After attending the deeply moving meeting of the Movements, new associations and communities with Pope Francis at Pentecost, Focolare President Maria Voce and Co-President Giancarlo Falletti travelled to the south of Germany.

On 24 May, in Freiburg, they met Archbishop Rober Zollitsch, the President of the German Bishops’ Conference. Archbishop Zollitsch was interested in the work and spread of the Focolare Movement in Germany and in the world. He encouraged the Movement to give its contribution to the Church and to society.

In that very friendly atmosphere Maria Voce spoke of the commitment of the international community of the Focolare in the field of ecumenism and interfaith dialogue. She explained to the Archbishop that in countries where they are, the Focolare centres always try to meet local needs. ‘For that reason our little town in Ottmaring has an explicitly ecumenical character.’

The Archbishop heard about the priests who live Focolare spirituality and he emphasized how important it can be for all priests to be involved in a living spiritual community. He was delighted with the faith formation courses that the Movement offers in the south of Germany to young people: ‘In a society where there is often a lack of courage in making decisions and taking commitments, it’s important that young people have witnesses to faith in their own environments.’

The Archbishop also said how impressed he was by the previous day’s meeting in Stuttgart of bishops from various churches and representatives of the Movements in the ‘Together for Europe’ network. Among those present at the meeting was Nikolaus Schneider, the President the German Evangelical Church. The warm relationship among the Movements and the communities that organized the meeting, one of which was the Focolare Movement, had struck him: ‘They told us about the pact, the covenant of mutual love that they made during one of their first meetings. And you could feel that this love was alive among them, that this pact shapes their relationships even today.’

The Focolare’s strong point, in the Archbishop’s opinion, was in managing to motivate people ‘not only to live and confess the faith, but also to share their experiences with one another, to speak of their faith. We lack this in Germany! Indeed, here the faith is often reduced to a private matter.’

He concluded by expressing his hopes and an observation: ‘The contribution of the Movements is an enrichment also for our parishes. The Movements, like the Focolare, can inspire a great many persons to live a genuine and active life of faith. They are a gift of the Holy Spirit for our times.’

By Andrea Fleming