May 19, 2022 | Centro internazionale, Non categorizzato, Tutela minori
Significant steps forward are being taken to expand and strengthen measures concerning prevention, training, compensation, and the assessment of responsibility. These will guarantee justice to all victims and implement a culture in which absolute priority is given to charity, to the dignity of the person, and to safety and transparency in all areas of the Movement. “Today we are publishing a first response to the recommendations made by the Report issued by GCPS Consulting on the cases of child abuse by a former member of the Focolare Movement in France. We realise that these initial measures are not exhaustive, but form part of a decisive process of realignment of the life and activities of the Movement so that children and every person, in all their diversity, are at the centre of all processes concerning care, safeguarding, reparation and new beginnings“. With these words Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, presented the steps the Movement is now taking, thanks also to the recommendations made by GCPS Consulting. These measures are in addition to the Guidelines for the Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults (being followed in the Focolare Movement since 2014 and currently being revised according to international standards) and to the training courses on safeguarding for members of the Movement. “First and foremost,” she explained, “I wish to address all victims of sexual abuse, particularly in France. Personally and on behalf of the Movement I wish to thank you for your courage in sharing your testimony and your pain. For us they are the essential starting point in this process of purification. I also wish to thank the community of the Movement in France for its courage in the face of so much suffering. We now announce the establishment of a central disciplinary commission, which will have the task of assessing the responsibilities of the Movement’s leadership, in cases of abuse, in order to reach clarity and provide justice for the victims. Margaret Karram concluded, “First and foremost we are placing the Gospel at the basis of this process of renewal. We want to put the Gospel back at the centre of all we do. Moreover, the serious challenges that the world is experiencing today call for a renewed application of the spirituality of unity so that it can be an instrument of fraternity and peace.” The measures set out below will be implemented over the short, medium, and long term and are considered the most urgent and essential steps to set the Movement firmly on a path of reparation and positive new beginnings.
- Victims at the centre: the President’s personal request for forgiveness
The victims of abuse are the absolute priority in this process. Therefore, listening, asking for forgiveness, offering help and the path of reparation are the starting point. Margaret Karram has been in contact personally, when possible while respecting their privacy, with the victims in France. Her wish is to reach them all, while respecting those who wish to remain anonymous. A network for welcoming and listening to victims Local commissions for the welfare and safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults will be strengthened (where they already exist) or be set up wherever necessary and will include professionals in the fields of psychology, law, training, and education. These commissions are independent of the governance bodies of the Focolare Movement and will be the point of contact for allegations of abuse and have the task of initiating procedures. The local commissions will also serve as listening points and the first port of call for anyone wishing to share their experience of abuse, violence, distress, or traumatic experiences of any kind, also accessing – if requested – counselling to identify the next steps. In this respect, listening points are already active in some countries, such as France and Germany.
- Drawing up a protocol for the compensation of victims of abuse committed within the Focolare Movement
A Focolare Movement procedure for compensating victims is being drawn up.
- Establishment of a disciplinary commission
A central disciplinary commission will be established, made up for the most part of external professionals in the fields of law and psychology, to assess the responsibility of the leadership of the Focolare Movement in dealing with sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, and the abuse of authority. It will work on the basis of a disciplinary code, which will be drawn up in agreement with the Commission itself, and will establish ethical principles and sanctions.
- Publication of an annual report in the whole world
A report on the work carried out by the Central Commission for the Welfare and Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults (CO.BE.TU) on cases of abuse and on measures taken regarding prevention, and on the safeguarding of children, will be published annually.
- Safeguarding is the responsibility of all the Movement’s members
To strengthen this awareness, the Movement will enable every member, including children and those who wish to become members, to attend a foundation course on the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults, organised by the local commissions for the welfare and safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.
- Training courses for those in leadership roles
Courses are being prepared to train those in leadership roles – at whatever level they work – to implement forms of co-responsibility, greater transparency in decision-making processes, the alternating of roles, and training in accompaniment in the light of the distinction between the sphere of governance and the sphere of conscience.
- Opportunities for sharing and courses for the Focolare Movement’s wider communities
The wider Focolare communities in various localities should enable the necessary processes of discernment, open dialogue, and an understanding of correct relational dynamics. Following the publication of the Independent Inquiry by GCPS Consulting, many of the Movement’s groups and communities have already begun to have times of sharing and dialogue on issues regarding abuses. The Movement encourages such initiatives with the support of experts and professionals, where necessary or requested, taking into account different cultural sensitivities.
