Humanitarian Aid
Thanks to the donations of many people, it has been possible to implement interventions to alleviate the suffering of populations affected by natural disasters or wars. The Focolare Emergency Committee has provided an update on the fundraising efforts for places affected by conflicts, epidemics and environmental disasters such as floods or earthquakes that may severely affect entire populations with immediate and long-term effects. To address these serious situations, the Emergency Committee was established to launch fundraising initiatives to assist the affected populations through programs supported by members of the Focolare or Focolare-affiliated organizations worldwide, operating independently or in partnership with others. 
Recently, the Emergency Committee presented its 2023 Report, revealing that, from 2016 to the end of 2023, a total of €5,361,505 has been raised for emergencies in Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, Italy, Pakistan and the Philippines. In Syria, the “Seeds of Hope” project, which began in September 2018, provided socio-medical assistance to families, access to essential medicines, healthcare services and basic surgery for patients with chronic diseases as well as educational support for children and adolescents. So far, 23,170 people have benefited from the program. 6,273 people were assisted in various ways following the earthquake in Syria and Turkey, which took place in February 2023. This included financial assistance to 405 families, distribution of detergents to 490 families and of food and clothing to 712 families, along with psychological support for the elderly, adults and young people and medical assistance. In addition, Work Empowerment initiatives (enhancing individual employment efforts with microcredit incentives) were provided to 16 families and 32 people along with housing interventions for 138 families. A community livestock project was also set up to supply milk and generate income for families in a Turkish village inhabited by Afghan refugees. 
In Ukraine, the emergency situation continues to evolve as the conflict persists and the multiple needs of the population increase. Since the beginning of the war, basic health care has been provided for about 12,000 people and extraordinary economic support has been extended to over 2,000 families. Several projects to welcome and accommodate displaced families and children from Ukraine have taken place in Italy. Furthermore, a school-camp was established in Austria for 30 children from a primary school in Kiev and a protected day centre for children and mothers was inaugurated. Another emergency this year was the flooding that affected various regions of the world. During the floods in Pakistan, construction materials were provided for the restoration of 20 destroyed homes and support was given to 1,150 people. During the 2023 floods in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, assistance was provided to 16 families for the purchase or repair of damaged material possessions and renovations were carried out in the homes of 7 families. In addition, a work camp and the renovation of an educational farm were realized. The Emergency Committee of the Focolare Movement manages these projects through AMU (Action for a United World) and AFN (Action for New Families), two NGOs born in the Focolare Movement that operate in the social sphere. Fundraising efforts for emergencies in Ukraine and following the earthquake in Syria and Turkey are ongoing.
Carlos Mana
It was in Augsburg, a place soaked in history, that, at the invitation of the local Catholic Bishop Bertram Meier, the 40th Ecumenical Conference of Bishops friends of the Focolare Movement took place from 27th February to 1st March. Sixty Bishops from 26 nations participated, belonging to all the great families of Churches: Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Anglicans, Methodists, Evangelicals, Reformed, Catholics of the Latin, Armenian and Byzantine rites. It was the highest number and most universal representation of participants so far, something that stood out for the Mayor of the city, Eva Weber, when she received the Bishops in the City Hall. From the very beginning, the relationship between these Bishops, including two women Bishops of Churches born from the Reformation, was striking. Every Church was welcomed as it is. A simple spirit of fraternity permeated the days, without disregarding the still existing wounds and points of disagreement. Everything was underpinned by that pact of mutual love that has characterized these Conferences from the beginning and that the Bishops solemnly renewed this year too, promising to share each other’s joys and crosses. This gave rise to what some of the participants described as an original kind of ecumenical synodality. 
The Opening remarks by His Excellency Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, set the tone for the reflections, We stand at the precipice of a technological revolution unlike any other in human history. The emergence of AI is reshaping our world in profound and unprecedented ways. From revolutionizing industries to transforming the way we live, work, and interact, AI has become a driving force of change in the 21st century”. In recent years, digital progress has brought significant opportunities and challenges, with serious implications in all areas of society. In this era of rapid technological change, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as one of the most powerful tools with the potential to transform societies, advance peace and achieve sustainable development. However, its ethical implications remain a subject of intense debate. 
Maddalena Maltese, journalist and representative of the NGO New Humanity, moderator of the event’s panel discussion, recalled that “on January 1, Pope Francis, in his message for the International Day of Peace, raised urgent questions about AI: “What will be the consequences, in the medium and long term, of these new digital technologies? And what impact will they have on individual lives and societies, as well as on international stability and peace?” She also highlighted that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, discussing priorities for 2024, stressed that AI will affect all of humanity, reiterating the need for a universal approach to address it. The panel discussion with multi-stakeholder dialogue on the ethical challenges posed by AI and strategies discussed the interplay between technical, ethical, political, legal and economic considerations. 
