For over two years, on the initiative of NetOne, the international network of communicators of the Focolare Movement, a group of communication professionals, has been meeting online every month to explore themes related to the Synod of Bishops, in particular on synodality and communication. Key elements during these meetings include listening, silence, testimony and fraternal communication. In addition to these regular sessions, two webinars have taken place over the past two years: the first in April 2024 (an in-depth analysis is available online here) and the second in February 2025 entitled, “What kind of communication for synodality?” (VIDEO) This event was followed in various parts of the world with the participation of numerous communication experts connected from several countries.
Alessandro Gisotti, deputy director of Vatican Media, opened the series of interventions by citing three essential terms for a good communicator: Communication, Action and Community. He said, “In this Holy Year, we need a synodal communication that is able to accompany the people who will come, without the presumption of wanting to lead them but available to listen to them, to accompany them, to share a part of the journey together”.
From the United States, Kim Daniels, Professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC, Coordinator of the Synod of Study Group 3 explained, “Mission in the digital environment – our goal is to offer actionable recommendations to the Holy Father for the improvement of the Church’s mission in this digital culture, ensuring that it remains firmly rooted in our call to meet people wherever they are, leading them towards a deeper communion with Christ and with each other”.
Pál Tóth, a Professor at the Sophia University Institute in Loppiano, spoke from Hungary, explaining that “healing the deep wounds of the globalized world requires transversal collaboration including with those whose views differ from our own. The idea of differentiated consensus promotes a new type of social relationship: we collaborate for the realization of some values while remaining on different platforms for others”.
The starting point of the Synod is those on the margins. This emerged from the experience of Muriel Fleury and Beatrice Binaghi, respectively Head of Communication and Social Media Officer at the Dicastery for Integral Human Development. “Speaking for those who are exploited or marginalized by dominant processes means making these people visible. Without these countercurrent voices, everything would favour those who dominate, because silence supports those who mistreat, enslave, exploit, or render too many men and women invisible “. Binaghi described the collaboration network created among the “border bishops” responsible for migratory pastoral care in Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama, especially to address the critical situation in Darien through which hundreds of migrants pass every day. “Dialogue and communication have created communities, and the work that was previously fragmented is now more synergistic and impactful”.
The actress Stefania Bogo was asked to give two moments of reflection through an artistic reading of selected passages from the recent encyclical of Pope Francis, Dilexit nos and Chiara Lubich’s “The attraction of modern times”.
Erica Tossani, of the Presidency of the Synodal Assembly of the Italian Church, explained how important it is to listen, that “it is not merely a passive action, a silence waiting to be filled by the words of others. It is an active attitude that involves attention, discernment and a willingness to be challenged. Without listening, communication degenerates into polarization and sterile opposition”.
The experiences of synodality included that of Paolo Balduzzi, correspondent for the Italian Rai 1 program “A sua immagine”. He explained, “The stories told arise from a dialogue shared with the entire editorial team. For me, every interview is an encounter. And synodality begins with this encounter with my interlocutor, that is, entering into their story, into their lived experience and together seeking to grasp the most essential aspects of their story”.
The story of Mariella Matera, blogger of Alumera, a space for evangelization on social media, is the story of a communicator fascinated by the idea of transmitting the Gospel through the internet. She asked herself, “How can I be a little bridge between the web and Christ? In the Calabrian (southern Italy) dialect, the word Alumera refers to the old type of oil lamp. Just as the lamp, as long as it has oil, does not go out, so too I, as long as I have the love of Christ in me, cannot be silent”.
In conclusion, Anita Tano, head of communication for United World Project-NetOne Argentina recounted the experience of Genfest 2024 in Brazil, the youth event of the Focolare Movement which had the theme Together to Care. Featuring cultural exchanges, art and workshops, the aim was to recognise communication as a tool to take care of “one’s own life, that of others and that of the planet”. A message that emphasized the difference between simply being “connected” and being truly “united.”
The live broadcast was moderated by Enrico Selleri, presenter and author of the Italian Church broadcasters Tv2000 and InBlu2000, along with Sara Fornaro, editor-in-chief of the web version of the Italian magazine Città Nuova. The event was promoted by NetOne together with the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, the Dicastery for Communication, the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, Vatican Media, the Synodal Way of the Church in Italy, TV2000, InBlu2000 and SIR (of the Italian Episcopal Conference), the Sophia University Institute, Weca (Association of Italian WebCatholics), the Città Nuova Editorial Group and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.
Bahía Blanca is a coastal city located at the gateway to Argentine Patagonia begins. With its 370,000 inhabitants, it is the economic, religious and cultural centre of a vast region. Just a few kilometres away, another 80,000 people live in the city of Punta Alta. Together, they have a very important petrochemical hub, a network of 7 different ports (including multipurpose, grain, fruit, fishing, gas, oil and fertilizers) and the main base of the Argentine Navy.
