“The charism of unity is one of these graces for our time, which experiences an epoch change and invokes a simple and radical spiritual and pastoral reform, to restore the Church to the ever-new and current wellspring of Jesus’ Gospel.”[1]
[1]29th January 2020, Message of the Holy Father Francis for the opening of the international conference “A charism at the service of the Church and humanity” on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the servant of God Chiara Lubich
This sentence of Pope Francis appears on the web site of the “Mariapolis Ginetta“, the most developed of the three little towns of the Focolare in Brazil. It highlights the recent years’ focus: a journey towards organizational change to better witness to everyday fraternity and to meet the needs and questions of visitors and the surrounding environment.
This has taken shape through the initiation of an updating processand a more participatory and less centralized management of the different realities within it. Today, each part has its own council or management committee, composed of Mariapolis residents and professionals, working in synergy with the town council. “Co-responsibility” is a key word at Mariapolis Ginetta, alongside a forward-looking approach and the ongoing quest to update the town’s mission: “to welcome, educate, testify, and radiate.”
In 2022 Mariapolis Ginetta celebrated its 50th anniversary, having grown from the first group of Focolarine who came to a small house without electricity or gas, today it has a total of 454 inhabitants living on its grounds and nearby.
Over the years, tens of thousands of people have visited including families, priests, religious and occasional visitors. Many young people have spent time there learning to live fraternity in everyday life or to discern their way to follow God in the Focolare Movement.
The Mariapolis Ginetta is part of the municipality of Vargem Grande Paulista that is just an hour from the bustling megalopolis of São Paulo and the change of scene when you arrive is dramatic: greenery, houses, no skyscrapers, parks and playgrounds for children; the atmosphere of a small town, compared to a metropolis is the added value of this place. In recent years, fourteen families have moved from different cities to raise their children. A very young couple with three children say, “We moved from Sao Paulo 6 years ago to this place where people treat one another with love, where there is room to live a balanced, and person centred lifestyle”. This, together with a school for young people that started eight years ago, is signs of a renewed social vitality of the little town.
Co-responsibility and participatory management
Iris Perguer and Ronaldo Marques, co-managers of Mariapolis Ginetta explain, “Today in the little town there are many of the elements of urban coexistence, there are houses, a town centre represented by the Mariapolis Centre and the church dedicated to “Jesus Eucharist”, the publishing house “Editrice Cidade Nova”, an audio-visual centre, medical clinics, various workshops, the well-known bakery and cafeteria “Espiga Dourada”, social projects at the service of the most disadvantaged population, the “Polo Spartaco”, a commercial and manufacturing area where companies operate according to the principles of the Economy of Communion, the Brazilian section of the “Sophia ALC “University Institute (Latin America and the Caribbean)”.
Margaret Karram commented, “This new mode of participatory management that you are implementingis an extraordinary opportunity to open the little town to others who want to help build it, to learn about and to have an experience of unity. I must say that after attending the Genfest a great hope was born in my heart; I had the strong impression that in these days God has knocked again on the door of Brazil, asking for a response to and support for what began for the young people there. This little town, together with Mariapolis Gloria and Mariapolis Santa Maria, now has a new opportunity and responsibility to understand how to respond; to offer a witness of evangelical life lived in a social community.” ”.
The second generation of the “Polo Spartaco” Business Park
Mariza Preto told us that the Entrepreneurial Hub has also embarked on a courageous path of development and openness.
““In 2016, a debt accumulated over the years due to unpaid bills, clearly indicated that the economic sustainability of the Park was at risk. The entrepreneurs lacked motivation and were worried because there didn’t seem to be anyone interested in starting a new business. These have been difficult years, in which many things have been attempted, including building relationships with local entrepreneurs that has led to the common events and moments of dialogue and encounter. But the turning point came in 2019 when, during an exhibition we organised at the Park, most of the exhibitors were external to our reality. In that period “Espri”, our management company, had many vacant warehouses and a growing financial fragility. It was then that the Council decided to admit companies and entrepreneurs who were not involved in the Economy of Communion but who wanted to act according to its principles. Thus, a “rebirth” took place: every company that wishes to come today undergoes a process of induction about the business life that we live here and adheres to the lines of management of an Economy of Communion company “. ”.
