Dec 19, 2018 | Non categorizzato
The little focolare town in Argentina is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Pat Santoianni, Cecilia Gatti, Adriana Otero and Israele Coelho speak about its contribution to the formation of young people. The little town of O’Higgins in Argentina has just celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. It is one of the twenty-five permanent Mariapoli in the world. Considering that its purpose is the formation of young people, 1968 – a year of great protest and unrest among youth – was a perfect time to begin. The little town seemed to have had a star shining down upon it. Nowadays, O’Higgins is known as Mariapolis Lia. It is named after Lia Brunet who was one of the first people, in the 40’s, who shared Chiara Lubich’s life and ideals. She was courageous and open-minded – a real pioneer in this Focolare town in South America. To date, over 3,500 young people from all over the world have gone to Mariapolis Lia for an “experiencia”; in other words, they have chosen to spend a few months or a maximum of two years in the little town, working, studying and experiencing what it means to live in a multi- cultural environment where the spirituality of unity reigns. After this time, they return to their own homes, enriched by this human and intellectual experience that has opened their hearts and minds to other people and cultures. Pat Santoianni, anthropologist and co-responsible for the Formation at Mariapolis Lia said, “Over the years, we have developed the formation process: one of the chief elements is that the whole social body contributes to formation. Therefore, our course is anthropological and existential and impacts upon life, thought and action.” Adriana Otero, biologist and one of the formation co-ordinators said that the course has a holistic approach. She said, “We try to keep up with both the challenges and risks that young people face in today’s society – relationships, choices, freedom, social and civil commitment, dialogue among different cultures and among different generations and technology. Work is also an important element as, for many young people, this is a new experience.” Cecilia Gatti, a researcher in education, said that relationships lie at the heart of the educational process. “Education means relationship. This is a concept drawn from the Focolare spirituality of unity that is central to our formation programme. Relationships with other people enable me to build strong bonds, to see my life in a different way, to contribute to and engage with society. Our school is a little town where everything provides an opportunity to learn – every relationship, every dialogue, every meeting.” In an age of technological advances such as Web 4.0, the obvious question is how can O’Higgins, a small village in the middle of the Argentinian pampas, really work as a location for the formation of these young millennials. Israele Coelho, a Brazilian expert in education and co-responsible for the formation course said the experience itself is proof of its validity. “Although this place, in the middle of nowhere, could seem to be a contradiction in terms, it still continues to be an environment where young people can focus upon themselves, experience an interior silence and develop their relationship with God and other people. For many young people, this “experiencia” is an important time for making fundamental choices in life.”
Stefania Tanesini
Dec 18, 2018 | Non categorizzato
In the “Ecopesce” (Ecofish) workshop and the shop called “E Nustren” nothing is thrown away. This is the philosophy behind a small business based at Cesenatico in Italy that processes and sells fish from the Adriatic Sea, using only refrigeration technology. What reaches the customers’ table is a product that would otherwise not be valued or perhaps even thrown away. All this happens by putting sharing before economics. https://vimeo.com/301634595
Dec 17, 2018 | Non categorizzato
Christopher Jimènez, member of the Focolare Movement community in Mexico, tells about the migrants’ long exodus from Honduras, while remaining weeks at the foot of the wall bordering the United States. “On 12th October, we received several calls through the social network—affirm Christopher Jimènez, who collaborates with the association Promozione Intergrare della Persona (PIP) — making it viral in a short time. More than thousands of Hondurans left San Pedro Sula”, a city, which until 2014, has been considered for years among the most violent on the planet. From that time on, the whole world has been witnessing what has been defined by many as a biblical exodus. “A week after the caravan crossed the border of Mexico, numerous civil society organizations and government agencies have already set out to provide humanitarian aid, first at Chiapas, then at Oaxaca and Veracruz.” At that point, it was no longer a question of a single contingent of migrants, but of different groups that proceeded in waves, on foot or by some lucky means, crossing the country for thousands of kilometres. “At the end of October – continued Christopher – when their arrival in Mexico City was imminent, an interruption of the drinking water was scheduled for the over four million inhabitants of the capital, due to a serious water problem. Yet, many civil and religious organizations, despite the hardships and intense cold, have responded to the invitation of the local Human Rights Commission, setting up a humanitarian camp to the westside of the city. The Focolare also joined. About thirty people, including doctors, nurses, students, housewives, went to the relief and meal-clothing distribution points. Also, another group organized a collection of basic necessities and a civil association, inspired by the Focolare spirit, offered technical and logistic collaborations.” On the morning of 5th November, about five thousand migrants arrived in the capital. Almost ten thousand people received hospitality, food, blankets, and clothing in the following days. “Despite the solidarity of many, their passage was not free from friction and violence. Some incidents have been on the verge of causing serious episodes of xenophobia. Now the wave of migrants is waiting impatiently under the impassable wall that separates the Mexican city of Tijuana from the United States. We are expecting days of great uncertainty. But in their passage, even amid the pitfalls of a very complex path, they have indicated, the direction by which their dream moves, to the heart of the Mexican people.”
