On behalf of the Focolare Movement throughout the world, I express my great joy for the election of Pope Leo XIV as the new Pontiff of the Catholic Church. We thank God for having listened to the prayers of so many people and having, with His Spirit, guided the work of the Cardinals in identifying the successor of Peter at the present time that is posing serious challenges for humanity.
Right From now, we want to assure the Holy Father of our filial closeness, our prayers and our commitment to be peacemakers, as he repeatedly emphasised in his first blessing.
Today the world is in urgent need of peace, light and hope. That is why we promise that we will continue to commit ourselves, together with the ecclesial communities in which we are inserted, to bring God’s love to all; to be open to dialogue, to be ‘one people always at peace’, bearing witness to the fact that the unity asked for by Jesus in his Testament is stronger than any division.
Moreover, we want to commit ourselves to embodying the synodal path ever more faithfully, to be able to apply it also in the various areas of society; to give our contribution so that the Church may be an open and welcoming home for every man and woman and for the new generations, especially for those who are most fragile, those who suffer most and those who are marginalised, so as to offer to all the ever new message of Christ.
Best wishes Pope Leo XIV, with all our love!
Margaret Karram – President of the Focolare Movement
This year 2025 the feast of Easter is celebrated on the same day by all Christian Churches. Margaret Karram, the President of the Focolare sends her wishes for this feast together with those of some representatives of various Churches..
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We are publishing the report of the year 2024 on the activities of the Focolare Movement concerning the Safeguarding of the Person, starting with the words that Pope Francis addressed to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and with which in fact, he updated the mandate with which he had established it 10 years ago. We feel strongly called to fulfil this ‘integral conversion’ to which the Holy Father is calling us, which is never completely accomplished, but asks us to question ourselves continuously, to have for each person a humble, always attentive, protective and welcoming attitude. He asks us to continue with perseverance on the path of formation and authentic closeness, aware of the need for change, so that each person may feel safe, loved and respected in our environments and in our various activities.
2024: listening, formation, regulations
There were three elements that characterised the past year from the point of view of safeguarding in the Focolare Movement: listening and the involvement of victims and witnesses in various capacities in the process of reparation, and the formation of the people in positions of responsibility in the movement; the expansion of courses and formation events for all participants and to continue to establish the regulations, with the updating of the document for the “Procedures for handling cases of abuse” as well as the drafting of the Guidelines for Listening and Welcoming Services.
The meeting last November of those responsible for the Movement around the world, with some people who had been affected either by sexual abuse or abuse of authority, by members of the Focolare Movement, was of fundamental importance. People told their stories of great suffering and the serious consequences on their lives and on the communities that they were or still are a part of. Also present were some family members of one of the people abused who gave their testimony of the serious impact that abuse has on all members of the family. The words of one participant expressed clearly the importance of that moment: ” Listening to these people marked a before and an after. With delicacy and clarity, they expressed to us how much the Movement has failed in what is at the heart of its charism: unity and love of neighbour, because in many cases we have not only been co-responsible in some way, for the abuse committed, but we have also left people alone to cope with their suffering ”.
In addition, the contribution of the those who have suffered abuse together with the involvement of professionals in various disciplines, from outside the Movement, have been fundamental to the work done at the International Centre and in the local areas. This included the documents that have been produced, as well as for the formation in Safeguarding of the Focolare communities around the world, together with the planning and opening of some spaces for listening and welcoming.
A Study Commission has now been set up to look at the abuses of authority and spiritual abuses that have occurred within the Movement. The aim is to investigate their causes, so as to be able to change harmful practices and implement the necessary prevention. The study, which is still ongoing, also makes use of advice from specialists from outside the movement in various fields: psychological, pedagogical and legal. This project was supported and encouraged by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life and, despite being in its early stages, its great importance is recognised. So it is clear that the creation and enacting of norms and Procedures is not enough, but the dynamics, leading to the various forms of abuse, must be investigated.
Finally, regulatory documents and guidelines have been updated, developed and produced (as illustrated below), which are also the result of a fruitful collaboration with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which has followed and promoted the new steps taken.
With what eyes do we look at the world and our fellow travellers in the adventure of life? It is a question of vital importance, in an era like ours marked by polarisation and disagreements, loneliness and distances between the haves and the have-nots, without forgetting the increasingly pervasive presence of artificial intelligence. Yet, at the same time, the thirst for harmony and truth grows.