Thirty years after its foundation, Polo Spartaco now consists of 9 buildings housing 10 companies with a total of 90 employees.
Jésus Morán said, “The economy of communion is alive here. In addition to the charismatic aspect, you can see that of manufacturing and a generational turnover of entrepreneurs is underway. All this tells us that we have entered a new phase in which the prophecy of Chiara Lubich is alive. We thank all the pioneers, those who started and believed in it and allowed us to reach this point”. ”.
SMFocolari
It is through the SMF, “Sociedade Movimento dos Focolari” that the little town engages in various social works in the area. SMF promotes community building, access to rights and protection guarantees, especially for children, youth and women in situations of social vulnerability. The three Social Assistance Projects, in which the inhabitants of Mariapolis Ginetta are involved, operate in the field of prevention for young people in vulnerable conditions, providing support networks for their families and welcoming homeless people. This is a drop in the ocean of the need for dignity, work and justice of many people and as Sérgio Previdi, vice president of SMF explained “It is just one piece of the cultural project based on fraternity that we want to develop in our area and in our town”.
Stefania Tanesini
[1]29th January 2020, Message of the Holy Father Francis for the opening of the international conference “A charism at the service of the Church and humanity” on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the servant of God Chiara Lubich
Video in Italian. Activate subtitles for other languages
The whole Genfest experience – from ‘Phase 1’ to ‘Phase 3’ – is a tangible witness that you young people believe in, and indeed you are already working, to build a united world. These were days of extraordinary graces for all of us; we put ”care” into practice in various ways: – in Phase 1, through service to the poor, the marginalised, those who suffer most, and we have done this by living reciprocity, the typical way of living communion of the charism of the Focolare Movement; – in Phase 2, in sharing life, experiences and cultural riches; – and then, in Phase 3, we have experienced the extraordinary generativity of communities, which are also an intergenerational space for formation and projects.
Someone told me about the creativity that each community has developed and the interesting workshops in which you have participated (which you just told me about).
“From Genfest I take my community home with me,” one of you said, “it is something practical that continues. A chance to live the Genfest experience on a daily basis’.
You felt that you were protagonists in the construction of these communities, and you want to continue to “generate” ideas and projects. It has given me joy to know that some of you have said that you have rediscovered the meaning of your profession, and that you now want to live it in the name of a united world.
We have walked together during these days, with a style that Pope Francis would call ‘synodal’ and not only among you, young people, but with adults; with people from other movements and communities; with people from different Churches and Religions and people who do not identify with a religious belief. This network greatly enriched the Genfest!
The presence of some bishops who experienced Genfest together with us was also very beautiful.
Now Genfest does not end! But it continues in the United World Communities where we will remain connected both globally and locally
I am sure that when you arrive in your countries and cities, you will understand where you would like to get involved, according to your interests and your studies or your professions: in economics, intercultural dialogue, peace, health, in politics etc.
In these days you have had the experience of living these “communities” in “unity”; a reality that will continue. This will be your training ground in which you will learn and you will train to live fraternity.
When I was your age, I was very struck by an invitation Chiara Lubich made to everyone:
“If we are one, many will be one and the world will one day be able to see unity. And so? Establish cells of unity everywhere” (1) – perhaps Chiara, if she were alive today, would call these cells of unity, “United world communities” – she invited us to concentrate all our efforts in this.
That is why now, I would like to ask you something important: please, please do not miss this unique opportunity, it’s a unique opportunity that we have lived here. God has knocked on the door of the heart of each one of us, and is now calling you all to be protagonists and bearers of unity in the various spheres in which you are engaged.
Yesterday as I was leaving, someone stopped me, one of you who was here in the hall, and said I have to tell you something, please can I tell you something important. She said it was the first time she had participated in a Genfest and she didn’t know the Focolare Movement, and she said: “I want to tell you, you should do much more because this movement isn’t well known, you should do more but not as you have been doing up to now, you need to do more because this Movement, this idea of fraternity, needs to be known by many more young people.” So I asked her if she could help us and she wants to commit herself. But now I hope that all of us are committing ourselves to doing this.
