28 Dec 2019 | Non categorizzato
A non-profit organization that has been operating in the Italian capital for thirteen years. It collects surplus or unsold food, prepares 250 meals a day for the poor and, simultaneously, works to promote social inclusion. 
Over-buying food and consequent wastage are modern-day plagues that affect society in many parts of the world. However, there are also people who, silently, collect food that would otherwise be thrown away and give it to people who are most in need. They do so not only to offer immediate help to people who are hungry but also as a practical means of accompanying people as they rebuild their lives. This is what RomaAmor does. This is a non-profit organization that was founded by Dino Impagliazzo in Rome in response to the invitation of Chiara Lubich, who in 2000, receiving the honorary citizenship of the city, asked others to cooperate in bringing a “revolution of love” to the capital. For 13 years RomaAmor has been offering 250 meals a day to the homeless people around the Tuscolana and Ostiense railway stations and in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. Dino is now 90 years old: serving others still fills him with joy. “There are sometimes many difficulties in helping others,” he explains, “you have to make sacrifices but then you feel a great joy for having done something worthwhile. Christ taught us that the essence of Christianity is to love God and our neighbour, and Chiara Lubich invites us to live for universal brotherhood: this is the foundation of our service to the poor.” Dino received the International Carthage Award in 2018 for his longstanding service to the community because “his work increases public awareness and provides formation thus contributing to the ethical dimension of the city.” The project also “provides valid alternatives to the value attributed to people and material goods.” The following is taken from an interview with Dino. How did RomaAmor begin? It began almost by chance. I started on my own by preparing a sandwich for a poor person I used to meet at the station, and gradually I thought of involving as many people as possible in doing something similar – my wife, people living in my block of flats or from my neighbourhood. We have always regarded our neighbours as our brothers and sisters irrespective of whether they were poor, healthy or sick or in trouble. We try to treat them as members of our family For Food Day 2019, the Pope stressed the need for a return to sobriety in lifestyle and he spoke about the importance of cultivating healthy relationships with ourselves, our brothers and sisters and the whole of the created world… It’s essential that we make this choice. You cannot reason in any other way if you are a Christian and know that each person is your brother or sister because Jesus has told you this very clearly: as a consequence, you live not only for yourself but in relation to others. You cannot think in any other way if know that among us there are people who are healthy and well placed and others who are sick and struggling. You must always be ready to help and do so with joy. The “culture of waste” tends to dominate our society; you choose to serve the poor and needy and so you are going against the tide of public opinion… This aspect of what we do is important, but we don’t just collect the food on its date of expiry, cook it and bring it to people in need. We also try to create relationships with them. That way we do more than just feed them. We try to adapt the meals to the people we help: children, the elderly, women, the sick have different needs, and for our Muslim guests we prepare meals without using pork. Our goal is also to promote inclusion: I invite volunteers to try to establish a close relationship with at least some of these people. When they offer the meal, I ask them to bring two trays, one for the person in need and one for themselves so they can sit down and eat together. Is the group important? It’s fundamental, we do everything as a team – decide the menu, cook and share tasks. One of us looks to see if there are sick people, someone else is busy in maintaining the link with the local authorities and we encourage one another. We spend a lot of time together: we start cooking in the afternoon, we finish at eight o’clock in the evening and then we go out for two hours. We share everything, both the joys and the difficulties. Have any of the people you have helped become volunteers? They certainly have! One third of the volunteers are foreigners who are living in reception centres and are waiting to be recognised as political refugees. Some of them are referred to us by social services. There are also the seminarians sent by the dioceses. We are from different backgrounds but all work for the same purpose. What attracts young people to RomaAmor? There are lots of young people who are volunteers – in fact, the number increases steadily. They come and are so happy that next time they bring their friends.
26 Dec 2019 | Non categorizzato
Partnership agreement signed between FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and New Humanity, the international NGO of the Focolare Movement. Objective: to continue to work together to defeat world hunger by 2030.
©FAO/Giulio Napolitano.
