[:it]1939 – La Casetta
Muslims and Christians in Italy
The meeting sponsored by the Focolare and the Islamic communities in Italy aims to bring together Christians and Muslims who in recent years have met in different parts of Italy thanks to the experience of dialogue that was inspired by Chiara Lubich’s spirituality of communion. Collaboration has begun in various parts of the peninsula, such as Trent, Verona, Treviso, Padua, Trieste, Rovigo, Turin, Milan, Genoa, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Florence, Rome, Teramo. Inspired by the desire to reach out to others as the Golden Rule suggests, projects have often developed and partnerships that are providing models of integration in these areas. The 31 October date is in tune with Islamic-Christian friendship Day that is celebrated all over Italy on October 27 and it would like to be a moment of reflection on the experience till now. The program, prepared by an organizing committee made up of Christians and Muslims, includes meetings and discussions both of the Qur’an and the Gospel, life experiences, and a panel discussion on the challenges of dialogue, interspersed with artistic interludes performed by Muslim and Christian groups, and a presentation of the host town of Loppiano Religious and civil authorities are expected to be in attendance.
Love, the charism of charisms
“I was struck by the joyful atmosphere of mutual acceptance. Compared to 2000, when Chiara Lubich met just one religious family, the Franciscans, this day was a genuine development of the dialogue between the old and new charisms, because of the involvement of many other religious communities, movements and new communities, as well as the influential presence of many superiors.” This was the impression of one Franciscan who attended the “Charisms in Communion” event that took place on 23 October in Assisi, Italy. Ten years after that historic encounter, things have gone forward, considering that not only were several orders of Franciscans and members of the Focolare Movement together this time, but also numerous representatives of the Claretian Fathers, the White Fathers, Salesians, Benedictines, charismatics, members of the Community of Sant’Egidio, Neocatechumenals and dozens of other orders and communities. The meeting began with the Mass presided by Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and it was concelebrated by bishops, Ministers General, Provincials, and many priests. In his opening remarks, Bishop Domenico Sorrentino, Bishop of Assisi, invited everyone to rediscover “love, the charism of charisms” mindful that “the treasures of one are the treasures of all”. “An exposition of the Fruits of the Spirit,” is how Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement, described the gathering. In her speech she outlined the stages along this journey of communion, beginning with Pentecost ’98 which was a fundamental moment for the new movements. “On that occasion – Voce recalled – Chiara Lubich, made a promise to the Pope: ‘We want to assure you, Your Holiness, that since our specific charism is unity, we will strive with all our strength to help implement it to the full.” Two years after that promise, “Chiara goes one step further – continued Voce -: communion with religious families that have been born from religious charisms that are not so new. And she laid the first stone of this dialogue-communion between religious families as expressions of the charismatic Church right here, at the tomb of Saint Francis, 26 October 2000. “Finally, she said” the Holy Spirit has guided everyone towards a communitarian way which reveals the Church as a united family of brothers united by the one Father. ” The testimonials highlighted this relationship of communion and of strong and specific answers to problems, disunity and wounds of the most varied sort. Like the testimony given by Sister Viviana Ballarin, national President of USMI (Union of General Superiors) concerning various religious communities in Kabul: “Poor, and with nothing, alongside the weak. Yet there I saw the early Church in which Jesus was really the center of everything. ” The joyous gathering was concluded with the solemn signing of a pact of communion and love for one another, by dozens of representatives of old and new charisms, and with the explosion of the Youth Fest in the evening. On the square in front of the basilica, a musical recital narrated the story of Chiara Luce Badano, the eighteen year old Sassello girl who was recently beatified by the Pope and indicated by him as a model for all young people. She, too, the fruit of a charism, that of Chiara Lubich, which she lived in her family and in the parish community of her home town.
First Vietnamese bishop moving toward sainthood
Many have come to know the human story of the Vietnamese Cardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, who lived in prison for more than thirteen years. Many were encouraged by his heroic witness of faith and have personally experienced the love, forged in the crucible of testing, of this great contemporary personality.
On 22 October, the Process of Beatification was begun for him only 8 years after his death.
Born in 1928 in Vietnam, into a family with ancient Christian roots, he was ordained a priest in 1953 and, in 1964, became rector of the Seminary of Hue. On 13 April 1967, Pope Paul VI appointed him the first Vietnamese bishop of Nha Trang. He chose as his motto “Gaudium et Spes” because he wanted to be an apostle of joy and peace.