Of course, as you heard before, it will not all be easy and we cannot deceive ourselves that difficulties will not come… but in this Genfest you yourselves have announced: ‘a God who is different, abandoned on the cross, you have said abandoned on the cross, all divine and all human, asking questions without answers’ and for this, a God who is close to all of us. It will be by embracing every suffering, our own or that of others, that we will find the strength to continue on this path.
So let us go forward together with a new hope, convinced more than ever that a path has now been mapped out.
And, something beautiful that the Chinese writer, Yutang Lin, says: “Hope is like a road through a field; there has never been a road, but when many people walk there, the road comes into existence”. I think that in this Genfest, this road has begun to exist, So, let’s walk, and this road will be there in front of us.
So I greet everyone, have a wonderful time to those of you who will be attending the post-Genfest and safe travels to those returning home!
Ciao to everyone.
Margaret Karram
(1) Chiara Lubich, Conversazioni in collegamento telefonico, Città Nuova, 2019, p. 64.
Twenty-three organisations – Catholic communities and institutes – spread out across Across 112 hectares of land, have chosen to live an experience of communion between charisms. This experience in Fortaleza (Brazil) has been known for 24 years as Condominio Espiritual Uirapuru (Spiritual Condominium Uirapuru) or CEU, an acronym which means ‘heaven’ in Portuguese.
Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán, President and Co-President of the Focolare Movement, stopped off at Fortaleza during their trip to Brazil to meet the Focolare communities. There they were able to take part in various meetings with different charismatic realities in the Church. At the CEU they met leaders of other communities, including Nelson Giovanelli and Brother Hans from the Fazenda da Esperança, Moysés Azevedo from the Shalom Community and Daniela Martucci from Nuovi Orizzonti.
Through the organisations that form the CEU, it carries out various activities to support and protect the individual, from vulnerable children who have suffered abuse and sexual exploitation to young people and adults living on the streets or suffering from addictions. The union of the charisms present is an expression of the love that makes it possible to develop activities to restore and enhance human dignity, particularly for those who are most in need.
‘The CEU is the realisation of a dream that Chiara Lubich promised Pope John Paul II in 1998, to work for the unity of Movements and the new communities,’ said Nelson Giovanelli, founder of the Fazenda da Esperança and newly elected president of the condominium. The charism of unity, spread by Chiara Lubich, is the inspiration for fulfilling the mission for the different communities present. Jesús Morán added: ‘If there is one place where an experience of the Church can be understood, it is here at the CEU. This is the Church – many charisms, both large and small, all walking together to make the Kingdom of God a reality”.
There are 230 people who live in the CEU, including children and adolescents, young people and adults in recovery, and over 500 volunteers. Last weekend, the Obra Lumen community organised a meeting entitled ‘Com Deus Tem Jeito’ (With God there is a way), which has taken 250 drug addicts off the streets and sent them for therapeutic treatment in various partner communities, such as the Fazenda da Esperança. The area also provides a stage for cultural activities aimed at social reintegration through art, such as the Halleluya Festival of the Shalom Community, which brings together more than 400,000 people each year.
The Genfest, an event organised by the young people of the Focolare Movement, is also currently taking place in Brazil. ‘Together to Care’ is the motto for the Genfest which comprises an international event in Brazil and over 40 local Genfests in various countries around the world. Each one will begin with an initial phase in which the young people will be able to have an experience of volunteering in and solidarity with various social initiatives, including the CEU. Between 12 and 18 July, a group of 60 young people participating in the GenFest were able to get to know the different communities and get involved with different activities. ‘All these communities are already involved with caring for marginalised and vulnerable people. Our proposal was to join them, as a bond of unity. The more we gave of ourselves, the more we were open to others, the more we discovered our essence, who we were,’ said Pedro Ícaro, a GenFest participant who stayed at the CEU for four months with young people from different countries.
‘When this communion of charisms inflames the hearts of our young people, they will be able to transform the world. This is the aim of the events we organise at the CEU, like GenFest,’ said Moysés Azevedo, founder of the Shalom Community.
