Haifa: an evening with friends of the Focolare
“In Jerusalem the houses, schools, public transport, entertainment venues, and residential areas are separated: for Arabs and for Jews. It is really difficult to live in such an environment.” “I am a European girl. Just from the way I dress you immediately know I am an Orthodox Jew. In our city this is not always seen positively. I don’t know a single Arabic phrase and I’ve been brought up to avoid situations where I could get caught up among groups of Palestinians.” These words from speaker N and J, both young people from Jerusalem, the first an Arab Christian and the second Jewish, describe the scenario in Jerusalem. They live near one another, and struggle to thrive as they feel the tension in the air in this city which is ‘holy’ for all. These two young people were participants in the meeting which was held recently at the Castra Gallery, in a commercial centre on the outskirts of south Haifa: about 100 people came to this humble, simple meeting. Jews, Christians and Muslims came from Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Nazareth and other places in Galilee. The meeting was with Maria Voce, and the title: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together” (Psalm 133). Many people spoke and shared the rich and varied lives they are living and working through. For a number of years in Haifa, Jews and Christians have met monthly to deepen their understanding of the Sacred Scriptures of their respective traditions. They listen to one another and try to understand the others point of view, without falling into syncretism – mixing beliefs. This attitude brings ‘a real and sincere friendship, which continues to grow’, to the point that a month between meetings seems much too long! 
An Arab girl spoke about a project which works to weave friendships and real relationships between students belonging to the 3 religions. ‘The most beautiful moments we have lived together have been the visits we made to the sacred places of the three religions: The Wailing Wall, the Holy Sepulchre and the Mosque. This experience changed my life.’ Other experiences centred on the crisis in Gaza, 3 years ago, when Jews, Christians and Muslims met to pray for peace. This was unique in the whole of Israel. It was very moving understanding the great courage it took to go completely against the current of thought that surrounded them. There were examples too of everyday life, listening to one another making a real discovery of people different to oneself. As a young Jewish girl put it people have wagered on peace: “It is written in the Mishna that God does not find any instrument that can hold his blessing other than Peace. Only with real peace will we obtain all the blessings that the Father in Heaven wants to give to His children.’ Maria Voce was clearly moved as she thanked those who had spoken. It is true what Chiara Lubich said, ‘nothing is small if it is done for love.’ In fact, it’s something great, because here we are speaking about moving the mountain of prejudice. This is the small ‘big’ miracle of the evening in Haifa. 
The President of the Focolare underlined the prophetic dimension of what was being lived during the crisis in Gaza: “This is an experience based on God and on his will, and shared suffering: the most precious thing in the eyes of God. This will bring lasting fruit, of that I’m certain’. She emphasised how this is an important contribution towards history: ‘These experiences may be small but they are necessary for the picture of peace to be completed’. She then recounted how she had, on this visit, met people from all the religions who were real brothers and sisters. She quoted Scripture ‘Blessed are the people who have God as their Lord’. The evening finished with a shared supper to which everyone brought a contribution, there were both Arab and Kosher dishes. It was not possible to distinguish who was a Jew, and Arab or a Muslim. What a young Muslim girl said was so true: “Now I look at other people beyond their faith. We are still a small group, but we are committed to involving many other friends”. From Roberto Catalano
[:it]Svizzera: musulmani e cristiani in dialogo[:de]Schweiz: Muslime und Christen im Gespräch[:es]Suiza: musulmanes y cristianos en diálogo[:fr]Suisse : musulmans et chrétiens en dialogue[:pt]Suíça: muçulmanos e cristãos em diálogo[:zh]瑞士：回教徒與基督徒的對談
At Emmaus with Monsignor Marcuzzo
On the morning of 16 February, the delegation from the Focolare Movement spent the morning at the site of Emmaus, 27 km from Jerusalem, on the plain toward the capital of Tel Aviv. This is one of three sites with the same name, that have brought us the famous scene from the last passage of Luke’s Gospel. After the crucifixion, two of Jesus’ disciples were walking along the road as they recalled the sorrowful events of those days, when they met a stranger who began to explain the Scriptures to them, and filling their hearts with peace. At the “breaking of the bread,” the Gospel tells us, the eyes of the disciples were opened and they recognized the man as the Risen Jesus.
Maria Voce was received in audience by Bishop Marcuzzo, auxiliary bishop of the Latins, presiding over the See of Emmaus-Nicopolis. The bishop confided to Maria Voce and the delegation from the Focolare that this See was chosen for him because of various reasons. It is one of the twelve Christian diocese that existed in the first centuries in the Holy Land; it is the place that leads all Christians to the point in which everything began again after the death of Jesus and, not least of all, it was where, when he was still a young priest, he had witnessed the destruction of the village of Emamus in 1967 after the Six Day War.
The president of the Focolare also shared a fact with the bishop that concerned her personally. As many know, she is often called Emmaus within the Movement. “Chiara herself gave me this name in 1964. She had spoken to a group of young focolarinas about Jesus among us, which is the actualization of Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them,” if we live the new commandment of mutual love. In my enthusiasm I wrote to Chiara telling her that I wanted to spend my life in realizing this phrase. And so she gave me the name, Emmaus, since those disciples had lived and experienced the presence of Jesus among them.”
The meeting was rich in meaning, in a place that stands out in such a singulare way in the history of the first Jerusalem communities. The Mass which was celebrated by Bishop Marcuzzo and Giancarlo Faletti, co-president of the Movement, was a moment of deep communion with valuable insights about the fruits of Christ’s presence in the heart of the community.
