On the way to sainthood: an Italian teenager who lived the Focolare spirituality. On 10 December the diocesan phase of the process of Pietrino Di Natale’s Beatification was launched at a solemn ceremony in Teramo Cathedral. In a year in which the Catholic Church has dedicated great attention to the youth, it seems fitting that Pietrino’s name was proclaimed as a model for all, in a packed Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral, in the heart of ancient Teramo, in the Abuzzo region of Italy, on what would have been his birthday. In 1984, Pietrino De Natale was a 17 year-old high school student when he drowned in the waters off Silvi, a coastal town near his home. Every year since then on 20th August an increasingly large crowd gathers at the small cemetery of Colledara to pass on testimonies, remembering his example of being a “cornerstone”, a fulfilled Christian, someone whose life “has to do with holiness”. Pietrino – “little Pietro” – was named after his father who died in a work accident before Pietrino was born. He grew up in the small village of Ornano Piccolo, which offered a protective environment for the young widow, Adelina and her son. At 11 years old, Pietrino got to know the Focolare spirituality through two young parish priests, don Gianfranco De Luca, now Bishop of Termoli-Larino, and don Giovanni D’Annunzio, currently responsible for the Focolare’s Diocesan Movement. It was a crucial meeting for young Pietrino. He drew from it the gift of a luminous certainty in the love of God, which propelled him to seek Jesus in every day life. Don Giovanni recently wrote: «Pietrino’s heart was only for God. An important step ahead was his participation in the Focolare congress for young people in 1978. (…) When he came back from there, I noticed how launched he was in living every moment profoundly. His race towards holiness had begun». In the months ahead, testimonies of those who knew him will be collected. In the meantime, there is a short biography in Italian (Teresa D’Orsogna, Pietrino Di Natale. … sono scattato ad amare…, ed. Palumbi, 2018) for those who would like to get to know more about this young man who continues to inspire many young – and not so young – people to follow Jesus along the pathway to unity.
Christmas greetings from Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement. https://vimeo.com/307656906 It’s Christmas! If I look around me, in towns and cities but also in the media, I often ask myself, “What is Christmas really about?” It is as though there is a din all around me, because it seems to be made up of dinners, gifts, decorations, lights and street markets. And all this din seems to be trying to hide – without succeeding – the cry of pain and suffering on the part of so many people in the world who are calling out for solidarity, respect, welcome, peace and justice. They are really appealing for love. And human beings don’t know how to give them love, but God does. God knows how to give love and he does so. The little Child we see in the crib this Christmas, as in all the other Christmases, tells of God’s love. God so loved humankind as to become one of us, becoming small and defenceless, facing all kinds of sufferings, not only facing them but actually experiencing them, all the sufferings of humankind and death itself. Coming to live among people on earth was God’s way of saying “yes” to humankind once more, to reunite them again with him. God’s ‘yes’ to humankind is represented by that little Child in Bethlehem, by that baby whose name people don’t even want to hear mentioned any more. I visited a country where in order to keep the festive atmosphere of Christmas without referring to God, people invented a “Winter Festival” to be able to celebrate. Yet even so, God loves each person and continues to love everyone, telling us so once more. This Child not only shows us God’s love but shares this love with us. He gives us love, helping us to live it and teaching us what to do. He then wants us to do the same, to be witnesses of God’s love to other people, giving God’s love to others, a love like his. God’s love does not have preferences. It is a love that reaches everyone, that does not put up barriers; it is not prejudiced and does not discriminate between people. This love can open our hearts, our hands, our arms, our wallets and our homes. If this kind of love is alive among people, then God himself lives among them. Only God can make everyone feel at home, creating a family among everyone, all brothers and sisters, a real celebration. Christmas is like this. If we live in this way, it is a real Christmas for us. This is the Christmas I wish for all of you. Happy Christmas!
An award for the body of people that perseveres in promoting initiatives that create fraternity in their area and translates this universal value into civic and political commitment. Nominations for the annual “Chiara Lubich International Award for fraternity” should be made by Jan 15 2019. This award is open to local authorities (provincial, regional or rural communities) from any part of the world, be they large or small organisations. Awards are made to projects that initiate or spread activities promoting universal fraternity usually at the local level. However, projects may also be on a national or international scale. They should reflect an understanding of the meaning of universal fraternity and encourage citizens to show commitment in working for the common good and to play an active role in the community. The projects should facilitate the growth of a culture of active and inclusive citizenship. They should also favour collaboration and synergy among areas of administration, local communities and civil society such as associations, groups and committees and they should make an impact upon these areas. The projects should be typical of a sustained way of working in that area favouring fraternity and should not be “one-off” actions. Presentations of the projects can take the form of text or text with links to audio-visual material. Nominations and supporting material should be sent to Presidenza dell’Associazione “Città per la Fraternità”, c/o Comune di Castel Gandolfo, Piazza Libertà, 7 – 00040 Castel Gandolfo – Rome (Italy). Alternatively, if electronic transfer is possible, they can be sent to associazionecittafraernita(at)gmail.com o info(at)cittaperlafraternita.org The nominations should include the following details: the name of the authority or organisation, the leader’s personal details, the full address and contact details, the name of the project or initiative and an abstract (maximum three sides of A4) that describes the project and how it functions. The award giving will take place in S. Maria Capua Vetere- Caserta (Italy) in February 2019. For further information: Associazione “Città per la Fraternità”, telephone +39 340 4182127 – +39 347 4573988; e-mail: associazionecittafraternita(at)gmail.com – info(at)cittaperlafraternita.org.
