Interview with Chiara Lubich
Could you explain the meaning of the title of this Congress: Contemplate Christ through the eyes of Mary? No person has known, or will ever know Jesus as Mary did, because she is the Immaculate One, she is his Mother; she is a living Gospel, and therefore “another Jesus”. In order to see, know and contemplate Jesus through her eyes, we have to try as much as we can to imitate her in her “constant yes” to the will of God. And in a certain sense, to re-live her life in us. What relevance do Mary, the Rosary and prayer have in today’s world? Mary and prayer have an enormous value in our times. There is now a new type of terrorism in the world – the most terrible – which could be an effect, as many think, of the presence of Evil with a capital E. The normal means aren’t enough to combat this evil. We have to turn to Good with a capital G, therefore to God and to everything that He represents. This is why prayer is so important; the Day of Prayer for Peace held in Assisi is one example of this and so is reciting the Rosary. Today’s world is divided between rich and poor and this is one of the main causes which gives rise to terrorism. We’re called to work as never before to bring about solidarity, the sharing of goods, universal brotherhood, in order to make humanity one family. Because Mary is the universal Mother, She can give us a hand as no one else can. What would you say to those who don’t believe in prayer and in its effectiveness in everyday life? Usually those who don’t believe in prayer have little faith in God. We need to help them rekindle this faith. There are many means at our disposal. One of the most effective means is the witness that we Christians can give when we love one another. In fact, Christ promised the conversion of the world to those who are united in love. He said, “That all may be one so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21). What is the relationship between Mary, with the spiritual life she represents, and the creative work of artists? Artists are predisposed towards creating beautiful things. In fact, I’ve seen that for them, if they are believers, the greatest attribute they can give to God is beauty. It’s true that God is Truth, that God is Love, but God is also Beauty. And Mary is the one who is “all beautiful”; you could say she is the incarnation of beauty. That’s the reason of her relationship with artists and of their relationship with her. They are truly attracted by Mary: they have painted her, sculpted her, sung songs in her honour in all ages and in every imaginable way. What was the idea behind the Marian Congress, which is starting next Monday? It all started on 16 October 2002 at the end of the Wednesday audience with the Holy Father after he signed the Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. I was among the 600 or so people of our Movement present in St Peter’s Square. On that day he handed me a long letter which, among other things, said, “On this occasion I would like to entrust to the focolarini the Rosary (…) I am certain that your devotion to the Holy Virgin will help you give prominence to the initiative of dedicating the coming year to the Rosary.” From that moment on, all over the world, there has been an abundance of ideas to promote the Rosary as widely as possible. The Marian Congress is one of these activities. Can you tell us, in a few words, what the three-day program of the congress will consist of? There will be reflections on the Apostolic Letter of the Holy Father on the Rosary and on the new “Mysteries of Light” with testimonies given by families, politicians, consecrated men and women, priests and young people. There will be two round table discussions: one dedicated to the various ecclesial movements, on the subject of the Rosary, and the other dedicated to Christians of other denominations who will comment on the Pope’s letter. The talks will be interspersed with artistic performances and exhibits worthy of honouring Mary, the “all beautiful”. Mass will be celebrated by Cardinals and Archbishops, among whom Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State, Vatican City, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, Archbishop of Prague, Monsignor Rylko, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and others.
The Focolare Movement has promoted, from 28 to 30 April 2003, at the Mariapoli Centre of Castelgandolfo (Rome), the International Marian Congress Contemplating Christ through Mary’s eyes in the Year of the Rosary proclaimed by Pope John Paul II in October 2002 in “this year fraught with great concern for the future of humanity” so that “in contemplating Christ through the eyes of Mary,” we may become “builders of peace, of a world more in accordance with the plan of God.” LIVE TELEVISION AND INTERNET TRANSMISSION with additions of various interviews and film clips 
The time dedicated to political reflection last March 22 in Martigny (Switzerland) took on particular importance in view of the world situation, and in particular in view of the war in Iraq. This point was underlined by the Mayor of Mollens, Stéphane Pont, moderator of the convention which was entitled: “The challenge of authentic politics.” Promoted by a group of mayors, the Convention aroused the interest of a surprising number of politicians; in fact, there were 300 participants, among whom were politicians working on the national, regional and municipal levels from all over Switzerland. There were also participants from France and Austria, as well as a delegation from the World Council of Churches in Geneve (WCC). “In our days, politics is extremely demanding. Today we were presented with a political vision which may be a bit idealistic – commented Kipa Christophe Darbellay, member of the administration of the Federal Office of Agriculture – but I believe that it is important to have idealistic goals and perspectives also in political life. The best propeller of political commitment is a solid relationship with other people and with God. This was what we have seen today.” Chiara Lubich was invited as the keynote speaker. In her talk, she proposed that brotherhood be assumed as a political category, since this is ever more urgent now, with the present dramatic international scene. “In its essence, politics is love – she stated – and it renders as necessary the development of mental categories which take into account the fundamental unity among human beings, while conserving full respect for their differences.” She concluded by launching a challenge to Switzerland: “Being a small country, it could become for Europe a model of unity in the diversity of cultures and languages.”
Lucia Fronza Crepaz, former Italian Congresswoman, spoke about the developments in the Movement for Unity in Politics, which began in 1996 with the aim of encouraging political commitment and democratic debate in the perspective of serving the common good; the Movement also underscores those aspects of political action which contribute to successfully working for the common good and for universal brotherhood.” This new political culture was demonstrated by the concrete examples shared by numerous politicians. The report presented by Marco Fatuzzo, former Mayor of Syracuse (Sicily) was particularly significant. He related how majority and opposition forces were able to collaborate to the benefit of the citizens, during a particularly difficult situation.