25 Dec 2003 | Non categorizzato
Since the appointment at Istanbul had to be postponed for another year due to the danger of further terrorist attacks, the Bishops friends of the Focolare Movement wanted nevertheless to show a visible sign of solidarity to the Christian community of Constantinople by sending a small delegation. For this reason Cardinal Miloslav Vlk and Lutheran Bishop Henrik Svenungsson left Rome on November 28 to partecipate on behalf of all the Bishops friends of the Focolare, at the ceremony marking the Feastday of St. Andrew the Apostle, considered founder and patron of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
They were received by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
They also had meetings with Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II, with the Vicar of the Syro-Orthodox Patriarchate, Cetin, and with the Apostolic Nuncio, His Excellency Edmund Farhat. They spent hours of warm ecumenical exchange against the background of a city which, unfortunately, bears the deep scars of recent events. The delegation coincided with the official Vatican delegation led by Cardinal Kasper, as well as that of the World Council of Churches Geneva-based, represented by Dr. Konrad Raiser.
25 Dec 2003 | Non categorizzato
The Meeting opens at the Greek Byzantine Abbey of St. Nilo 60 Bishops had been booked for the meeting originally scheduled to take place in Istanbul. Of these, 34 were able to make the last-minute change needed when the meeting was moved to the Castelli Romani in the suburbs of Rome where a special welcome awaited them, with the solemn and joyful opening celebration at Grottaferrata’s historic St. Nilo Abbey, of Catholic Byzantine rite, founded in the year 1004.
The Pope’s message and dialogue with Cardinal Kasper Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, received the Bishops at his Vatican headquarters. He immediately read the message addressed by the Pope to the assembly, which states among other things: “… it is with great affection … that the Church of Peter and Paul in Rome welcomes you and offers you the hospitality reserved for our brothers in Christ.” With reference to the theme of the Convention, he said: “You are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3,24), adding: “It is a theme which is more up to date than ever; it can give a valid answer to the grave divisions afflicting today’s world.” Cardinal Kasper and the Bishops enjoyed a profound and very open exchange, which brought to light an interesting over-all view of the Catholic Church’s ecumenical relationships. These relationships appeared to be founded not only on theological dialogue, but also upon a strong spirit of sharing in the joys and sufferings of the other Churches. Cardinal Kasper emphasized that, notwithstanding difficulties, what comes into relief are the countless ecumenical efforts being made and the contribution given by the Focolare Movement in this sense. Cardinal Kasper then encouraged the Bishops to bring ahead the “dialogue of life,” which characterizes the Focolare Movement and its spirituality. He also said that theological dialogue should always go hand in hand with an intense ecumenical spirituality. “This dialogue of life is essential for us,” he affirmed, “because we are not only divided by doctrine, but we do not even know each other. We must live together to get to know one another and become friends. I am most grateful to the focolarini for offering a model of this kind of ecumenism of life and friendship.” Message of the Archbishop of Canterbury and visit to the Anglican Center in Rome Another significant appointment was the visit to the Anglican Center at Doria Pamphili Palace in Rome. The new director of the Center, Bishop John Flack, also a participant of the Meeting, welcomed the Bishops saying that his link with the Focolare is essential for him especially in his present assignment. He read a message sent by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to the Bishops. The message affirmed, among other things: “Needless to say, it is more necessary than ever to feel God’s love expressed in a tangible way, in a world that is so disturbed and divided.” He then gave the assurance of his prayers “for your collective reflection on the continuing relevance of Chiara Lubich’s inspiring ideals.” Vespers on St. Andrew’s feastday at the Greek Orthodox Church in Rome and visit to the center of the Swedish Lutheran community. There were still other occasions for getting to know one another better, such as participating in the Vespers that commemorated the feast of St. Andrew, founder and patron of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The ceremony took place at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Andrew in Rome. Successively the Bishops visited St. Brigid’s House, where the saint had lived during the 12th century and that is now the site of the Swedish Lutheran community Church. Visit to the Catacombs of St. Domitilla and Pact of reciprocal love Another significant moment of the Bishops’ Meeting was the visit to the Catacombs of St. Domitilla, site of our common roots with the Church of the early Christians. It was a very touching moment when the Bishops made the Pact of reciprocal love in a solemn atmosphere of deep recollection. In this very place they promised to love each other in the same measure that Jesus did, such that the cross of one be the cross of the other, the joy of one be the joy of the other, to the point of loving the other’s Church as one’s own. One could say that in this moment, what was written about the first Christians of Antioch was being relived: “the multitude of believers were of one heart and one soul” (cf Acts 4, 32).
25 Dec 2003 | Non categorizzato
Venerable Brothers,
1. I joyfully extend my cordial greeting to each of you, Bishop-Friends of the Focolare Movement, who are taking part in the 22nd Ecumenical Congress which, in light of the tragic events of the past days, has been transferred from Istanbul to Rocca di Papa.
Although you were unable to visit the venerable Church of St Andrew in Constantinople, the Church of Sts Peter and Paul in Rome welcomes you with great affection and offers you the hospitality reserved for brothers in Christ.
2. The programme of your annual meeting is centred on the Sacred Scripture phrase: “You are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3: 28). You are dealing with a theme more current than ever: it can provide a legitimate response to the serious rifts that plague today’s world.
Your Congress can strengthen you in the ecumenical duty to hasten on the road towards that full unity for which Jesus prayed to the Father and for which he offered his very life!
