Jan 12, 2023 | Non categorizzato
On 31st December 2022 Luisa Del Zanna, one of the first focolarine in Florence, left us. She was born in 1925 into a Christian family as one of eight children. When she got to know the spirituality of unity she immediately made it her own. In 1954 she joined the focolare in Florence. In the following years she saw the birth of and followed various communities of the Movement. From 1967 she lived in Rocca di Papa (Italy) where Chiara Lubich, foundress of the Focolare Movement, had entrusted her with taking care of its secretariat, the archives, which she coordinated until 2007, and the nascent St Clare Centre (Centro Santa Chiara) for Communication, together with one of the first focolarini, Vitaliano Bulletti. “The guardian of the ‘treasures of the Focolare’” – we read in a article from 2008 in Città Nuova, “Luisetta, a name that caresses you, that makes you think of a delicate and gentle creature. And that really describes Luisa Del Zanna with her petite figure; one of those people who are usually entrusted with important tasks because of their discretion, competence and fidelity, whose value we don’t always realise because they remain behind the scenes, but without whom the cogs of the wheels would stop turning…”. In her early years, she worked as a schoolteacher in a small village in the mountains of northern Italy which she reached by taking part of the road on foot or on a donkey. It is her experience of that time that we are publishing here, keeping the original style of the year it was written, 1958. “Please, which is the road to Bordignano?[1]” After a four-hour bus journey, I had arrived at the principal municipality of that area which I had been unable to find on the topographical map (scale 1:100,000). No information agency had heard of it, and there was no mention of it on the timetables for the various means of transport. Yet the appointment letter stated quite clearly: ‘Your ladyship is invited to take up service on Friday 7 October at Bordignano Primary School in the municipality of Firenzuola”. And the name was written in block letters. There could be no mistake. The person to whom I had addressed the question – a tall, robust man – looked at me, puzzled: “What did you say?” and made me repeat the question. He thought he had misunderstood. Then he pointed into the distance: “You see that hill over there? Behind it are two others and then there’s Bordignano. I’m just going there now to deliver the post”. I realised immediately that he was going there on foot by the big boots he was wearing and his tanned face. I gasped in dismay for a moment. I looked at that hill, then at the man’s boots and realised there was no other way, so I took courage. “I’ll go with you,” I said resolutely. The postman didn’t seem to understand, just as before, but I set off and followed him. It was a long three-hour journey, interrupted only by brief pauses at the top of the steep climbs where there were impetuous gusts of wind where the valley opened up. 
Eventually, I arrived and saw three stone houses in a row, and further up, at the top of a tree-lined lane, the church with its bell tower. I greeted an old man, sitting with a pipe in his mouth, on the doorstep. I told him I was the teacher. He got up and moved to accompany me. We went through a bumpy door into the second of the row of houses, all of which were owned by the old man; the first was the shop that stocked everything (except for a few things I didn’t have which I really could have done with). There were hobnailed boots, matches, mousetraps (all kinds of mousetraps), stale bread, notebooks, everything. We climbed a ladder and entered the school. It was a large room with a few desks stacked in a corner (I had never seen such desks: six children could have fitted in one of them), a splintered chair, a broken blackboard. That was all the furniture. – Over here is your house,’ the old man explained to me, ‘you can be happy! This year there is running water. I had it installed, at my own expense! He ushered me into a small kitchenette; an unlit fireplace stood out in one corner. I was cold. It was starting to get dark: I looked for a light switch but there was none. (In the days that followed, I learned to use the carbide lamp and work and write by the light of that flickering tongue of fire). I sought out the priest that very same day (I learned that his church was the Pieve, the most beautiful of all the churches in the valley and the surrounding hills) and begged him to announce at Sunday Mass that school was starting. “But, signorina, it’s harvest time. Now there are chestnuts, then olives; the children help a lot with this work. School?” he added, “we’ll talk about that in January”. It all seemed impossible to me. I had