“The Word of God continues to spread and flourish” (cf Acts 12: 24). This is the sentence of the Acts of the Apostles that has been chosen as the theme for this year’s international gathering, the first promised by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, which was recently instituted with the entitled: “New Evangelizers for the New Evangelization” on the 15 and 16 October in the Vatican. Work began on the morning of 15 October with a report from the president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, and an ample discussion between various directors of various ecclesial associations which promote the New Evangelization. In the afternoon, following some speeches, there was a concert with Andrea Bocelli. There were two moments with Benedict XVI: in the afternoon, and with the Eucharistic celebration at the conclusion, on the morning of 16 October. How can the New Evangelization lead people to truly ask about the presence of God in their life and in human history? This question was posed by the Religious Information Service (SIR) during an  interview with Msgr. Fisichella. The Archbishop responded by saying: “The content of the New Evangelization is always the same and never changes. The New Evangelization does nothing else but to retrace the long journey from the days of the Apostles to our own day, through which men and women of good will and disciples of the Lord  have striven to proclaim his Word as the Gospel that saves. What can be modified, obviously, is the language, the enthusiasm, a renewed sense by the Christian community of being itself an evangelizer.” The Focolare was also at the meeting, with a delegation for its international headquarters. “The Word of God,” in fact, is the point of the spirituality of Chiara Lubich which the entire Movement will be reflecting upon and living during the coming year, until the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization next year. This was the main topic of the meeting which ended last week, for delegates of the Focolare who gathered from around the world at Rocca di Papa in Italy. Already in 2008, during the Synod on the Word, at which Maria Voce, attended as an auditor, the president of the Focolare presented to the Synod the experience of the Word that began “at the dawn of the Focolare Movement,” when “Chiara Lubich together with a small group of friends, began a spiritual journey that was marked by deep rediscovery of the life of the Gospel.” On that occasion she said: “The result of this life (of the Gospel) was the birth of a community formed by those who, coming into contact with them, began to live the Gospel with enthusiasm, and to share their many surprising experiences. The Word of God still occupies this central place in our lives today. We experience the Word of God to be a wellspring of God (cf DV7) from which we can drink, from which we can nourish our soul as with the Eucharist (cf DV21). The practice of sharing with one another our experiences of living the Word, has contributed to an always more authentic evangelization. We can therefore understand Chiara’s longing to leave to those who would follow her only the Gospel.”