Chiara Favotti
Dec 17, 2018 | Non categorizzato
Despite the media spotlights turning on and off on the drama that continues at the border between Mexico and the U.S., there are many people and organizations, including Focolare, who have not abandoned the migrants there. In past weeks, news and images of thousands of people marching from Honduras toward the U.S. border have gone around the world. “In this region, the phenomenon of migrants is really common,” explains Sandra Garcia-Farias Herrera of the Focolare community in Northwest Mexico. “Mexicali and Tijuana are border cities, having grown because of the high number of people who have arrived here dreaming to enter the United States. Yet what we’ve witnessed in the past month is unprecedented. “The people themselves cannot understand how the phenomenon has reached these proportions, or what would have pushed so many families to leave everything behind, even during rough weather, and get on the road. “Here is where the road ends, and it seems that their dreams shatter. Streets and public places have become camps. There is a lot of confusion, and we’ve witnessed violence, the closure of border crossings into the U.S., the installation of razor wire along the wall, and a huge deployment of police forces protecting the borders, with helicopters and armed vehicles never seen before. It feels like war is about to break out. “The lack of information as to what pushed these people to move, as well as news from mainstream and social media, has caused the residents of Mexico to have mixed feelings, from hostility, resentment, to even episodes of xenophobia.” While some young people from Focolare are trying to find a way to enter into the migrant camps – for many the final destination of their Mexican journey – others have reached out to migrants in the street, trying to understand what motivates them, and especially their needs. One family drove two women with small children as far as Tijuana, so they could avoid the extremely arduous route. Others who work at an education center suggested students change their cultural attitudes to show migrants solidarity and the sense of fraternity that every person deserves. “The priority now is to oppose the rampant confusion and the intolerant acts that come from it, even among young people. We need to spread a culture of welcoming.”
Chiara Favotti
Dec 14, 2018 | Non categorizzato
There is much good practice going on and prophetic experiences which engage in alternative economic models directed towards integral human development and sustainability. The Prophetic Economy event formed a network to bring together some of these experiences that want to change the world… https://vimeo.com/301634789
Dec 13, 2018 | Non categorizzato
The Islamic-Christian Workshops, which took place in the little town of Loppiano and the city of Trento, deny the current narrations of hatred and mistrust between the two religions. Trento, 7 December 2018. The Week of Unity, which was organized by the Focolare Movement: Sophia University Institute (IUS) and the Center for Interreligious Dialogue, in concordance with the Risalat International Institute of Qum (Iran) has ended. The date, place and research group set-up are not casual. In Fact, the date marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of Chiara Lubich‘s choice to dedicate her life to God, leaving everything to follow him. The protagonists, majority youth, are composed of about fifty people, Shiite Muslims and Catholics, coming from various countries: Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, United Arab Emirates, USA, England, Canada, Argentina, and Italy. 
This initiative took shape about less than three years ago, marking the twenty-year long path of friendship between Prof. Mohammad Shomali, his wife Mahnaz, and the Focolare Movement. From this friendship, both intellectual and personal, Prof. Shomali of the Risalat International Institute of Qum and Prof. Piero Coda of IUS, had the idea of leading a small group of Muslim and Christian academics from both institutes, to reflect on a crucial theme: unity of God and unity in God. This brought about the understanding of the Islamic sensibility of absolute monotheism that opens up to the Christian perspective of God as dialogue. There were many voices of reflections, which bring different thoughts and traditions that demonstrate and not impose the Truth, but walk together towards it. The lectures touched on key points like the world’s globalized culture and the fundamental truths proposed by the two faiths, but above all, it made an experience of hearts and minds leading to a real Shekinah, which is the presence of God’s peace among the faithful. This experience did not limit itself to the sole participants, but expanded in two precious moments of sharing. The first was in the International Centre in Incisa Val d’Arno (Loppiano), while the second was in the Mariapolis Chiara Lubich Center in Cadine (Trento). Those from Loppiano and Trento did not only listen to an experience that seems to dramatically contradict the current accounts regarding the relations between Christians and Muslims, which speak of fear, rejection, and invasion. They were able to make a profound experience of mutual enrichment, in a climate of peace that makes living and building, what Pope Francis calls, a ‘culture of encounter’ possible.