Stefania Tanesini
May 18, 2022 | Non categorizzato
The culmination of a whole year’s activity for the planet, the “A Network for the Environment” event in May 2022, welcomed a hall full of students, together with other colleagues linked online around the world. Over 500 youth filled the splendid Aula Magna of Rome’s ‘Sapienza’ University on Friday 13 May 2022, to celebrate the conclusion of this academic year’s (2021-22) action for the “A Network to Protect the Environment” project. 10 institutes of higher education in the Lazio region of Italy sent representatives, with many other students from different parts of Italy and the world participating online, to review the fruits of their combined efforts. Throughout the year no less than 8,000 students from 89 schools in Italy and 12 other countries, accessed formation in energy saving. They were invited to sign a pact and 200 actions of personal energy saving were recorded. These actions were sponsored by relatives (at 0.10 cents per action), through the DPSAR App, raising money for several solidarity projects in areas of poverty and environmental damage due to climate change. A planetary perspective prompted by simple daily life. We spoke to project coordinator Andrea Conte, a specialist in Astrophysics and teacher of Mathematics and Physics at the Liceo Classico of Pescara, Italy. What do you mean by a “network” for the environment? This program of formation in environmental protection was first developed in Rome in 2008 by educationalist Elena Pace, a member of the Nuove Vie per un Mondo Unito (New Ways for a United World) Association. The original name of the project was “Giving to Protect the Environment” The introduction of the word “network” came about in 2019 and helped take the project to the next level. Each individual class continues to organize activities but is no longer on its own. Each pupil, with their classmates and the support of their family members, continues to act in favour of the Earth, but is now part of a network of many schools doing the same thing. We began by linking up schools within Italy and this network is already spreading beyond. Has radical change been brought about by any of these actions? The natural creativity of the students makes itself felt. One school in Rome, Italy, for example, decided to completely exclude the use of plastic bottles. But they opted for a scientific method to achieve this goal by inventing a form of “plasticometer” to weigh all the single-use plastic in the school. And every time someone discarded an empty plastic bottle, they made a commitment to use a re-usable water bottle or flask in future. Almost immediately they noticed a reduction in the weight of plastic waste, and in a remarkably short time it was reduced to zero. A real revolution. Why do you think interest in ecology is growing amongst today’s youth? Ecology is not something new. Climate change has been talked about for decades. But today’s youth are feeling the effects of a society in continual evolution and are noticing the need to act decisively. As well as continual bad news about the worsening situation, there is also increased awareness, as seen in projects run by local administrations, by individual citizens, by schools etc. Through this, our sense of citizenship grows, the desire to be well-informed and active in helping our own planet to become a healthier place. What is your main message to students today? I am lucky enough to teach a subject I am passionate about and in which I believe. This is truly a great gift. When I was at high school, there weren’t the same resourses available as now, and I’m happy to be able to introduce them to my students. I myself only began to realise the challenges our planet is suffering when I was in university studying astronomy and astrophysics. When you’re detached from the earth’s surface and turn your gaze to the universe out there, it’s then you contemplate the fragility of the Earth. So I always make this comparison to my students, telling them it’s when we detach ourselves from ourselves and turn towards the others that we truly realise how much each of us has to give, each one in our diversity.
Maria Grazia Berretta
May 17, 2022 | Non categorizzato
A youth competition dedicated to the young girl from Sassello, Italy, beatified in 2010. The jury, headed by Chiara Luce’s mother, Maria Teresa Badano, will vote on artistic submissions in two age categories: 10-16 years and 17-35 years. The award ceremony will be held on 29 October in Sassello. Applications are open for the Chiara Luce Badano Prize, dedicated to the young girl from Sassello, Italy who was beatified in 2010. The competition invites young people from 10 to 35 years of age, to express through the arts how they have been inspired by encountering Chiara Luce, whose brief life is an example to thousands of young people around the world today. A young woman in love with God. Chiara Luce Badano was 17 when she was diagnosed with a bone tumour, but the infinite love for God was stronger for her. “For you, Jesus. If you want it, I want it too!” She got to know the Focolare Movement while still in primary school, and became one of the Gen (young generation of the Focolare Movement). She didn’t so much speak about Jesus to others, as communicate Him with her life. She used to say, “I don’t need to speak about Jesus, but I must give Jesus through how I behave”. She had received a letter from Focolare founder, Chiara Lubich, proposing, ‘Chiara Luce is the name I thought of for you. Do you like it? It is the light of the Ideal that conquers the world…’ Chiara Luce left this earth on 7 October 1990, at the age of 19, with these last words, “Be happy, Mamma, because I am”, the culmination of suffering lived in the radiant light of faith. In 2018 the Chiara Badano Foundation unveiled the “Chiara Luce Badano Prize”, to promote artistic works inspired by the life and existential model of Chiara Luce, in order to sustain and spread awareness of who she is and her story, and propose her as a model of life for many other young people. Young artists can express all their creativity through visual arts, poetry, story-telling, songs, dance and other forms. All entries must reach the jury by 30 June, as indicated by the rules and directions contained in the prize regulations. The highly qualified jury members, headed by mamma Maria Teresa Badano, will vote on two age categories: 10-16 years and 17-35 years. The 2022 prize will be awarded on 29 October in Sassello during the annual liturgical celebration, when the winning artistic work will be displayed or performed. Full information on the Prize is available on the Chiara Badano Foundation website, where you can also find details of the life of Chiara Luce, known around the world, through video, witness testimonies and photographs. There is a detailed list of the ever growing number of publications covering her life and the Ideal of Chiara Lubich which Blessed Chiara Luce made her own.
