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May 30, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
This year saw important novelties in the Gen4 world. There were two major events for the Philippine Gen4. The first was in Cebu – a Philippine island surrounded by 167 smaller islands – where sixty-eight Gen4 gathered with Gen4 from other islands. The second was in Tagaytay near Manila, where the Focolare’s little town in Asia stands. Seventy-five Gen4 gathered together there for their conferences with Christian Heisendorff from the World Gen Center in Rome, Italy. There was great attention to the main topic: The Golden Thread of God’s Love in the Old Testament, from Abraham to Moses. And then the life of Chiara Lubich – from whom the Gen4 were also born – as a loving response to the will of God. A fascinating story: her “great adventure”, as Chiara herself described it to the Gen4 in 1988, when at the Holy House of Loreto she understood her calling. It was a luminous discovery for all the children present: Doing the will of God truly makes life an adventure! The games, skits, songs and, especially the modern and traditional dances – in this atmosphere of mutual love helped to create a beautiful atmosphere. The children no longer wanted to leave! 
The Gen4 came from families of diverse social backgrounds, some in very difficult situations – but we are truly a family and seeing their need urged our hearts to search for new ways to provide them with at least the necessities of life, through the adoption at a distance programme and other projects developed by the Focolare Movement. The words of the children: “I was happy during this congress. I learned many things. I learned to love.” “A child struck me. It hurt very much and I cried, but then the child apologized and so I accepted and forgave. I was no longer angry and we are already friends again.” “Jesus, thank you for letting me go to Tagaytay. Thank you also for the blessings you gave to us, for my new friends. Thank you for my family and friends. Thanks also for the girl who lent me her slippers. And even if the other one bothered me so much, I love her just the same. . .”. Gen4 Centre
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May 30, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
Economy for the Future. Seventeen youths from different parts of the world read their in their own languages, their message to the world, which they had written together – “From San Paolo to the World” – a real work plan.: “May the economy of 2031 be one of communion, for all of us”. It shows what they believe in, what the dare to hope for, but it is also the result of the journey they have already taken up together. The seventeen hundred attendees at the meeting “The Prophecy Makes History. Twenty Years For the Economy of Communion” listened with deep attention and interest to the convictions and requests made by the youths who have lost patience with the capitalistic reasonings. “We youths of San Paolo in May 2011, with our roots in May 1991, but more than ever responsible for the economy and the world in 2031, believe that the EoC came on earth in this Brazilian land twenty years ago, also to increase and make our hope come true.” Their openly-proclaimed ideality was the seal on the reflections of the experts and the testimonies of entrepreneurs that marked this meeting, which was the closing act of the assembly, with 650 participants from 37 countries during the previous four days. What a happy choice it was to hold this great appointment of the EoC in Brazil. The assembly took place within the framework of Mariapolis Ginetta, 50 kilometres south of San Paolo, precisely in the place where Chiara Lubich shared her intuitions for the first time, intuitions which grew and increased in her after having seen the sorrowful circle of favelas encircling the great skyscrapers of the great metropolises of San Paolo. Not less significant was the decision to link the gathering of 29 May in the Simon Bolivar Auditorium in the America Latina Memorial, a centre, which was the idea of the great architect Niemeyer. It is meant to favor closer relationships between the peoples of the continent, through art. The EoC has “the potential to change economic life from within, not only of the businesses, but also the families, the finance instituties, and economic politics,” pointed out Maria Voce, president of the Focolare, during her closing address. Remember to keep an underlying condition in mind: “The EoC will have new momentum if it sets its horizons on a united world and it will be able to move the hearts, actions, and enthusiasm of those who are drawn to bet their lives on great ideals.” Then she had no doubt that “a new season of creativity will come, one in which everyone of you will be a protagonist in this great appointment with history.
Luigino Bruni
Reversing the dominant formulation which puts the centre on capital, Bruni reminded everyone that “the primary and fundamental factor in any business or economy is the human person, and their creativity, their passion to make a difference.” Finally, “the EoC was born and is born each day from a charism: also for this reason there exists a profound link between the EoC and youths: the charisms and the youth have in common their hope, and their faith in the future, the great projects and ideals”. The new generations of the EoC are the precious fruit of these first twenty years, but also the guarantee for walking ahead with quick step into the future. Paolo Lòriga
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May 28, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
It is not situated in the main passageway used by the 650 people attending the Economy of Communion Assembly, but it is the most visited stand during work breaks. They sell women’s handbags, jackets, and women’s clothing. They are a mix of quality and modern design, with charming touches of originality, as is the source of raw materials: truck tarpaulins, scraps of leather, and old jeans – all environmentally friendly materials. But the striking thing about the business is the boys and girls, all of them minors except for a few who have recently become adults. They all come from difficult backgrounds. The product’s brand name “Dall Strada” (“From the Street”), is quite a good choice for the entrepreneurial project which opened in the Spartaco industrial park, five kilometres from Mariapolis Ginetta. Knowing the origins, it seems more like a challenge than a business production, but watching some ten young teenage boys and girls at work and hearing what motivates them, makes you understand the good results in production, which hold promise for the future of the business. The young workers come mostly from one of the poorest quarters, the Jardin Margaarida barrio, in Vargem Grande Paulista, 30 kilometres south of São Paolo. “This is more than a business. We help each other, because this is a group project, but tehre’s also a family atmosphere. We begin each day with the Word of Life which helps us to overcome the difficulties.” Divani is an eighteen year-old, who reached here after a year of professional training and a stay in the Northeast, in Recife, in the mother-business which began the Economy of Communion. 
