Page 252 – Movimento dei Focolari

LoppianoLab 2016: Embracing the cry of the least

Oct 6, 2016 | Non categorizzato

The title of this year’s edition of LoppianoLab was a challenge that was launched by the thousands of people, both in person and via live-screening, who took part in the event. While there is an Italy where the so-called absolute poor have increased by 130% in seven years, where every day its southern shores become a bridge to the hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing poverty and wars – at the same time there is the desire to be involved: volunteers, associations, young people who want to experience what it’s like to work according to new business models that are able to meet the daily emergency. Involvement is the spirit behind those that brought their experiences and projects to LoppianoLab 2016, from the fields of economy, politics, welfare, immigration, communication, technology and instruction. The project, which was promoted by Lionello Bonfanti Business Park, the Città Nuova Editorial Group, Sophia University Institute and the town of Loppiano, was begun in 2010 to be a national laboratory that would set in motion “those qualities that have made the Italians great, creativity and industriousness, welcome and solidarity, art and culture,” as Focolare president Maria Voce said in her greeting. Experts from the world of culture, politics and economy presented during the programme together with many other voices from civil society that presented projects from hundreds of associations, individuals and communities that form a close-knit network of people who are eager to translate ideas, projects and lifestyle into praxis. Three days, three focus groups to take on the challenges to peace: the challenge of techno-scientific innovation, development, and poverty. Two important anniversaries were also celebrated at LoppianoLab: the 25th anniversary of the Economy of Communion Project (EoC) and the 60th anniversary of the Focolare’s Città Nuova. Thirty multi-ethnic workshops, three via direct-streaming, along with workshops for children and teenagers: “Loppiano Kids and “Time to Give” with a series of meetings focused on topics related to poverty, solidarity and ecology; and “Loppiano Young” with performances and artistic exhibitions assisted by the international Gen Verde Band. Focolare co-president Jesús Morán offered some remarks at the end of the firest day. He spoke about three challenges that the world faces today: globalization, post-globalization, post-humanism. Also the humanitarian challenge of the sub-human, a challenge that calls for a “culture of resurrection,” in order to totally assume the suffering of the person that suffers. According to Jesús Morán, the question we should ask is how much space should be given in our own lives to the least, the “abandoned ones” of today Finally, during “The Wealth of the Invisible Poverty forum,” a proposal was launched to create an observatory on poverty that would create an information system to monitor the effects of the EoC around the world and study the results and methodologies of specific significant cases. See also: Città Nuova online Loppiano Economy of Communion

Anne: “My night has no darkness”

Oct 5, 2016 | Non categorizzato

Anne with her mother, Eleanor.

“I was born 14 weeks premature; I weighed only 2 pounds and 3 ounces. The medical staff told my mother that it would be a slim chance of survival, so my mother called a priest to baptise me. I was placed in an incubator for 4 months. It was during this period that I was given too much oxygen which damaged my hearing; I have about 20% hearing in both ears. Growing up, I remember asking my parents ‘Why didn’t I die at birth; why do I have a hearing loss?’ They always told me ‘God loves you immensely and he has a special plan for you.’ This always left me curious and it encouraged my heart to always be open, to understand what He had in store for me. I remember my first job when I was 18 years old; I worked at the post office. In this role I had to answer the phone. Back in those days I had a gadget that you had to slip on the earpiece of the phone to amplify the sound and then take off for the others to use. I hated the phone as it was very hard to hear and many times people on the other end would tease me saying that I was stupid. It wasn’t until I would get home, that I would let out all my tears and bang on the walls in my bedroom in anger. I remember crying at my Mum saying, ‘Why me? Why am I deaf? Why does life have to be so hard!’ My parents as a couple tried to live the Focolare spirituality. I remember my mother saying to me, ‘Be the first to love. When you go back to work tomorrow, be the first to pick up the phone and explain that you have a hearing loss, and say can you please speak slowly and clearly.’ Up to that point I didn’t want people to know that I had a hearing loss as I wanted to be normal like everyone else. The next day at work I heard the phone ring and in that moment I heard a voice within my heart saying to me, ‘Be the first to love’. For the first time in my life, I picked up the phone and informed the caller that I had a hearing loss. Surprisingly that person was so nice and understanding that it encouraged me to always pick up the phone. My work colleagues could see that I was always answering the phone, which meant putting the gadget on and off for every phone-call. Seeing this difficulty, they started to pick up the phone before me. It was like I had thrown a pebble in the water, causing a ripple effect. I had started to love first and then the others started to love me back. It became reciprocal.