You know well that Christian unity is dear to my heart, and that from the beginning of my Pontificate it has received my constant attention.
3. I repeat to you, dear Brothers in the Episcopate, what I recently wrote to the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity: “The force of love impels us towards one another and prepares us for listening, dialogue, conversion and renewal (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 1)”. And again: “Only an intense ecumenical spirituality, lived in docility to Christ and fully open to the promptings of the Spirit, will help us live with the necessary dynamism this interim period in which we must sum up our progress and our defeats, with the lights and the shadows on our journey of reconciliation” (Message, 3 November 2003; L’Osservatore Romano English edition, 3 December, p. 6).
4. With fraternal affection I encourage you in the apostolic work you have undertaken and, while I assure you of my prayers for your pastoral activities, I impart a special Apostolic Blessing to you all, which I gladly extend to Miss Chiara Lubich, who has welcomed you, and to those who are part of the Focolare Movement Centre.
From the Vatican, 25 November 2003
JOHN PAUL II
23 Dec 2003 | Non categorizzato
A proposal for inventing Peace
For humanity to carry on we need to have the courage to “invent peace”.
Of course we’ve asked ourselves: Where do the kamikazes get the radicality such a terrible choice as theirs requires? Shouldn’t we be ready to give even our life for the great ideal of love of God and love of neighbor. Every person can love because brotherly love is written in our DNA. The brotherhood that Jesus brought on earth would then flower everywhere. He became our brother, and made us all brothers and sisters to one another. Perhaps Divine Providence makes use of destructive situations to spark an unexpected moral jumpstart and unleash unimagined energy with which to build a whole new peace and allow humanity to breath again. Chiara Lubich
A Christmas in giving
12 Dec 2003 | Non categorizzato
An experience of union with God – December 7, 2003 commemorates the beginning of the Focolare Movement in the city of Trent 60 years ago when Chiara Lubich, then in her early twenties, pronounced her “yes forever” to God. On a number of occasions she has said that just the thought that a Movement would then come to life would have spoiled her choice of “God alone”.
Now, after 60 years, she spoke of union with God to the 1500 women focolarine gathered from around the world for their annual meeting at Castelgandolfo from Dec. 5-8. Chiara’s talk was interspersed with moments of personal reflection.
“When there is union with God, you feel wholly imbued with the divine: it is something new, which you see, not with your physical eyes, but with the eyes of your soul. A light enters your mind, the light of the Holy Spirit which is more than the intelligence and uplifts it. Love enters your heart. While before, there was only human love, limited to your relatives and friends, now God’s very own love enters, and expands your heart to embrace the whole world. Together with supernatural life comes a new strength. Your physical strength, too, is upheld by God’s grace.”
The Pope’s greetings for the 60th Anniversary of the Focolare Movement were brought not only by a message to Chiara Lubich read by His Excellency Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, during the meeting at Castelgandolfo. To add to the joy of receiving this message was the unexpected phone call to Chiara the following day (December 7th) from the Holy Father.
Archbishop Rylko, during his visit, spoke of the “precious gift of the charism”. Being a gift of the Holy Spirit, a charism gives rise to continual surprises, he said.
Among the other highlights of the meeting were Chiara’s recollections of December 7, 1943; the testimonies of 5 of her first companions; as well as the “yes forever” pronounced by over 100 women focolarine from all over the world.
During this 60th anniversary it was also announced that the conditions for the building of a Center for Spirituality and Studies in Jerusalem, near the place where – according to tradition – Jesus pronounced the “priestly prayer for unity” were very favorable. This important Center will be in addition to the already existing Focolare centers in Jerusalem and Haifa in the Holy Land, this troubled region where the Movement is committed to help in bringing peace and unity.
12 Dec 2003 | Non categorizzato
First Archbishop Rylko read the Holy Father’s message to Chiara Lubich for the 60th anniversary of the Focolare Movement. This was followed by a long applause. Then the President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity developed some of John Paul II’s ideas, in particular, the reason why he was giving thanks to God “for this enormous gift called a ‘charism’.” He defined charism as “the most precious thing ever entrusted to you [Focolare members] through the foundress of the Movement, Chiara.” “To the Lord,” therefore, our gratitude “for all that he has done with you during these 60 years, for God’s wondrous deeds,” together with a sense of responsibility which the gift demands: faithfulness and total acceptance, “with complete openness to God by allowing ourselves to be guided by the grace of the charism, by continually deepening this gift in order to make it bear fruit in our personal lives, in the life of the Church and of the world.” Archbishop Rylko noted that “a charism is already complete from the beginning, but the founder does not know the details. If you ask Chiara whether or not she wanted to found a Movement on that 7th of December 1943, she would answer: absolutely not!” That date – Archbishop Rylko recalled – “was the beginning of an adventure which was wholly planned by Someone Else. It is the same Holy Spirit who, little by little, reveals the immense richness that a charism contains.” “The guarantee of a charism’s youthfulness and perennial freshness,” he specified, “ lies in the fact that it always amazes us by the new things it unveils before our eyes,” for “when the Holy Spirit intervenes, he always stupefies.” Archbishop Rylko went on to underscore the importance of remembering “the initial events” from which the Movement arose. He concluded by saying that “in this kind of memory you will find the strength and light to move forward, certain that the Lord is with us.” Archbishop Rylko wished Chiara “much strength to last for many years.”