Stefania Tanesini
23 Dec 2019 | Non categorizzato
A Christmas greeting from Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement Christmas is, for all of us who celebrate it every year, a long-awaited moment, full of emotion, joy and relationships. But in the midst of such a joyful and happy Christmas atmosphere, we often forget that this feast day is rooted in a mysterious event, I would say an almost scandalous event: the scandal of a God who lowers himself and becomes human; the scandal of the Almighty who becomes a weak child; of the Unlimited One who enters the limits of human flesh. God does not do this only out of solidarity, to be close to us and to share our existence. He enters our human condition to show us, through our own language, gestures and emotions, his own life, the life of God: a life capable of repairing rifts, healing wounds and rebuilding relationships. God did this 2,000 years ago and wants to do it again today. In a month, January 22nd 2020 marks the centenary of the birth of Chiara Lubich, the founder of our Focolare Movement. On this occasion I cannot help but remember the core of her message, of her spirituality of unity: the discovery that Jesus can be born today too, where two or more people love each other “with the love of service, understanding, and sharing in the sufferings, burdens, anxieties, and joys of our brothers and sisters; with the love that covers everything, that forgives everything, typical of Christianity”. Hence we resolve to make all our relationships become the crib, the cradle that welcomes Jesus in our midst, who wants to rebuild our fragmented world today. My wish for Christmas is that this celebration will bring deep joy to all, in the commitment to train ourselves every day to attract, through mutual love, the presence of Jesus among us, thus allowing him to transform the world.
22 Dec 2019 | Non categorizzato
A top figure in Thai Theravada Buddhism, the Venerable Ajahn Thong died on 13 December at the age of 96. Together with Chiara Lubich, they experienced the highest level of Buddhist-Christian dialogue. Midway through the 1990s, Phramaha Thongratana, a Thai Buddhist monk, had the opportunity to meet John Paul II and get to know the Focolare Movement and Chiara Lubich. He became known in Catholic circles as Luce Ardente. Thanks to him, the great master Ajahn Thong spent some time at the Focolare’s little city of Loppiano together with his young follower. After the early meetings that they had with Focolare’s founder, there was great hope for further dialogue between Buddhism and Christianity in Thailand, which, in the monks words, needed to be accomplished “gently, with exquisite compassion, with much love and caring for it with our hearts.” To this he added a fundamental consideration for dialogue: “These two terms – Buddhism and Christianity – are only two words … it is the good and love that unites all people of every race, religion and language, and helps everyone to meet and coexist together.” From that moment his commitment was decided and at times astonishing even: “As long as I breathe and live, I will try to build true and beautiful relationships with everyone in the world.” Chiara Lubich confirmed these sentiments with an invitation and a prediction: “Let’s continue to prepare the way, living according to the light we have received, and many will follow.” With this background the elderly, venerable monk Ajahn Thong arrived at Loppiano, where he stayed at the Claritas spirituality centre, which regularly welcomes those from religious orders of various congregations, who come for an experience of communion between charisms. Two Theravada monks together with Franciscans, Salesians, Jesuits, Dominicans and others: it was prophetic. Venerable Phra Phrom Mongkol was deeply touched by the welcome he received and, meeting Chiara, he commented, “The fact that you invited Buddhist monks to come here to be among your people is something so beautiful.” This was not just simple formality or politeness, although those are characteristic of the Thai people. These were the early steps of a profound spiritual experience, which the monks were already quite aware of. Chiara’s expectation of that first meeting was one of an attitude of listening aimed at learning, not teaching. “I am happy with this visit in order to learn something beautiful.” she said. “What is the heart of your teaching?” From that point, an unforeseen path unfolded. At the start of 1997, in fact, the Catholic leader was invited to Thailand by these top figures of Buddhist monasticism. It was not to be just a courtesy visit. Chiara was invited to address and share her Christian experience with various groups of monks, nuns and lay Buddhists, both in Bangkok and above all in Chiang Mai. It was there, at the Wat Rampoeng Temple, that the great master introduced her with these remarkable words: “All of you, my followers, might ask yourselves why this mother, who is a woman, was invited. I would like you monks and seminarians to forget this question and not think of her as a woman. Those who are wise and able to point to the correct path for our lives, whether woman or man, are worthy of respect. It’s like when we are in the dark: if there is someone who comes to bring us a lamp to guide us, we are grateful, and it doesn’t matter to us whether that person who came to bring us light is a woman or man, a child or adult.” These few words seem to be a condensed version of the great wisdom of this capable man, together with others, who was able to walk the way of dialogue fearlessly, bringing others along with him on this prophetic experience. Lubich herself, touched by this sensitivity and openness, noticed a higher presence in this relationship and turned to the great master with words that feel like a prophecy: “Let’s continue to prepare the way, living according to the light we have received, and many will follow.” And so it was. For 25 years this dialogue has continued and developed. Even in death, there was something in common between this ancient monk from the thousand-year-old Theravada tradition with a Catholic woman who recently founded a movement in the Church. On 7 December, in fact, the celebrations for the centenary of the birth of Chiara Lubich opened in Trento, including an interfaith event on 7 June 2020.The venerable great master had expressed his desire to attend. Theirs is a friendship now destined to continue in eternity.