With Focolare friends in Melbourne

I remember going home saying, ‘Mum, it worked!’ That experience was a turning point in my life. I understood that I had to accept my disability, my limitations and only in loving would I find peace and freedom. Suffering does bring you closer to God. Sometimes when I don’t hear something or get frustrated at my own limitations, I say ‘I love you’ (to Him) in this suffering, accept it and plunge myself into loving in the present moment. I wanted to give my life totally to God in the Focolare, but there was a problem as the formation course in Italy was conducted in Italian. How was I going to learn a foreign language with a hearing loss? In order to speak English well, I had to do a lot of speech therapy and my mum taught me how to lip read. But nothing is impossible to God. He gave me a special grace to be able to speak Italian, and to even lip-read in Italian! I still find it hard at times. Even with my friends at home, we’ve had to learn how to live with each other. For example, I had to tell one of them who mumbled a lot, to open her mouth a bit more so I could lip-read. It was an effort for her, but now she’s much better at it! Before my father passed away nine years ago, he left me a personal message to open after his death. He wrote to me this one phrase: ‘My night has no darkness’. This is so true, when we love there is no darkness, even with a disability.”

Experience shared at Health Symposium “Darkness to Light – Spirituality of Unity in Chronic Disease and Disability” Focolare Movement, Australia, July 2016

Madaba, At the Start of the New Host Spot Project

Oct 4, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide

Marco Desalvo (right)

“We haven’t come to teach, but to learn, not to talk, but to listen. Then, when we return to our own countries we’d like to tell many others what we’ve seen and experienced. We’re here from several European countries, from the Middle East, from New Zealand, the United States and Argentina. We’ve already begun among ourselves to enter the other’s culture and to sincerely understand other points of view,” explains Marco Desalvo, president of New Humanity at the conclusion of a visit to Madaba, Jordan. He visited the country on August 7-19 with 55 young people from several European and Middle Eastern countries, to begin the first phase of the Host Spot Project at a welcome centre for Syrian and Iraqi refugees. This place has sites that are significant for the three great monotheistic religions,” Desalvo recounts. “Visiting the Jordan River, the place where Jesus was baptized, I was struck when I learned that it’s the lowest place on earth. It seemed to indicate the kind of attitude we should have in front of each person we would meet. We began each day with a motto, our ‘daily input’. The first day was: Try to understand others by serving them, aware that we have much to learn. Then came the meetings with the Syrian and Iraqi refugees: stories of great suffering, families, children…. Sharing their pain united us with them more and with one another. I’ll never forget Saheed and his story: Two years back, on August 6, the whole family, including his mother who was unable to walk, had to leave their house, the country, leaving everything behind. I could only imagine how they must have suffered and lived in those months, the hope to return, and now the infinite expectation for that telephone call that would let them know whether or not they would be welcomed in a new country. The president of New Humanity admits being very struck by the volunteers from Caritas Jordan: “Irreplaceable, precious, discreet, source of hope, of life of concrete love, medicine for everyone they meet.” Without them thousands of refugees would not have a roof over their heads and the means to survive – to find hope. Working with them we touched with our own hands the deepest meaning of the word ‘Caritas’: concrete love. Two weeks ago I was in Poland at the World Youth Day, and the message of Pope Francis to the two million young people is still fresh in my mind: ‘Don’t retire at the age of 25, [….] don’t be couch potatoes […] aim high. […] They might be able to judge you dreamers because you believe in a new humanity that does not accept hatred among peoples, that does not see borders between countries as barriers, and that preserves its own traditions without egoism and resentment. Don’t be discouraged! With your smiles and your open arms you preach hope and are a blessing for the human family.” Here in Jordan I’ve met young people who put these words in practice. Their work is certainly a small drop in front of the problems we’re facing. But with young people like them, the world will change. These days have turned us into ambassadors of the refugees, of their suffering, of a world of Peace.” The Host Spot Project is promoted by New Humanity and other associations from nine countries, and is co-financed by the Erasmus+ programme. The objective: to spread a culture of human rights. These are young people from different backgrounds, ready to acquire the knowledge and skills to defend the right of freedom of expression and to be engaged in producing documentaries that tell the life stories of the refugees. After Jordan, the project is planning on a March 2017 training course in Germany to develop the technical skills needed to produce social documentaries. There will be the meeting with refugees in German refugee camps, and different forms of welcome will be compared. See also: Volunteerism in the refugee camps of Jordan Facebook: www.facebook.com/hostspot9/

