Connecting with the Focolare family in Australia
We have come to the Australian stage of THE journey BY Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán, President and Co-President of the Focolare Movement. IT IS a continent with extraordinary cultural riches and a diverse and multicultural Focolare family.
Suva to Sydney
Margaret and Jesús have certainly taken radical leaps throughout this trip. (Just think of their jump from Japan to Fiji.) The flight from Suva to Sydney 9 May was certainly similar, as the sudden shift from seeing the handful of fishing villages on the south coast of Fiji’s main island to the bright shiny jewel of a city in Australia is nothing short of extreme.
The shimmering lights of iconic Sydney harbour were on full display as our plane circled closely, almost as if to proudly show off this ‘beaut’ of a city.
Stepping into this multicultural metropolis, our diverse local community is there to welcome them in their many languages. They hail from South Korea, Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Bangladesh, Brazil, and of course Anglo-Celtic Australia. They are Catholics, Melkites, Chaldeans, Anglicans; the local Focolare region of Sydney includes Brisbane, Australian capital Canberra and their surrounding areas.
Meeting the Archbishop of Canberra
Connecting with the local Church remains top priority. During a profound yet light-hearted meeting with Archbishop Christopher Prowse, currently the archbishop of Canberra, he spotlighted the life of Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first saint.
“If Mary McKillop were alive today, she would be very comfortable with Focolare,” the archbishop said, pointing to her interfaith works.
He took us to her tomb and prayed that like her, the charism of unity would bloom like a rose, spreading its scent throughout Australia.
In through the art door
A clear window into an indigenous culture is through its art, but to know what you are looking at, having a guide is essential.
Enter Alexandra Gaffikin, an English Volunteer in Sydney with extensive experience in the museum and heritage sector. Her roles have included ‘head of interpretation’ at a museum, which certainly was handy as the group visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales for an exhibition on contemporary Aboriginal art.
Iconic bark paintings, for instance, were shown to be so much more: they are at once histories, maps, title deeds, and rulebooks even. They can be three dimensional, with underpainting showing underground water sources, for example.
In Aboriginal culture, these artworks are alive as people (and could even be painted on someone’s body). These are living collections displaying knowledge passed down through millennia.
Moments to enjoy Sydney
Amid a day full of meetings, Margaret and Jesús were able to fit in some time to take in Sydney, hopping on one of the many ferries and heading towards Circular Quay and the iconic Sydney Opera House. The views are spectacular! Happy to get behind the camera for a bit, Margaret ended up snapping quite a few pictures herself.
The upside of merging across the globe
This visit was an opportunity for focolarini from across the region – including from as far as Perth, Wellington and Fiji – to come together for some meaningful sessions. It is a time where the movement’s organisation has been merging, and now as a result exceedingly different cultures (think Korea, Japan and Chinese speaking areas, for instance) now need to adjust and collaborate directly.
“I think up until now we didn’t understand all the consequences and all the positive things, even though it has been very difficult all this process.
“But we will see the consequences, I think, in a few years. Because what it is helping us is to really break down all the barriers… first of all in our hearts, and the barriers between nations…
“If we want to have peace, we have to have peace among us focolarini and among communities. We have to look at other countries… as our own countries and discover that we can be this ‘connecting family’…
“We don’t have to give other people our richness, we have to help them to discover theirs.”
Margaret Karram
A special presence despite medical challenges
There was a particularly meaningful moment when three married focolarine who are seriously ill were able to greet everyone remotely.
“I just want to assure you of my unity. Much as I would’ve wanted, I was fully booked, but I had to change because of what God had in store for me,” said one.
“It’s been good because I feel where I’m where God wanted me to be, but it’s not where I wanted to be,” another told the group.
“Physically I can’t run, but inside I really want to run, I’m so excited,” said the third. “Enthusiasm does not have any age.”