Roberto Catalano
Dec 12, 2018 | Non categorizzato
The most important message from their beatification? The loyalty of these Christians to “their” people to the end.
“What do these 19 Christian martyrs teach us Algerians today? To give our lives for each other, without distinguishing by race or religion. They sacrificed their lives for us foreigners, for the Algerian people, Christians and Muslims. They also died for those who made war against them. This is why there was no question: we immediately made ourselves available and worked together for their beatification.” This was how Karima Kerzabi, a Muslim woman from the Focolare community in Algeria, responded when we telephoned her. We also called Giorgio Triulzi, one of the first focolarini to live at the Tlemcen focolare, since 1983, so we could hear insiders tell of the beatification of Christian martyrs at Orano on December 8.
It was a one-of-a-kind beatification, since this highest recognition given by the Catholic Church to its members occurred in Algeria, which is 99% Muslim. It is a country that from 1991 to 2001 – the “black decade” – saw death and destruction from Islamic fundamentalism. “Now the heroic lives of these Christians are being recognized,” explains Triulzi, “but what’s important to know is that, besides them, there were also thousands of Muslims among the population who were victims: imams, intellectuals, artists, journalists, doctors, lawyers, judges and teachers, as well as women and children. I think that the most important message that this beatification in the land of Islam can say to the world is that these martyrs stayed faithful to ‘their’ people until the end.”
Br. Christian De Chergé (left) in 1989 in Tlemcen with Bishop C. Rouault and Giorgio Triulzi
Triulzi remembers the many meetings with some of the Thibirine monks who have just risen to the honor of the altar, especially their prior, Fr. Christian De Chergé. “I got to know Christian because he often stayed with us at Tlemcen on his trips to Morocco. It was a simple rapport, as people who had given our lives to God, and for this reason we recognized each other as family. He was without a doubt a man of God, as he confirmed in writing his spiritual testament: “If one day it happens that – as it could even today – I become a victim of the terrorism that threatens to involve all foreigners who live in Algeria, I would want my community, my Church, my family to remember that my life was ‘given’ to God in this country.” “Christian and the others,”
Triulzi adds, “are saints because of the choice they made to stay among those who had become ‘their’ people. God puts us somewhere and we stay faithful to him. I must say that the beatification also confirms the lifestyle of faith of many who have stayed during this decade. It is the Church in Algeria that should be beatified, precisely because of the choice to stay faithful to the people here.” “What stays with me from this experience?” asks Karima. The fact that we can give our lives for all our brothers and sisters, and that this is something magnificent. In time we will understand the value of the gift of these lives.”
Stefania Tanesini
Dec 11, 2018 | Non categorizzato
Lawyers and legal students from different Christian churches meet to encourage each other to live out the Gospel in their professional life. “The gospel has profound implications for the legal world. The Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship exists to bring the whole Good News of Jesus Christ within the legal world” (LCF website). Founded in 1852, the LCF unites Christian lawyers from all around Britain, as well as forging international links among legal professionals. It promotes three main areas of action: to live according to the “law of the Gospel” in one’s daily life; to form young legal professionals; to be active on an international level. As part of this third aspect, the LCF held a conference in November entitled: “A lawyer after God’s own heart: Lessons from Psalm 119”, inviting representatives of the “Communion and Law” international network of legal professionals and students animated by the Focolare spirituality. Elisabetta Scomazzon and Pasquale De Rosa, consultants in the field of canon law, attended for “Communion and Law”. What was the main focus of this meeting of lawyers from different Christian Churches? Elisabetta Scomazzon – Faith was at the centre: the bond which links us together most strongly, even more than the legal profession itself. Meetings like this are particularly significant because starting from being united on a personal level, we move on to find ways ahead in the legal field, for example through a clear uncompromising commitment to defend the weakest in our societies. Through choices like this, those of us active in the legal system can contribute towards building relationships that are more constructive and “fraternal”. During the conference, what points in common and what areas for future development in the legal field did you cover? Pasquale De Rosa –We have in common, above all, the shared commitment to witness to our Christian life in our profession. For example in the lawyer-client relationship and in the various environments a Christian lawyer works: to be authentic witnesses to the “good news” which every Christian carries within. Our work proceeds alongside that of our own Churches. What we have to do, is to collaborate together, starting from what Chiara Lubich called the “dialogue of life”, putting in common our experiences as legal professionals. For example, a pressing concern is that of human rights and how they are under threat in the current world situation. How can Christian lawyers and legal professionals contribute to peace and harmony within their own societies, in today’s climate characterized by divisive ideas and praxis? Elisabetta Scomazzon – Every nation and people has its own order and rules. The Law can actually be an instrument of communion which helps to find solutions to the urgent demands of our planet and to the cry of humanity subjected to injustice, exploitation and war. Christians of different churches finding solutions in the legal field does not need to be an utopian idea, but could be a great opportunity to give hope that unity is possible.