30th anniversary of the Mariapolis Centre in Castel Gandolfo

Oct 3, 2016 | Non categorizzato

A bit of history: In 1982, John Paul II placed the Papal Audience Hall in Castel Gandolfo (Rome) at the disposition of the Focolare Movement. The refurbishment of the huge, empty building started. Through the contribution of all the members of the Movement around the world (even children), the International Mariapolis Centre was inaugurated in 1986 and has since hosted thousands of conferences. People from all over the world have attended congresses, symposiums, seminars and training courses, meetings for ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue. All these activities focussed on the one objective, that of contributing to universal brotherhood, which became tangible through living the life of the Gospel, through workshops and in-depth discussions, all of which took place in this embryonic “city of Mary”, in this “home”, as Chiara Lubich called it. Download invitation

Pope Paul VI: Prophet, Apostle, Mediator

Oct 3, 2016 | Non categorizzato

PaoloVI_ChiaraLubich Catholic Church leaders, representatives of the Islamic world, civil authorities, representatives of associations and the people of Brescia and neighbouring cities filled the cathedral of the Italian city on the 23^rdof September, for the conference on “Paul VI, a Spiritual Portrait“. The event included the testimony of Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement, in a speech read on her behalf by Rosi Bertolassi. Her speech touched on three aspects of Giovanni Battista Montini’s life and work as: prophet, apostle and mediator. The President of the Focolare first of all expressed the deep gratitude that bound the Movement she represents to Blessed Paul VI, who was “…one of the gifts God wanted to make to humankind in our time.” She recalled the time when the Church was studying the emerging Movement, saying, “When he became Pope he played a key role in discerning the charism of Chiara Lubich and in making possible what, at the beginning of the sixties, still seemed” impossible,” expertly identifying juridically appropriate ways to express the specific character of this new movement in the Church.” “Therefore”, she stressed, “Because he was “imbued with the Word, we saw the figure of Giovanni Battista Montini – Paul VI – in this triple dimension of prophet, apostle and mediator.” In the prophetic dimension, Maria Voce highlighted “his ability to open new paths with courage and wisdom, to break down walls and express the renewal of the Church which his soul craved for,” Examples were Pope Paul VI’s historic embrace of peace with Patriarch Athenagoras in January 1964 in the Holy Land; or when, in 1970, through an historic decision he raised two women, St Teresa of Avila and St Catherine of Siena, to the status of Doctor of the Church – a title previously only given to men; or when, in the 1975 Holy Year, he knelt to kiss the feet of the Orthodox Metropolitan Meliton. “Paul VI was truly the Pope of dialogue. This is how Pope John Paul II described him in Concesio during his pastoral visit in 1982, emphasizing his predecessor’s ability to dialogue with the whole of humanity.” Maria Voce also emphasized his apostolic dimension saying, “In Ecclesiam Suam (…) we perceive the thought and mind of the apostle whose name he had chosen, the name of the missionary apostle and the first theologian of Christ, the one who made himself all things to all people. Pope Paul VI did not spare himself so that the announcement of the Gospel could reach all nations.” In this respect, Maria Voce recalled his apostolic journeys “that brought him closer to the peoples of the world, making the Church more one and more ‘catholic’, as Paul VI liked to emphasize, in the etymological sense of the word. Particularly significant and universal in outlook was his historic and profoundly human speech delivered at the United Nations. I am pleased to recall once more his innovative inclusion of the laity in key areas of work of the Church; his confidence in the contribution of lay people’s ideas; and his recognition, in Octogesima adveniens, of the legitimacy of a variety of political opinions while remaining faithful to Gospel principles.” Finally, his ability to be a “mediator of the One Mediator“. After recalling his surprising letter to the Red Brigade which “flowed from his soul at the painful time when his friend Honourable Aldo Moro was kidnapped” Maria Voce affirmed his role as mediator and added, “Paul VI – in the footsteps of his Master – took upon himself the anguish and torment of the world, feeling it deeply as if it were his own. He bore the sin of the world, perceiving truly the weight of it and suffering profoundly, as could sometimes be seen in his face. In that way he manifested clearly the fatherhood of God, bridging the distance between heaven and earth, healing wounds, wiping away tears, bringing peace and unity.”