learned some time ago not to shy away from difficulties. Quite the contrary. I had been told they serve as springboards, and I had seen that it was true. I found another way to let people know I had arrived. I spotted my pupils’ homes among the scattered, isolated cottages and went there. The first was Angiolino and Maria’s house. I am left with a vague memory of blackness and smoke from that one. There was Maria crouching in a corner among the ashes of the hearth (she had a sore throat), holding her arm over her face so that I wouldn’t see her. Angiolino was standing in the corner with his head down, following the conversation I was having with his mother. During the conversation I realised how much the people distrusted the school and the teacher even more. I listened in silence. I tried hard to understand the woman who spoke in a harsh, rancorous, almost incomprehensible dialect. I discovered that the boy had left school two years ago, without having completed his elementary studies, because of the mischief he was causing against the teachers. I just said a few things: I had come for them, the school was free and the children would have the afternoon off to help in the fields. “We’ll see,” said the woman, “I’ll send Maria”. As I was leaving I greeted the boy: “I would like to make the school beautiful for the little ones who come, if you can come and help me… I’ll be waiting for you”. There was no need for many more invitations. One by one the children arrived, the little brothers in pairs, uncertain, fearful. They had spread the word about school when they met for games, or in the fields, while tending the flock, or by being together in the woods collecting chestnuts. “Are you coming too? It’s nice, you know!” “It’s nice there, the teacher doesn’t hit!” The school soon became cosy with Angiolino’s valuable help. October’s nature offered rich ornamental material in the varied colour of its leaves. I established a relationship with each of the pupils and the pupils’ relationships with each other based on Jesus’ commandment: “Love one another…”. It was the basis for all the work that year. The school became a little paradise. The favourite book was the Gospel and those children’s minds, unused and closed to human reasoning, opened up to the logic of the Gospel with surprising spontaneity. The method was challenging. “Pro eis sanctifico me ipsum” (For them do I sanctify myself), Jesus had said, otherwise it would be ineffective. I realised at the end of the year that the evangelical life of those little ones had not remianed within the confines of the school, but had spilled out into their homes and their families. I realised this from the grateful greetings of the parents who had not remained indifferent to the breath of joyful life that the children brought back to them. The rough exterior that had made them seem insensitive disappeared from their souls and, unconsciously, that same life had entered them.
Experience of Luisa Del Zanna
[1] Bordignano, in the municipality of Firenzuola (Florence, Italy)
Jan 3, 2023 | Non categorizzato
During her tenure as President of the Focolare Movement, (2008-2021), Maria Voce had the opportunity to meet Pope Ratzinger several times. She told us about her relationship with the emeritus Pope and her impression of the contribution of Pope Benedict’s pontificate to the Church and the world. “When I was received in audience in his study, it was to like going into the living room of a home, where you could talk and be welcomed with love, I would even say, with loving attention. At the same time with noble finesse, tact and delicacy”. At the news of the departure of Pope Benedict XVI, the memories of Maria Voce, former President of the Focolare Movement, immediately returned to 13th April, 2010, when, with the then Co-President of the Focolare, Fr. Giancarlo Faletti, she was received by the Pope. “It was the second year after the death of our foundress, Chiara Lubich. The Co-President and I went to consign the life of the Movement into the hands of the Pope. We realized that he was already very aware of many things. We told him about our trip to various Asian countries from which we had just returned. He was pleased to hear about our visit to China, which is an important frontier for the Church. He rejoiced at what the Movement was doing to help the process of reconciliation between the Chinese Bishops and the Pope. He gave us his blessing and encouraged us to continue on the way to holiness. Personally, I was always impressed by his fine kindness and at the same time his warm and familiar welcome. He had a great sense of harmony, perhaps due to his love for music, which was also evident in the way his study was furnished: a welcoming place like a home, sacred like a church”. 
