35 organizations coming from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Messico, Paraguay  and Uruguay will be represented in this meeting, which will be held  from 21 to 24 October 2013 in the small town “Ginetta” in São Paulo, Brazil.

It is the first Latin American meeting  for leaders of social organizations inspired by the charism of unity of Chiara Lubich.  The theme will be  “Fraternity in action: the foundation of social cohesion in the XXI century”.

Gilvan David de Sousa, one of the promoters of this initiative, said: “Our aim is to identify  the main elements of the charism of unity that contribute towards  a social change  so as to be able to offer answers to  the important questions  posed  by our continent” .

At a time when the current global crisis  demands the research  for new ways  leading to an integral human development, for Sousa “this meeting  should be  a new stage in the  process    started  to  create  a network  among the different organizations, whose aim is to promote mutual enrichment through the exchange of ideas, experiences, difficulties and  to produce a greater social impact”.

An opportunity to go deeper into the theme of fraternity will be offered through  the  sharing of experiences and reports,   group work and  the topics of the four plenary sessions, namely “The social question  in the light of the Social Doctrine of the Church”; “The Charism of Unity and social issues in Latin America and the Caribbean”; “ The charism of unity and its implementation in organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean” and  “How  social projects inspired by the charism of unity can proceed together in the Latin American continent”.

Fr. Vilson Groh, Vera Araújo  and Susana Nuin will be among the main speakers.  Fr. Vilson Groh ( known in Brazil  because he has received the Parliamentary Award Darcy Ribeiro 2013),  has been working  for 30 years in the outskirts of Florianópolis , Brazil   for persons deprived of their rights;  the sociologist Vera Araújo  is  a member of the Focolare  Movement entrusted   with the responsibility  at international level   of Dialogue with Culture; Susana Nuin is the executive secretary of  the Department of Communication of CELAM and Consultant to the Pontifical Council for social communication.