The news summary will be made available on the Collegamento CH website a few days before the Internet transmission. On the same website one can find all the previous linkups in various languages, as full editions as well as individual news video clips. https://vimeo.com/170950751
The international coordinator of EcoOne called it “a successful experiment that has addressed a word of hope: A human being who is open to being a gift could in fact be the answer to the epochal environmental challenges that humankind finds itself facing. The meeting was held in Budapest, Hungary from May 27 until May 29 at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University and was attended by 80 representatives of environmental NGOs, university faculty, civil servants, professionals in the field of environment, and high school and university students from different countries. High-level scientific presentations were accompanied by practical experiences and transdisciplinary reflection on fields such as economics and political ethics. There were several presentations: from a 15 year-old boy to an elderly man who is dedicated to caring for the environment in the Focolare town in Holland. Three Italian students presented their experience that straddled energy-saving and the culture of giving. Erasmus, a student in Budapest, a student from Rome and a Brazilian also presented their experiences. The young man from Brazil paid for the trip by making and selling knick-knacks, and receiving a contribution from his university that made an exception in his case. Five young researchers received the Piero Pasolini Prize for the quality of their presentations, thanks to the financial support of the Economy of Communion. “Several agencies of the Focolare Movement were involved in the preparation of the event: Action for a United World, Economy of Communion, New Humanity Movement, New Humanity, Young for Unity, Movement Politics & Policy for Unity., Sophia University Institute and an excellent logistical team from the Hungarian EcoOne Group,” Fiorani affirmed. Zsusa Román, the coordinator of EcoOne in Hungary opened the event with a question: “What kind of person does it take to care for the environment?” Fiorani went on to present the features and objectives of EcoOne as: “a cultural initiative at an international level, promoted by experts, researchers and professionals that work in the environmental science sector. We share a common desire to enrich our scientific knowledge with a humanistic approach to ecological and naturalistic problems. With our partners who join us in pursuing a global sharing of the world’s goods and a close interdependence among countries, EcoOne attempts to make such principles flow into society, politics and economy inasmuch as they are also related to the topic of the environment.” Auxiliary Bishop of Esztergom, Hungary, János Székely cited the importance of “sobriety and of the gift” in line with Pope Francis’s Laudato si. A lively debate followed the presentation by Professor Miguel Panão, which focused on a new anthropological notion of the human person as someone in the act of giving himself or herself to others and to nature. The roundtable was particularly appreciated in which the social challenges that are posed by the environment were discussed from a theological, climatological, economic and political point of view, underscoring how much the environmental problem requires the contribution of many disciplines, beginning with politics which guides decisions, and the economy that sets up the models of development. Fiorani concluded saying: “The meeting isn’t an arrival point, but a point of departure. Now we have to prepare for new challenges. The next meeting will be held in Asia!” Info: EcoOne
Giorgio Marchetti (right) with Gino Bonadimani and Aldo Stedile. Photo © CSC Audiovisivi
(from left) Valeria Ronchetti, Chiara Lubich and Giorgio Marchetti. Photo © CSC Audiovisivi
Former head of the Section of the Focolarini from 1957, he returned to that task in 2000, a task that he carried out with dedication. He gave special attention to the married focolarini and the particular nature of their vocation. While strongly dedicated to others, Fede – with his scholarly attitude – did never failed to delve into a variety of disciplines. From 1995 he was a member of the Abba School, the Movement’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies where he offered his expertise in the field of ethics, but also philosophy and psychology. In the final years, with his health problems, a period began that Fede loved to describe as “one of the most beautiful periods of my life, so much so that I often find myself saying to Jesus: ‘I never knew that old age could be a beautiful adventure like this!” It was characterized by an “ever deeper and more intimate relationship with Jesus.” When people asked him how he was feeling, he would answer: “physically bad, but spiritually beautiful!” Fede’s legacy is certainly his unbreakable faith in God and in the charism of unity. His legacy is certainly that of a wise and efficacious builder of a work of God – the Focolare Movement, which he helped to develop and to make visible and active in the Church and in the world.
Luigino Bruni
“Through the work of the Focolare Movement, Chiara Lubich created a new social inclusion phenomenon inspired by the evangelical charism of unity, revealing new psychological, social, economic and religious- spiritual dimensions”. Prof. Adam Biela said these words during the official ceremony held in June 1996 when Chiara Lubich was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in Social Sciences by the John Paul II Catholic University in Lublin. He also explained that such a message “does not only prove that a new paradigm in social sciences is possible, but also shows how necessary it is to implement it”. While speaking about its inspirational role in social sciences, he defined it as a “paradigm of unity” and compared to “the Copernican revolution in natural sciences”. Fifteen other honorary degrees, from various universities in different parts of the world, were awarded to Lubich after this first one. Twenty years passed and the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin would like to take stock of the situation, so a conference is being organised in collaboration with the Focolare Movement’s Centre for Dialogue with Culture and the Sophia University Institute. This conference will reflect and research on “Conflict, dialogue and the culture of unity” through the perspectives of pyschology, economy, education, political science, sociology and communication. Prof. Biela declares that this conference “will analyse the contribution that the research and practice inspired by the paradigm of unity, based on the spirituality of unity, can offer to the conceptual and applied issues concerning the building of social, economic and political integration in today’s Europe and in the world”. He also claims that particular attention will be given to “Chiara Lubich’s social activity and that of the Focolare Movement to build psychosocial structures for unity in various social spheres”. 
More than 90 researchers and scholars from different parts of the world answered a call for papers and sent in their abstracts on the five themes to be discussed during the conference: dialogue in the communities: charism and institution; solving conflicts through dialogue; accomplishing political change and participatory processes; individual, interpersonal and intergroup processes in managing and preventing conflicts; interdisciplinary dialogue. Prof. Adam Biela and Jesús Morán, co-president of the Focolare Movement, who will give the opening talk, will be joined by other main speakers, namely the professors Bernhard Callebaut (Sophia University Institute in Loppiano, Italy) Mauro Magatti (Catholic University of Milan, Italy), Bogusław Śliwerski (University of Lodz, Poland), Marek Rembierz (University of Silesia, Poland), Stefano Zamagni, (University of Bologna, Italy), Krzysztof Wielecki (Wyszynski University of Warsaw, Poland), Catherine Belzung (University of Tours, France), John Raven (University of Manchester, United Kingdom). The conference starts on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, patron of the University. The University celebrates this feast with an official ceremony which will precede the conference. The Rector Prof. Antoni Dębiński will preside over this ceremony, while Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Apostolic Nuncio and other civil and religious personalities are expected to participate. Info: http://psychointerwencja.wix.com/congress Source: Press Release SIF – Focolare Information Service