The third phase of Genfest 2024, held in Aparecida, Brazil, included workshops organized by so-called United World Communities – meeting places where young people can share their talents and passions. These communities offer the opportunity to discover talented people, concrete forms of commitment and initiate actions and projects aimed at building a more united world, which seek to respond to the local and global challenges of today’s world; to activate processes of personal and collective change; and to grow fraternity and reciprocity in all dimensions of human life. An important feature of these communitites is that they are the fruits of work between people of different generations.
Continuing the experiences of the previous phases of Genfest, in this third phase the youth were able to participate in workshops in different areas, whose methodology was based on fraternity and dialogue, as a proof for projects and actions that can now be developed in the “glocal” sphere (local projects with a global perspective). Activities were held in the areas of economics and work, cross-culture and dialogue, spirituality and human rights, health and ecology, art and social engagement, education and research, communication and media, and active citizenship and politics. The teams responsible for running the workshops were composed of young people and professionals who worked intensively for months to organize these activities.
From now on, Communities will have a working method that consists of three steps: Learning, Acting, and Sharing. The first (to Learn) is an in-depth exploration and analysis of the most current themes and issues in each community, with the goal of identifying problems and presenting solutions. The next phase (Take Action) is the implementation of actions with primarily local impact, but with a global perspective. Finally, in the third phase (Sharing), it is proposed that the community promote spaces for ongoing exchange and dialogue between initiatives, with the aim of strengthening the global collaboration network. An application-the United World Communities WebApp, -has been created as a tool for sharing ideas, experiences and news, as well as promoting collaborative projects.
“God has visited everyone’s heart.”
Al termine della terza fase del Genfest, le Communities hanno presentato in modo creativo le loro impressioni e alcuni dei risultati delle attività svolte nei giorni precedenti. Da questo lavoro è nato il documento “The United World Community: One Family, One Common Home”, che sarà il contributo dei partecipanti del Genfest 2024 al “Summit of the Future” delle Nazioni Unite del prossimo settembre. Secondo i giovani che hanno presentato il testo, esso non è un documento conclusivo, ma vuole essere un “programma di vita e di lavoro” per le varie United World Communities, oltre che una testimonianza da presentare al “Summit of the Future”.
“With our communities we don’t want to make demands, formulate slogans or complain about political leaders,” the young people said. “Instead, we seek to name our common dreams, dreams of a united world. Personal and communal dreams, which will guide us in our activities in the coming years.” They concluded, “We hope that by living them, ‘together’ and step by step, they will become signs of hope for others.”
Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán, President and Co-President of the Focolare Movement, also spoke at the conclusion of Genfest 2024. Jesús Morán said that although the experience of care has been the most lived experience in human history, it is not the one that has been reflected on the most.
This has begun to change, as was demonstrated at the Genfest, in which care emerged as a response to the need for human dignity. In this sense, he concluded, it is important that young people remain connected to this global network of generative communities. Margaret Karram, for her part, said she has seen throughout the Genfest experience that young people have given tangible witness to their faith and are already in action to build a united world. Regarding Phase 3 in particular, she emphasized the richness of this experience because of its creativity, intergenerational and intercultural imprint, and the fact that, through the communities, there is a concrete possibility of living the same Genfest experience in one’s daily life. She concluded by calling on the young people to be the protagonists of these communities, the foundation of which is unity. “Please do not miss this unique opportunity that we are experiencing here: God has visited the heart of each of us and is now calling everyone to be protagonists and bearers of unity in the various areas in which they are involved”.
On a sunny day in June 2024, more than 400 guests from all over the world came to Montet, Switzerland, to greet the multicolored and international Focolare community. The Movement’s formation center will indeed be closed and the community will focus its efforts on other formation centers. During the second half of the year 2024, most residents will leave the small town in French-speaking Switzerland to join other communities.
The people in charge of the “Mariapolis Foco,” as this citadel is called, Maria Regina Piazza and Markus Näf explained the path that led to this step: “To understand this decision, one has to look at the path that the Focolare Movement has made considering the decline in vocations to consecrated life and the challenges of today’s society around the world.” It is about “redistributing forces and reducing structures to promote proximity to people where it is most needed.”