Edited by the editorial team
Dec 10, 2018 | Non categorizzato
During this time of political crisis, Igino Giordani and Tommaso Sorgi encourage us to work on all levels of society to bring democracy back to its very essence –that is to “we”. 
Two meetings about Igino Giordani and Tommaso Sorgi have taken place recently in Cremona and Teramo, Italy. At both gatherings, there was considerable focus upon the role of the politician as a person who values the common good – the good of humanity – over and above the well-being of his or her own community or nation. This idea and practice is not popular nowadays in this period of unbridled local and national demand. We asked Alberto Lo Presti and Letizia De Torre about the relevance of these two politicians today. Lo Presti is a lecturer in the Social Doctrine of the Church at LUMSA and president of the Igino Giordani Centre and De Torre is a member of the Italian parliament and international co ordinator for the Movement for Politics for unity. What relevance can Giordani and Sorgi have nowadays at a time when the common good seems to be understood only within the context of nationalism and the defence of regional identity? Alberto Lo Presti. There is a great need to tune into figures such as Igino Giordani and Tommaso Sorgi. They lived at a time marked by deep and apparently insurmountable periods of division. They believed in friendship among nations when the whole of history seemed to be taking a turn for the worse and they had a profoundly Christian view of the world. Giordani suffered personally in the two world wars and was regarded as a supporter of peace and justice. He paid the price for his choices of freedom and solidarity. Sorgi was one of the protagonists in the reconstruction of Italy after the second world war and greatly facilitated dialogue between opposing political forces during the time of the Cold War. These two figures teach us that every small action that favours peace and co-operation is a decisive step in the building of a civil order based upon the common good. They would be extremely surprised that in the twenty-first century there is growth in political ideas based upon national supremacy because they personally experienced the destruction brought by such political attitudes in the past. It is not our place to disregard their witness. Both regarded the relationship between the public and their political leaders as very important: Sorgi even formulated the so-called “political pact”. Is this relevant and practical nowadays? Letizia De Torre. Igino Giordani regarded politics as “charity in action – the servant and not the master”. He would never have been able to understand or practice politics based upon injustice and deception of the general public, aiming at power and personal gain. He thought of all citizens as the “masters” that he was called to serve. It was the same for the Honourable Tommaso Sorgi who witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of corruption which is still present in Italy. It was after many episodes of tension and conflict with politicians and public administrators that he drafted an agreement between the elected parliamentary representatives and the public. The agreement had an ethical basis and outlined policy involving everyone. It was a stroke of genius and is very relevant to our current crisis in democracy. We are living through a “post-representative” time; our politicians do not represent our highly complex societies and citizens know how to operate collectively, exerting direct influence. We need to overcome this continuous drift towards individualism and bring democracy back to its essential meaning – “we”. To this end, at our next international meeting “Co- governance and Co-responsibility in our Cities today” which will take place in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, 17 – 20 January 2019 we will work together to produce the outline for a “Pact for our Cities”. This will be the fulfilment of both Giordani’s understanding of politics as charity and the prophetic vision of Sorgi’s “agreement”.
Stefania Tanesini
Dec 7, 2018 | Non categorizzato
In a letter to the whole Focolare Movement, dated 7th December 2018, the 75th anniversary of the day when Chiara Lubich consecrated her life to God, Maria Voce, Focolare President, has announced that during 2020 the centenary of Chiara Lubich’s birth will be celebrated. “We are getting closer to the year 2020 when we will celebrate the centenary of Chiara Lubich’s birth”, Maria Voce wrote. “This anniversary will of course be a unique opportunity; first of all to thank God for the gift that Chiara was for us and for many people across the world. In fact, all of us were won over by the charism God gave to her and that changed or is changing our lives in a deep way. It will be a favourable time in which many other people will be able to meet Chiara who is living today in her Work”. The President ended her letter saying, “From now on, let’s ask for the abundance of the Holy Spirit, for us and all that we want to achieve, but above all for all the people who will have the chance to get to know Chiara and her charism.” In the coming months, the Focolare communities around the world will be planning ways of celebrating this anniversary. A commission has been set up at the international centre of the Focolare Movement, which can be contacted (centenario.chiara (at) focolare.org) to share plans, ask for advice or receive information. Our website, too, will dedicate an area to Chiara’s centenary, where the various activities being held around the world during the anniversary year will be made known.