Did you meet Pope Benedict XVI as President of the Focolare on any other occasions? “In 2008 he received Co-President Faletti and I, immediately after the General Assembly of the Focolare in which we had been elected, the first after the death of our foundress. He then invited me to travel on the same train as him, with many personalities, to the “Day of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace and justice in the world” held in Assisi on 27th October 2011, twenty five years after the first event held by Pope John Paul II in 1986. Finally, I participated in his last audience on 27th February, 2013 after the announcement of his resignation.” What are your thoughts about his decision? “When he realized that he no longer had the strength to carry out his task, he had the courage to make room for others who, in his opinion, had more strength and opportunity to do better. A choice that, as I said at the time, offered a synthesis of his theological and spiritual reflection. He highlighted the primacy of God, the sense that history is guided by him. And he directed us to grasp the signs of the times and to respond to them by having the courage to make difficult but innovative choices. He gave a clear note of hope because of “the certainty that the Church belongs to Christ”. I think I am not mistaken in stating that the Church to which Pope Benedict always looked, even in making this choice, is a “Church-communion”, the fruit of Vatican II but also a vision, “increasingly an expression of the essence of the Church” as he himself had pointed out. And that “increasingly” tells us that we have not yet fully realized it and invites each of us to work in that direction with ever greater responsibility”. The day after his election as Pontiff, Chiara Lubich wrote: “From what I know about him, since he has special gifts for understanding the light of the Spirit, he will not fail to surprise and surpass every expectation”. In your opinion, what was the most significant contribution made to the Church by Pope Benedict XVI? What is he saying to the Church of today and to what the Synod is preparing for the future? “Pope Ratzinger understood the reality of Movements in the Church as the ‘springtime of the Spirit’. His speech, when still a Cardinal, to the Congress of Movements before the big meeting of Pentecost 1998 with Pope John Paul II, is fundamental. What he said in 1969 in a series of radio lectures is also impressive, thinking of today’s times; it reveals his profound spirituality and essentiality and a vision that must have remained in his heart throughout his pontificate. He said that very difficult times were coming for the Church, that its real crisis had just begun and that it would have to deal with major upheavals. But, the then Card. Ratzinger, also said that he was very sure about what would remain in the end: not the Church of political worship, but the Church of faith. It will no longer be the dominant social force to the extent that it has been until recently. But, he concluded, the Church will have a new blossoming and will appear as the home of humanity, where life and hope can be found beyond death”.
Anna Lisa Innocenti
Jan 2, 2023 | Non categorizzato
The theologian Piero Coda recalls Pope Benedict XVI and his extraordinary contribution to the journey of the Church in our time. Mons. Coda, in 1998 at the World Congress of Ecclesial Movements, the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Card. Joseph Ratzinger made a historic speech about the role of ecclesial movements. What, in your opinion, are the essential points of that speech? How much have those words contributed to changing the role of movements in the Church? Yes, it was indeed an historic speech! I was attending the Congress so I heard him give it. He had great theological competence and knowledge of the history of the Church, as well as the experience of the Council and then, in his role in the Vatican, he followed its implementation at the universal level. This allowed Ratzinger to clearly identify the meaning of ecclesial movements in the mission of the Church. His central point was to recognize the action of the Holy Spirit in the Movements. Throughout the centuries, in ever new ways and in subsequent waves, the Holy Spirit renews the People of God with the gift of charisms: from St. Benedict to the Mendicant Orders in the Middle Ages, from the Company of Jesus to the Missionary Orders in the last centuries, right up to the unexpected charismatic blossoming in concomitance with the Council. Hence the affirmation of John Paul II, in tune with the teaching of Vatican II, according to which the Church is built on the co-essentiality of the “hierarchical gifts”, the ministry conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders and of the “charismatic gifts”, the free bestowal of special graces of light and life among all the disciples of Jesus. 