Chiara Lubich Prize 2017

Oct 2, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide

In this competition – promoted by the “Cities for Fraternity” Association – all local administrations from any part of the world may participate. Projects and initiatives can compete if: – they institute and/or spread, principally within the local territory, but also on a national or international level, practices of universal brotherhood, according to the diverse interpretations of the meaning of such a principle; – they stimulate the citizens to commit themselves for the common good and to participate in the life of civil society, – they encourage the growth of a culture of active and inclusive citizenry. The project must be representative of a style of administration that is not occasional and always more aware of the value of the principle of universal brotherhood. On the side of the public adminitrations and other social, economic, cultural subjects, it is possible both to become candidates, and also to nominate the projects of others. All the recommendations must be sent on or before January 10, 2017 , to the office of the Chairman of the “Cities for Fraternity” Association, c/oTown Council of Castel Gandolfo, Piazza Libertà, 7 00040 Castel Gandolfo (Rome). Download fact sheet (in Italian) Info: www.cittaperlafraternita.org/

Klaus Hemmerle. The Sun in the Valley

Oct 2, 2016 | Non categorizzato

1980 - Aquarell - Matterhorn mit Zermatt, Schweiz_Klaus-Hemmerle.de

Watercolour by Klaus Hemmerle (1980 – Matterhorn mit Zermatt, Schweiz. http://www.klaus-hemmerle.de)

“During these walks, I took a road that was 2,250 metres high and wound around a peak. You could see the whole valley and the tops of the mountains. It was beautiful! I wanted to paint it all when I got back to the house. I stopped every ten metres to fix the scene in my soul. And in another five metres there would be a completely different perspective. Never in my life had I observed how quickly the perspective changes. I wouldn’t be able to say which view was more beautiful than the other. Each combination, each constellation was an entirely different event and a new surprise. And so I looked at the world in a completely different way. I saw a piece of heaven and realized that these relationships, this relating of each thing with the other, these stretches wherein the lines divide and then intersect again – all of this represents an infinite abundance of possible encounters of a single whole: this mountain, that mountain and that valley . . . but always new perspectives, so that I can’t say: this is the right perspective and that one isn’t: I have to move on letting all these perspectives and diverse lines encounter one another. So also should I see in the one God that we all believe in, the whole of creation, all the people in creation, all the things you find there for an always new intersecting, different beauties that don’t exclude but mutually include one another in a singular charm and common song to Beauty. The same thing happens among us: I need to be prepared to leave a perspective in order to have another. In God, I leave a perspective behind and it remains. Thus there is a simultaneousness that doesn’t crush me in his universality. It is a dance, a unique encounter, a different move, a new song. And I thought to myself: although there are obstacles and barriers between Churches, things that are opposed and that need to be suffered and gone through so that they can be resolved – there is also this ever-new encounter of charisms, light and grace. […] We should allow one another to touch a piece of this infinity of heaven and this heavenly and Trinitarian play of mutual relationships. The more we encounter one another in this beauty – each in the other and in appreciation of the other – the more we will draw a piece of Heaven to earth. A piece of the heavenly Jerusalem here among us is a first breath of what is still to be developed. Obviously, I also wondered where you could actually find a point in which all these different lines can meet, also where the reality of suffering and the contradictions intersect, where a meeting point could be found for all that can never be resolved with some sort of Hegelian synthesis, or also those things that remain like a cry but still must be lived and put up with. I discovered that this point of intersection is Jesus in his abandonment: He renders himself contemporaneous with what is not contemporaneous. He is acceptance and agreement with what is not accepted and does not agree. He is death of one for the other. Precisely: he is not a mere speculative idea, but a possibility of living and accepting the tensions and sufferings and all that is not resolvable.” Klaus Hemmerle From the book Klaus Hemmerle, innamorato della Parola di Dio by Wilfried Hagermann, (Rome: Città Nuova Ed, 2013), p 297-298.