Welcome to country
Aboriginal culture in Australia is the oldest continuous culture known, dating back at least 60,000 years. The proper protocol when beginning meetings in Australia is to have a ‘welcome to country’ from an Aboriginal elder, or a formal acknowledgement of the traditional custodians of the land.
As the Focolare community gathered from throughout Australia, we were privileged to have ‘Aunty Ali’ Golding, a Biripi elder, to welcome us all.
She grew up on an Aboriginal mission and later lived in a suburb of Sydney for over 20 years. In the 1980s, Ali was one of the first Aboriginal education assistants, and in 2004, she gained her diploma in theology.
She has contributed to various local, national and international forums, including the New South Wales Reconciliation Council and Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation. This has helped deepen public understanding of indigenous culture and history for the public.
Aunty Ali’s presence at our Focolare event with Margaret and Jesús certainly deepened our appreciation for this national treasure and her rich heritage. “It has been one of the most heartfelt welcomes that I have ever experienced,” she said. “Here I felt the Creator’s spirit.”
The best meeting of the whole trip (so far)
Margaret and Jesús had a dynamic, insightful meeting with close to 30 young people. When asked about their challenges, they did not hold back, but spoke candidly of the indifference they encounter with their peers daily. Their numbers are small; the distances are huge.
Margaret shared her early Gen life in Haifa with her sister, and how they started small, receiving the Gen magazine by mail. She was proud of how they had begun, and said she was just as proud of those present for moving forward with their Gen life.
Jesús encouraged the young people as well, making the effort to reassure them that sharing their difficulties was not negative at all. “This was the best meeting of this entire trip,” he said at the end. “I liked it a lot.”
Drawing on rich experience
Rita and Antonio, who look after the Focolare Oceania region from Rome, have also been travelling with the group. When asked how they live dialogue and fraternity in conflict situations, they reached into their own vast backgrounds.
“My experience in interreligious dialogue has been discovering that we are walking together towards God,” said Antonio.
“Dialogue is an encounter,” Rita added. “What is really important is to meet the other and discover that love drives fear away.”
How to bodysurf (spiritually)
The surf was certainly ‘up’ on the beaches around Sydney, with young and old donning their wetsuits and grabbing their boards to catch a few waves. ‘Bodysurfing’ is also popular – people ride the ocean waves without a board as well. It’s truly exhilarating.
But to get out to where the best waves are to ride, first you have to deal with the powerful ones rolling in towards you — the ones you don’t want to ride, the ones you aren’t ready for.
“Someone explained to me the dynamics of this sport, and right away what came to my mind was our love for Jesus Forsaken,” Margaret said.
Bodysurfers essentially dive deep below those incoming waves they don’t want to ride, so low that they can touch the sand at the bottom. Doing so, they avoid getting swept away by the power of the ocean. Once the wave rolls over, they come back to the surface to find a wave worth riding.
“Like those who bodysurf, you don’t fight the waves, you don’t ‘fight the trials’, but you go to the bottom of your heart, recognising Jesus in every pain, and continuing to love him, you come up again, finding the light through love.”
T. M. Hartmann
The 2022-2023, third national competition for schools, “One city is not enough. Chiara Lubich citizen of the world”, was promoted by the Chiara Lubich Centre in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Merit, the Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino and New Humanity of the Focolare Movement. The title of the winning multimedia graphic essay for the primary section was “Patterns of love”. It was produced by the children of the 1st A of the I.C. Camerano – John Paul II – Sirolo di Camerano (Ancona-Italy), guided by their teacher, Cinzia Malizia. Ms. Malizia, how did you find out about this competition? As can be seen from our video, mine is a very lively class, sometimes challenging and difficult to manage. Despite being 7-year-olds, they give me a lot to do and, since they are children of the Covid era, I noticed a certain difficulty when identifying their feelings, to bring out the “good” things, positive gestures and kind words. I asked myself: “how can I get to the hearts of these children?” I started looking for some projects on Miur (Ministry of Education and Merit), some competitions that might help, especially for some personalities that could be an example. This is how I came to Chiara Lubich, a person I had heard of but knew little about. I started reading her story and, little by little, together with the children, we followed a pathway with the aim of enabling them to above all rediscover that curiosity, that amazement, that wonder that unfortunately seem lost in today’s society. 