Markus Näf – Maria Regina PiazzaMargaret Karram – Jesús Morán – Celine RuffieuxIon Sauca
Guests in attendance from the worlds of politics, society and churches emphasized how much the citadel has shaped and positively influenced the surrounding area: peace, a sense of community, a spirit of unity and fraternity were spread, and a testimony of mutual love was given. In total, nearly 3,800 people lived here over the course of 43 years, most of them teenagers and young adults.
In a greeting statement, the Secretary General of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, expressed gratitude for the rich ecumenical experiences shared and lived together during the students’ annual visits to Geneva and emphasized that “the real legacy of the Montet Center is not its physical structure, but rather the fellowship, relationships, and Gospel values promoted.”
Cédric Péclard, longtime mayor of Les Montets, to whose municipality the village of Montet belongs, greatly regretted this closure. However, he was pleased that the “ Cube of Peace” from the Focolare Center park was donated to the municipality. This interactive sculpture embodies and conveys values that are important to the Focolare Movement and in fact originated in the village: a group of focolarine had created it to work with children during their stay in Montet, then “the cube” spread around the world. A large mobile model of it can be found today in a playground in the center of Les Montets.
Dr. Vasile-Octavian Mihoc
In her speech, Focolare President Margaret Karram, who was present together with Co-President Jesús Morán in Montet, did not hide how painful it was for the international community to close this center. “We feel very clearly that we must look to humanity that awaits the gift of peace, of unity, and that we must be able to grasp, even through circumstances, God’s desire for us and for our activities and structures.” The decision to close the Focolare Citadel in Montet was not taken lightly. “It is like witnessing the pruning of a tree that has borne so much good fruit for many years,” she said. “But we know that nothing happens by chance, but Divine Providence is always behind everything.” And she encouraged everyone – guests and residents – to take the experience gained in Montet to the world: “Many of you will be destined for other cities, other countries, other communities or you will return to your own country and you will take wherever you go the valuable experience that you have had here, and that therefore, will not only continue but will bring you an even greater dimension of love that will amaze you because it will be new.”
The future involves the sale of the 5-hectare estate. A committee headed by Hugo Fasel, former director of Caritas Switzerland, will oversee the sale and ensure that the future use of the property is in line with the values of the Focolare Movement.
Juruti, in the State of Parà, is reached after seven hours by motorboat, the fastest means of transport, from Santarém. Its inhabitants say proudly that this area is the heart of the lower Brazilian Amazon, where the only connecting “road” is the Amazon River, the “river-sea”, as the local people call it. It is the first river in the world in terms of volume of water and the second by length. It marks time, social life, trade and the relationships between the approximately 23 million inhabitants of this vast region, where 55.9% of the Brazil’s indigenous population lives. It is one of the most precious ecosystems on the planet and yet political and economic interests are the cause of conflicts and violence that continue to multiply daily. Here the disruptive beauty of nature is directly proportional to the problems of quality of life and survival.
Care, the key word for the Amazon
Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán, President and Co-President of the Focolare, Bernadette Ngabo and Ángel Bartol of the Movement’s International Centre and Marvia Vieira and Aurélio Martins de Oliveira Júnior, national co-directors of the Movement came to meet and spend a few days with the Focolare communities of the region. They were welcomed by Msgr. Bernardo Bahlmann O.F.M., Bishop of Óbidos. He said, “Observing and listening is the first thing we can learn in the Amazon”.
He spoke of the differentiated culture of this land, where indigenous characteristics coexist with aspects of the Western world. Social coexistence presents many challenges: poverty, lack of respect for human rights, exploitation of women and destruction of the forest heritage. He said, “All this is a question of rethinking what it means to take care of the riches of this land, of its original traditions, of creation, of the uniqueness of each person, to find, together, a new path towards a more integrated culture”.
Santarém, where the Church is secular
Msgr. Ireneu Roman, Bishop of the Archdiocese of Santarém continued the commentary, saying that this would be, “An impossible task without the involvement of the laity. They are the true strength of the Amazon Church”. There are about a thousand catechists in its parish communities. They support Christian formation, the liturgy of the Word and social projects. Msgr. Roman asked the Focolare community in the Amazon to bring its specific contribution: “unity in ecclesial structures and in society, because what this land needs most is to relearn communion”.