Chiara Lubich used to say that everything depends on which “eyes” we look at people with. If we look with the eyes of the heart, which are the eyes of Love, we will not stop at appearances, we will instead grasp the deeper reality that is hidden in every human being. And from the gaze of the heart proceeds action, the quality of the relationship, becoming close, being near to the other person. (1)
In 1961 Chiara wrote:
If you enter the Gospel … you’ll immediately find yourself on the mountain ridge. Therefore, already at the top, already in God, even though looking over the side you’ll see that the mountain is not one mountain but a mountain chain and that for you, life is to walk along the crest up to the end.
Every Word of God contains both the minimum and the maximum that he can ask of you, so when you read, “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt 19:19), you have the law of fraternal love at its highest degree.
Your neighbour is another you, and you must love him or her bearing that in mind. When neighbours cry, you must cry with them, and when they laugh, laugh with them. If they lack knowledge, be ignorant with them. If they have lost a parent, make their suffering your own. …
What has value for you is God who is both their Father and yours. Don’t make excuses for love. Your neighbours are those who pass next to you, be they rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, brilliant or uneducated, holy or sinful, a fellow citizen or a foreigner, a priest or a layperson, whoever.
Try to love whoever passes next to you in the present moment of your life. You will discover within yourself a new energy and strength you did not know you had. They will add flavour to your life, and you will find answers to your thousand whys. (2)
Chiara Lubich
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Our translation of the Italian text found in: See Vicinanza, lo stile di Dio nella vita e nel pensiero di Chiara Lubich, A cura di Povilus J. e Ciccarelli L., Città Nuova Editrice, Roma 2024, p. 5.
This sentence is taken from the story of the Annunciation. The angel Gabriel appears to Mary of Nazareth and makes known God’s plans for her: she will conceive and give birth to a son, Jesus, who ‘will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.’ [1] The episode is in continuity with other events in the Old Testament whereby barren or very old women gave birth to children who were to play an important role in salvation history. Here, Mary, while wishing to fully and freely adhere to the call to become the mother of the Messiah, wonders how this will happen because she is a virgin. Gabriel assures her that it will not come about through the work of man: ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.’ [2] And he adds: ‘For nothing will be impossible with God.’ [3]
Such reassurance, which means that no declaration or promise made by God will remain unfulfilled – because nothing is impossible to him – can also be expressed in this way: nothing is impossible with God. In fact, the nuance of the Greek text ‘with, or near, or together with God’ highlights his closeness to men and women. In fact, when human beings are together with God and freely adhere to him, nothing is impossible.
«For nothing will be impossible with God».
How can we put this word of life into practice? We can do so by being confident in the belief that God can act even within and beyond our limitations and weaknesses and during the darkest periods of our lives.
This was the experience of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Whilst in prison before being tortured, he wrote: ‘We must immerse ourselves again and again in the living, speaking, acting, suffering and dying of Jesus in order to recognise what God promises and fulfils. It is certain […] that for us nothing impossible exists anymore, because nothing impossible exists for God; […] it is certain that we must not expect anything and yet we can ask everything; it is certain that in suffering our joy is hidden and in death our life… To all this God has said ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ in Christ. This ‘yes’ and this ‘amen’ are the solid ground on which we stand.’ [4].
«For nothing will be impossible with God».
In trying to overcome the apparent ‘impossibility’ of short-comings and in striving to reach the ‘possibility’ of a sound and consistent life, the community dimension plays a decisive role. This developed when, as a group, the disciples lived Jesus’ new commandment and allowed the power of the risen Lord to dwell within them, both collectively and individually. In 1948, Chiara Lubich wrote to a group of young members of religious communities: ‘Let’s go ahead, not relying on our own strength which is petty and weak but with the omnipotence of unity. I have seen and touched with my own hands that God among us does the impossible: he performs miracles! If we are faithful to our task […] the world will see unity and with it the fullness of the Kingdom of God.’[5]
Years ago, when I was in Africa, I often met young people who wanted to live as Christians and who told me of the many difficulties, they faced each day in trying to be faithful to the commitments of faith and the teachings of the Gospel. We would talk about this for hours and, in the end, we always came to the same conclusion: ‘It is impossible if we are alone but not if we are together.’ Jesus himself guarantees this when he promises: ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name (in my love), there am I in the midst of them.’ [6] And with him all things are possible.
