Apr 6, 2017 | Non categorizzato
The countdown for the 21st United World Week started. “We would like to generate a tam tam that, starting slowly, will rise up to generate much noise in the world!”, wrote us Youth for a United World. “Let us show the world all the concrete actions that, day after day, build bridges of brotherhood with #fraternitychallenge.On your Facebook wall, write something positive and invite two friends who will do the same for another 5 days … and so on, up to the United World Week! Use all the hashtags: #UnitedWorldProject, #FraternityChallenge, #Pulse, and #4Peace.
Apr 6, 2017 | Non categorizzato
254 dead, including 62 minors, more than 400 wounded and just as many lost. These are the dramatic numbers from the strong floods that have caused a veritable catastrophe in the city of Mocoa, 500 kilometres south of Bogotà in south Colombia. The president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, visited the site of the disaster, which was reduced to a mud heap, and said that the number of the missing is not yet known. The army is working around the clock searching for survivors and delivering humanitarian aid. A state of emergency has been declared in the entire region of the disaster, in order to hasten the recovery of victims. “It is difficult to describe not only the gravity of what took place, but also what the people are going through, including those of our own community in that region,” writes Alejandra from the focolare in Bogotà. “Seventeen quarters have been destroyed in the city of Mocoa with its 36,000 inhabitants. The train station has been fenced off. 
We tried to regain contact with each person, but the situation is bad for everyone. In the zone that is already burdened by poverty and the guerilla, there are many priests from the Movement. Don Luis Fernando presided at a collective funeral, and Father Oscar Geovanny is still searching for his family members. Father Jorge has sent us some photos of his parishioners as they help and support people who have lost everything. Father Oscar Claros reports that of the 17 quarters that were complete wiped away, 5 of them were in his parish: entire families who lived the Word of Life have disappeared. He is personally involved in the work of distributing aid and supporting his parishioners.” “The Focolare community throughout the country is stepping up, gathering funds that can be sent to the site of the disaster, through priests of the Movement. The focolarini in Bogotà have activated a speedy channel of communication with people from the area, and are trying to support them and give them hope in these difficult moments. This morning we talked with Father Oscar Claros: “The situation is still chaotic, the zone without water and electricity, with the real threat of an epidemic.”
Apr 5, 2017 | Non categorizzato
“Our world is torn by blind violence, a violence that has also struck the heart of your beloved land. Our world needs peace, love and mercy.” See VIDEO MESSAGE
Apr 5, 2017 | Non categorizzato
For about a year the Focolare communities around Rome, together with other associations, have organized various fundraising initiatives to support the “Chance for Tomorrow” project in Egypt which is aimed at helping children and women at risk in one of the poorest districts of Cairo. In order to express the closeness to this people recently hit by severe attacks, an information evening will be held in Grottaferrata on 22 April, where the project will be presented through life experiences and an immersion into the Egyptian culture; an account of what has been achieved so far, along with future prospects will also be presented.
Apr 5, 2017 | Non categorizzato
A journey in the name of peace. That is how the Pope’s visit to Egypt is being described. The two-day visit will take place on April 28th and 29th. Patriarch Bartholemew has also accepted the invitation of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad al-Tayyib. The schedule includes a courtesy visit to President of the Republic Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi, to the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, and to the Coptic Pope Tawadros II. This will be followed by an address to the International Conference on Peace. On Saturday, April 29th, he will have lunch with Egyptian Catholic bishops, followed by a prayer service with clergy, religious and seminarians, and a farewell ceremony.
Apr 5, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Jaime recounts: “Last year, I was given the opportunity to live for a whole year in one of the Focolare’s little towns, Mariapolis Lia, near Buenos Aires in Argentina. It was a very powerful and immersive experience, precisely because the law of that town is the Gospel, beginning with Jesus’s new commandment: ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’” Upon his return to El Salvador, however, Jaime found himself catapulted into a climate of danger and violence: even in broad daylight, the roads are never safe. It’s even dangerous to take the bus or play football at the city park. “The situation had become so risky and dangerous,” Jaime continues, that I thought of leaving the country and moving abroad. At first, everybody at home agreed, but when I thought about it some more, I sensed that God asked me to stay and be bring a little light into the environment I lived in, near to my Gen friends who would have been alone in that situation if I left. What finally convinced me was some news about the young people from the Focolare in the Middle East, many of whom stayed in their country in situations that were certainly far worse than mine. We talked about it at home and all decided to stay in El Salvador and carry on entrusting ourselves to God. When I told the Gen that I was staying, we got the idea of launching a campaign called: “Change your own m2 (square metre)” with the idea that if we were all involved in changing our own m2, the whole country could change.” 
Tuong, a young Vietnamese teacher of 13 children, confided: “they each remind me of Jesus in his abandonment on the cross. Why do I say it like that? Two of them were rejected by the public school after they repeated the same class three times. Another two are handicapped and so the regular school didn’t accept them, and the school for the handicapped was too far away. The others have difficulty learning and their parents are separated and poor. All of them are experiencing a total absence of love, interest, sympathy, decorum; abandoned by their families and society.” Tuong, what motivates you to go on teaching in such a class every day without any institutional assistance? It must not be easy…” “Actually it isn’t easy. One day I was trying to teach a student a certain letter in Vietnamese handwriting. I repeated it two or three times, but he wasn’t getting it and wasn’t able to pronounce it. I kept on trying, repeating it over and over again, but he couldn’t follow. I was about to become angry; I wanted to forget about it and go to another child. Just then his eyes filled with tears and I felt his plea for help. Then I thought: “If Jesus were the one here with this boy who is not understanding, He would never walk away and say: ‘I don’t care about you!’ So, I said: ‘Let’s try it again.’ One day I wasn’t feeling well. Then a girl said to the students: ‘Be good! Be silent! The teacher doesn’t feel well today!’ A little boy of 5 years came up with a cup of water for me, telling me to rest a bit. Wow! Their little gestures made me so happy and confirmed for me that the Gospel art of loving that I tried to live was becoming their lifestyle. Every day they do their best to learn, to live in love and to laugh. We’ve become a little family. Now they fill my days and my life has become colourful and filled with surprises.”