A man of rich and deep spirituality, he found great inspiration in his personal life and his pastoral mission in the encounter, in 1974, with Chiara Lubich and her spirituality of unity.
In 1975 he was arrested and imprisoned by the Communist government. He was never tried and convicted. He spent well over thirteen years in prison, nine of which in isolation.
His choice of Jesus crucified and abandoned, a cardinal point of the spirituality of unity, as the One to love and imitate, gave him the strength to be a heroic witness of hope and love, always, in an indescribable way during the long dark years of imprisonment. Years later, in July 2001 in front of 1,300 priests gathered at Castel Gandolfo, he would state that “having found Chiara Lubich’s charism of unity is what saved me in those long years.”
His many writings contain real jewels of authentic evangelical spirituality, illustrated with the many experiences that shine as a way of holiness for anyone who meets this great witness of our time.
This is an experience told personally by Cardinal Van Thuân:
“One night in prison, from the depths of my heart, I heard a voice asking me, ‘Why do you ever torment yourself like this? You must make the distinction between God and the works of God. All you’ve done and still want to do – pastoral visits, training of seminarians, nuns and members of religious orders, building schools, evangelizing non-Christians – this is excellent work, it’s the work of God but it’s not God! If He asks you to leave everything and to entrust it all into His hands, then do it and trust Him. God will do things infinitely better than you: He’ll entrust the work to others more capable than you. You have only to choose God and not his works!’ It was a light that totally changed my way of thinking.
When the Communists made me go down into the hold of a ship, the Hai-Phong, crammed together with another 1,500 prisoners to transport us to the North, I told myself: ‘This is my cathedral, this is the people that God entrusts to me that I might care for them, here is my mission: to ensure the presence of God among these people, among these miserable, desperate brothers of mine. His will is that I be here. I accept His will ‘. From that moment on a new peace has filled my heart which has never left me and never did in all those thirteen years.”
Author of numerous books – some published by New City Press – a tireless preacher, a witness to a heroic faith and boundless love, Cardinal Van Thuân will be remembered for his great efforts in preparing the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church and for the last intense years of his life which were spent guiding the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Family members and friends of Cardinal Van Thuân arrived
from all over the world in order to attend the ceremony.
Impegnati nella cultura dell’unità
The 2010-11 academic year began on 18 October for Sophia University Institute (IUS) in Loppiano. An original academic institution which draws its inspiration from the spirituality of Chiara Lubich and combines training and research with a way of life consistent with the ideal of unity in diversity.
The ceremony was attended by numerous personalities from the cultural, political and Italian ecclesial community. Bishop Betori, Chancellor of the IUS, said in his speech that “today more than ever it is necessary to seek the truth with passion, which, to be accepted and communicated not only requires intellectual honesty, but the involvement of the whole the person.”
The words of President Piero Coda underscore how at Loppiano intentions are always followed by action. The 54 students in the Master’s Degree program and the 7 enrolled in the Doctoral program, come from 26 different countries. In confirmatin of its intercultural and interdisciplinary openness, starting this year there will be a student from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and another of the Buddhist faith.
Many agreements with other universities in Italy and abroad were begun this past year. Also, the first batch of students graduated with the title of Master of Science in Fundamentals and Perspectives of a Culture of Unity, in two areas: philosophical-theological and 
political-economic. The president of the Focolare Movement, Maria Voce, congratulated the new graduates, highlighting how they were “committed, personally and together to enter into and outline the prospects for a culture of unity in many fields of knowledge. Her words stressed another feature of the IUS: everyone – faculty, students and the entire staff contribute to the training project of Sophia, in an intense atmosphere of dialogue, while respecting their respective areas of knowledge and responsibility.
During the inauguration the Sophia Foundation was presented whose aim is to support the growth and development of the institute through the granting of awards, scholarships and funding for cultural and educational projects. Sophia University Institute is also planning to expand its curriculum to include courses in Pedagogy and Musicology. Finally, another challenge concerns IUS publications. This year Universitas Magazine series and Sophia Magazine will accompanied by For-Courses and the Sophia Library series, the latter dedicated to publication of the classics of the culture of unity.