![Syrian refugees and Pope Francis]()
24 May 2014 | Non categorizzato
“In Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan, a Jordanian Muslim woman will be telling the Pope about the experience of Syria’s refugees. An Iraqi Christian will speak after her. That is right, because although no one talks about it any more, there are still 500 thousand Iraqi refugees here in Jordan. And people are dying in Iraq just as they are in Syria.” 
As the Pope’s visit nears, there is one group in the Holy Land which has no time for stages and flag waving: they are the refugees who were forced to leave their homeland because of the war. Wal Suleiman, the director of Caritas Jordan is here to tell their story: a40-year-old lay member of the Focolare movement who has been sharing the stories and tragedies of those fleeing Syria on a daily basis for the past three years. The President of Caritas Internationalis, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga arrived in Amman just a few days ago, ahead of Pope Francis’ visit, along with the executive committee of the organization that groups together the charity organisations of all episcopal Conferences around the world. Together they are looking at the actions that are being taken in response to the Syrian emergency and also at the serious wounds that remain open. Caritas has been working with the Mafraq refugee camp in Jordan – as well as Zarqa camp which was opened later – since 2012. 
“How many Syrian refugees are there in Jordan? According to government figures there are 1.350.000 people,” Suleiman said. “But you cannot fully understand what this means for us Jordanians if you don’t bear in mind all the rest as well. Palestinian refugees arrived in my country in 1967. Then in the 80s, the Lebanese came and the Iraqis in the 90s. Do you know that in the past two years the number of Egyptians with work permits have doubled? There was an agreement between our two countries, so many of those who fled Cairo because of the violence came here.” This is partly why there will also be poor and disabled Jordanians in the approximately 400-strong delegation that will meet the Pope in Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan, the archaeological site which commemorates Jesus’ baptism. By now, it is virtually impossible to separate the different forms of suffering here: “You Jordanians didn’t have a war. But all the devastation in the countries surrounding us have had serious repercussions for us too,” the director of Caritas Jordan said. “I am thinking, for example, of the schools that have classes of 50 pupils or of the enormous difficulties in guaranteeing everyone access to water and electricity. Jordan is suffering too. And we are asking ourselves: What future lies ahead for us?”
http://popevisit.jo/
23 May 2014 | Non categorizzato
http://vimeo.com/95726085 Jerusalem, May 24th: the encounter with Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew recalls the historic embrace of 50 years ago between Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras I, which was the start of a new page in history following centuries of separation. We retrace this unedited page in the history of ecumenical dialogue.
![Syrian refugees and Pope Francis]()
19 May 2014 | Non categorizzato
Friederike and George from the Focolare community in Nigeria write: “We are finally able to write, firstly to thank everyone for the prayers that are supporting us at this critical moment for our land.”
“The double bombings in Abuja – in a very populated spot that many of us wallk through every day – and the kidnappings of the students in Borno have caused a wave of suffering and desperation among the Nigerian people. Reactions vary: fear, resignation, anger, revenge. . .”
But the witness we want to give speaks of peace: “We share the sufferings of the families of the many victims, trying to stay rooted in the present moment remembering that universal brotherhood is the only path to peace.”
“It was a providential coincidence that in the midst of this confusion, United World Week was just about to begin.” At this time every year the Young People for a United World go public with visible activities that make as many people as possible think about peace and solidarity. This year they presented the World Atlas of Fraternity.
Friederike and George tell us that in Nigeria: “Young people and other members of the local Focolare community programmed several activities both in Onitsha, Abuja and Jos. But on the day after the second bombing, we met with the community of Abuja and discussed whether or not to continue with preparations for United World Week. We unanimously agreed that now more than ever was the time to live for peace and offer hope!”
On March 14, 2014, 80 Muslims and Christians gathered in Millenium Park, Abuja, for a day focusing on “Welcoming and Brotherhood”. At noontime we paused for Time Out: a moment of prayer for peace.
That same week in Onitsha young people held a work day in an orphanage, and another day cleaning the areas around the public market. They also invited everyone to attend the final day’s events.
They write: “All of us members of the Focolare are committed with renewed faith to the Time Out For Peace ; we have a plan to send an SMS to each other at 11:55 every day. Every week we send an SMS to thousands of people from several areas of the country, with a slogan that invites us to live for peace. This is one small way to help turn public opinion towards a culture of respect for others.”