Behind the business lies the meekness and determination of João Bosco Lima de Santana, an entrepreneur who went to Italy to specialize in producing handbags and then returned to the country to set up an acivity for profit. But something inside was urging him to do something greater. As a child, he had come to know the spirituality of the Focolare and was struck by the proposal of Chiara Lubich to “die for ones own people”. His life then went took another direction. But when he met Father Renato and his Home for Minors, which welcomes teens and children who live in the streets, it consolidated one of his desires: “To use my life and skills to provide youths with a profession.Work training is a form of development, and we’ve seen that living love for a great cause is capable of renewing things, ideas, and people who come from the streets.” From what he sees each day, João Bosco is able to credibly affirm that “here in the business, they are given the first place.” It is a paradox for entrepreneurial logic, but it bears fruit. A request arrived from the Ivory Coast to be trained in this production activity and to begin it there. And through the Youth for a United World, through the Equiverso Cooperative, handbags have begun to be imported in Italy. Tiny multi-nationals of the EoC are growing. By Paolo Lòriga
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May 27, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
The Hungarian leg of Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti’s Eastern European tour has brought them to the heart of a local community bursting with vitality. The first appointment on their busy schedule was a meeting with priests who know the Movement. Many of them are responsible for the diffusion of the Focolare in the area and their meeting with the president and co-president was a chance to share their countless experiences. Some told about their commitment to rebuild the Church; others about their service as parish priests, seminary directors and vicar generals; others about their role at university or diocesan levels or their simple, everyday relationships with people, building a sense of community and attracting young people and those without religious convictions. As well as concrete experiences they shared about the life of communion that sustains and nurtures everything. 
Next step: a meeting with the delegates of the various branches that make up the Focolare Movement in Hungary. The families spoke about their wide-ranging work with newly-wed and engaged couples, with divorced people and with families of all ages. The delegates of New Humanity- who coordinate the Focolare Movement’s work in the social arena- spoke about activities in the fields of economics, politics, health, education and sport. Lay people and priests told about renewal underway in parishes throughout the country’s 13 dioceses. The meeting was enriched by an open dialogue touching on many aspects. One of the concerns addressed was the balance between a local and universal dimension. “The ideal to fulfil Jesus’ last testament- ‘That all may be one’- was born in the small town of Trent and went on to assume a global dimension”, Maria Voce recalled, “This means that looking after smaller details is a school of love that opens our horizons. Opening our horizons to universal brotherhood does not mean, therefore, that we shouldn’t take care of the smaller details”. And later Voce underlined the other face of the coin: “We feel pushed to go beyond our boundaries. We can’t lose interest in the Movement’s big family spread throughout the world- let’s try to stayed linked with all means possible.” A Gen 2 girl asked a question about spiritual input, giving the president a chance to speak about one of the legacies that Chiara Lubich wished to leave her followers: “Leave the Gospel and only the Gospel to those who follow you”. All the other things are instruments that help us put that Gospel into practice and render it a concrete reality, Maria Voce explained but “the most important thing is to live the Word of God. We must always ask ourselves: ‘How Jesus would live?’”. 
Both during the meeting with the movement’s delegates and at the gathering the following day with the men and women focolarini who live in Hungary, questions arose about how to improve interpersonal relationships- an important subject for those who live a collective spirituality. An ever greater love became the leitmotif of the meetings: a love that demands our all; a love that’s free from perfectionism or the desire to reach a certain result; a love capable of going beyond differences between men and women, between big and small, between people with different roles; a love that generates, that puts your life at stake to the point of ‘allowing Jesus to live in you’. “I have been created as a gift for who is beside me and who is beside me has been created as a gift of God for me”, Chiara Lubich often repeated with conviction. Maria Voce underlined this to all present, reminding them of the model that always inspired Chiara: “The family of Nazareth or, even greater, the life of the Trinity”. This is the highest of relationships, the upmost love- a bold but inimitable model. From our correspondent Aurora Nicosia
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May 27, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
Streaming: http://live.focolare.org/EdC2011/ Flickr Photo Gallery
“Speak! Speak out loud! Have courage to speak about the Economy of Communion, even to the important economists of the world. Maybe they won’t give you credit right away, but since this project is tried and true, it will affirm itself in time.” The Archbishop of São Paulo, Cardinal Odilo Scherer couldn’t have expressed it in better terms to give encouragement to all participants of the International Assembly of the EoC, taking place in Mariapolis Ginetta, 50 kilometers outside the Brazilian metropolis. “I wanted to come here,” he confided to the 650 participants, representing 37 countries, “to get a feel for how this meeting is going, to see you all and to say something to motivate you and to encourage the work of this initiative.” He explained right away, saying, “Yours in an event that proposes something new for society. It isn’t new for you, because you’re involved in it, but for the wide public it is new.” one of the most listened to public figures in all of Latin America, and is increasingly recognized at a global level as well. He does not doubt the presence of a widespread question and the research underway. “Certainly, many people are interested in knowing what the expression ‘Economy of Communion’ means, what good it can bring to our times, for the economies of our countries, for our society, what it can say to help resolve the economic crisis that persists in many places.” 
