The concluding residential week of the first year of the two-year political action training programme will be held from 26th January-1st February 2026. The programme is promoted by the New Humanity NGO of the Focolare Movement in collaboration with the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and the support of the Porticus Foundation.
Using the Hackathon methodology, the event will bring together 100 young leaders from different cultures and political beliefs, from the five continents, who are engaged in political and social life in their own countries. Following months of intensive online work, the young people will meet in Rome in person to translate the learning journey which they shared remotely, into proposals for political impact. The challenge they will face is to design processes and tools capable of addressing the critical issues that emerge in the exercise of political power, in relationships and in political institutions.
Great attention will be paid to the participatory dimension of public policies, leading to the definition of shared pathways that will be assessed and presented during an evening open to the public, to young people and interested politicians.
Javier Baquero, a young Colombian politician and President of the international Political Movement for Unity (MPPU) explained, “Today we are facing very serious problems. We must foster a political culture that sees humanity as one and the planet as our common home. In our opinion, there is a different paradigm that we must explore and experiment with together, learning to compose our different visions starting from some universal values.”
Argia Albanese, President of MPPU Italy agreed, “A meaningful response to the needs of our peoples cannot rely solely on the reform of institutions or from a purely managerial approach, which often seems devoid of democratic content. Our starting point must continue to be the social and community bond rooted in universal fraternity and sisterhood.”
The week concludes the interdisciplinary training focused on integral ecology, civil economy, collaborative governance and generative communication, which began in May 2025 with the support of experts from various academic institutions: Rotterdam School of Management (Netherlands), Universidade de Coimbra (Portugal), Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Argentina), Georgetown University (Washington DC), University of the Philippines, Universidade de Ribeirão Preto (Brazil), Escuela Superior de Administración Pública Bogotá (Colombia), University of Dschang (Cameroon), Sophia University Institute (Italy).
The week in Rome includes:
Two Hackathon days, in which the participants, divided into language groups, will seek solutions to collective problems.
Dialogues with experts and policy makers to connect reflection and proposals within a broad international framework.
A public meeting to present the Hackathon outcomes and to engage with politicians active at various levels and from different perspectives.
Visits and workshop activities in Rome at research and social engagement centres (which support migrants, women’s rights, climate justice, unemployment and disarmament).
Workshops to set up the global network for the second year and its governance.
There will be a much-anticipated audience with Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday, 31st January. Representatives of the MPPU Centres who will come to Rome for the occasion will also participate and will have the opportunity to evaluate the results of the experience with the participants and to plan the next steps.
It is an intensive workshop designed to develop solutions to collective problems. The idea comes from the world of digital innovation, applying the logic of “doing together and doing it quickly” to the civic sphere.
By integrating political, administrative, economic, communication, social and technological skills, the process unfolds in several phases: analysis of problems and needs, definition of priorities and stakeholders, development of operational proposals and tools for public action.
Within the framework of the themes explored throughout the year, participants will address challenges such as corruption, oligarchic governance, media monopolies, polarization, crisis of representation and electoral abstention.
In the time available, with the support of the coaches, each group will move from problem identification to strategic proposal, building problem maps, analysing available data and designing implementable ideas. At the end, the groups will present their solutions: prototypes of intervention plans, political initiatives and cultural impact projects, participatory models and communication methods and strategies.
The added value lies not only in the ideas developed, but also in the method, which demonstrated how solutions to public problems can be co-designed with creativity and rigour, enhancing and integrating different perspectives, in the search for effective solutions to increase the quality and values of a way of living politics at the service of the unity of the human family.
“In the midst of the darkness we are living through today in Venezuela, we remember that we are not alone. Under the roar of the bombs in 1943, Chiara Lubich discovered that there is an Ideal that nothing and no one can destroy: God loves us immensely.”
This is how the “Message of hope and unity” begins. It was shared on the evening of 5th January by the Venezuelan Gen (the young people who adhere to the spirituality of the Focolare Movement), both those who live in Venezuela and those in other parts of the world. They met online to pray and to share how each one is living this critical time for the whole population, never forgetting the choice to love everyone. There was a strong sense of the need to face together what they described as a “sacred” time: “we are not alone because we are supported by the prayer of all those who, from Venezuela and from all over the world, are asking for Peace.”