The little focolare town in Argentina is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Pat Santoianni, Cecilia Gatti, Adriana Otero and Israele Coelho speak about its contribution to the formation of young people. The little town of O’Higgins in Argentina has just celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. It is one of the twenty-five permanent Mariapoli in the world. Considering that its purpose is the formation of young people, 1968 – a year of great protest and unrest among youth – was a perfect time to begin. The little town seemed to have had a star shining down upon it. Nowadays, O’Higgins is known as Mariapolis Lia. It is named after Lia Brunet who was one of the first people, in the 40’s, who shared Chiara Lubich’s life and ideals. She was courageous and open-minded – a real pioneer in this Focolare town in South America. To date, over 3,500 young people from all over the world have gone to Mariapolis Lia for an “experiencia”; in other words, they have chosen to spend a few months or a maximum of two years in the little town, working, studying and experiencing what it means to live in a multi- cultural environment where the spirituality of unity reigns. After this time, they return to their own homes, enriched by this human and intellectual experience that has opened their hearts and minds to other people and cultures. Pat Santoianni, anthropologist and co-responsible for the Formation at Mariapolis Lia said, “Over the years, we have developed the formation process: one of the chief elements is that the whole social body contributes to formation. Therefore, our course is anthropological and existential and impacts upon life, thought and action.” Adriana Otero, biologist and one of the formation co-ordinators said that the course has a holistic approach. She said, “We try to keep up with both the challenges and risks that young people face in today’s society – relationships, choices, freedom, social and civil commitment, dialogue among different cultures and among different generations and technology. Work is also an important element as, for many young people, this is a new experience.” Cecilia Gatti, a researcher in education, said that relationships lie at the heart of the educational process. “Education means relationship. This is a concept drawn from the Focolare spirituality of unity that is central to our formation programme. Relationships with other people enable me to build strong bonds, to see my life in a different way, to contribute to and engage with society. Our school is a little town where everything provides an opportunity to learn – every relationship, every dialogue, every meeting.” In an age of technological advances such as Web 4.0, the obvious question is how can O’Higgins, a small village in the middle of the Argentinian pampas, really work as a location for the formation of these young millennials. Israele Coelho, a Brazilian expert in education and co-responsible for the formation course said the experience itself is proof of its validity. “Although this place, in the middle of nowhere, could seem to be a contradiction in terms, it still continues to be an environment where young people can focus upon themselves, experience an interior silence and develop their relationship with God and other people. For many young people, this “experiencia” is an important time for making fundamental choices in life.”
In the “Ecopesce” (Ecofish) workshop and the shop called “E Nustren” nothing is thrown away. This is the philosophy behind a small business based at Cesenatico in Italy that processes and sells fish from the Adriatic Sea, using only refrigeration technology. What reaches the customers’ table is a product that would otherwise not be valued or perhaps even thrown away. All this happens by putting sharing before economics. https://vimeo.com/301634595
Christopher Jimènez, member of the Focolare Movement community in Mexico, tells about the migrants’ long exodus from Honduras, while remaining weeks at the foot of the wall bordering the United States. “On 12th October, we received several calls through the social network—affirm Christopher Jimènez, who collaborates with the association Promozione Intergrare della Persona (PIP) — making it viral in a short time. More than thousands of Hondurans left San Pedro Sula”, a city, which until 2014, has been considered for years among the most violent on the planet. From that time on, the whole world has been witnessing what has been defined by many as a biblical exodus. “A week after the caravan crossed the border of Mexico, numerous civil society organizations and government agencies have already set out to provide humanitarian aid, first at Chiapas, then at Oaxaca and Veracruz.” At that point, it was no longer a question of a single contingent of migrants, but of different groups that proceeded in waves, on foot or by some lucky means, crossing the country for thousands of kilometres. “At the end of October – continued Christopher – when their arrival in Mexico City was imminent, an interruption of the drinking water was scheduled for the over four million inhabitants of the capital, due to a serious water problem. Yet, many civil and religious organizations, despite the hardships and intense cold, have responded to the invitation of the local Human Rights Commission, setting up a humanitarian camp to the westside of the city. The Focolare also joined. About thirty people, including doctors, nurses, students, housewives, went to the relief and meal-clothing distribution points. Also, another group organized a collection of basic necessities and a civil association, inspired by the Focolare spirit, offered technical and logistic collaborations.” On the morning of 5th November, about five thousand migrants arrived in the capital. Almost ten thousand people received hospitality, food, blankets, and clothing in the following days. “Despite the solidarity of many, their passage was not free from friction and violence. Some incidents have been on the verge of causing serious episodes of xenophobia. Now the wave of migrants is waiting impatiently under the impassable wall that separates the Mexican city of Tijuana from the United States. We are expecting days of great uncertainty. But in their passage, even amid the pitfalls of a very complex path, they have indicated, the direction by which their dream moves, to the heart of the Mexican people.”