The presence of the Focolare and the Amazon Project
The first men’s’ community of the Focolare arrived in Óbidos in 2020 at the request of Msgr. Bahlmann and six months ago a women’s’ one opened in Juruti. Today in the Amazon there are seven focolarini, including a doctor, two priests, a psychologist and an economist.
Marvia Vieira and Aurélio Martins de Oliveira Júnior explained, “We are in the Amazon to support the great missionary work that the Church carries out with indigenous peoples. In 2003, one of the guidelines of the Brazilian Bishops’ Conference was to increase the presence of the Church in the Amazon region, because the vastness of the territory and the lack of priests made it difficult to provide adequate spiritual and human assistance.”
Thus, 20 years ago, the “Amazon Project” was born where members of the Focolare Movement from all over Brazil went for a period to places chosen in agreement with the Dioceses, to carry out evangelization actions, training courses for families, young people, adolescents and children, medical and psychological visits, dental care and more.
Edson Gallego, a focolarino priest of Óbidos and the parish priest told us, “Perhaps we will not be able to solve the many problems of these people but we can be close to them, share joys and sorrows. This is what we have been trying to do since we arrived, in communion with the different ecclesial realities of the city.”
The women focolarine explained that it is not always easy to change one’s mental categories: “We often delude ourselves to give answers, but it is we who come out enriched by every encounter, by the strong presence of God that emerges everywhere: in nature, but above all in people”.
Building up people and society
In Juruti the focolarine collaborate with the agencies of the Church that work for development. The “Bom Pastor” “casulo” is one of the 24 kindergartens in the city, which follows a specific pedagogical line that educates children to be aware of their own culture and traditions, to have a sense of community and to be aware of themselves and of others. This is an important choice for an integral and person centred education. The “9 de Abril na Providência de Deus” Hospital is managed by the “São Francisco de Assis na Provincia de Deus” Fraternity. It serves the population of the city (approximately 51,000 inhabitants), nearby towns and river communities, focussing on those who cannot afford to pay for care. The Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on the other hand, animate the “Mother Clelia” Coexistence Centre where they welcome a hundred young people annually, creating alternatives for professional training and contributing to personal development, in particular of young people at risk.
The Focolare community has also been working in synergy with parishes and ecclesial organizations for years. When Margaret Karram met it and other communities from around, she thanked the people for their generosity, evangelical concreteness and welcome: “You have reinforced in all of us the sense of being one world family and even if we live far apart, we are united by the same gift and mission: to bring fraternity where we live and throughout the world”.
Promoting human dignity
A one hour boat trip from Óbidos, through a network of canals that wind through the Amazon forest brings you to the Quilombo Pauxi Mocambo, an indigenous community of a thousand Afro-descendants. It is linked to Edson’s parish. He tries to go at least once a month to celebrate Mass and, together with the focolarini, share, listen and play with the children. The community is made up of about a thousand people who, although immersed in a paradisiacal nature, live in particularly disadvantaged conditions. Isolation, struggle for survival, violence, lack of equal rights, access to education and basic medical care, are the daily challenges these river communities face. Here too, for two years, the diocese of Óbidos has been running a project entitled, “Força para as mulheres e crianças da Amazônia”. It is aimed at women and children and promotes an integral formation of the person in the spiritual, health, educational, psychological, and economic sustenance fields. A young mother proudly recounted her progress in the home economics course: “I learned a lot and discovered that I have skills and ideas”.
Certainly it is a drop in the great sea of the needs of these peoples. Jesús Morán said, “It is true that alone, we will never solve the many social problems. Our mission, also here in the Amazon, is to change hearts and bring unity in the Church and in society. What we do makes sense if people focus their lives on the good. And that’s the real change.”
Listening to the focolarini in the Amazon highlights the fact that welcoming, sharing and learning is the “evangelical dynamic” that emerges, where each and every one feels personally called by God to be his instrument to “listen to the cry of the Amazon” (47-52), as Pope Francis wrote in his extraordinary post-synodal exhortation Querida Amazonia and to contribute to the growth of a “culture of encounter towards a ‘multifaceted harmony’” (61).