![Syrian refugees and Pope Francis]()
18 May 2014 | Non categorizzato
Igino Giordani “truly foretold, by at least a quarter of a century, certain aspects of the communitarian process which was started after the Second World War: he saw the real interdependence of the economies of the European States, the winners and the losers, and the common risk of becoming the debtors of the USA, an ‘American Dominion’. He saw a growing movement of social solidarity and an Europeanization of culture provoked by the bloody experiences of war. To distance themselves from the ‘brink of collective suicide’ and save themselves from a new ‘imminent massacre’, and to avoid the ‘decadence’ – which would be ‘taken advantage of by races (yellow and black) which have been stirred up by us and continents which have been brought to life by us’ – he pointed out to the peoples of the old continent an inescapable historical duty: the overcoming of nationalisms in the formation of a Federation of the United States of Europe. He held however as an absolute necessity the passage to democracy of all the states: he saw it also as an aim that ‘diplomacies do not know how to achieve’. And so he called on a ‘spiritual force’ that could work as an ‘element of unification’ […]”. “The clear distinction – but not separation – between religion and politics was already then a tenet in his conception of the lay nature of the State. With full respect of such a distinction he expounded his European ‘utopia’ with a spiritual basis, ‘utopia’ which looks today to be much less unreal, to such an extent as to appear – appropriately re-dimensioned – like a real intuition. The historian cannot exaggerate and speak about prophetisms; but at the same time he cannot ignore the above mentioned premonitions of Giordani back in 1925 on the risks, prospects and problems of a future Europe; nor can he undervalue his certainty of the role of Christianity in Europe, and especially, of the unifying role of moral and cultural values, which are indispensible aspects, to reach, beyond economic co-interests and the necessary institutional structures, a substantial harmony between the different identities of peoples for the birth of a European ‘consciousness’.” Tommaso Sorgi, Igino Giordani. Storia dell’uomo che divenne Foco, Città Nuova Ed., Roma 2014, pp. 109,111.
17 May 2014 | Non categorizzato
http://vimeo.com/95298220
In Trent, a peaceful town in North Italy, the phenomenon of racism unexpectedly flares up, reaching a level of extreme intolerance. This piece highlights the life of a family, a community and some young people that in spite of themselves become involved in a reality much greater than they are. Tolerance, openness, mutual listening and the search for true friendship prove useful tools for untying the knot of discord, hatred and fear of difference.
![Syrian refugees and Pope Francis]()
15 May 2014 | Non categorizzato
The South East of Europe is made up of a mosaic of different peoples. In Serbia, a country where the majority of the population is Christian Orthodox, there are some Catholic villages particularly near the border with Hungary, where Serbs and people of Magyar origin live together, and also gypsy and Ruthenian minorities.
Fr Jozsef Nagy got to know the spirituality of unity in 1978. When he was entrusted with the parishes of Szenta and Gornji Breg (on the border with Hungary) he began his ministry trying to put the Gospel into practice and helping others to do the same.
This is his witness: “After the fall of communism and during the Balkan wars, all the factories in the area closed and there was widespread unemployment and an economic crisis. More and more people found themselves living in poverty. Many children began fainting at school due to malnutrition – some hadn’t eaten in two or three days! Initially the teachers would bring some food from home, but then they didn’t have anything to eat as well, so the town council turned to me. In this way the Caritas group took off. It started with providing hot meals for 50 children but soon the number doubled. Then, adults were added as well.
For the past twenty years a communal kitchen has been providing a hot meal for 520 people from Monday to Friday. We take the meals to three schools for the needy children there, to an old people’s day care centre and to whoever is sick and alone. This kitchen maintains itself solely on ‘providence’: God intervenes by way of the generosity of many. Of course there are many difficulties. A number of times we were on the brink of closing, but the face of Jesus forsaken who cries out in these people, always gives us new courage to continue, believing in the love of God.”
The people who are involved in this evangelical experience develop spiritually more and more. They communicate their experiences, sharing joys and difficulties. Jozsef Varga, a married permanent deacon, who has four children, tells us: “Our group, we realize, is involved in many activities in both of the parishes, taking with us the spirit of unity. We experience this particularly when we manage to reach a unanimous decision. Some of us are on the Pastoral Council, others are catechists or working in the Parish office. Others look after the church building, the cemetery and do other charitable works. One of us is a driver; another looks after the provisions for the communal kitchen. Still others help distribute the meals.”
Eva is a nurse and is responsible for the home care of about 100 old and sick people: “I try to organize the work”, she tells us, “keeping alive the relationships both with my colleagues and the sick people, and the Word of Life is a great help in this. There are many people to visit and there is never enough time. Often I am tempted to rush things. But I discover that for these people it is important to be listened to. The knowledge that I have a community behind me keeps me going and gives me courage.”
Fr Nagy concludes: “These experiences help us experience the power that the parish community can have when we try continuously to renew ourselves and the parish by living mutual love. We see that when Jesus is present it is he who shines his light into our peripheries.”