Roberto Catalano (Co-director for Focolare Interreligious Dialogue)
A conversation with the Great Teacher Ajahn Thong a service of the Collegamento CH of 13 February 2016 https://vimeo.com/155543298
20 Dec 2019 | Non categorizzato
During the past 15 years, the Focolare Centre “Nueva Vida” has carried out a very important social action, that supports young people and their families in an area on the outskirts of Montevideo,Uruguay. Luis Mayobre, director of this centre has been interviewed about this activity. “The youth are the driving force of ‘Nueva Vida’. This social action challenges and stimulates us not to lose sight of what is most important: mutual love, which we want as the only law for our centre”. Luis Mayobre said these words at the beginning of the interview. He has been the director of Nueva Vida almost since it was started in 2004, when the Archbishop of Montevideo asked the Focolare Movement to continue a social activity started by a religious woman in one of the suburban districts of the Uruguayan capital. This is how Nueva Vida began. Its objectives are inscribed in its name: it wants to instil hope of a new beginning in all those who go to the centre, which forms part of the CO.DE.SO Association (Communion for Social Development established by the Focolari) and collaborates with the INAU, the institute for children and adolescents, a public entity that manages policies for Uruguayan children and adolescents. Mayobre related: “Violence marked the year 2018 and the inhabitants of Barrio Borro lived in anguish and fear. Their life was at risk due to clashes between two families of rival drug traffickers. Shootings took place day and night, and educators and staff at Nueva Vida, together with the rest of the people, had to face this terrible situation. As families were seeking for shelter, the number of people at our centre almost doubled itself. Many were robbed and their poor homes were occupied by drug traffickers”. How did you manage to cope with such a hostile situation? “We reported the situation to the Minister of Internal Affairs, but we had to wait for a reply, which took quite some time to arrive. So we offered shelter and support to some of these families. Later we obtained state services for them and they were given new homes. One of these families – two of their children participate in our youth centre activities – was being threatened with death. Our coordinator contacted another daughter of this family to ask for help, even though she knew there were family problems between the daughter and her parents. Luckily things turned out well; the daughter provided her parents with a piece of land where a new, more dignified and safe house could be built. I also remember a case of family violence. When our team came to know about the situation, the intervention of the local authorities was sought to safeguard the children and their mother. Regardless of threats and insults, we carried on with our work to help the family regain its peace and security”. Who are the ones that come to the Centre and what services do you offer? “Our three projects are: the CAIF, the Children’s Club and the Youth Centre. Living in an atmosphere of violence made us decide to be builders of peace, hope and, above all, joy, so as to overcome hatred and fear. We have tried to create a pleasant environment where 48 children between the ages of 2 and 3 years and 60 younger ones – from 0 to 2 years – participate in various workshops with their mothers. We also organize educational excursions to create spaces of beauty and harmony. This proved to be a very positive experience in which even the so-called “rival” families participated and relationships improved considerably. In our Children’s Club we take care of 62 school-age children, ranging from the age of 6 to 11 years. We are committed to fight early school leaving and we work to ensure that everyone moves on to the upper classes. In 2004, 36% of the children were early school leavers, now there are only 5%. We encourage children to take part in art and music workshops and in other recreational activities to help them become aware and develop the cultural values of coexistence and attention to others, and also to learn the ‘culture of giving’. We educate to abolish violence from all forms of behaviour. Swimming lessons and outings help to promote education in health care and hygiene. 52 young people, between the ages of 12 and 18, come to our Youth Centre. During this year, about 95% of them have participated in after- school activities. We have been organizing these activities and considering them as part of our programme since the very beginning. 6 of these young people attend high school: quite a big success when you consider that most of the children attend classes only during the first school years. We also organize complementary workshops, such as fabric processing, carpentry and communication, to enhance their formation. All these ativities are prepared by Focolare Members on a voluntary basis.”. What kind of relationship is there between the centre and other associations in this area? “Over the years, a network of all institutions that work in Borro has been set up; we collaborate with all of them and we support one another. We also participate in the life of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish, which.is the parish in our area.The parish priest and another priest come to visit us once a week. There are also volunteers from other countries who come to give a helping hand. Elisa Ranzi and Matteo Allione, the two Italians, who visited us this year, left an indelible impression. We thank heartily all those who come to help us; their collaboration is of great importance to us. Every help, no matter how small, is very precious to us”.