The message continues:
“Today fear wants to paralyze us, but the response is not hatred, rather unity. Chiara taught us that wheneverything collapses, the only thing that remains is Love. If we become “one”, if we look after one another and place God as our rock, fear loses its power.
Let’s not be afraid. Let’s make this moment an opportunity to:
have full trust that God is our Father and does not abandon us, even when the outlook is difficult;
become “one”: may the suffering of others be our own. Let’s help one another, let’s share the little or the much that we have and break down the walls of indifference;
be builders of peace: let our weapon be solidarity.
If we remain united, Jesus is among us and wherever He is, light ultimately overcomes darkness.
In the Muisne district, Esmeraldas, the ‘Sunrise’ project, set up by the Focolare Movement with the support of AMU (Action for a United World) and the Economy of Communion, brings together more than 500 young people in ecology clubs located in towns and villages along the coast. These clubs are not only concerned with ecology, but also with the integral development of the person as a response to the many risks to which they are exposed.
Sofia from Italy told us, “At the “School of Fire”, I was able to build a stronger connection with God and I began to see faith from a different point of view”. José from Panama, “For me it was an extraordinary experience, living every moment together with everyone, I experienced the promise of Jesus who is present among us when we love one another and that, even in diversity, we can live unity and bring it to others”.
These are two of the testimonies of boys and girls who, over the years, have participated in the “School of Fire”, the annual meeting for teenagers of the Focolare Movement. This year it will take place from 30th December 2025 to 7th January 2026 at the Mariapolis Centre in Castel Gandolfo (Rome). There will be 250 participants from 15 countries: South Korea, Lebanon, Jordan, Austria, Great Britain, Portugal, Italy, Nigeria, Burundi, Ivory Coast, USA, Panama, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Brazil.
Over time, this type of experience has proved to be a dynamic and exciting encounter that has provided an ideal space for the young people to build real relationships with Jesus; a unique opportunity to be in contact with peers who share the same interests and who ask the same questions despite coming from very distant realities, with different linguistic, cultural and experiential backgrounds. This dimension, the possibility of being able to understand the way others see reality, the commitment to live the Charism of unity proposed by the Movement together, supports and encourages the participants, encouraging them to seriously work to achieve the ‘testament’ of Jesus, ‘May all be one ‘(Jn. 17:21).
The “School of Fire” took place for the first time in 2020, on the occasion of the Centenary of the birth of Chiara Lubich, founder of Focolare, who always encouraged the “Gen 3” (the teenagers of the Movement) to live out that evangelical love that has radically changed the lives of many. In her speech in Washington in the year 2000, referring to the origins of the Movement, Chiara explained, “From the beginning, we said that we were students at the “School of Fire”, to underline the power of that Teacher who, because of our mutual love, was present among us and was teaching those who would bring this new current of life to the whole world”.
The exchange of testimonies on actions of solidarity often gives rise to other ideas and initiatives among the young people. The participants from Croatia said, “We wanted the “School of Fire” to be more than just a memory and, encouraged by what we had heard, when we heard that in Bosnia and Erzagovina, countries close to ours, many people were suffering due to a terrible flood, we decided to help. What did we do? We held a charity concert in Krizevci to raise funds for those affected. We were interviewed by the local radio where we were able to explain the initiative and invite people to participate in the concert. It was a great success. To our great joy, the city’s music school and the music group Klapa Leggero joined the initiative. During the concert we were also able to sell some paintings that the Mayor of Krizevci had given us for the purpose of raising funds for the people affected by the flood.”
In the Czech Republic, for some years the young adults of the Focolare have been helping people in need, carrying out all kinds of work in homes and gardens. Encouraged by the testimonies of proximity heard at the “School of Fire”, the Czech youth wanted to do something similar. They said, “We found out that in our country there are some abandoned rectories that are being repaired through a project called ‘living rectories’ and so we offered to repair the one in Křivoklát that can now be used by families, children and young people from several communities”. 70 boys and girls aged 12 to 18 took part in the project, together with some parents and other adults. “We knocked down walls, repaired walls, painted windows and tidied the garden. In Křivoklát there is a beautiful castle and, to involve the people who live around it, we invited people to a conference and a high-level charity concert performed by our friends from the Prague Cello Quartet”. In the end, there was no shortage of surprises: thanks to the Mayor, the young people were able to spend the night right inside the castle!