He has no doubts about the foundation of the EoC. “I see that the EoC’s proposal is fully in line with what the Social Doctrine of the Church has been proposing for economy for some time.” He explains, “This proposal, elaborated at the beginning by the focolarini, gives a concrete experience that says that this is possible, that the issue of Social Doctrine of the Church is not utopian, not unfeasible, but can be translated into reality. That is why your experience, which is now present in many places, must be shared with society.” These are the considerations that led him to make his pre-emptory invitation: “Speak! Speak out loud!” The EoC certainly offers the possibility of a different way out of the world’s economic problems”, because “the economic system based on the binomial of socialism-capitalism will not bring about an economic solution, even more so if one considers population growth, diminishing natural resources, the development of scientific discoveries and technologies applied to production.” In fact, he commented that “If no new economic orientation emerges, one that is directed towards communion and solidarity, we – as Pope Benedict XVI warned in his encyclical ‘Caritas in Veritate’ – we’ll be walking decisively towards a disaster because the world does not offer goods in inexhaustible amounts. Wealth, if not shared, generates conflicts.” The core of his message seemed to be that, faced with a decidedly problematic picture, “the proposal of the Economy of Communion can certainly offer light for the economies of all the nations. This begins from something small, from the economy of families, from the economy of small local groups that, brought together, can truly give beginning to a great change. And that with the passing of time – maybe not in our time – it will bring a true transformation, even in the economy of the world.” In addition, the Cardinal recognizes that the EoC “is a proposal of the globalization of solidarity, as John Paul II called for many times and that the Church currently continues to call. The globalization of solidarity indicates a journey of solutions to problems, of the poverty of our time, and which also accounts for the environmental risks of an economy that does not consider the factor of solidarity or communion.” Referring to his eminent departure for Rome for a meeting of the Vatican’s Commission for New Evangelization, instituted recently, the Cardinal announced that he foresees in the EoC “a significantly suitable instrument for the new evangelization in the economic sphere.” The words of Cardinal Scherer, aside from instilling in the participants from all over the world a greater awareness of their task, also invested them with greater responsibility. “This is why I am very happy to greet you, to give stimulation, to encourage you. Keep going with much faith, with much hope in this journey, sharing these experiences throughout the world, until it can product an ever wider effect.” By correspondent Paolo Lòriga
May 27, 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
Chiara Lubich wrote in her diary:
“The “crown of thorns” is what Cardinal Arns (then Archbishop) of São Paulo calls the girdle of poverty and misery stretching around this city of skyscrapers. It is one of the main problems of the developing countries and one of the greatest problems of the world. Even though we feelwe can do very little about it, God, our Father can find an answer if we have faith in Him as his children. Nothing is impossible to God. This must be our hope and our prayer. The city of São Paulo, in 1900 was a small village. What was once a forest of trees has become a forest of skyscrapers. Wealth owned by a few can achieve such great things and at the same time continue to exploit others. Why is potential like this not used to resolve Brazil’s enormous problems? It’s because when brotherly love is missing, selfishness and calculation take over. We must apply ourselves until goodness re-asserts itself, as I hope – no, as I am sure, it will”. On May 29, 1991, at a meeting of 650 or so entrepreneurs, workers and youth from all over Brazil, at the little Focolare town of Araceli (since renamed Ginetta) Chiara launched an idea which had begun to take shape in her mind. “We should see businesses starting up here whose profits would be freely shared with the same aim as the early Christian communities. Above all to help those in need, creating jobs and ensuring that no-one is left in poverty. Some of the profits could be used to develop the businesses as well as the infrastructure of the little town which has the task of helping to shape a new way of thinking, ‘new men and women’. Unless there is a new way of thinking, there will be no new society! We should involve as many people as possible as shareholders no matter how small the investment. Young people should organize activities to raise capital and become shareholders in this venture to build an industrial park here. Here in Brazil with this great wound of division between rich and poor, a small town like this with an industrial dimension, would be a beacon of light, of hope”.