On the occasion of the death of Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare, Pope Benedict XVI sent a comprehensive message of condolence. What was Lubich’s relationship with him? Chiara told me personally that she was very impressed by that speech of Cardinal Ratzinger in 1998 and was always grateful for it. He visited the Mariapolis Centre in Castel Gandolfo (Rome) on 8th December, 1989 and celebrated Mass on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. He referred to the Gospel parable and said that he could see the growth of a large tree born from a small seed, in which all the birds of the sky find rest. The first years of the pontificate of Benedict XVI coincided with the last years of Chiara’s life: she could no longer meet him in person or rejoice in the fact that, a year after her death, in the encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Ratzinger mentioned the Economy of Communion. What does the thought and life of Pope Benedict XVI say to the Church of today and tomorrow, which the current Synod is helping to define? His unique contribution was to recall, with his authority as a man of God and a great theologian, a determining truth: the work of renewal put into motion by Vatican II needs to be developed in direct contact with the living nucleus of the Gospel of Jesus and in the context of the ecclesial Tradition. He stated this clearly in his magisterial speech to the Roman Curia in December 2005, the first year of his pontificate, when he defined the decisive key to interpretation of the conciliar event as being: “continuing reform”. It is no coincidence that the best-known book by the young theologian Ratzinger, which appeared in its first edition in 1968 and was translated into the main languages, bears the title Introduction to Christianity. This signalled that the launch pad for a prophetic leap forward is the faith of always, in Jesus. Nor is it insignificant that, as Pope, he dedicated three encyclicals to the theological virtues: charity, hope and faith. He strongly stressed the primacy of the first, because it evokes the very name of the God who reveals himself in Jesus. That Jesus to whom he dedicated a passionate trilogy as an invitation to the encounter with the living principle of faith, which is not a beautiful idea, but God Himself. Faithfulness, therefore, to the patrimony of faith but so that the richness and novelty of the Gospel may be released from it. This is the secret of the strength and enduring fascination of the magisterium of Benedict XVI. And you personally, what is the most beautiful memory you have of Pope Ratzinger? I met him many times, first as Cardinal and then as Pope. I always experienced his great cordiality and exquisite attention. I also had the opportunity to converse at length with him about theology, in the context of a series of seminars with other scholars, at an international level, when he was Prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith. This made me realize (with increasing gratitude to God) the extraordinary contribution of wisdom he has given to the journey of the Church in our time. In agreement with Chiara, I shared the idea of the Sophia University Institute with Pope Benedict. He exclaimed, “A wonderful thing, if you can manage it…” Finally, I remember his joyful surprise when we met him during an audience with the first group of students and Caelison, a blind student, spontaneously confided to him: “We have found the light in Sophia!”.
Stefania Tanesini
Dec 31, 2022 | Non categorizzato
Statement by Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement on the death of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI Respect, appreciation, and emotion fill my heart as I express deepest gratitude for the life and work of Pope Benedict XVI. I do so on my own behalf and on behalf of the Movement that he followed and accompanied with love and closeness . With the whole Church we gather around Pope Francis as we give him back to God, certain that he has already been received into the glory of Heaven and I will do so personally on the 5th January when I attend his funeral in St Peter’s Square. In May 2009, I had the privilege of welcoming Pope Benedict to Jerusalem, as I participated in various stages of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Two of those moments remain with me in particular: his words at the Holy Sepulchre, “Peace is possible here”. He continued, saying: “The Empty Tomb speaks to us of hope, the same hope that does not disappoint, because it is the gift of the Spirit of life.” Being able to attend a private Mass in the Apostolic Delegation in Jerusalem, celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI himself was very powerful for me. I sensed his fatherly tenderness and the greatness of his charity that was expressed in a gesture of gratitude for all that the Focolare Movement had done to help prepare for his visit. 
In 1989, when he was still Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was invited by Chiara Lubich for a dialogue with the focolarine gathered for their annual spiritual exercises, in which I too was participating. He answered a wide variety of questions and at one point spoke words that I have never forgotten. Concerning the future of the Church and humanity, he said: “The final word in the history of the world will be communion, becoming communion, not only among ourselves but, by being incorporated in Trinitarian love, becoming universal communion, where God is all in all”[1]. Today, as our beloved Pope Benedict XVI has returned to the house of the Father, these words of his resound within me almost like a spiritual testament. They are words of extraordinary relevance, which today shed light and hope on humanity afflicted by conflicts of which we see no end. We were nourished by his enlightened thought, that of a great theologian who, while still very young, took part in the Second Vatican Council, He conveyed and presented over the years the newness of a Church as communion, formed of knowledge of the Word and charity translated into practice. Following his election as Pope, Chiara Lubich affirmed: ‘From my personal knowledge of him, and because he has special gifts with which to grasp the light of the Spirit, he will not fail to surprise us and exceed all expectations’[2]. Let us not forget the key role he played in 1998, when Pope John Paul II invited the Ecclesial Movements and New Communities to St Peter’s Square on the feast of Pentecost. On that occasion, Cardinal Ratzinger gave a very significant lecture entitled: “The Ecclesial Movements: a Theological Reflection on their Place in the Church”, in which he outlined the profile of the movements and new communities and their essential relationship with the Church. Some parts of his talk continue to be a great light for me and for the Movement, enabling us to be instruments of communion in the Church and Christ’s outreached arms towards humanity. He said: “(…) the Holy Spirit is quite plainly at work in the Church and is lavishing new gifts on her in our time too, gifts through which she relives the joy of her youth (cf. Ps 42:4 Vulgate). Gratitude for the many people, young and old, who accept God’s call and joyfully enter into the service of the Gospel without looking back. Gratitude for the bishops who open themselves up to the new movements, create room for them in their local Churches, struggle patiently with them in order to overcome their one-sidedness and guide them to the right form.”[3] Together with the whole Church, I thank God for the gift that Pope Benedict XVI has been for our time and I pray that we will know how to grasp and translate into life the depth of his theological thought, his faithfulness to the Gospel and the courage of a life of witness that can lead the Church on the paths of truth, fraternity and peace.
