The Political Movement For Unity in Argentina: youth and culture

Jul 30, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

The courses took place in two locations on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, at the Jose C. Paz Popular School and at the Villa Albertina Popular School, lasting through the month of May 2013. It utilized a popular educational approach so that each school could focus on the social, economic and cultural settings of the local environments. The project was sponsored by the Argentina Development Ministry in collaboration with the Society, Politics and Brotherhood Chair at Universidad de la Plata. It was precisely by trying to adapt to the educational needs of those attending the course, as well as the needs of the local environment that a project specifically for teenagers, “Reconociendosi,” was initiated at the Jose C. Paz Popular School. The new electoral law in Argentina extends voting rights to sixteen year olds who will be allowed to vote in the upcoming elections, and feel in need of some specific educational training with opportunities to exchange opinions on some basic topics. While sharing his experience, 18 year old Political Science student, Ivan, stated: “What we live here is a fine example of social involvement: it shows how universal brotherhood can bear good fruit.” One of the course instructors, Adrian, summed up the opinion of the all the teenagers: “the Popular School is a space in which they feel that what they think is important. Moreover, they go away from this experience feeling that they have begun to listen more and become interested in the opinions of others.” At the Villa Albertina School, a project was begun for sharing experiences and views on universal brotherhood by teenagers and young people who work in several social organisations. Here the Popular School was a moving one. Every Monday the young participants met at the headquarters of a different organization, but each locale became a space for reflection and encounter, promoting universal brotherhood. Almost at the same time, towards the end of May, Veronica Lopez, co-president of the Political Movement For Unity in Argentina together with other young people from the PMFU, was invited to take part in the Konrad Adenauer Chair that was held in Salta. During three days of intense discussion, politicians and experts in the Social Science field dealt with several topics from the viewpoint of Christian Humanism and the Social Doctrine of the Church. Veronica Lopez defined the three-day experience as “an inter-institutional encounter where you learned how to build bridges of brotherhood.” Moreover, it showed how the presence of PMFU in the Konrad Adenauer Chair has contributed to “highlighting research from diverse political arenas and how it is changing the reality: an objective that can be claimed by political callings that are nourished by a feeling of political love.” Source: MPPU/Argentina online

Burundi. Maramvyaj Camp for Displaced People

Jun 18, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

Stefano Comazzi is responsible for the projects section of the Action for a United World. Recently he visited some of the main localities of Burundi that have been reached by the projects that are being brought ahead in the provinces of Ruyigi, Kayanza and Bujumburu. he was accompanied by the local counterpart of Action for a United Worldt, CASOBU. He recounts:

“In the rural areas of Bujumbura, in the Commune of Mutimbuzi, there is a camp for displaced people called ‘Maramvya’ where one of our projects is underway that provides assistance to families. The displaced families have been forced to move two times in the course of a month, settling first in an area on the outskirts of Bujumbura – a swamp – then on land near to the airport in the Commune of Butirere. The new settlement, however, is farther from the city and more difficult to reach.

For around four months families have been assigned lots upon which they can build their houses. I was able to see that some have already begun to put up a few simple little houses made of mud and straw. But many are lacking the necessary means and the land will be sold at a low price to speculators who are interested in building large Real Estate.

At the time of my arrival a session was being held beneath a large tent, the collection of personal information by a young woman from CASOBU so that families and children could be registered in the Commune and have access to health and educational services.

This registration process is rather complicated because the people passed under the administration of two previous communes. So each individual has to be checked again in order to see if they had been registered previously or not, and the eventual changes made to their documents. This is all done manually and is therefore very tedious and time-consuming.

The water situation, there is only one public distribution point, with only one fountain about half a kilometer from the settlement, I saw a small crowd of women and children there. From what they say, it seems that the queues begin early in the morning at around three o’clock and go on for many hours. We spoke with the mayor and learned that there is a study underway on a project for the entire north region of the city, with adequate pipe diameter and flow rate, and a tank for collecting water right next to the field. Nevertheless, while awaiting the project to be realized, CASOBU will examine other possible short-term solutions that will alleviate at least some of the difficulty of the local population to provide water for itself.

Source: Action for a United World online

Project overview

How to help: Burundi, Campo sfollati Maramvya

Christian and Jews. Dialogue 2.0

Jun 15, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

One well-known rabbi who took part in the meeting promoted by the Focolare and held at the Mariapolis Centre in Castelgandolfo, Rome, explained that the history of mutual understanding between the two religions developed along three levels of interaction.

Level zero in which the members of both religions meet and come to know one another. Level one is a further step in which there is mutual respect and understanding. Fear of being interpolated by the “other” no longer exists.

Dialogue at the second level proposes that the persons involved are disposed that the other – Christian or Jew – has a genuine influence with their own religious convictions and is prepared to allow them* to be positively transformed.

This, of course, does not mean to question the religious identity of each person and even less “syncretism.” This proposal consists in allowing each party to use a spiritual language that allows everyone to come together.

“I must say that I have attended many such interreligious events over the years, but never have I taken part in one like this. It has been rare in my life to see together (as I have seen here) 4 rabbis from different currents of Judaism and a large group of lay experts discussing common themes of dialogue (30 from Argentina, USA, Italy and Uruguay), working with a totally unique methodology.

