![Interreligious friendships in England]()
25 Feb 2017 | Non categorizzato
Birmingham is a multi-ethnic city of central England where the presence of different religions and cultures has become a breeding ground for dialogue. The city itself is a laboratory of interreligious relationships based on mutual respect and the discovery of each other’s values. Catholic Archbishop Bernard Longley, along with the council of religious leaders of other faiths in Birmingham, is directly involved in the interreligious field and more than once has expressed the desire that the Charism of Unity might bring a contribution in the Church and in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. In October 2015, he made a house available to the Focolare in the diocese of Birmingham. Now, members from the community in Welwyn Garden City carry out many initiatives on a bi-monthly basis. They began with the Gen Verde international band’s “Start Now” project and continue carrying out many other initiatives. 
Last January, a Volunteer from the Focolare Movement, who is an expert in the field of education, ran the first of 4 workshops in a Sikh school for 70 children between the ages of 7 and 8. The theme was values. “The Sikhs feel a strong bond with us,” she recounts. “They say that like you, we try to model a society based on the fusion between the human and the divine. They find a harmony in the Movement that helps them to deepen their values and put them into practice.” The project is the culmination of a long friendship. For years the Sikh community guided by Bhi Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh has been constantly linked to the Focolare community in Birmingham. The friendship and mutual esteem is deepening. “Bhai Sahib Ji often tells us that Chiara Lubich is his inspiration,” a Focolare member writes. “He keeps a photo of her on his desk.” 
Sikhs and members of the Focolare recently took part together in an interreligious conference. Bhai Sahib Ji presented a project for promoting forgiveness and reconciliation. The event was an opportunity to strengthen friendships between members of different religions and beliefs, who now continue to stay in contact. 
Still in January, Dr Mohammad Shomali, Founding Director of the International Institute for Islamic Studies in Qum, invited several men and women focolarini to speak to a group of thirty Muslims at a mosque in on one of the quarters of Birmingham. His desire was to “put together the people he esteems and loves the most: his community and the Focolare.” The Church’s dialogue with Islam was discussed, and the Spirituality of Unity was proposed, along with the presentation of a few experiences of living the Word. Many Muslims remained enthusiastic and want to stay in contact with the Focolare. “They invited us back on Sunday for the ‘Visit My Mosque’ event,” they report. They conclude: “Over the past weeks in which we have made many new friends of other faiths, we remembered a letter that Chiara wrote on November 23,1980 where she said: ‘…and if there is a mosque, or a synagogue, or some other non-Christian house of worship – know that that is where you belong…’ It’s a project about building the universal family, also among the faithful of other religions.”
22 Feb 2017 | Non categorizzato
Maria Voce with the Vice-Mayor of Augsburg Dr Stefan Kiefer. Photo Maria Kny – © CSC Audiovisivi
Photo Maria Kny – © CSC Audiovisivi
21 Feb 2017 | Non categorizzato
The convention is being promoted by Providence University in collaboration with Dharma Drum Arts, the Sophia University Institute of Italy, Fu Jen Catholic University of Taiwan and other academic institutions in Taiwan and abroad. Among the participants are, the Arts and Sciences Professor of Dharma Drum, and likewise professors of Sophia in Italy, professors and scholars of various universities of the USA, monks and scholars from Thailand, Japan, South Korea and other religious groups. Since 2004, the Foclare Movement has been holding Buddhist-Christian symposiums every two years in various cities. The Symposiums amongst Buddhists (Mahayana and Theravada) and Christians have always been important steps in strengthening mutual trust on the basis of respect for the others, and in preparing to work together on this meeting in Taiwan.