Edited by Augusto Parody Reyes & the Word of Life team
[1]Lc 1, 32. [2] Ibid, 35. [3] Ibid, 37. [4] D. Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran Pastor, protagonist in resistance against Nazism [5] C. Lubich, “Letters of the Early Times”. viCf Mt. 18:20. [6] Cf. Mt 18, 20.
The Pedrinhas (SP, Brazil) headquarters of the Fazenda da Esperança welcomes young people and adults who are going through different stages of recovery from drug addiction and various forms of addiction and social distress. There could not have been a better place to host the conference of UNIRedes, the platform of NGOs, social and humanitarian projects and cultural agencies inspired by Chiara Lubich’s spirituality of unity in Latin America. In attendance were 140 people from 37 of the 74 partner organisations of UNIRedes, active in 12 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The aim of the conference was to present the work of these years to Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán, who were present at the meeting; to define the next steps common to all the partner organisations and to strengthen the link with the Focolare Movement in order to share the experience gained beyond the Latin American continent.
UNIRedes: a network of networks
Maria Celeste Mancuso, Argentinian, international co-responsible of the New Humanity Movement, explains that UNIRedes is not only a solidarity super-project: “It is also a space that generates a cultural reflection to identify the anthropological and epistemological categories necessary to generate a new culture of care for the person and societies in Latin America”. This is why cultural agencies inspired by the charism of unity such as the Sophia University Institute (Loppiano, Italy), its local branch, Sophia Latin America and the Caribbean (ALC), and the ASCES UNITA University Centre in Caruaru (PE) are also fully part of it.
Virginia Osorio, Uruguayan, one of the initiators of the project, explains its origins: “The constant political and economic changes in our countries made our organisations increasingly fragile and isolated. With UNIRedes we found a place where we could strengthen each other and share our sufferings and hopes. Our most recent project was for Genfest: hundreds of young people volunteered with many of our organisations, experiencing first-hand fraternity and closeness to the poorest”.
The common root: “dying for one’s people”
The first root of UNIRedes is not based on geopolitical or economic analyses: we need to go back to the early 1970s when the Gen, the young people of the Focolare, like many of their peers in many countries, wanted to change the world and bring equality, justice, and dignity.
Chiara Lubich, who met with them frequently, supported and confirmed the need to make a peaceful social revolution, especially in Latin America, a continent she saw as having this special vocation. She told the young people of the Focolare that: “Each one must feel that we must die, yes, for humanity, but we must find our local Jesus Forsaken to die for our own people”[1].
“That’s how many people went to the peripheries of the cities, to the slums, wherever poverty took away people’s dignity,” says Gilvan David, a Brazilian from the Latin American articulation group of UNIRedes. “The first NGOs were established, and in the meantime we were trying to structure ourselves, but it was not enough: ‘You come to us,’ the poor told us, ‘but then go away and leave us alone’. To respond to this cry, we started to network with local public policies and at the same time, several priests who lived the spirituality of unity also founded social projects: Frei Hans with the Fazenda da Esperança, Father Renato Chiera with the Casa do Menor and others”.
One “single” Latin America
“Then the first groups of organisations were created,” continues Gilvan David, ‘Sumá Fraternidad’, which brought together projects from a number of Spanish-speaking countries; the civil association ‘Promocion Integral de la Persona’ (PIP) in Mexico; and the Brazilian social organisations continued to grow, finding their own identity and space for service. These were not easy years, but we started various paths in different territories in Latin America to support their social commitment, which then merged into UNIRedes. We met several times, but the founding meeting was in 2014, also attended by Emmaus Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti, then President and Co-President of the Focolare Movement. Emmaus on that occasion said: ‘You give the Movement a new visibilitỳ, a new meaning to its action, you are a testimony for those who look at you from the outside; you give complete visibility to the Charism through concrete actions’. I would say that it was then that we recognised ourselves as a unique reality for the whole of Latin America: we found ourselves embraced by the Charism of unity”.
There were many substantial contributions that built this conference, along with the presentation of the different partner organisations.