In this region, the average rainfall in a year is 650 mm, but on Friday, 7th March, 2025, 400 mm fell in just 7 hours. As this huge amount of water made its way to the sea, it gathered speed and destroyed everything in its path: bridges, canals, railways, roads, roads, vehicles, houses, shops… and people.
The population suddenly found itself in scene of unimaginable devastation, as if there had been a tsunami. A sudden power outage also cut off telephone communications, leaving everyone in the dark about the well-being of their relatives, friends, and colleagues.
However, something deep within this community awoke and all the universal laws converged into a single verb: to serve.
As soon as the water and mud allowed, thousands of people began to pour into the streets. Everyone assessed the damage in their own home, but then immediately turned their attention to their neighbours, to see if they needed help. Those who managed to get their situation under control devoted themselves entirely to helping others. We were all witnesses and protagonists of a gigantic miracle that has multiplied, with incredible creativity and strength.
Recovering photographs of an elderly womanYoung people preparing meals for distribution in the flooded areas.Distributing donations
The only thing that mattered was what could be done with our hands: help remove water and mud from homes, clean, tidy up, look for rags, buckets of water, disinfectant, take the injured to health centres, take care of pets, accommodate people who had lost everything, offer strength, encourage, hug, share suffering. No one complained but said, “It was very difficult for me, but in comparison to what happened to others…”
While I was helping some friends, a couple approached and distributed pasties, others came with drinks. Those who had an electricity generator offered to recharge mobile phone batteries. Others provided pumps to drain flooded areas. An optician donated glasses to those who had lost theirs. A woman distributed disinfectant, a doctor made house calls, a man offered his services as a bricklayer and another as a mechanic. Everything was shared: candles, food, clothes, nappies, mattresses, drinking water, brushes and hands – countless hands.
A bar offers free hot chocolateDonations of mattresses arriveVolunteers cleaning a kindergarten
And then came the solidarity of the whole country and of people from all over the world. By truck, by train, by bus, in vans… tons of donations, which needed more volunteers for loading, unloading, sorting and delivery. Volunteers kept multiplying. And also money, donated with great generosity. Parishes, clubs, schools, companies, all the existing organizations gave everything they could. Generous financial donations also arrived. Parishes, clubs, schools, businesses—every organization gave everything they could. And then, another kind of organization emerged: groups of friends. Like makeshift “patrols,” each group took charge of a section of the city where government aid would likely take longer to arrive. Even now, they continue going door to door, recording every need and ensuring that help arrives swiftly.
All the hands of these people, whether they knew it, believed it, or even imagined it, have become “divine hands”. Because they were the most tangible way God could reach those in need. Personally, I experienced deep anxiety not knowing if my siblings or friends were safe. I wanted to reach them, but it was impossible. So I decided to help wherever I could. I called it my “square metre.” Later, I finally managed to reach my loved ones, only to discover that others, strangers, had helped them where I could not.
Days later, some parts of the city are still under. The suffering and difficulties continue. The losses have been immense. Everywhere you meet people with big dark circles under their eyes and aching muscles from working almost without rest. But with their hearts wide open and a fullness in their eyes, for having given everything for others.
The Political Movement for Unity and the NGO New Humanity, both expressions of the Focolare Movement, supported by Porticus, are promoting a global political project entitled “One Humanity, One Planet: Synodal Leadership”. Aimed at young people aged 18-40 with experience in political representation, government leadership or social movements, the programme offers academic training, personalised mentoring and a hackathon in Rome with international experts.
Objective: to strengthen the participation of young politicians in global advocacy processes, through a collaborative journey of reflection and action between socio-political leaders, generating a global network of young leaders from different continents. The challenge is to overcome the current crises (social, environmental, political and economic) and contribute to building a leadership network for the development of international political strategies.
The program will start at the end of April 2025, the deadline for submitting applications is 31st March, it will last for two years and is fully funded (free of charge). It will include contributions from prestigious academic institutions and international NGOs. The format will be mixed, both in person and online through interactive modules with experts from around the world, including renowned political leaders and university professors. A week-long event is planned in Rome, from 6th-12th October 2025, with international guests to co-create proposals for collaborative actions at a global level to solve current social, environmental and economic challenges.
Language will not be an obstacle. Simultaneous translations will be available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, Italian and other languages as required.
What does the programme offer?
The initiative is a process of global collective action that integrates training, information, networking, tools and meetings. It offers experiences and methods to increase the quality of policy and improve its impact on social transformation. Participants will have access to learning spaces, collective knowledge-building and exchange with international scholars and experts, with spaces for reflection among the participants alongside dedicated discussion sessions. Each young participant will receive ongoing mentorship from an experiences political leader to refine their political, social, economic and environmental project. In the second year, participants will join a global network of 600 young leaders from different continents.