Father Philip Larrey, professor of philosophy at Boston College, former dean of philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University, and president of Humanity 2.0. laid out a number of pressing issues starting with the theme of peace. “ChatGPT or Gemini could write a perfect peace plan, looking at the situations we are living, but would we be willing to follow its directions?” Fr. Larrey said, emphasizing the human factor as decisive in the decisions to be made, even when it comes to lethal weapons. Another central theme of his talk was the empathy that machines can demonstrate and are sometimes preferred over the human element. “Humans understand meanings. Machines don’t, as much as machines are getting very, very good at simulating what we consider meaningful,” the Boston College professor insisted, warning of the increasingly difficult challenge of discerning what belongs to humans and what belongs to technology, with machines that in the future may even be programmed to feel feelings. 
From Feb. 2-8, 2024, the Week of Prayer Against Human Trafficking took place. Established by Pope Francis in 2015, the week always includes Feb. 8, the feast of St. Bakhita, a Sudanese nun who as a young girl was enslaved, sold and abused, was a victim of trafficking and a universal symbol of the fight against this scourge of humanity. This year’s theme was Walking for Dignity. Listening, Dreaming and Acting. Thousands of people around the world gathered to reflect, pray and share their experience of engaging against this global phenomenon. In Rome, Italy, many young people from different countries-Kenya, Japan, the United States, Thailand, Albania, Canada, Mexico, France and Italy-participated in conferences, flash mobs, moments of prayer on the theme, the Angelus and the audience with Pope Francis held during the week. Among them were also some Gen2, young people of the Focolare Movement. Prisque Dipinda, from the Democratic Republic of Congo recounts, “The most significant event for me was the vigil of prayer in the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, in the heart of Rome. It was an important moment before 
God, the emotion in sharing it together with other young people who carry the challenge of human trafficking in their hearts. But also a responsibility to be part of the protagonists against this phenomenon. I think for the young people who attended it also served to become aware that so many in the world suffer, for various reasons: economic, political, religious. It was an opportunity to reflect and start together to design something against suffering.” Among the Gen2s present were Michel Haroun, a French-Lebanese and Miriana Dante, an Italian. “I have never had a particular commitment against human trafficking,” says Michel. “I have some experience in serving migrants who arrive in my city or at the borders between states. For example, a few years ago I was in Trieste (Italy), the arrival point of the Balkan route through which migrants from so many parts of the world devastated by conflict arrive in Italy. But I was not sufficiently aware of the fact that refugees, before arriving in Europe-but it is also valid for Latin America, the United States or other parts of the world-suffer violence and abuse in an organized manner. 
A: I believe this report represents a real step forward. In fact, the last report was criticised, mainly because the places and dates of sexual abuse were not mentioned. The new report covers cases disclosed in the last 10 years and adds these clarifications: it is stated that sexual abuses were carried out on all continents (about 20 countries), with a peak of cases between 1990 and 1999, as well as during the decade before 90 and after 2000. The offences sometimes are repeated over several decades, suggesting that these are multiple repeat offenders whose abuses have continued. Some offences happened and were dealt with around 2020, indicating that people abused were able to report abuse almost in real time, which is progress. All communicated sexual abuses were carried out by men. The opposite is true for abuses of authority, which in 77% of cases were committed by women, which is in proportion with the higher number of women among those belonging to this Movement. The report also contains a detailed and clear section on the measures implemented during the year, particularly regarding formation. It remains to be understood what the root causes of these abuses are. Beyond preventive measures and sanctions, further work should be done to identify the systemic causes that could explain these figures, in order to put in place a strategy that would prevent them. Q: In this second report, the people who abuse are identified according to precise criteria set out in the Communication Policy recently published by the Focolare Movement. What do you think of this decision? A: This is an ethical conflict. On the one hand, it is a matter of believing the experience of the people abused and taking the complaints they make seriously, as well as quickly putting measures in place so as to protect them. On the other hand, it is a question of respecting the presumed innocence of the alleged abusers, of not defaming them when no final criminal conviction has been pronounced. The issue is complex and finding a satisfactory solution will no doubt require a lot of listening and dialogue. Q: The UNESCO Chair on child abuse that you coordinate came about because you came into contact personally with a case of child abuse of which you knew both one of the people abused and the person who abused. It was a case that happened in the Catholic Church in France. In this case, the social or religious community is defined as a ‘secondary victim’. What does this mean? What are the wounds that people carry, how can they be healed at a social and community level? A: Yes, in fact, this chair was set up as a result of being in contact with a