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Sportmeet at the world conference on Sports and Faith

Sportmeet at the world conference on Sports and Faith

Oct 17, 2016 | Non categorizzato

Paolo Crepaz and Paolo Cipolli

«It was like an immersion in beauty, an occasion for new relationships, a well of inspiration, and an amazing correspondence to Chiara Lubich’s vision of the rapport with human realities. It was sports as a potential change factor and thus at the service of humanity, with a resolute openness to authentic dialogue without foregoing the sharing of inspiration founded on Wisdom that touched each one, and hopefully also the minds and thus the intentions of the multiform representatives of world sports.» This was the impression of Paolo Cipolli, world coordinator of Sportmeet, founded by Chiara Lubich in 2002 with the objective of contributing to universal fraternity in and through sports. Pope Francis presided the opening ceremony in the presence of important guests, from UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to the President of the International Olympics Committee, Thomas Bach, and leaders of other churches and great religions. The inspirational themes of the conference were: compassion, respect, love, inspiration, equilibrium and joy. Pope Francis affirmed: «Sports is a highly valuable human activity able to enrich the lives of people, and which men and women of every nation, ethnic group and religious belief can enjoy. The Olympic motto, “altius, citius, fortius,” is an invitation to develop the talents God has given us. It is important that all have the chance to participate in sports activities, and I am glad that in these days, the core of what you will focus on in this meeting also includes the commitment to ensure that sports becomes ever more inclusive, and that its benefits be really accessible to all.» In referring particularly to the growing number of peripheries, the Pope also warned about indifference: «We all see the enthusiasm of children playing with a punctured ball or one made of rags in the outskirts of some big cities or in the alleys of small towns. I would like to encourage everyone, institutions, sports societies, educational and social groups, and religious communities to work together so that these children, especially those who are excluded due to poverty, can practice sports in dignified conditions.» The Pope concluded with a precise challenge: «Maintain the genuineness of sports, and protect it from manipulations and commercial exploitation. It would be sad for sports and humanity, if the people would no longer be able to believe in the authenticity of sportive results, or if due to cynicism and disappointment, these sensations were to prevail over enthusiasm, and joyful, unselfish participation. In Sports as in life, it is important to fight for the result, but also to play well, and more importantly with loyalty!» Many athletes stood onstage with the Pope, among which were the Italians, Alessandro Del Piero and the Olympic gold medal fencing champions, Daniele Garozzo and Valentina Vezzali; the swimmer from Zimbabwe and former world record holder, Kirsty Coventry; the gymnast, Igor Cassina, and paralympic athletes such as the multi-champion, Anna Schaffelhuber; the athlete, Giusy Versaceand; and the Rio 2016 gold-medal fencing winner, Bebe Vio. The words of the Southern Sudan runner, Paulo Lokoro, who competed in Rio in 2016 with the Olympic team of refugees, were brief but very important. 20161018-01The 300 delegates who gave a very important contribution to the convention were of various ethnic groups, cultures and religions, representing sportive and non-sportive international organizations, governments, associations and NGOs of companies involved in the variegated world of sports. The moments of reflection, in-depth study of themes, testimonials, and work groups, focused on the irreplaceable and important role of sports in serving humanity. Paolo Crepaz of Sportmeet underlined: «All were overjoyed to have participated and contributed to a historical event due to the novelty of the great attention the Church pays to the world of Sports.» At the conclusion, the athletes solemnly affixed their signatures to symbolise their commitment to becoming game changers,” to form and promote a global network in the conviction that sports can change the world. See: cittanuova.it