Did you have a particular focus? I wanted to work with them on emotions, to understand what they had inside. We dealt with fear, worked on anger, joy and so many experiences came out. They started talking, expressing themselves in their own way, and what used to be the weak point of my class turned into a real strength. In our video you will hear the words, “From fear we found the courage”. The children were the first to understand how good it is for the heart to say “sorry”, to say “thank you” or “good morning”. It’s not that children have changed radically now, they are always the same, they can’t keep still, they scream, they ignore the rules, but there are beginning to be gestures that are small but at the same time great because they are part of a journey we are on together. Chiara Lubich was a guide for us, a reassuring figure, almost like a “grandmother”, who with messages of love, hope and her example really worked to create a better world. Even simply looking at each other with love, regardless of social background, religion, skin colour or culture has affected them a lot. They experienced this in the classroom, with their Muslim companion and this means nurturing good feelings, hoping for a different society. We teachers cannot give up. These children have so much to give. 
How did the children react when they learned they had won the first prize? They were elated, really happy. We worked for months and months and I really think they deserved it. Unfortunately, we were unable to find the means for us all to be able to go to Trent for the award ceremony. Some of us took part by video link while 6 children were able to go, accompanied by their families who were happy to use their own resources to finance the trip. They too were very happy with this project. We worked a lot together, so much together that at the end of the year we’ll do a play based on emotions. The parents themselves have collaborated by making most of the masks that the children will wear and we even brought some of these to the award ceremony. So our journey doesn’t end there. At the beginning, the principal, Dr. Flavia Maria Teresa Valentina Cannizzaro, said to me: “Cinzia, they are so small, do they understand what you are saying?” I hope so, if nothing else they have heard and hearing good things never hurts. I think it’s important that children understand that even before being capable, what matters is being good, having a kindness of mind that allows us to change things for the better. I think Chiara Lubich’s experience really helped them. 
Those arriving in the archipelago are welcomed with the ceremony of ‘Sevusevu’ – meaning ‘gift’. And from that moment on they are no longer visitors, but part of the community and members, with all the rights and privileges of being on Fijian soil. The President and Co-President of the Focolare received precious garlands and the Kava root, derived from the pepper plant, which has ancestral significance. The two ‘candidates’ were presented to the community by ‘heralds’, who spoke on their behalf. They then drank the drink made from Kava in one go and received the ‘Tabua’, a whale tooth which has sacred meaning: it is the most precious object in Fijian culture, and it was offered to them as a sign of the highest esteem and honour. Traditions in the Pacific: where the present and future of peoples are rooted Right from the start, we realised that, in the Pacific, traditions feature in a significant and living way, which is relevant for today They are not relegated to a past that has nothing to do with people’s daily lives but form the foundation of their way of life. Among the values that traditions continue to hand on are respect, welcome, reciprocity, social solidarity, and a very deep and longstanding bond with nature. “Margaret Karram, Jesús Morán and the Focolare delegation have arrived at a particular time in the life of the Fiji Islands,” explained Peter Emberson, a Fijian, engaged in multilateral consultancy and a political analyst for the government of Fiji and the United Nations, who has known the movement since he was a child. “The present government is more open and democratic, and I see Margaret and Jesús’ visit as part of this process of social and political renewal. There are two questions that here in the Pacific we always ask an official delegation that lands on the shores of our islands: ‘Where are you from?’ and ‘Why have you come?’ At the ‘Sevusevu’ Margaret stood before the Fijian people and offered her commitment and that of the Focolare Movement to build unity here too. It is an identity-making response, which says a lot about the contribution that the Movement can make to our country. And this builds trust”. A region that is still too little known 