Margaret Karram President Focolare Movemente
[1] Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s visit to the meeting of the women focolarini, answers to questions. Castel Gandolfo, 8th December 1989. Chiara Lubich Archive, in the General Archives of the Focolare Movement. [2] Statement by Chiara Lubich in the Focolare Movement’s Press Release of 20th April 2005 [3] “Ecclesial Movements, a theological reflection on their place in the Church,” Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Proceedings of the World Congress of the Ecclesial Movements Rome, 27-29 May 1998.
Dec 29, 2022 | Non categorizzato
Two milestones to experience cultural exchanges, form paths of inclusion through art and develop musical talents. Yann Dupont is a French teacher. He teaches at the Institution Sainte Catherine in Villeneuve-Sur-Lot, France. He had always dreamt of taking some of his students to Moramanga in Madagascar for a cultural exchange with the Antsirinala School. One day, by chance Dupont met Valerio Gentile from Gen Rosso and from a lively, simple and sincere dialogue, an idea was born. Why not go to Madagascar together, Gen Rosso and five of his students for a cultural and humanitarian exchange? And that’s exactly what happened! The French young people were included in the ‘train the trainer’ formation group and a number of young people interested in the performing arts also participated. They took as their motto the words they then put into practice during the workshops in Madagascar: “call by name, put yourself in the other person’s shoes, live one for the other with joy, start again”. It was an 8-day tour – thanks to the financial support of the NGO Edugascar – in November to 4 different cities: Ambatondrazaka, Moramanga, Antsirinala, Antingandingana. They spent their time between dance, percussion and singing workshops and concerts. Over 500 young people were involved. “We believe we’ve all experienced a little piece of a more united world here in Madagascar,” said Gen Rosso. “We have discovered a people who convey hope, patience, a sense of adaptation, serenity and courage in the face of life with all its daily challenges. Nancy Judicaelle, a young girl from Madagascar remarked: “On the one hand I am sad that my time with them was so short but I am so happy and deeply moved, and am experiencing an inexplicable joy”. Angel, one of the young participants added: “The concert was terrific because we had shared about music, the education of children and respect for the environment. It was a great show where even the children were able to make their contribution for our whole community”. The five French students continued the tour with Gen Rosso, stopping first at Antsirinala where they were welcomed – in a festive and friendly atmosphere – by a school of 200 children and young people twinned with the school in Villeneuve, and then on to Ambatondrazaka. Here they met the Focolare community – a true celebration because it was the first time Gen Rosso had landed in Madagascar. “I experienced incredible moments of cultural exchange that happened in a completely natural way between Gen Rosso and the humanitarian Madagascan people,” said Dumoulin Nicolas, a French reporter who was following the tour, “including a group of French students who were here for an exchange. It has been the adventure of a lifetime”. A stop in Lebanon Another important trip for the international band was the visit to the Lebanon for the HeARTmony. project. After their experience in Bosnia, this training programme made a stop in Beirut in November for young people interested in social inclusion methodologies for migrants and refugees through art. It spurred them on to strengthen intercultural skills and reflect on the causes and effects of migration in the Mediterranean. Adelson, Michele, Ygor and Juan Francisco – all members of Gen Rosso met with young people from Caritas Egypt, Caritas Lebanon and members of Humanité Nouvelle Lebanon. As they landed in Beirut they were warmly welcomed by members of the different focolares. The main aim of the trip was to learn how to use music and art as tools for bringing people together, especially people living on the margins of society, such as migrants, to make them feel welcome in a community. “Art is a powerful medium,” Gen Rosso’s Adelson commented, “music reaches places we often can’t reach with words. A person can feel loved and respond to love in many different ways”. The method is always the same: through singing, music and percussion workshops they try to bring out the participants’ talents as they work towards putting together the final performance. One evening, the band and project participants were invited to a party organised by the Focolare community in Beirut: making music together and getting to know each other. It was an opportunity to share some life experiences and find out more about what these young Lebanese people are going through today. “I want to leave, but I feel that Lebanon will only change if I have the courage to stay, if I put into practice what I have learnt,” one young girl said during the evening. “At this time, it is difficult to tell young people to stay, but this girl’s words struck me deeply,” continued Adelson. “I think this is where we can start again: putting love into the things we do in order to become protagonists of our own reality. Perhaps we won’t see the results immediately but I am sure that soon Lebanon will be reborn, like a phoenix”!