Giordani and Christian Education

Giordani and Christian Education

Oct 16, 2016 | Non categorizzato

Igino Giordani“Teaching is like lighting a flame, not filling an empty vessel. If it is a flame that needs to be fed, then a learner should be taught to guard and increase the warmth and light. A person needs an education that outlasts childhood and continues from birth to death – and that is the period for giving.” Giordani was a writer and journalist, a man of politics but also a formidable educator. His writings were intended to teach, to teach citizens the path of justice. Many were raised on Giordani’s writings during the difficult period of cultural resistance to Fascism and during the Cold War. Giordani taught by living and then writing. In his opinion education should be a universal endeavour that engages the whole citizenry. The function of education is to instill two fundamental skills: freedom and responsibility. Referring to an image used by Plutarch, for Giordani, teaching meant lighting a flame and creating the conditions for the learner to know how to keep it constantly alive. The focus of the learning process would thus be shifted from teacher to learner and from childhood to the entire lifespan. “In the natural order the teachers are the family and the State; in the supernatural order, the Church. When these collaborate toward the same goal – cooperating rather than bumping into each other – education achieves its full effect. Individuals and crowds are not stupefied and neutral in front of their personal destiny, but they face it with courage and you have those epochal periods of great undertakings for peace and for war, for thought and for action. The family is not a mere roost, orphanage or corporate housing: it is a church and a school. Parents have a natural right – therefore from God – to teach that goes beyond generating and nourishing children; an inalienable right that comes before every other civil right. 20161016-01The family will educate if parents are not only educated, but aware of their mission to be teachers; if they are able to nurture in the souls of their children greater ideals than food, board and profession; if they act like a teaching domestic church. Religion is also there to remember, to lift up and protect the teaching obligation of the family. And politics should do likewise. The State is the other great educator and accomplishes its role through the school. Nowadays, States run their own schools, and it is there natural right to do so. But it would no longer be their right if they coerced religious conscience and perverted moral conscience; even worse if they prevented the Church from having her own schools.” “For what regards morality, education should be the same from family to State, from parish to workplace. It should draw on God’s law and construct human laws based on God’s law. The soul of such education is a transcendent faith that snatches individuals from the grip of individualism and joins them to one another with an impulse of justice and charity. As one great educator once said, ‘The real social culture was begun on Golgatha’.” (Igino Giordani, “Educazione e istruzione” in La società cristiana, Città Nuova, (1942) 2010, pp. 108 – 111).

Melbourne: working alongside alcoholics

Melbourne: working alongside alcoholics

Oct 15, 2016 | Non categorizzato

Kevin Kelly-01

Kevin Kelly

“Some years ago I was meeting with a group of men trying to live the Focolare spirituality of unity. We saw together that we could do something concrete for our society. One of us knew a place for homeless alcoholic men called “The Way”. These men had been living on the street but were now too old or unwell to cope any longer. Working there as a volunteer, I got to know these guys really well. They had no pretensions. They were still drinking and came to sleep and sometimes eat. I got to know one Irish chap really well. Paddy was his name. He was a very nice man, but he just could not stop drinking. He had fought with the British during the war and like many ex-servicemen he could not cope with normal life. He told me once that during the war he used to aim at the enemies’ legs so he would not kill them. One night, he became very ill while I was sleeping over at the centre. I was really conscious that Paddy was unwell. I rang one of the Jesuit priests who supported us and with whom I had a good relationship. He came in and gave Paddy the last rites. When he passed away, we prepared Paddy for his burial. Washed and clean, Paddy lay between us. It was a sacred moment. I could not help saying, “He looks just like Jesus taken down from the cross”. This suffering Jesus was now at peace. Subsequently I met Peter, a doctor at St Vincent’s hospital who used to call in and help the men in any way he could. I got on very well with him and we shared our experiences. He told me that the hospital wanted to start up a place where people could safely come off alcohol but in a non-medical environment. Peter asked me if I would be interested in running this new facility. After seeing it my wife and getting three years’ leave from the Australian Public Service, I applied for the role and was given the job at the drug and alcohol clinic. Over time I developed a close relationship with the staff and director of the clinic and with the hospital board. After a lot of community consultation we opened the centre in an old pub in Fitzroy, an inner suburb of Melbourne. Filling the staff was very interesting. My assistant was a trained nurse with a lot of experience in this area. After consulting widely, we chose the staff who were a mixture of trained professionals and ex-alcoholics. These ex-alcoholics were wonderful people. Because of their own suffering and experience they understood where the admitted clients were coming from and how they were suffering during the withdrawal stage. 20161014-01They were a very spiritual people and working with them, I felt a real bond and a sense of unity of purpose. These ex-alcoholics were very honest with themselves and with each other. Nearly all of them had obtained their sobriety through Alcoholics Anonymous which is a 12-step program. They were ruthless in their self-assessment and refused to give in to resentments and negative feelings. It was a real privilege working with them. At one stage I felt there was a lack of patience with repeat clients. Workers in the field of the homeless and destitute really felt comfortable with the way we respected their clients and used to send people to the centre to sober up. However, this meant that once they were rehabilitated they would often return to their old ways. This was difficult for the ex-alcoholics who invested so much in helping people to recover. In listening to them, I was able to share a maxim I had learned from Chiara Lubich – “to see each person new” – and to live it each time they came into the unit. I emphasized that when people came in again looking for help, we had to see them as though we were seeing them for the first time, even if they had been in many times before. Most of them managed to do this despite the pain it caused them. We had a victory when one fellow, who had a record number of admissions and who was treated by us as a new person each time, suddenly saw the light and gave up drinking altogether. To everyone’s amazement he went on to achieve long term sobriety and even started to help other people! Throughout this experience, I came to see the importance of suffering and the role it played in people’s development. By loving and accepting each person as they were, we were able to be more human in the way we responded to any situation.”