Juan Esteban Belderrain: from inequality to hope
The Argentinean political scientist Juan Esteban Balderrain analysed the wound of inequality of which Latin America holds the world record. “It is a matter of building a vision of this continent that starts from hope and this is possible because if we look at the deepest root of the problem of inequality, we find that we have lost the reference to that God who is love and who helps us understand that we are brothers and sisters of one another and with nature, which is also an expression of his Love. Referring to the 20th century, Paul VI said that it was a blessed time because it demanded holiness from everyone. I think these words also apply to ours.”
Padre Vilson Groh: the “open-eye mysticism”
For over 40 years, Father Vilson has lived in the “morro”, a slum in Florianopolis (Santa Catarina, Brazil), carrying out social projects especially for young people. He spoke of the “open-eye mysticism”: “We must take our organisations to the dark cellars of our peripheries; be a hope there. Genfest brought the perspective of “togetherness”, which Pope Francis promotes. This requires a patient, resilient journey; it demands being steadfast in the pursuit of the common good. Unity is superior to conflict, the Pope always says, and unity is plurality. Let us bring diversity into our organisations: the charism of unity is a door for the wounded Christ to open spaces”.
Vera Araujo: Latin America builder of fraternity
The Brazilian sociologist’s talk focused on a positive vision that recognises the Latin American cultural and human heritage and offers it as a gift to the world.
“UNIRedes originates in Chiara Lubich’s charism and can be transformed into an incredible opportunity for the rest of the world: unity seen not only as a religious value, but also as a force capable of effectively composing the human family, realising an interaction between the multiplicity of people, preserving distinctions in the context of social realities. Here the charism of unity offers a solution that is not easy, but rather a sense, a meaning, a Person: Christ Forsaken on the cross.
‘To love well‘, says Chiara, ‘we must not see in the difficulties and injustices of the world only social evils to be remedied, but discover in them the face of Christ who does not disdain to hide beneath every human misery’[2].
Susana Nuin Núñez: the path of peoples and social movements
The Uruguayan sociologist described the journey and the social, political, economic richness of the continent’s peoples and certain social movements. “These networks with their most varied physiognomies, with their developments in social practices or in the academic world, act in a complementary manner, generating an unquestionable socio-cultural fabric with a multifaceted community character that Latin America is the bearer of”. She then underlines the peculiarity of UNIRedes, which for over ten years has been a social subject that heals, revolutionises, transforms and influences from the Gospel and the word of unity.
Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán: UNIRedes is part of the Focolare Movement
“Those who want to live the Gospel in this region are always in crisis because they see inequalities constantly,” Jesús points out. “Unity cannot fail to take on this reality. How do we achieve unity on this continent, without taking into account those discarded by society? What you do as UNIRedes should inform the whole Movement in this region; its work for unity is not credible if it is not also done through social works. Of course, we will not solve social problems. The only thing we can do is to make people convert to love. If we touch hearts, someone will grasp the spirit and in freedom will understand how to live the Gospel”.
Margaret encouraged UNIRedes to move forward: “Now you have to figure out how to make your life and example reach everyone in the world. Quoting a conversation of Chiara Lubich from 1956, she reiterated that in its social commitment the Movement must not forget that the key to solving the problems that the Charism of Unity offers lies in the novelty of reciprocity rather than in justice. It promotes sharing, the putting in common among everyone the little or the much that is available to create a greater Common Good which, in addition to solving social problems, produces the human and spiritual fulfilment that only happens in fellowship among all. Finally Margaret launches a proposal: “Add a new article in your Charter of Principles and Commitments: a solemn pact of fraternity to be proposed to those who want to be part of UNIRedes: we are here to witness to mutual love and only if we have this love will the world believe”.
“UNIRedes speaks to us of hope,” concludes M. Celeste Mancuso. “It is a transversal and synodal proposal of an organisational network that can inspire similar models for those existential peripheries in other parts of our vast world. In this way we can think of building global networks of fraternity that promote the common good”.
Stefania Tanesini
[1] Chiara Lubich at the “Gen School”, Rocca di Papa (Rome, Italy), 15 May 1977
[2] Chiara Lubich, Towards a civilisation of unity. Keynote address at the Congress “A culture of peace for the unity of peoples”, Castelgandolfo, (Rome) 11-12 June 1988.
