A brief history of the beginnings of the Focolare in Russia

The first contacts between people from the then Soviet Union and focolarini, who were living in the German Democratic Republis, took place in the 1970’s.

In 1986 a Hungarian family from the Focolare Movement, the Fialowskys, moved from Budapest to Dugna, some 130 Km from Moscow. Some families and youths immediately began to gather around them.

In 1989 and in 1991, two centres of the Movement were opened in the capital. At that time, the community was comprised of around 40 people. In August of 1991 there was the first and long-awaited meeting between Chiara and the members of the Movement from Eastern Europe, in Katowice, Poland. It was an important milestone for the members of the Movement in Russia, because for the first time, they would go beyond their borders to meet Chiara and the other members of the Movement in Eastern Europe. In April 1992 the first puclic gathering was held, the Mariapolis, with 220 participants.

 

In September of the same year a first journey was taken to Celiabinsk, a city beyond the Ural Mountains, some 1900 km from Moscow, which up until shortly before had been closed to foreigners. Little by little a community of the Movement developed and, already in 1995, a first Mariapolis was held. This was followed by the birth of new communities in Novosibirsk and Omsk.

In 2001 a focolare was opened in Krasnoyarsk, dedicated to the Siberian region of the country. It was the first encounter with the people who had already been receiving the Word of Life for some time. The spirituality was welcomed by in several cities of Siberia. The first Siberian Mariapolis was held in 2004 at Divnogorsk, a city near Krasnojarsk. The participants came from different cities, after having travelled distances of up to 2000 km. Ninety were of different nationalities and churches.

After the fall of the Soviet Regime, Russian society was in search of an identity. In this journey, the Movement’s way of acting was always appreciated, especially in the relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church. At times, official representatives of the Patriarchate of Moscow took part in Focolare gatherings. Focolare co-president Giancarlo Faletti’s presence at the enthronement of Patriarch Kirill, in February 2009 was of significant importance for the community of the Movement.Some members of Orthodox associations watched with great interest the “Together for Europe” project, and have been attending the event since 2004.

Among the early Focolare pioneers in the then Soviet Union, we cannot forget to mention Guedes, a Portoguese focolarino wh died in January of this year, and lived for 20 years in Russia. His humble generosity is a characteristic that is very appreciated by this people, who abundantly reciprocated his love in many ways, especially the many Orthodox friends. Then there was Regina Betz, a German focolarina, who lived in Moscow from 1990 until 2008, establishing true and lasting relationships with many people. One episode that she tells of, seems to express what building unity in Russia has meant in these many years: « I taught German at the Lomosonov University of Moscow. One of my colleagues, Alla, wasn’t well with her health. She saw it as a punishment from God because she had given up living as a Christian. She told me that during an udating course in Lipsia she had returned to the Church, but coming back to Moscow, she drifted away. One day she asked me if she could go with me to Mass. I explained to her that I wasn’t Orthodox, but Catholic, so as not to create any problems for her. The following Sunday we went together to Mass at Saint Lousi Church, at that time, the only church in Moscow. Then I didn’t hear anything from her for quite a while. When we finally met again, she told me that she had been baptized ‘Russian Orthodox,’  she said almost apologetically. I told her that she had done well, since she was Russian!”

Presently, the majority of the Movement’s members in Moscow are Orthodox. One of them, Nina Vyazovetskaya, spoke in Rome, at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major’s, on the occasion of the third anniversary of Chiara Lubich’s death. She said: I come from Moscow, and I belong to the Russian Orthodox Church. I am a doctor and I did my internship at the Moscow Hospital. I grew up in a family of unbelievers, as many people are in Russia. In 1990 they baptized me a bit ‘by accident’ because, with the fall of Communism came a time of change and everyone was searching for something new. But after that day, I never went to church. The encounter with the Focolare Movement marked a change in my life. I met God and my life changed. In order to get to know Him, I turned to the focolarine, who are Catholics, and they brought me to my Orthodox church. This was how I began to disover the beauty and richness of the church, of the Christian life, of living for God. And now I have decided to follow God along the way of Chiara in the focolare.”