The art of loving which unites us

The area around the Mediterranean is facing huge challenges: poverty, conflicts, a variety of religions, ecological problems, migration. But it also has enormous resources which are historical, religious, cultural and socio-economical, which could help us to discover answers and solutions to these challenges.

“The Mediterranean Encounters” began in Bari (2020), then they took place in Florence (2022) and this year 2023 the meetings were in Marseille in France.

The aim of these events is to bring together the Churches and, at their side, all people of good will (religious communities, associations, movements, universities, businesses, etc.), so that joy and hope can be revived in the cultures and the nations of the Mediterranean. Pope Francis was present on the 22^nd and 23^rd of September in the meerting in Marseille.

The Focolare Movement held a Vigil of Fraternity and unity: the art of loving which unites us in the Church of Our Lady of Accoules on the 22^nd of September, where they presented the contribution of the Focolare in making the Mediterranean become a family. There was a moment of prayer, of witness and songs. The President of the Focolare, Margaret Karram, sent a video-message.

 

I accepted very willingly and not without a certain emotion, the invitation to participate in this vigil prepared as part of the Week of Mediterranean Encounters.

I would very much have liked to take part in person in the important appointments of these days, but as it is not possible, I want to convey at least through this video-message how close I am to all of you.

As you may know, I was born and raised in Haifa, in the Holy Land, and therefore I feel like a child of the Mediterranean. Since childhood I have experienced the coexistence of different peoples, cultures and religions: at school, in my neighborhood, in my city. This experience has determined my life choices and has rooted in me the conviction that it is possible to build a world of fraternity.

This week's meetings are very valuable occasions to revive in many - especially in us, the people of the Mediterranean - a great dream: that of a coexistence that knows how to integrate and appreciate diversity as a value and as a mutual enrichment.

It is the dream of "a Mediterranean of fraternity" that shows how differences make us go ahead and enable us to overcome frontiers. Practically speaking, it is not only a cultural exchange between the peoples of the shores to the North and those to the South, as would immediately come to mind, but the Mediterranean basin also welcomes lands to the East - like mine - and to the West; thus, it is a meeting of 3 continents and 5 shores!

Is "A Mediterranean of fraternity," a utopia? The past teaches us that it is not. This is also confirmed by the English historian David Abulafia who explained that for most of the past centuries, indeed millennia, the characteristic of the Mediterranean has been that of "integration." Only in some historically rare phases, caused by political and economic tensions, has it lost this integrative character.

Unfortunately, we are currently experiencing one of these phases. The Mediterranean is torn, fragmented and broken. This fragmentation is often reinforced and exploited by political and economic interests and is nurtured by fears and prejudices rooted in ethnic, nationalistic and unfortunately also religious resentments.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 2,000 people have died since the beginning of this year attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea; the ecological challenge is worsening, just think of the biodiversity that has been greatly depleted in this sea. Adding to these challenges are the various forms of poverty, social and economic injustices that then come dramatically to the fore when we are dealing with natural disasters, such as the recent earthquake in Morocco or the devastating flood in Libya.

How to deal with this situation? How to contribute to the new realization of that utopia that is part of the historical and cultural identity of the Mediterranean? How to revive a true, authentic, effective ... and also, we could say … affective fraternity?

Pope Francis calls for dialogue as the road par excellence to reach fraternity; a dialogue that - as he repeated recently in Mongolia: "does not flatten differences, but helps to understand them and preserves them in their originality..." .

But this dialogue needs a spirit that animates it, enlivens it and pushes it ahead: this is love, that love which for us Christians has its roots in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but which is found in the principles of all religions, and is part of the law inscribed in the heart of every person.

We can live this dialogue through the art of loving, which the prayers, readings and testimonies of this evening's vigil speak of. Through the experiences of individuals and groups who opened their eyes to their brother or sister in front of them and set out to love them, without waiting for the other to take the initiative, without making any distinction of origin, sex, nationality, religion or social status.

Fraternity, in fact, does not only mean tolerating the other, but learning to make their problems, their dreams our own. And I am convinced that only a dialogue that starts from these assumptions allows us to face together the great challenges of the Mediterranean that I mentioned earlier. From this perspective, I can testify that collaboration between believers of different Churches and men and women of various religions can be a great contribution. We can also testify to this as the Focolare Movement with various initiatives taking place, that are shared also with other organizations, in the ecological sphere and in the challenge of migration.

I will continue to dream of a Mediterranean in which, precisely because of our past experience, we can bear witness to mutual esteem, between individuals, groups, associations, Churches, religions, peoples, nations.

I dream of a Mediterranean that becomes an example of fraternity for the three continents bordering its waters, and for the whole world.

I thank you for listening and send you warm greetings!

                                               Margaret Karram

VIDEO (ITALIANO)