with large posters, a box and two guitars. They are all young buddists convinced of the importance of doing good to others. I encouraged them to first of all live in fraternity amongst themselves, offering difficulties and weariness for the good of the country. The collection went beyond what was expected, 17,700 bath, a large sum for our economy. But most of all, it contributed to widening the hearts of the youths on the needs of others. This commitment of theirs continues to give fruit.”
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Oct 27, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
Video of the trip "In the Footsteps of Jesus"
Watch video of the trip on Vimeo
![A Focolare Town for Holland]()
Oct 25, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
“It was an inspiration,” Maria Voce, president of the Focolare told the Roman Observer newspaper, “an inspiration that will certainly mark a new acceleration and depth in living one’s personal religious convictions in the service of peace. This is especially urgent today when the absurd fear of religion is spreading. Religion, which by its very nature is a vital source of peace, is being blamed as the primary cause of many conflicts, tensions, phobias, intolerance and religious persecutions that are teeming around the world.” The numerous and high profile delegation will leave from Rome by train on the morning of 27 October with the Pope. Maria Voce will also be on the train with leaders of all the major religions of the world. She will represent the Focolare Movement which is founded on the charism of unity of Chiara Lubich and has always been deeply and naturally involved in dialogue. The Movement includes members from 350 Christian Churches and Ecclesial Communities. Because of the universal expansion of the Movement, there is now an open dialogue with the major world religions, and not only with individual followers or religious leaders but with leaders and followers of vast movements: like the Buddhist movement of the Rissho Kosei-kai, which has six million adherents in Japan; with the Afro-American Muslims in the United States and with various Gandhian movements in South India. Thousands of followers of other religions live, inasmuch as possible, the spirit of the Focolare Movement and actively collaborate in working for its goals. Dialogue also began with persons of no religious faith like the agnostics, the indifferent and the atheists. This dialogue develops between believers and people who not have a religious faith but who share the common desire to work together for the brotherhood of the human family. From this point of view, it is quite emblematic that Benedict XVI wished to invite a group of non-believers to the Assisi event, who “though not professing to be religious, they feel that they are on the seeking path for the truth and they feel a common responsibility for the cause of justice and peace in our world.” Four invitees have accepted the invitation of Benedict XVI. They include philosophers, historians and professors from various countries in the world. Among them is Walter Baier: Austrian economist, General Coordinator of “Transform! Network,” a European research group that includes magazines and leftist think tanks. He is a member of the Austrian Communist Party, but also a collaborator with the Focolare’s international center for dialogue with persons of non-religious convictions. “A world-city truly appears on the horizon, shining with hope.” This is what the upcoming event in Assisi 2011 foreshadows. “Today,” says Maria Voce, “dialogue between religions cannot be limited to the leaders, researchers and specialists. It should be a dialogue of the people, and this will be more and more essential for peaceful coexistence in our cities and countries as we find ourselves elbow to elbow with Muslims and Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs. It is a chronicle that will have to be discovered and perhaps invented, without allowing ourselves to be discouraged by the rumors of violence and intolerance. It’s the daily testimony that opens the way.”
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Oct 20, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
It tells two stories, the story of the Focolare and that of the United States. In an air-raid shelter in the city of Trent (1944), Chiara Lubich and some other young women rediscovered the words of the Gospel: “that all be one” (Jn 17:21). A hundred-fifty years earlier the founding fathers of the United States wrote on their flag: “E pluribus unum,” of the many, one. Both phrases reveal a fundamental tendency: to aspire for unity in diversity. 
In the introduction of the book, “Focolare: living a Spirituality of Unity in the United States,” Thomas Masters and Amy Uelmen (New City Press, NY), begin with the stories of young people who practice the spirituality. Like Rebecca from Ohio, who was helped by the spirituality of unity to carry through with her decision to volunteer in Sierra Leone. Or Nick, who grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, who completed a Master in International Affairs and found himself face-to-face with his choice of relationship and dialogue in an environment that was strongly competitive. Elizabeth is a championship swimmer. She met the Focolare at a swimming competition in her hometown in Indiana: “When these girls who knew the Focolare came to my school, I was struck by the way they interacted with each other. The cultural mix – for someone from rural Indiana like me – made a strong impression. I felt like the whole world was in my backyard.” “It wasn’t easy for me to explain to my friends who all these Europeans were, where I went and what we did,” recounts Keith, who grew up in a black neighborhood of New York. “But it was special with them, I felt drawn. We did the same things that I did at home with my friends: sport, games, but the atmosphere was different, we tried to love one another.” The Focolare town of Mariapolis Luminosa in Hyde Park, New York, offers summer programs for teenagers. Naomi, a sixteen year-old from Chicago recounts: “Before leaving for Mariapolis Luminosa, I was a typical teenager: school, friends, shopping, enjoyment. It was hard for me to think of others. Well, this has all changed. When I returned home, I began to give away my things; I make my bed every morning; I try to prepare at least one of the meals each day; I listen to my eight year-old brother; I try to socialize with everyone at school. I don’t go shopping in the stores where a sweater costs a hundred dollars. I try to do everything for God, to make him smile. My mother is still wondering what happened to me.” Finally, David from New York, who came to know the Focolare during WYD 2002 in Toronto. For him it has meant not becoming rigid in ‘devotional’ practices, but placing God’s love and love of neighbor at the centre of things: “As I rediscovered my faith in this way, I felt called by the Holy Spirit to become a priest, and now I’m in the seminary.” These six experiences suggest that it is easier to understand the spirituality of the Focolare through the experiences of those who put it into practice. Beginning with the life of Chiara Lubich and those who joined her on this path, followed by the example of Americans young and old, families and clergy – this book tells the story of a shared experience of people whose lives have been transformed in an individual way, but also in a quite similar way by the light of God’s Love.
