AMU: Projects in Burundi and Cameroon

12 Jun 2014 | Non categorizzato

Burundi. “This area experienced dramatic events in 1994 – the AMU workers tell us -: The population was caught up in killings, reprisals, robberies, wholesale destruction of homes and goods. Living and hygiene conditions are still deplorable, and the worst effected are women and children. The vulnerable families of these towns are very numerous and many of the children don’t go to school; often they are brought up by single women with children, weakened by years of war and hardships, and they don’t have resources of any kind, without any hope of improvement.” In 2014 a new project was set up in the metropolitan area of Bujumbura together with a partner association CASOBU , in collaboration with the Associazione Uomo Mondo of Treviso (Italy) and with co-funding from the Veneto Regional Council in Italy. In the working through of the project, in dialogue with the beneficiaries, the institutions and the staff of CASOBU, certain needs were identified as priorities. An attempt to address these needs will be made through a series of activities aimed to help 250 vulnerable families, totalling 1,500 people altogether. Camerun.  The construction of the water well at Nega (Cameroon) has been completed, and it has become a place of meeting and sharing. “We can say that everyone – adults, children and the elderly – have helped build the well – (AMU Notizie n. 4/2013) – through physical labour and the transport of stones and sand. A small annual fee for maintenance is also asked of each family according to the possibilities of each, thanks to the sale of cocoa and other produce grown. This direct involvement makes everyone feel the well as his or her own: an asset to protect. ” Prior to the construction, the villagers had been informed and trained, through community meetings, on how to take care of the well and use water responsibly. The well, also, was built at a transit point, so travellers can use it too. Fr Simon Pierre, a priest of the parish, writes: “Without exaggeration, we can say that the construction of the well has brought visible benefits to the village. Everyone now has drinking water so there is an improvement in terms of health; for example, there are fewer people with abdominal pains. The well has become a place of meeting and sharing between people and this helps to unite the community.” Source: AMU Notizie n. 2/2014

Scicli: a community which is a “family”

11 Jun 2014 | Non categorizzato

In the early 1960’s, Sicily was far from Trent and seemed inaccessible. Yet since that time, through the first group of the Focolare Movement, the spirituality of unity spread in many towns of this island in the far south of Italy. Among these Scicli, which has 25 thousand inhabitants, is a town which is a jewel of the baroque period and has been declared a World Heritage Site. It overlooks the Strait of Sicily and has found itself at the centre of the new migrant influx of these times, like Agrigento, Pozzallo and others that we often  hear mentioned as places where migrants from north Africa come to land. By nature, the people are welcoming, but Jesus’ invitation “That all may be one” (John 17:21) and the suggestions of Chiara Lubich about the way to follow for those who wish to conquer their own city for God, over the years have motivated the Scicli Focolare community to seize every opportunity to reach out to many people: a dialogue with Christians of different churches, support for  immigrant youth, a New Year’s Eve initiative not to leave anyone alone, Italian lessons, a day care centre animated by children for children, a meals service which turned into a project (“One family, one table”), and more. “There are members of  the Methodist Church living in our city,” says Ignatius Ventura from Scicli. Already in the 1990’s a deep dialogue of communion and sharing of ideas started with them. Together we decided to run a weekly canteen for the many immigrants in our city.” “Hichem and Samia are a young Tunisian couple who recently came to Scicli. We supported them as they tried to sort out their modest house. Worried about their precarious financial situation, they told us that they were expecting a baby. It was the concrete love of many that reassured to go ahead with the pregnancy. After the first few moments of joy, the birth of their child, Deyssem, turned into an alarming race against time. Due to an abnormality: an operation was needed within a few hours! We were with them  in this delicate moment. We had to arrange the transfer to Rome. One of our community offered to accompany the child and his dad. The operation was completely successful and the child was saved.” Around that time, together with other institutions, the Scicli community founded an intercultural reception centre named “The Source”  and responded to an appeal launched by the City Council for Italian language lessons for migrant youth which were given three times a week, for two consecutive years. The result was a performance in which North African and Scicli youth gave the best of themselves. Inspired by the ‘Manifesto’ that Chiara gave to the new generations,  “One city is not enough”,  since 2005 the “Teens for Unity” look after children in a day care centre which some Religious Sisters run. Here children from difficult situations have lunch and spend the afternoon. A rota was organized for  playing with them and for  helping them with their homework. The social worker and the psychologist have said that the presence of the “Teens for Unity” is very important for children. In 2006 the families of the Focolare were asked to contribute to the formation of the families of the children of the Centre. These were Albanian families, from a different religion and culture, families which were separated and some of which had  parents in prison or under house arrest … “Our support to the centre and to the Sisters gave us many opportunities to establish relationships of mutual help and assistance, even when all we could do was to listen and try to understand their suffering. This was how the  “One family, one table” project started: a meal organized for sixty people, one Sunday a month.  Ignatius concludes, “We are experiencing that the spirit of  family spirit exists beyond cultural barriers. It’s really true that by giving ourselves to others we experience peace in our souls and the freedom of being children of God.  