Oceania is a little-known continent and although, in a territorial sense, it is the largest on the globe, in terms of land mass it is the smallest. In addition to Australia and New Zealand, it includes the Pacific region, consisting of 26 nation states and territories. The main ethnic groups are Melanesians, Micronesians, and Polynesians. In total, the Pacific region has a population of 16 million people and in the last 100 years, the Fiji Islands (almost one million inhabitants), have become the political and economic heart of the region. There is a diverse religious landscape in which Christianity is the most practised faith, followed by Hinduism and Islam. Catholicism arrived in the 19th century and today Catholics number just over 82,000. Father Soane Fotutata, secretary of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC), during a dinner in the focolare, spoke about the challenges facing society and the Church in this vast territory, where the Catholic Church has 14 dioceses. He explained that the ecological crisis threatens the very existence of people and communities. It is seen in rising sea levels, acidifying oceans, droughts, floods, and extreme weather events that have become more frequent. Then there are social wounds such as economic and climate migration from many islands; prostitution, alcoholism, and poverty, to which the local Church is trying to respond. 2022: the arrival of the focolares in Suva It was in this ecclesial context that the women’s and men’s focolares opened a year ago in Suva, the capital of Fiji. Their presence, in fact, is also linked to a project supported by Missio Scotland and Missio Australia, to collaborate in the diocesan pastoral care for young people preparing for confirmation and post confirmation with a programme that focuses on supporting the handing on of cultural riches between generations. Lourdes Rank, from Brazil, and Stephen Hall, from New Zealand explained: “On our arrival, the Archbishop asked us to be first of all at the service of the Church and to be part of its activities and projects. We got involved in catechesis, with young people and in the life of our parishes. This approach has been very positive: we are now truly part of the life of the Church and we have begun to build relationships with a number of priests, religious and lay people’. In this regard, the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Suva, Mgr Sulio Turagakacivi, expressed his gratitude for the service that the focolares give in the local Church. Thanking him, Margaret said: “We can learn from the Church here how to live the synodal process and how to maintain the freshness of the encounter between the Gospel and the local society and culture“. In Futuna the first seed of the spirituality of unity The first seed of the spirituality of unity in the Pacific was planted in the island of Futuna in the late 1960s by Sr. Anna Scarpone, a Marist missionary. The first Pacific focolare was then based in Numea (New Caledonia) from 1992 to 2008, accompanying the growth of a vibrant local community. Today, the two focolares in Fiji are ‘home’ for all the Movement’s communities in the Pacific region, which, besides New Caledonia and Fiji, are in Kiribati, Wallis and Futuna, with some people who already know about the spirituality in Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu. Together for the first time 
“From the moment I heard that I had been elected to participate, I felt a great joy but also the responsibility to be a true channel through which the Holy Spirit can pass.” This is what Mercedes Isola, a volunteer of the Focolare Movement, said. She was elected by the Bishops in the region of La Plata, Argentina, to be a lay participant in the Continental Assembly for the Synod of the Southern Cone that took place in Brasilia, Brazil, at the headquarters of the CNBB (National Conference of Bishops of Brazil). Mercedes continues, “There was very deep sharing among us and we rediscovered our baptismal dignity that makes us all sisters and brothers, people of God, co-responsible in mission, regardless of vocation. The ‘discernment communities’, made up of people from different experiences and vocations, were a confirmation of this reality: the Holy Spirit is at work in everyone, without distinction.” 
The meeting was attended by more than 200 people. It began with a procession of images of the Virgin Mary, patroness of each country, to whom the work of this Assembly was entrusted. Brazilians, Chileans, Uruguayans, Argentinians and Paraguayans were brought together. It was apparent that amid the diversity of each people, the individual in dialogue with others becomes a builder of true synodality. “Being open to a Church with greater lay participation, a Church that is inclusive, transparent, and consistent in following Jesus and is concrete in its service and mission,” are just some of the points that were addressed and deepened during the Assembly. Eliane de Carli, a married focolarina from Brazil, tells us. “This experience based upon a practice known as ‘spiritual conversion’, ensured there was very deep communion in the working groups. In addition, the richness of this internationality allowed us to get to know the challenges of the Church in each country, some of them very similar.” 