Lorenzo Russo
May 16, 2022 | Non categorizzato
The new commandment of Jesus, love of one’s neighbour, is what the Word of Life suggests to us for the month of May 2022. It is a journey in which we can progress every day and where we find the fullness of Jesus’ message. “The whole of the Law is summarized in a single command: Love your neighbour as yourself” (Gal. 5:14 JB) This sentence comes from St Paul the Apostle. It is brief, precise, explicit and truly wonderful. It tells us that love of neighbour must be the basis and constant inspiration of the Christian way of life. For the Apostle, the fulfilment of the Law lies in practicing this command. The Law, in fact, speaks of not committing adultery, not killing, not stealing, not coveting…. And we know that those who love do not do these things. Those who love do not kill or steal, etc. Those who love, however, do not merely avoid evil. They are open to others; they desire good and accomplish it; they give of themselves, going so far as to give their very lives for their neighbour. For this reason, Paul writes that, when we love our neighbour, we are not merely observing a single command because — “the whole of the Law” is summarized in it. … If the whole of the Law is summed up in love of neighbour, the other commandments should be seen as means to enlighten and guide us in finding the way to love others in the often complex situations of life. We become aware of God’s purpose in giving us the other commandments, of his will as expressed in. them. He wants us to be obedient, chaste, mortified in our passions, meek, merciful, poor and so on, in order to better fulfil the commandment of love.
Chiara Lubich
(Chiara Lubich, in Parole di Vita, Città Nuova, 2017, pp. 263/4)
May 14, 2022 | Non categorizzato
Catholic Action and Focolare Movement get together, starting from local Churches, in education and for integral ecology. To “live” the present and the future of our neighbourhoods together and in a practical way. A partnership agreement was made between the Italian Catholic Action (CA) and the Focolare Movement (FM). An alliance that, as Giuseppe Notarstefano, National President of CA underlined, combines the foundational value of a partnership that will become ever more concrete through the importance of appreciating one another, of acting together. The third meeting between the Presidency of the Italian Catholic Action and that of the Focolare Movement took place on Friday, 13th May in Rome, at the National CA Centre in Via Aurelia. Recalling the words spoken by Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare, during the bombings of Trent during the Second World War, “Love conquers everything”, Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, underlined the mutual desire of a partnership that, believing in this certainty, is able to realize the projects and dreams of the two organizations, to be ever more and together, a gift for the Church. Following two hours of prayer, getting to know one another, discussion and dialogue, it was decided that the FM and CA would initiate and consolidate projects at a local level in various places, starting from the dialogue that comes from life, to restore strength and momentum together with local communities and work in a partnership that is increasingly concrete and intergenerational, which promotes kindness, tenderness, as a way of being and being together, as desired by Pope Francis in the encyclical All Brothers (Tutti Fratelli). Three themes were chosen: 1) the Global Educational Pact; 2) Civil Economy, Political Commitment and Integral Ecology; 3) Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue. President Notarstefano expressed the desire to concretely “live” together in the various places, ensuring presence and passion in the networks of dialogue in the local Churches, encouraging and supporting each other to live this path of concreteness, patience and dedication. It is important that, in the current scenario of general disorientation, places of fraternity are created at grassroots level, which, in the storm of what is happening around us, become boats to which people can cling. We wish to testify that working together is possible, in order to generate fraternity, also through a joint, national symbolic initiative that gives value to those who strive to build a greater “we”, in education, for integral ecology, to participate together, also in politics, in a generative path open to other realities, which is an investment in the service of future generations, for the promotion of the person. Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare, said that the commitment to come together in different cities, will bring out the many different concrete actions that can be carried out in the local Churches. To this end, a working group was set up, which will be coordinated by Michele Tridente (CA) and Patrizia Bertoncello (FM), to evaluate the proposals that emerged from Friday’s meeting and consider possible ways to collaborate, through which the two organizations will be open to other realities, to contribute to growth in the various areas and local communities.
Sara Fornaro
May 13, 2022 | Non categorizzato
To participate in a film competition and then use the cash prize to help others. With United World Week (SMU) 2022 just days away, we share an experience that comes straight from Jordan. A true action of integral ecology carried out by the teens of the Focolare in the wake of the #DARETOCARE campaign. “I would like to invite you to embark, together, on a journey. A journey of transformation and action. Made up not so much of words, but above all, of concrete and urgent action. (…) Integral ecology is an invitation to an ‘integral’ vision of life, starting from the conviction that everything in the world is connected (…)”. With these words, Pope Francis addresses, through a video message, the participants of the “Countdown” TED’s digital event on climate change, held in October 2020. An invitation to “act” concretely, for the good of the planet and all of us: to care for the common home and meet the needs of its inhabitants. It’s enough to start with small actions, as these Gen 3 from Jordan did, who, with a keen eye on #DARETOCARE, really succeeded in creating a ‘virtuous’ circle by presenting their short film on ecology ‘Nature Karma’ at the Middle Eastern Film Festival. Talking about the importance of caring for the environment and winning an award was just the first step in deciding, with conviction, to want to help others.
Edited by Maria Grazia Berretta
https://youtu.be/7iQylkfn4kk