The charism of Chiara Lubich, which is strongly centered on the presence of Jesus among those united in his name, came into light precisely here in these places where it historically and physically took place.
By Roberto Catalano
With representatives from various Christian Churches in the Holy Land
Patriarch Mons. Foud Twal set the tone of the appointments that Maria Voce had in her diary for her visit to Jerusalem which began on 11th February: He expresses his view, “The concerns of the people are our concerns. It’s as if the ascent to Calvary has never ended here in the Holy Land”. We must not become discouraged. “Hope never dies. For example, I notice recently that there are 100 or more associations that bring together Jews, Christians and Muslims in this region. People want dialogue. I also see that little by little, perhaps because of the many sufferings, we begin to speak of ‘neighbours’ rather than ‘enemies’”. Maria Voce joined in: “If a drop of love enters within instinctive self-defence, another step can be taken, and one can go ahead”, without falling into despair. The Patriarch concluded; “This is the speciality we Christians have, to sow love and go ahead”. 
This same background of suffering and came through in the conversation that the president had with Bishop Munib Younan, President of the World Lutheran Federation: “I see in people a strong temptation to be concerned only with material goods. But no, here we have need of God.” And he explained further: “We need a deep spirituality, for our children and for ourselves, a spirituality that is deeply evangelical”. Maria Voce understood the spirituality the Bishop hopes for would naturally be ecumenical. At the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate, Maria Voce spent time with Bishop Aris Shirvanian. “We must be united so as to defend the Christian Church – he said -, but we cannot say that there specific problems foe we Armenians, we continue to live to keep up our faith, our heritage”. Maria Voce underlined the greatness of this vocation. “Yes – continued the Bishop – we need to defend ourselves, but even more we need to build ‘bridges’ between the Churches, bridges between religions, bridges between peoples.” 
There was a very warm Lebanese welcome at the Holy Land residence of the Marionite Archbishopric, a community of about ten thousand faithful, above all in Galilee, with Bishop Mons. Paul Nabil Sayah. This Marionite Bishop underlined the importance of the pastoral aspect and actions of the Christian churches in the Holy Land, especially with and for families: “There is never enough space for education, which is a real priority for us. With good education you can hope to reach peace”. The desire to co-operate was also confirmed by Maria Voce. Finally, an important meeting with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem: His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III, who received Maria Voce and her collaborators. The historical difficulties between the Christian churches in the Holy Land are well known. The climate has certainly improved, and now one can speak of a ‘real ecumenism’ even though there are still difficulties. In the conversation between the Patriarch and the president of the Focolare there was a common desire to ‘raise the tone of the discussions’, anchoring, Theophilos III emphasised, into ‘the unity of Christians “in Christ”, in His love’. Maria Voce explained what ‘unity’ means for the focolarini, “the unity Jesus asked of His Church”. From Michele Zanzucchi The full Italian version of this report can be found on Citta Nuova site: http://www.cittanuova.it/contenuto.php?TipoContenuto=web&idContenuto=31501
With Rabbi Kronish: Peace now! Peace afterwards!
I have been in Jerusalem since yesterday. Maria Voce’s busy schedule has also included appointments with some people from Jewish and Muslim traditions. These meetings are a re-affirmation of the commitment to dialogue at all levels. Today the first of these encounters was held with Rabbi Ron Kronish, founder and director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council of Israel (ICCI). We met at 15:00 with Rabbi Ron Kronish who refers to himself as old friend of the Focolare. ICCI office (http://english.icci.org.il/) is located in a neighborhood not far from the center of Jerusalem, on the old road to Bethlehem, which is still very crowded and bustling with life. The ICCI was founded in 1991, on the evening before the outbreak of the first Gulf war. It was 16 January and everyone in Israel was wearing gas masks; there was an atmosphere of fear because of the coming war. In Ratisbonne, the center that we visited this morning, some men of dialogue gathered who, in spite of the war, had decided that the world needs peace. The center works on different levels, but primarily for youth and women. Its goal is to train people for peace. They try to create a basic mentality which has at its basis the awareness that there are conflicts – here Kronish referred especially to the conflict between Israeli and Palestinians – and these conflicts are not easily resolved, but we can, nevertheless, continue to work for the peace of tomorrow. Their slogan isn’t so much “Peace now!” but “Peace later!” For this reason, young people especially, need to be engaged in recognizing the other, listening to the other, discovering the other and, in the end, seeing the other not as an enemy, but as a neighbor to be accepted with his or her diversity. The experiences of the twenty years of these courses which have been taking place within Israel with Muslim, Jewish, and Christian teens and young adults, have been fruitful and enriching. Only 5% of those who enroll choose not to finish the course, while all the others reach the end. This is a sign of the interest and commitment, but also a source of hope because by now thousands have benefited from this new vision. In speaking to Maria Voce, Ron Kronish doesn’t hide the fact that the world has changed since 1991. Peace seemed near, it seemed already possible. Today it is much farther away. We need to be aware of this, but never lose hope. Maria Voce talked about the Focolare’s involvement in the field of formation and of the similarity of ideas and methodology that we share with the ICCI. Kronish asked that our collaboration continue and that we especially carry it out among young adults and teenagers. Roberto Catalano (extract from Italian magazine, Città Nuova: www.cittanuova.it )