A week of intense work turned into a life experience. This can be seen in what Marise Braga, a Brazilian focolarina, said: “The day began with a short prayer led by each country in turn. The group drafted a final document on the basis of the questionnaires collected in the various countries during the local phase. They answered three questions, highlighting the lights and positive elements that emerged from those reports, highlighting the shadows, tensions and challenges of certain issues in each country, and finally, recognising the priorities to be addressed in the Synod.” The role of women in the Church was one of the recurring themes during this Continental Assembly in the Southern Cone. This is an issue that is gaining importance and, along with engagement with young people, needs to be addressed. “Before the concluding Mass of this synodal phase, the young people asked to speak,” said Mercedes Isola. “It was very powerful to hear from them why their friends are no longer in the Church. The young people themselves asked for greater openness, a Church that allows all God’s people to be protagonists, with open doors as Pope Francis says.”
The doors to the “Land of the Rising Sun” were opened to them by the Archbishop of Tokyo, Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi. He described the local Catholic Church as “small and silent”. There are 536,000 Christians who form 0.4% out of a population of 130 million where Buddhism and Shintoism are the majority religions. It is difficult to know which is the main one, since many Japanese follow both, and so there is a tendency to bring together different aspects of various religions. He explained that the current lifestyle is leading to a disintegration of the family, and this causes people to feel lonely and cut off. “There is a need to recreate community,” he said, “and the Focolare can help the Church do this. I encourage you to make your spirituality known to the bishops first (there are sixteen in Japan), so that through them it reaches the communities’. 
The conversation continued during the visit to Archbishop Leo Boccardi, Apostolic Nuncio in Tokyo. Christians are only 2% of the population of Asia. So, what is their role? The Nuncio too encouraged the Focolare to spread the charism of fraternity. “In Japan there is order and respect among people,” he explained, “but there is also a lot of indifference. The pandemic has left an open wound: we must rebuild relationships”. “I have seen a church being born,” 
The Japanese are guided by the ‘feeling of the heart’ that knows how to grasp what is essential from concrete facts. And it is significant that the first meeting President and Co-President of the Focolare had was with the young people of the Movement, the Gen. They shared with one another in a harmonious atmosphere of simplicity and family. There was the same depth of relationship and sharing in their meetings with the focolarini and volunteers. Jesuits and Focolare together, a sign of hope for the world On 29 April, the Catholic university in Tokyo, Sophia University, hosted the eagerly awaited symposium “Can we be a sign of hope for the world?”, to which Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán were invited as speakers. The seminar offered an exceptional opportunity for dialogue between two charisms: the ‘historical’ one of St Ignatius, which brought Christianity to Japan in the 16th century, and the charism of Chiara Lubich. The focus was on the subjects of dialogue and unity in a social and religious context which is thirsting for spirituality. The other speakers were Fathers Renzo De Luca, the Jesuit provincial in Japan, Augustine Sali and Juan Haidar, lecturers at the university. The potential of this synergy emerged clearly from the talks. Margaret Karram began by saying that hope is what humanity needs most and it can be found if we engage in dialogue, even with those who are very different from us, without ever wearying. And she concluded: ‘The small and large efforts towards dialogue that each one of us can make, in building heartfelt and warm relationships, are the solid foundation on which to build a more fraternal world’. Fr De Luca explained how dialogue has been part of the DNA of Japanese Christians since the beginning. “During the persecutions, they did not reciprocate the violence they received with more violence, which is why the Popes have presented them to the world as a model”. Fr Sali reflected on the challenges of the Japanese Church in the face of secularisation, a church which must find new pathways for dialogue to offer Christian spirituality to people everywhere. In his talk, Jesús Morán explained that the Synodal path, that the Catholic Church is taking, can be an answer, but only if it is animated by communion-fellowship. “Communion and synodality naturally lead to a new encouragement to dialogue, which is increasingly necessary given the growing polarisation of societies at all levels”. Fr Haidar returned to the theme of hope and assured all present that “We have no reason to lose hope, because good is stronger than evil and God is always on the side of those who do good”. One of the symposium participants defined this shared reflection by Jesuits and the Focolare, as a “chemical reaction” that can produce new life. “I realised that dialogue requires courage, perseverance and patience; above all, I have to start doing it myself”. 