At the end of the program, participants will receive a formal diploma certifying their participation in the program.
In this year dedicated to the Jubilee of Hope, the Gen 4 (the children of the Focolare Movement) in Rome decided to embark on a journey to discover more about the history of Christianity and understand how to live the Jubilee in their city that is welcoming millions of pilgrims from all over the world. The stages of their journey are the Vatican Basilicas in Rome: St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Paul’s Outside the Walls and St. Mary Major. They asked Father Fabio Ciardi, OMI, professor of spiritual theology and author of numerous books and publications, to be their guide.
First stop: St. Peter’s Basilica
In October 2024, two months before the Jubilee began, the group of 33 children with as many adults, learned about a very special reality before entering St. Peter’s Basilica. It is located next to the residence where Pope Francis lives. It is the Dispensary of St. Martha, a place where the Gospel becomes incarnate every day through the assistance given to hundreds of mothers and children. It’s an opportunity to explain to the Gen 4 how the Jubilee can be lived concretely by helping others.
Father Fabio explained, “It is a real family clinic, which began this work of care for poor children and their families in 1922. Today over 400 children, with their mothers, are assisted free of charge by about sixty volunteer doctors. They are mostly people without a residence permit, without health care”. Services include gynaecological and paediatric examinations as well as dental care for the homeless.
Father Fabio then linked this story with the story of Saint Peter, using some drawings. The children listened attentively to his voice through headphones: “Jesus met Simon the fisherman and invited him to follow him. ‘Come with me,’ he said, ‘I’ll make you a fisher of men.’ And he gave him a new name, he called him Peter, which means “rock”, because he wanted to build his Church on him”. And as the story continued, we moved to the Basilica to pray at the tomb of St. Peter. “Peter came to Rome. When Nero set fire to the city he blamed the Christians. Peter was killed in the circus of the emperor Caligula that Nero had renovated…and finally the tomb of Saint Peter in his Basilica”. There was an atmosphere of deep recollection among Gen 4, despite the influx of tourists on that Roman Saturday afternoon. Going towards the Holy Door you pass some masterpieces of art. In front of the Pietà, Father Fabio said, “This statue of Our Lady was very dear to Chiara Lubich. Every time she came to the Basilica she stopped here to pray to Mary”.
The stop in San Giovanni in Laterano
The second stage was in January 2025. This time the group was larger: 140 people including 60 children, always under the expert guidance of Father Fabio, met to discover the Basilica of St. John Lateran, full of surprises and treasures related to the history of Christianity. Attentive and curious, with headphones in their ears, for just over two hours Gen4 listened to Father Fabio’s fascinating story.
Gen4 at St. John in Lateran Gen4 at St. John in LateranGen4 at St. John in Lateran
In his blog, Father Fabio wrote, “It was wonderful to tell the story of the obelisk, it was nice to explain the meaning of the cloister, it was nice to tell the stories of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist and to let the children go and find their statues in the Basilica. It was nice to show the ancient Papal throne and the current one, on which the Pope e sits to take possession of his office. It was nice to point out the relics of the table on which Jesus celebrated the last supper and the one on which Peter celebrated here in Rome. It was good to go through the Holy Door together…It’s good to be with the children and tell them beautiful things…”
At this point, the children have built a special bond with Father Fabio. They walked beside him in the Basilica, held his hand, asked him questions to learn more. A Gen 4 asked, “What’s Heaven like?” He replied, “Imagine a busy school day. When it’s over, you go home to a beautiful, welcoming, warm house, where your parents, grandparents and friends shower you with love. You feel happy in that moment, don’t you? It’s like that in Heaven: it’s a place where you feel good, where you feel at home!” This stage also came to an end. We returned home happy and aware that for us, the Jubilee must be a time to give hope and happiness to the most disadvantaged, to our poor, to those who suffer.
The journey with other generations
Waiting to continue this journey with the Gen 4, the Gen3 (40 teenagers), the Gen2 (30 young people) and a group of adults, fascinated by the positive experience that the children were living with Father Fabio, also wanted to follow the same journey, always guided by him.
Father Fabio wrote in his blog, “First the children, then the teens, then the young people and adults. St. John Lateran, St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Mary Major. So I keep living the Jubilee, over and over. The story of history, art and spirituality, because it is all intertwined, human and divine, past and present. These monuments live on, still speaking after hundreds of years and continue to narrate beautiful things”.