This year the “School of Fire” is part of the celebration of the conclusion of the Jubilee and it aims to rekindle hope in the hearts of many. In addition, it will start the year in which the young generations of the Focolare Movement celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Gen Movement, an acronym for New Generation. 2026 will be the year in which we look at what has been achieved: the lives of many children, teens and young people who have generated closeness and change in them and around them, a concrete way to work together with many others to build a more united and peaceful world.
Founded in 1997, the initiative ‘They have evicted Jesus’ originates from a reflection by Chiara Lubich, foundress of the Focolare Movement, who, struck by the absence of any reference to the true meaning of Christmas, invited people to bring Jesus back to the heart of it.
All over the world, thousands of Gen 4 – the children of the Focolare Movement – have responded to this appeal and every year they produce small plaster statues of the baby Jesus, which are then given to people passing by on street corners during the Christmas period. The donations received are used for projects aimed at those children who are in need or who live in countries at war in various parts of the world.
From 28th-30th November, the“Restarting the economy”event will take place at the Mariapolis Centre in Castel Gandolfo (Rome, Italy), promoted by The Economy of Francis Foundation (EoF) with the support of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
It is the first time that the EoF Global Event is taking place far from its birthplace in Assisi and without the presence of Pope Francis. , President of the Foundation, views this as a positive evolution: “This is not a sign of distance, but an expansion of our mission. The spirit of Assisi is coming closer to Rome and to the Holy Father, to continue inspiring an economy committed to humanity and creation.” Msgr. Domenico Sorrentino , President of the Foundation, views this as a positive evolution: “This is not a sign of distance, but an expansion of our mission. The spirit of Assisi is coming closer to Rome and to the Holy Father, to continue inspiring an economy committed to humanity and creation.”
The EoF meeting in Assisi, September 2022
Over 600 young people, primarily women, representing 66 countries will attend and will include 80 second level students, alongside seasoned economists, philosophers, entrepreneurs, theologians, artists, and policy makers.
Is, “a sign that the commitment of young people to transform the economy is vibrant and full of potential for the future”, said prof. Luigino Bruni , Vice President of the Foundation and the original architect of the initiative. Then he explained the deeper significance of the theme: “‘Restarting the Economy’ is the EoF’s version of the Jubilee: a return to the original biblical sense with the liberation of today’s slaves (dependencies, usury, miseries), the remission of debts (touching upon the great theme of finance, both good and bad) and the restitution of land (addressing ecology, justice, and the critical challenges facing the Amazon, Africa, and our cities).”
During the event, the 2025 EoF Fraternity Report will be presented. It is the result of work carried out this year and is intended to be published annually: a measurement of the state of fraternity in the world, a concept dear to St. Francis and to Pope Francis. Paolo Santori, Chairman of the Foundation’s Scientific Committee, told us, “The report highlights how fraternity, a moral and social pillar, is also a decisive but still unmeasured economic component. Developing an innovative indicator based on international data, the study analyses the degree of fraternity within and between global economies (…) and invites us to rethink development, cooperation and collective well-being.”
The Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development has accompanied the Economy of Francesco from the beginning, recognizing a strong harmony with its mission. Father Avelino Chicoma Bundo Chico, S.J., Head of Office of the Dicastery noted that, “Values such as the centrality of the person, social and ecological justice, solidarity, inclusion and cooperation represent a common ground on which a respectful accompaniment of the movement’s autonomy has been developed, all while supporting its growth and initiatives in recent years.”
Presentation of the event in the Vatican Press Room. From left: Luca Iacovone, Luigino Bruni, Monsignor Domenico Sorrentino, Rita Sacramento Monteiro, Father Avelino Chicoma Bundo Chico and Cristiane Murray .
According to Rita Sacramento Monteiro and Luca Iacovone of the event staff, the program at Castel Gandolfo “will be divided into plenaries featuring international guests such as Sabine Alkire, Jennifer Nedelsky, Paolo Benanti, Massimo Mercati and Stefano Zamagni; thematic workshops; spiritual and creative moments and the EoF Fair, a large exhibition of projects and experiences from within the EoF movement. Particular emphasis will be given to two dedicated sessions: Prophetic Voices for a New Economy, in which young people from different backgrounds will recount experiences of change already underway and Extraordinary Ideas for the Economy of Francesco, a review of short inputs giving voice to business ideas, social initiatives and innovative research, selected through international calls.