“Open your hearts to everyone”, Margaret Karram’s message for the Focolare community “We are here because we want to share what we have received as a gift from God,” said Natzumi and Masaki at the start of the meeting with the Focolare community in Japan that same afternoon. There was joy and emotion in being together in person for the first time in almost three and a half years, after the pandemic. The experiences shared spoke of great faithfulness in living the Gospel in daily life in a social context that is often hostile, due to indifference or social distance. One volunteer touched on a challenging issue for all Christians in Japan: the difficulty in handing on the faith, especially to the younger generations. “If you live the Word,” Jesús Morán replied, “you can be sure that you are giving Jesus. Usually we want to see results, but Jesus is not interested in this because He wants to touch people with His life. Let us give Him everything, then He will reap what He wants and how He wants”. “Do you have a message for the Focolare community in Japan?” This was the last question that came as a surprise for President and Co-President: “The message is dialogue,” Margaret Karram replied. “I encourage you to have a new openness of heart towards everyone. It is true that Christians are a minority here, but our vocation, as members of Focolare, is to go out to others, courageously, and to open up new paths that can help build fraternity and a peaceful world’. Jesús went on: “Our specific lifestyle is to live unity and so each one of us is fully in our vocation. We are a ‘sacrament of God’s love’ for others, as Chiara Lubich says. May no one feel alone, but go forward together, because faith is lived together’. Visiting the Rissho Kosei-kai: we are one family On 1 May, 42 years after Chiara Lubich’s visit, Margaret Karram and the Focolare delegation accompanying her, entered the large sacred hall of the Rissho Kosei-kai (RKK) Centre. It is difficult to describe the joy and emotion, visible on everyone’s faces: it was like an embrace between brothers and sisters who have been journeying together for many years. This warmth was expressed by President Nichiko Niwano and his daughter Kosho. 
The Rissho Kosei-kai is a lay Buddhist movement founded in 1938 by the Reverend Nikkyo Niwano. It has about one million followers in Japan, and centres in several countries. It is very active in promoting peace and well-being through humanitarian and cooperative action. In 1979 Nikkyo Niwano met Chiara for the first time. Speaking of her he said, “I have met an extraordinary person with whom I can live in fellowship.” Since then, the relationship between the two movements has never been interrupted. ‘Today we are here as one big family,’ Margaret Karram said in her greeting to the many people present and those following the ceremony online, ‘What all humanity holds most dear is the supreme value of peace. (…). Together we can be a sign of hope in the world; together, as one family, our two Movements can be like small lights shining in society, living compassion and love, which are our most powerful weapons”. Nichiko Niwano responded saying, “Today is a day we will not forget; it is a day to be grateful for because our movements are meeting together. We are like members of one family, and we have so much in common. “It is the dialogue between us that makes this happen,” continued his daughter Kosho, who in the future will succeed to the RKK presidency, “I thank my grandfather Nikkyo Niwano who made dialogue and meeting others the foundation of my life. “We experienced a morning of recollection and sacredness,” Margaret Karram concluded, “and I am bringing with me what I have learnt thanks to you: to always be grateful for what I receive as a gift. I renew the Focolare’s commitment to go forward together to fulfil the dream of a better world”.