21 Feb 2017 | Non categorizzato
A concentration of Medieval towns and villages that are among the most beautiful in the country, ancient traditions, natural treasures, art and traces of an ancient culture that has sown Italy’s history with stories of a hard-working people that is tied to its roots. This is the central Italy that has been hit by an unfortunate series of earthquakes that continue to shake the region. The Italian Province of Fermo includes forty municipalities from the Sibillini Mountains to the sand and pebble beaches along the Adriatic Sea. On a clear night you can see the lights of neighbouring Croatia from the 13th century Dome Cathedral of Fermo. The Archdiocese also has ancient roots: Begun in the late 1500s, but going back to the 3rd century, it is the largest diocese in the region with120 parishes in 58 municipalities of the three Provinces of Ascoli Piceno, Fermo and Macerata. The Focolare’s Diocesan Movement began to take its first steps in the local Church of the region in 1973. As a branch of the Focolare Movement it works at the service of the local Church, offering and spreading the charism of unity in cooperation with other ecclesial groups, in order to make the Church a “Church-Communion”. In the whole territory around Fermo the earthquake caused devastation, evacuation and much fear. Two hundred churches were closed because they became inaccessible. Loredana, from the Diocesan Movement, tells about the experience of being close to the victims: “Along the coast, numerous camps and touristic villages are hosting 25 thousand people. In one camp site at Porto San Elpidio the Civil protection Agency set up an operation centre for this region. The local citizens has hosted more than a thousand people, entire families with children and grandparents, but several thousand moved away from here before being directed to other facilities along the coast. We took up a collection among us animators, to buy basic necessities. We set up a small coffee bar for the volunteers and evacuees. Once this phase was finished, the mayor and the councillor for culture met with representatives from schools to request support in organising workshops and recreational activities. Three of us were there representing the Diocesan Movement, but we had many others behind us that we knew were willing to help. Together with them we organised activities for the children and tutoring for the teenagers, locating teachers for every day and offering desserts prepared by our mothers and grandmothers. Strong friendships were established with teachers, children, teenagers and the elderly. Many evacuees are elderly. In Monte san Giusto, for example, around 120 evacuees were offered hospitality, including 42 from a rest home and 30 in wheelchairs. Two of us offered ourselves – one a social worker and the other a municipal guard – to listen to their needs. There were many personal initiatives. The young people from Porto San Elpidio, for example, made a lot of small Christmas trees that they then gave away to the families at the camp site. In the end, we collected 1,200 eruo for the RImPRESA Project in support of small inland production activities.”
19 Feb 2017 | Non categorizzato
Born in a prestigious family in Rome, the institute chosen for her education was the Holy Spirit Institute run by the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception. In the institute she personally knew the foundress, now Blessed, and soon she felt the desire to give herself totally to God. Her family did not accept her choice, and after she escaped to go to the novitiate twice, she was forced to return home. Then due to her firm decision, she managed to convince her parents and make her dream come true. At the conclusion of her training in Northern Italy, she returned to Rome to teach in the school she had attended as a child and adolescent. Jovial and playful, Sr. Leopolda was able to conquer her students and with her smart remarks managed to downplay even the most complicated situations. In the 1970s she came across the spirituality of the Focolare and in it, discovered a sign of the times for the Church. Fascinated by the vision of Chiara Lubich who considered every charism a gift of love for the others, she felt the urge to create a current of communion among consecrated women of various religious families. Due to her moral and spiritual gifts, vast culture, and the great capacity to enhance the importance of people, in 1983 she was asked to guide the Congregation for 12 years. She personally met the founder of the Focolare, who in 1989 asked her to lead the Movement of the Religious at international levels, and promote communion among the Mother Generals who appreciated the spirituality of unity. Mother Leopolda accepted Chiara’s invitation with joy and responsibility, and wove a tight network of religious bound by the spirit of communion. She programmed and prepared annual meetings for consecrated women and mother generals. When her mandate to guide her congregation ended, she again took up her commitment in the educational field. The parents of her students considered her, “the most gentle and nicest Director of all the schools in the world.” When she fell ill, she was ready to say her “yes” to the God she had followed since her youth. She let Him guide her by the hand, offering all for the Church, her congregation, and the consecrated women she had met in life. In the more difficult moments she took comfort in the spiritual writings of Chiara, surrounded by her co-religious and the focolarine who were by her side up to the end. The doctors and staff of the hospital were struck by her testimony of serenity and total abandonment to God. Sr. Leopolda passed away on 1 January 2017, at the age of 87. The Focolare Movement remembers her with immense gratitude for her life spent entirely to diffuse among the religious, the spirit of communion that arises from the Charism of Unity.
18 Feb 2017 | Non categorizzato
https://vimeo.com/204141968
Still in January, Dr Mohammad Shomali, Founding Director of the International Institute for Islamic Studies in Qum, invited several men and women focolarini to speak to a group of thirty Muslims at a mosque in on one of the quarters of Birmingham. His desire was to “put together the people he esteems and loves the most: his community and the Focolare.” The Church’s dialogue with Islam was discussed, and the Spirituality of Unity was proposed, along with the presentation of a few experiences of living the Word. Many Muslims remained enthusiastic and want to stay in contact with the Focolare. “They invited us back on Sunday for the ‘Visit My Mosque’ event,” they report. They conclude: “Over the past weeks in which we have made many new friends of other faiths, we remembered a letter that Chiara wrote on November 23,1980 where she said: ‘…and if there is a mosque, or a synagogue, or some other non-Christian house of worship – know that that is where you belong…’ It’s a project about building the universal family, also among the faithful of other religions.”