person who had been abused. A contact that left a deep mark on me: I was profoundly affected by this suffering, and my desire to do something came from this. First and foremost, abuse affects the person who has been abused, who often suffers lasting psychological consequences. Sometimes, the opening up about the facts can bring out a great vulnerability in this person, which requires specific accompaniment. In turn, this also affects the person’s relatives, such as their spouse, their children, but also their parents who feel responsible for having entrusted their child to an institution that did not protect them. The devastating effects also have an impact on the entire community, as members are often unaware that within it a repeat offender was concealed, a person with whom they may have had a bond of closeness, of friendship. We may ask ourselves: why didn’t I notice anything? Another aspect concerns the bond with the institution that may have protected the abuser, sometimes in good faith, producing in people a sense of betrayal and distrust. Finally, the community may also become divided, depending on their divergent analyses, between those who take refuge in denial, and those who want to fight to prevent these things from happening again. Rectifying all of this requires a wide range of measures: it is essential to take on the responsibility of accompanying the people who have been abused and their families, but it is also necessary to restore trust in the institution that has shown its weaknesses and where there is a sincere willingness to learn from its past mistakes. It’s the actions that matter in making this happen: the institution must promote transparency by communicating very precise information, put in place clear procedures, create places for listening, establish reparation procedures and, for communities, spaces for dialogue where even opposing opinions can be exchanged. Q: The Focolare Movement is a worldwide organisation, including people from different cultures and religions who are subject to different legal systems and adopt different lifestyles. How is it possible to implement anti-abuse practices in such a multicultural and diverse environment? A: The consequences of child sexual abuse exist in all cultures, they are universal. In addition to the ongoing psychological and social impact, those who have been abused may have biological ongoing effects, such as increased stress hormones, altering the expression of certain genes and brain morphology and brain functioning. These dysfunctions continue to be present throughout the survivor’s life and may be passed on to the next generation. So it cannot be said that there are cultural variations in the severity of the consequences on those who have been abused or that there are cultures where these people suffer less: always and everywhere, it’s devastating. It is therefore necessary to put in place measures for prevention, but also for reparation all over the world. One can see that awareness of the seriousness of these situations is increasing: for example, in the Catholic Church, national enquiry commissions have been set up in many countries in Europe, North America, Latin America, but also in Australia, India and South Africa. Although suffering does not vary, what may vary is that people resist in denouncing the facts and their ability to put in place protective and remedial measures. This may be related to the fact that in some cultures talking about sexuality is taboo. The first step is to make people aware of the consequences of abuse: there are already programmes promoted by various associations that take into account the way sexuality is considered in different cultures. For example, proposing that those who listen to the suffering of people who have been abused and belong to the same culture can understand them better. This can make people want to do something about it. Prevention can also be targeted directly at children, through education about their rights: again, there are programmes, for example, based on songs. Another thing that varies is the ability of countries and institutions to take measures of protection and reparation. A respectful and non-stigmatising dialogue with those who commit abuse is the way forward: this will enable everyone to understand the seriousness of the abuse, but also to find culturally specific ways to enable people to speak up, to implement processes of reparation and to educate members of the community. Q: Both within the Focolare Movement and also in other contexts there are those who express the conviction that the time has come to move forward; that is, that it is not necessary to continue talking only about abuses, but to focus on the ‘mission’ of the Movement and on what beautiful and positive things are being generated in the world by the living out of this charism today. What is your opinion on this? A: What do we mean by ‘mission’? Is it not to advance towards universal fraternity, towards a culture that puts the suffering of the weakest first, a culture of dialogue, openness, humility? It seems to me that the fight against all kinds of abuses is precisely a way of implementing this desire, putting those who suffer in the first place. Helping to heal the wounds of those who have been abused is a way of going towards universal fraternity. This also implies accompanying the people who have abused in order to prevent reoffending. Acknowledging one’s mistakes, one’s vulnerability, in order to create solutions, taking into account the opinions of experts in this field is precisely a way to build a culture of dialogue. Fighting with determination against abuse and accompanying those who have been abused are right at the heart of this ‘mission’. Therefore we don’t need to choose between the fight against abuse and ‘mission’, because this fight is a central element of ‘mission’. In today’s context, this is a priority which is painful but necessary.