Gen 2 at St. Paul outside the WallsGen 2 at St. Paul outside the WallsGen 2 at St. Paul outside the Walls
And the young people thanked Father Fabio “for preparing our hearts for such a beautiful experience, you helped us to go through this stage of the holy year together, with meaning and joy. We really liked the atmosphere you managed to create, arousing in us the desire to visit together other places in Rome which were important for the first Christians and you gave us the desire to deepen the meaning of being pilgrims on the way to the goal of Paradise”.
This February we celebrate the XI International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking which falls annually on 8 February – the feast of St Josephine Bakhita, the Sudanese nun who had the dramatic experience of being trafficked as a child.
This year the event is inspired by Pope Francis‘ invitation to be pilgrims of peace and apostles of hope and is part of the events linked to the Jubilee 2025. The theme is: Ambassadors of Hope: Together against Human Trafficking.
Celebrated all over the world, the World Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking was introduced by Pope Francis in 2015. Coordinated by Talitha Kum, it draws on a network of organisations – including the Focolare Movement – with the aim of praying together, reflecting collectively on the realities of human trafficking and supporting victims, survivors and vulnerable populations. In a particular way, this initiative aims to promote and help women, children, migrants, refugees and young people.
This year, during the week of 4 to 10 February, various events will take place to raise awareness of the issue. More than 100 representatives of the various partner organisations – young people from all over the world, supporters and activists, survivors, refugees, migrants and public figures from the world of art and cinema – will gather in Rome to promote an appeal for hope, peace, love and unity of the Catholic Church with the aim of healing the wounds of the world. Among other events, Gen Verde will participate in the event ‘Invoking Hope and Promoting Healing Events’ on 6 February at 4-7pm (Italian time) at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.
But the central event will be the online pilgrimage scheduled for 7 February from 11.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. (Italian time): a marathon of prayer and reflection across all continents and available in five languages.
Recently, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published the Declaration ‘Dignitas Infinita’ referring to serious violations of human dignity, such as human trafficking described as ‘an ignoble activity, a disgrace for our societies that call themselves civilised’. Likewise, it stresses the importance of combating phenomena such as the ‘trade in human organs and tissues, sexual exploitation of children and young girls, slave labour, including prostitution, drug and arms trafficking, terrorism and organised international crime’. It also mentions the repercussions of this crime against humanity. “Trafficking defaces the victim’s humanity, offending their freedom and dignity”.
It is currently estimated that 50 million people globally are affected by modern day slavery. Those who suffer the consequences most are women and children. The Jubilee year and the theme of hope highlight the importance of promoting this value through concrete actions such as the global fight against the despicable reality of human trafficking. We are therefore called to action, to be ambassadors of hope, because the human dignity and fraternity that we all uphold are in grave danger.
The city of Goma, capital of the North Kivu region (Democratic Republic of Congo), was attacked and is now controlled by the armed rebel group M23. Conflicts between Congolese government forces and the M23 militia intensified after the killing of General Peter Cirimwami, governor of North Kivu province on the 25th of January 2025.
The Focolare Movement has been present in Goma since 1982 with a very active community which provides aid to people in need and has numerous initiatives serving the poor and refugees. A women’s focolare opened in 2019. Since 2020, a Social Centre has been built to provide basic necessities and shelter, thanks to the help of various organisations and people of goodwill. At the same time, career guidance and training courses have been set up to offer dignity and the means of survival to refugees, with particular attention to single women with children. Many people have thus been helped and, among them, are those who have recently arrived at a refugee camp near the “Louis Quintard Centre / Focolare”. Since 2023, thanks to the support of AMU, a micro-credit support project has been set up and, since the riots intensified last February, AMU has also supported the local community of the Movement to carry out emergency actions there, in particular by providing drinking water and hygiene kits to the many displaced people in the city’s refugee camps.
Tension in the region is very high and there is a growing apprehension about what may happen in the coming days with the possibility of an escalation of the conflict. This could have tragic consequences for a city and a population that are already living in difficult situations due to conflicts that have been ongoing for more than thirty years.
That is why we want to invite everyone to strengthen their prayers by joining in the “Time out”, a minute’s silence and prayer for peace that we offer every day at 12 noon local time, as well as to support all actions for peace and to encourage diplomatic actions that seek an end to all conflicts that are still taking place in the world.
Azione per un Mondo Unito ETS (AMU) IBAN: IT 58 S 05018 03200 000011204344 at Banca Popolare Etica Codice SWIFT/BIC: ETICIT22XXX
Azione per Famiglie Nuove ONLUS (AFN) IBAN: IT 92 J 05018 03200 000016978561 at Banca Popolare Etica Codice SWIFT/BIC: ETICIT22XXX
Causale: Emergenza Goma
Tax benefits are available for such donations in many EU countries and in other countries around the world, according to different local regulations.Italian contributors will be able to obtain deductions and allowances from income, according to the rules for non-profit organisations