Lorenzo Russo
Dec 28, 2022 | Non categorizzato
Recalling the emotions of an unforgettable year and the outlook for the New Year 2022 – a year that will be hard to forget. The war in Ukraine that could be compared to a virus for which there is still no vaccine, has affected all of us every day of this year that is drawing to a close. Yet, it has also been an opportunity for lots of artists to bring messages of peace and hope. And this is how the song ‘We Choose Peace‘ was born and recorded by Gen Verde, the international performing arts group, right at the start of the conflict in Ukraine. The video clip, recorded with young people from the little town of Loppiano and released during United World Week, has been particularly relevant throughout 2022, especially at various concerts around Europe. The band also recorded another song called ‘Walk On Holy Ground‘, written especially for followers of St Vincent de Paul but also for all those who feel called to follow Jesus. “To feel that I am looked at and loved by the One who has chosen me just as I am,” said Venezuelan singer Andreína Rivera from Gen Verde, “has given me the strength to go ahead with even more conviction.” This year was also marked by the concerts returning to squares and theatres, with various kinds of workshops, after a break of just over two years due to the pandemic. There have been several Gen Verde concerts in Italy and a special European tour. The strongest experience was the event held in the women’s prison in Vechta, Germany. 
“For the first time I was able to not feel like I was in prison. It was so beautiful,” said one of the inmates at the end of the concert. ‘I didn’t feel any difference. They were just like us. Some of them even had tears in their eyes. They really understood us.” Another one said: “Many songs were so appropriate for our situation, especially the song ‘On the other side’ because it helps not to judge those who are different from you”. Another inmate emphasised how “time went by so quickly and we didn’t want it to end. The stories in the songs are also my past and that is why I do not feel alone with my pain. Now I know that there are other people with the same stories, with the same pain, who have managed to find happiness”. We have been talking about our return after the pandemic. For Gen Verde, it was exciting to resume the Start Now Workshop Project, which is about meeting young people in the performing arts workshops and going on stage with them. “It’s been great to meet young people from different parts of Europe,” confided Raiveth Banfield from Panama who sings with Gen Verde. By sharing our experiences, so much light came back into their eyes. It was like a confirmation that it is worthwhile to live for universal brotherhood”. These words were echoed by two young Slovakian girls: “Before we came we didn’t really know what we were getting into. At first we didn’t even want to come out of ourselves but then in the workshops we discovered that we all had so much in common, even though we did not know each other and could not understand each other because of the different languages. We discovered that each of us has a little light inside us, despite the little obscurities. This experience is unforgettable: we will carry it with us for the rest of our lives.” Gen Verde is beginning to glimpse a 2023 that will be full of surprises and novelties. “We have been preparing for several months because it’s going to be full of trips, tours, concerts and also a few surprises,” says Alessandra Pasquali, an Italian singer and actress. “We can’t give away too much just yet because there are still things being worked out, so much work in progress”. Early on in 2023 Gen Verde will be back in Germany, then Austria and Romania, and in the summer they are going to Portugal for the World Youth Day, as well as various Italian cities including Assisi on 24 February where there will be a concert for peace.
Lorenzo Russo
Info: https://www.genverde.it/