Stefania Tanesini
18 Dec 2019 | Non categorizzato
The diocesan phase of the causes for the beatification of Chiara Lubich and Father Oreste Benzi, respectively founders of a Movement and a new ecclesial Community, was concluded during the month of November 2019. Many new ecclesial communities, inspired by charisms, were born during the 1968 turmoil, a twentieth century revolutionary phenomenon that affected countries on various latitudes. Founded by lay people, they touched the lives of youth, spontaneously lay down their foundations and spread in society. Even these ecclesial communities stimulated a revolution, an evangelical one, the prayer to the Holy Spirit invoked by the Fathers who participated in the Ecumenical Vatican Council II, which ended in 1965. At the dawn of the twentieth century there were already some new charismatic realities germinating in the Church. Towards the middle of the century, twenty years before the Council, the Focolare Movement was born. The inspiration that brought with it innovations was given to a young lay woman from Trent, Chiara Lubich, born in 1920. The Second World War raged furiously when this young woman of bountiful faith, realized her dream and gave herself to God on December 7, 1943. The preferential love for the poor, the community life sustained by a collective spirituality based on the Word of God, proved to be the place where the charism of unity incarnated and soon spread to the world. Father Oreste Benzi was born in 1927 in San Clemente, a small village near Rimini. He was ordained priest at the age of 24 and dedicated himself to adolescents. The leitmotif of his life was “a friendly meeting with Christ”. He spent the summer months with adolescents at Casa Madonna delle Vette at Canazei, and the Pope John XXIII Community was born there in 1968. It embraced a constant commitment to love the poorest of the poor in close relationship with Christ because: “only those who know how to be on their knees can stand alongside the poor”. He carried out works considered to be unrealizable: from the daily sharing with the poor and the oppressed to the fight against human trafficking. Chiara and Father Benzi were two different people: a woman and a man, a layman and a priest, a woman from a mountainous area and a man from a place near the sea, but they were both founders of works generated by a charism, a light that became part of history. They founded new realities in the Church, that re-propose the old and new message of Jesus, while involving those who adhere to them in a renewed journey of faith and humanity. The adamant witness of the Gospel does not stop at the founders, but extends itself to members. It was also thanks to Movements and new Communities that at the end of the second millennium, the holiness of people started to advance, and continues to be part of daily life. “Sarò santo se sono santo subito”- (I will be holy, if I am holy right away), this six S slogan was devised by Chiara for those who want to follow Jesus on their path to holiness. There are various Focolare members whose causes of beatification have been initiated. In 2004, when Father Benzi’s Association was granted the final recognition by the Holy See, he affirmed that this was: “an inestimable gift” because “the brothers and sisters who are members of the Community (…) can live joyfully and peacefully in the absolute certainty that the vocation of the Community is a sure way of sanctifying themselves (…)”. The cause for the beatification of the Servant of God, Sandra Sabattini, a member of the Pope John XXIII Association has been initiated. On October 31, 2007 Father Benzi phoned the International Centre of the Focolare Movement; he was eager to inform Chiara about the latest initiative organized by his Association and to ask for her support. This was one of his last telephone calls; unfortunately he never heard Chiara’s positive reply as he passed away the following night. Chiara returned to the house of the Father on March 14, 2008. November 2019 marked their two paths, distinct but very close to each other.
Lina Ciampi