Experience shared by Kevin Kelly at the Health Symposium “Darkness to Light – Spirituality of Unity in Chronic Disease and Disability” Focolare Movement, Australia, July 2016

 

Gen Verde: Creating Our Future, Together

Gen Verde: Creating Our Future, Together

Oct 14, 2016 | Non categorizzato

Gen Verde_LoppianoLab-01LoppianoLab 2016 opened its doors again this year with the theme: the poverty of riches and the wealth of poverty. Persons, institutions, ideas and experiences all played an active part in building a future based on a culture of unity across all fields. Mileni, Gen Verde’s guitarist, described LoppianoLab 2016 as “unique since during it we launched ‘Young people in action’: performing arts workshops dedicated especially to young people looking for a way to build a better future.” So 160 young people mostly from Italy but also including a group of 50 from all over the world took part in this enriching experience of intercultural exchange. Mutual listening and trust reigned in an atmosphere free from prejudice. Mileni explains – “The young people told us that they learned to recognize the needs of those around them and not just their own.” They said: “We can choose: either to ignore those who have difficulties or to help them.” They discovered the miracle of ‘being together’ and the richness that comes from sharing in the small things of everyday life. When asked, “Did you learn anything new here?”, they replied: “we understood the value of solidarity, and helping one another.  We learned to value team work.  We learned the importance of a having a sense of responsibility and the part each can play in the life of a group.  We learned that on our own we can achieve small things but together we can do something great.” They also spoke about the important experience of working with others from a different culture: “we learned to go beyond barriers which could have been there because we speak different languages or come from different places.  Instead we found a way of communicating which was very deep and sincere.  Together we were able to go beyond moments when we experienced discouragement or failure and discover the joy of singing, dancing or creating music together.” When asked, what will you take from this to your everyday life?  The young people replied: “To listen to others.  To trust them.  Not to stop at my own limits.”  And: “We have learned to trust in ourselves more and that people are not always what they seem – first impressions can be wrong!  In the very positive atmosphere we experienced here, we learned to eliminate prejudice and get along happily with others.” The event concluded with a bang in an exciting final performance at the Loppiano Auditorium packed with 900 people. They listened intensely and in the end everyone was on their feet as great joy filled the air. Those in the audience said: “I loved the concert – it felt like something really new, modern and extremely relevant in that it touched on issues all of us face.”  And, “It was so beautiful, I experienced the strength that comes from diversity.  At the end of the concert I would have wanted to say so much, but in the end I remained in silence.  In silence to meditate on the values you transmitted to us.” Video