![“On the journey to the unity of humankind – Christian and Gandhian views”]()
16 Sep 2007 | Focolare Worldwide
The title of this Symposium is an apt description of its aim. For three days, experts from Gandhian academic and social institutiuons – Sarvodaya Illakiya Pannai, Shanti Ashram, and the Gandhigram Rural University from Tamil Nadu in South India – will meet at the Mariapolis Centre of the Focolare Movement at Castelgandofo (Rome) , The first part of the Symposium will offer an exchange of ideas and practical projects in the field of education, economics, politics, and ecology. It will be a further step in a journey that began a few years ago, involving experts in the culture inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and that inspired by the charism of unity of the Focolare Movement. On Wednesday the group will attend an audience with the Pope, after a visit to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Afterwards they will have a series of meetings at Focolare’s little town at Loppiano, and in Florence, a city with a special calling to interreligious dialogue and peace among peoples. Leaders of the City Council and the Region of Tuscany will be present. 
These events will show that India, in spite of occasional signs of religious intolerance, and stories of persecution of one group by another, is covered by a network that brings Christians and Hindus together to positive effect in social and cultural life. From September 20 to 23 the Indian delegation will be in Tuscany for an intense programme: – An exchange of experience of life between the little towns of the Focolare Movement and the Shanti Ashram, at the Focolare’s little town of Loppiano (Incisa Valdarno Florence) from the 20th until the morning of the 21st. – A convention on “Cities and Peace” at the Cenacolo di S Croce, on September 21 at 17.30 promoted by The Movement for Unity in Politics (Focolare), the Centro Regionale Toscana, the “Giorgio La Pira” International Centre for foreign students, Youth for a United World, and with the patronage of The Region of Tuscany, and the Province and Council of Florence. – A meeting with the Regional Consultation on Interreligious Dialogue and Peace between Cultures at the Presidenza della Giunta Regionale Toscana, via Cavour 18, Florence, at 10.00 on September 22.
26 Aug 2007 | Focolare Worldwide
Martigny, 25 August 2007 Dear young people and esteemed politicians, I too would like to address a word to you during your meeting dedicated to building up the future of “our” – allow me to so call it – beloved Switzerland, given that we have already journeyed a distance together. This year, the young people are the ones who gave us the possibility of adding an enriching new stage to our journey, by inviting everyone, politicians of every persuasion and office, elected officials and citizens, to together commit to choosing fraternity as the inspiring principle of politics. I would like to propose something to all of you: to make a pact, a real and true pact, between different generations in order to give an authentic spirit of community commitment to politics. A pact of mutual love between you young people, who have the capacity to believe in the actualization of great values such as universal brotherhood, peace and freedom, and who represent the Switzerland of tomorrow, and you politicians, who already work for your people, with the weight but also the wealth of your experience, and who represent what is possible to actualize today. Why not share these riches and so enhance your real capacity to remain faithful to the commitments that you will take on? I can assure you that if you have the courage to practice this way of listening and working together, you will set in motion a new way of doing politics that will open up to new ideas, which through the “osmosis” of love will be contagious. It will then be possible to bring about what we have believed and wished for together during these days. We can work for the unity of a people only if some first begin to experience it among them. I am with you and I pray to God-Love, that God whom the Fathers of your nation wanted as the guarantor of the Federal Pact, that He may help us to make of Switzerland a united community, open and helping, a living witness on the path to a united world. Chiara Lubich
8 Jul 2007 | Focolare Worldwide
9 May 2007 | Focolare Worldwide
![“On the journey to the unity of humankind – Christian and Gandhian views”]()
4 Apr 2007 | Focolare Worldwide
Thirty-five projects in twenty-nine countries of the world, and 1,847 bursaries given over five years. A network of sharing has come to life at a global level, among “Schoolmates”- school friends at a distance. This is a project of Teens for Unity, of the Focolare Movement, which is reaching more schools each year. In 2006, 455 bursaries were awarded. What is Schoolmates? With this project, Teens for Unity promote a network of relationships among schools. Classes from different countries write to one another, to share their talents and their culture, language, traditions, and their current projects for a more united world. A solidarity fund provides bursaries for courses for children in less developed countries. The commitment: Any class or group that wants to join Schoolmates, must commit itself to living the Golden Rule, “to do to others what you would have them do to you, and not do to others, what you wouldn’t want them to do to you”, to start correspondence with other classes or groups, and support bursaries for studies. A class can commit itself to one bursary per year, with each child who takes part giving 1 euro per month. The contribution can come either from personal savings, or from the involvement of the whole class in various activities depending on the creativity of the children. Eagerly awaited activities each year are the Spring Fairs. In 2007 there are 30 projects in 26 countries. Here we take a closer look at some of them. In recent years, the lack of resources and of a national programme have resulted in the collapse of the Albanian school system. The most serious problems are low salaries for teachers, and the lack of teaching materials and suitable buildings. The project aims to give the poorest children the opportunity of completing compulsory schooling, and to take professional courses to improve their prospects and to contribute as adults to the life of their nation. See the project at: http://school-mates.org/progetti/main_albania_ita.html 
In Bandra the “queen of suburbs” of Mumbai, support for the most marginalized children. There are 20 million inhabitants in Mumbai, and the continual process of urbanisation has led to the formation of enormous slums where masses of people, attracted to the city by the possibility of earning minimal wages, live in extreme poverty. Before school starts, the slum children go to work in order to earn something, and are tired out by the time they arrive. Although they study hard, in those conditions they often fail. At present there are 16 bursaries in action to enable the recipients to finish their studies and find a decent job in the future. See the project at: http://school-mates.org/progetti/main_india_bandra_ita.html 
To improve school attendance in Albania.
25 Mar 2007 | Focolare Worldwide
I was just a girl, stunned by sorrowful experiences within the family and by the lack of real and stable affections, when I met some persons who had a joy which I thought impossible to experience in life. These persons shared this gift with me and through them I discovered God and His love towards me. For me, it was like perceiving a light during the night that guided me safely on the way of love, which was exactly what I was looking for. I am the youngest of four siblings and my parents have always had a difficult rapport with many clashes, marked by quarrels and discussions that ended up with violence. Besides my family, my father also had another family: a woman and children. For this reason and for the aggressive behaviour towards my mother, we brothers and sisters rejected our him as a father and instead of loving him, we hated him even more. Little by little, my brothers and sisters left home, for studies or to get married. I was the only one left with my parents. One day my father had beaten my mother so strongly that I had to bring her to hospital. Afterwards, she went to live with my sister and at home I was the only one left with my father. The Gospel gave me support, however, within me, I thought I could never forgive my father. One day, during this difficult period of compelled living with my father, he ran after me in order to beat me and I managed to escape just in time. I re-entered home through one of the windows, after he had gone out. It was in those moments of fear and sorrow that I decided to live radically the words of Jesus. The time had come to take revenge on my father, however, I decided to take a revenge of love! I put all things in order and cleaned the house. I prepared lunch for him and then left for work. When I returned home in the evening, my father was waiting for me. I was trembling, however, I had decided to love him no matter what. He asked me to call my mother and my sister because he wanted to speak to them. I had a hard time in overcoming their resistance and in persuading them to come over, however, at last I succeeded. My father was shaken: he asked us to forgive all the bad things he had done and he promised that he would never go back to the other family. He also asked our permission to give support through a monthly quota to his children, who were born outside wedlock and were not guilty for the mistakes he had committed. Though our financial situation was not so good we immediately agreed, and ever since the situation at home has really changed: peace has returned to our family. R. B. – (Brasile)