Christian-Buddhist dialogue at Sophia University

31 May 2014 | Non categorizzato

“At the end of the academic year, it is particularly significant that the Sophia University Institute (SUI) welcomes for the “Sophia Chair”, Prof. Donald Mitchell, emeritus professor of Asian and Comparative Philosophy from Purdue University (Indiana – USA)”. This was how Paolo Frizzi, the first Doctor of Research to conclude the Doctorate School of Sophia precisely with a study on interreligious dialogue, introduced the evening program on the 16th of May. “It is a special year – he continued – because of the prospects that were opened in this sector of studies. It has been just a few months that we have started a new course with different subjects on Theology of religions and interreligious dialogue, opening up an original interdisciplinary research proposal. And not more than two months ago the SUI welcomed two delegations of Buddhists from Thailand and from Japan. So here we are therefore, to go ahead with the exploration of a horizon of great relevance today”. On the 16th of May more than 150 interested and involved people were present, and a few witty remarks were not enough to describe the intense journey of life and high level commitments of Prof. Mitchell: from the discovery of zen meditation to his rapprochement with the Catholic Church, up to his encounter with the spirituality of the Focolare and with Chiara Lubich, precisely in Loppiano (near Florence, Italy, where the university is located). Already in the ‘70s, he specialized in Buddhism, Christianity and in Buddhist-Christian dialogue, in a historical moment when dialogue was becoming more and more the preferred method of interreligious encounter; from that moment on he put his experience and expertise at the service of numerous realities working in this field. Throughout the years, his activities brought him to become qualified in the highest levels, as one of the most respected consultants, and in promoting important international Christian-Buddhist talks, forging relationships with influential exponents from the diverse fields of Buddhism. Among these: Gishin Tokiwa, professor of Zen Buddhism in Japan and president of the F.A.S. Society, founded by Shin’ichi Hisamatsu, whose story and thoughts find profound consonance with the journey and the spirit of Chiara Lubich and the Focolare Movement. A living harmony also characterized his encounters and dialogue with Keiji Nishitani, one of the most famous Japanese philosophers of the XX century, and with many others, including the Dalai Lama. The wise equilibrium that characterizes the scientific works of Prof. Mitchell, between the theological challenges and experiences in the field, have revealed an original aspect: that which is more often lacking in fact, in the literature and debates on interreligious relationships, and this is precisely such an equilibrium or balance, essential for those who want to understand what it means to truly encounter the other. In this light, in his work, it is evident how interreligious dialogue, which often, in reality, echo serious situations of conflict, brings with it a great potentiality for peace and social and spiritual progress, as long as – just as Card. Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue affirmed some time ago – “it becomes patrimony of everyone and not just of an elite group”. “My hope – the professor concluded – is that the lay religious movements today, of all religions, who possess many shared values, can collaborate to build one human family, taking care also of the children and of nature. Chiara Lubich wrote ‘Be a family’. I think that we neeed to see in this a prophetic call”. Source: Sophia University Institute Flickr gallery: sif_loppiano/14044562228

Igino Giordani: With the Pope in the Holy Land

29 May 2014 | Non categorizzato

As we come to the end of Pope Francis’ trip to the Holy Land, we present an article by Igino Giordani that reveals the great trepidation and expectation that was felt in those truly historic days fifty years ago. The author places Paul VI’s pilgrimage in the context of the Vatican Council, which precisely in those days was concluding the second session of its work. The relevance of his insights and the food for thought he provides is extraordinary, and so in tune with the situation of the Church today. “Pope John XXIII injected a youthful spirit in the ecclesial community, and Paul VI reassumes in a youthful way all the more spiritually innovative contributions, guiding the Council with strength towards life-giving conclusions, for Catholics and non-Catholics, for all the different races, for the baptised, Jews and pagans of every country and caste. His ingenious initiative to go to the Holy Land demonstrates his dedication to building bridges around the world. In Palestine, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, the Pope goes back to the origins: there where Jesus preached the simple truth, in its entirety, the great new commandment, where he instituted the sacraments and gave his life so that we might have life. There, in that birthplace of our religion, there are no differences between Christians: these came later. In the Cenacle, together with Peter and Mary, the faithful had one heart and one soul: they listened to the testament spoken by Jesus under that roof, so that “all may be one.” And in a certain sense, there are no differences either between Christians, Jews and Muslims, as for all three those places are sacred. Paul VI went to pray, in churches and at monuments, which men have made symbols of discord, turning memories of peace and forgiveness to news of armed conflict and hateful fratricide. And instead the Holy Father goes to ask for inspiration to reawaken the forces of renewal and unity, at the Cenacle, where Jesus first proclaimed the law of unity and where the Holy Spirit gave life to the first Church, and with that unity, fruit of the renewal of the spirits, peace, re-presented to the eyes of the world by Pope John XXIII’s Encyclical Pacem in Terris. “We shall see that holy ground, from whence Peter departed and where none of his successors has yet returned – Paul VI wrote: we humbly and very briefly return there in an attitude of prayer, of penance and of spiritual renewal to offer to Christ his Church, to call to it, one and holy, our separated brothers and sisters, to implore divine mercy in favour of peace on Earth, which still seems in these days very weak and unstable, to supplicate Christ the Lord for the salvation of the whole of humanity”. And therefore the aims of his pilgrimage are the same aims as the Council, which in the person of the Pope transfers temporarily to Palestine: renewal, unity, peace … His pilgrimage, of prayer and penitence, all purely religious reasons, signals the will of the Church of the poor to put itself back on the foundation of the evangelical virtues, in great humility, that humility which in the house of Nazareth found its most pure expression and its most moving exultation in the “Magnificat of the Handmaid of the Lord”. From that foundation charity blossomed: Christ, who gives love and asks for love: “Do you love me more than they? …” This greater love of Peter’s, explains Paul VI’s act of humility when he asked forgiveness of the separated brothers and sisters should there have been faults on the Catholic side, in his speech to the Catholic observers at the Council. To return to the origins (…) is to regain strength: to be reborn”.  

[:it]Vite in gioco

26 May 2014 | Non categorizzato