Usually each participant speaks of one’s own religion, comments on one’s own texts, and cites one’s own authors. Here the Christians commented on Hebrew texts and Hebrews commented on Christian texts. They did not draw on the wealth of ideas of philosophers or theologians who are famous in their fields, but they were rather examinations that focused on the impact these documents had produced on the readers themselves, a spiritual impact, in particular, and of deep substance.

The texts of Hebrew spirituality and texts of the spiritual patrimony that have been left to us by founder of the Focolare Movement, Chiara Lubich, were examined through a different lens than usual.

I use a metaphor from the world of cybernetics. It is now known that the web 2.0 will soon open new forms of communication through internet. Dialogue 2.0 is also a step forward. This will mean giving up the securities we’ve acquired until now in order to integrate the same elements as always, but in a new way. This will be more adapted to the building up of newer and deeper forms of interreligious encounter and, ultimately, a more fraternal society. We’ve experienced it during these days.

By Francisco Canzani

Ciro’s art in Japan

Jun 3, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

“Knowing how to observe” is perhaps the first creative act for Ciro. It could give rise to the impulse of recognising the Beautiful that surrounds us, even if often hidden behind the appearances of ruin. This is how Roberto Cipollone presents himself on his website. He is an ingenious Italian artist who has his workshop at the international little town of Loppiano (Florence).

We interviewed him on his return from the inauguration of an exhibition in Japan:

How was your art received in the Land of the Rising Sun?

“The reception was splendid with the typical Asian courteousness. I visited Kyoto thanks to a Tuscan agency that collaborates in furthering relationships between Florence and that Japanese city. I was pleased to find that the set-up organised by them fully matched what I had desired. Someone commented that it seemed like Ikebana done in iron.”

How do you live the creative act?

“For me the creative process is like a kind of therapy. More than with words, I express myself through the transformation of common objects, which when arranged in a certain manner, even astonish me. This process results in  something that amazes, which creates emotions.” 

From where do you get your inspiration?

“I draw inspiration mostly from nature, from the material I find, where at times there are traces of life; especially objects that come from the world of farming. Naturally also from readings, from some film that I’ve seen, images that I grasped through only a glimpse…, or things that amaze you, which you then put into form.” 

The locations you choose for your exhibitions are often odd…

“Until now I chose to hold exhibitions even in unusual locations: for example on the water, or in the open and in the most varied situations. And you hear the reactions of people, at times unprepared to receive an artistic message in these ways. They are positive reactions that help in changing man, who would not have lived without art.” 

Certainly, there is art and art…

“Rather, it is not said that from the beginning art developed for the wellbeing of man, but I believe that man, even before eating, needs beauty. I try to greatly respect the work others have done, especially that in the farming sphere, which at times is even governed by necessity, but where beauty was not excluded, as well as the desire to pass on these values to others. Beauty understood not in terms of affectation but as message of profound values.”

The exhibition is currently underway in Kyoto from 21 May to 9 June.

For information: info@labottegadiciro.it

Official website: http://www.labottegadiciro.it/about/

Communion, the new words of the economy

Apr 2, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

Nel volumeIn his new book “Communione, le parole nuove dell’economia” (Communion, the new words of the economy), economist Luigino Bruni presents the Economy of Communion (EoC) with the help of a few keywords, such as “gratuity”, “work”, “business”, “cooperation”, “happiness”, “reciprocity”, “fraternity” and “poverty”. Taken together all these words suggest communion. They are age-old words that in the experience of the EoC take on different meaning. In the introduction of the book the author states: “Communion is the deep tension of the economy and the basis of the Economy of Communion project that seeks to give rise to businesses that are run according to a new culture, the culture of giving.” The EoC is an economic project that now involves hundreds of businesses, but it is also something more. In fact, the Economy of Communion also incorporates a humanism of sorts. Companies associated with the EoC are private enterprises, fully integrated into the market that, while retaining private ownership of property, put the profits in common. In the premise to his book, Bruni writes that he intends to state the significance of living communion in the economy today, but also to testify to the evolution of his understanding of the EoC as it was extricated in the early years of its existence. “I travelled in several countries and have had the opportunity of entering into the various dimensions of the project, which – it is always necessary to remember – was born of a spirituality and is therefore always finds itself between ‘heaven and earth’; that is, between prophecy and history. The chapters of this book are therefore like the stages on a journey, each distinct but all linked with each other. It is a personal and collective journey that still continues. It particularly gives witness to a new understanding of the dimensions of a business, the market and, above all, of poverty, a reality that gradually opened itself to me as I searched for it in several regions of the world.” According to the author, “communion” is the new name for peace. In the 1960’s much was said about development and it was hoped that by spreading development to those countries that up until then had been marginalized would have resolved the reasons for war at their roots. Now, after decades of strong economic development we have to admit that this on its own is not enough for assuring peace. Economic growth can come at the expense of other important values for civil society, such as the environment, justice and solidarity. For this reason the author is convinced that the prophetic words of Paul VI his the Encyclical Letter Popolorum Progressio: “Development is the new name for peace,” could be articulated today as: “Communion is the new name for peace.” The fact is that without communion there is no real and sustainable development, not for the individual, not for the peoples and not for the planet. By Gina Perkov Source: EdC online