Australia: Action for Refugees

Oct 1, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide

Fontem and the Light of Mafua Ndem

Sep 30, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide

The nine traditional leaders (Fon) represented people from Nwametaw, Nwangong, Essoh Attah, Akum, Lewoh, Nkar and personalities of Bamenda and Douala. They were accompanied by Mafua Queens, two Mayors and other dignitaries from their kingdoms. The purpose of their journey – besides celebrating the Year of Mercy with Pope Francis – was to thank God for the 50th anniversary of the first encounter between the Focolare Movement and the Bangwa people in Fontem. They especially wanted to thank Mafua Ndem Chiara Lubich (Queen Sent by God) as the Bangwa call her, for all that she did for their people. She and the Focolare were actually the answer to a prayer of the early 1960s that the Bangwa raised to God when sleeping sickness threatened to wipe out the tribe with a 90% infant mortality rate. Now a permanent Mariapolis has arisen in Fontem which bears the name of the Focolare foundress, and sleeping sickness has been nearly wiped out thanks to the intervention of doctors and nurses from the Movement.

19 settembre 2016 - 28 settembre 2016 Nel 50° dell'arrivo del Movimento dei Focolari a Fontem (Camerun), un gruppo di Fon visiteranno Roma, Loppiano, Trento e il Centro Internazionale dei Focolari, come ringraziamento e dietro i passi di Chiara Lubich.

The pilgrimage began at a general audience with Pope Francis on St Peter’s Square and a visit to St Peter’s tomb and those of other popes. Then there was a tour of St Peter’s Basilica. “It is my precise duty to continue to teach this spirit that has changed my people,” said the Fon of Akum and vice-president of Fon Friends of the Focolare Movement, during a visit to the Focolare town of Loppiano which was the second stop on their pilgrimage. On that occasion the Regional Minister for International Cooperation, Peace and Reconciliation, Massimo Toschi, recalled the first time he visited Fontem, ten years ago: “In December we’ll celebrate the 50th anniversary in Fontem, and we’ll see the shining face of a ‘field hospital’ Church as Pope Francis described it.” The third stop was on September 24th in the birthplace of Chiara in Trent. They visited the places she lived in and where the Focolare Movement began during the Second World War. They met some of the local citizens, representatives from different institutions, the Mayor and the Archbishop.

Photo Credit: SIF Loppiano

The last stop was a visit to the international centre of the Movement in Rocca di Papa where Chiara Lubich had lived for many years and is now buried. The Fon of Fonjumentaw recalled Chiara’s last visit to Fontem in 2000 when she proposed a pact: a promise to love one another as Jesus would love. “This was Chiara’s testament,” he explained, “her legacy that is not only for our peoples. After that pact we were not the same anymore. Now, I invite you today to make the same pact with each other in the name of all humanity.” During the send-off meal, there were greetings, words of gratitude and gifts that several Fons and Mafuas offered to the Focolare. One was from Essoh Attah. It recalled a proverb from his tribe that says that no Bangwa will ever drown so long as there is someone from the valley (the other tribe). He paraphrased it and applied it to Chiara: “So long as she and her people are there, none of us will drown.” A journalist from Bamenda, who had accompanied the group, concluded: “In these days my eyes have been filled with the light of Mamma Chiara, and I would like to go back to my people and take it to each one of them.” See also: Story of Fontem Thirty years after her last visit to Fontem (Cameroon)

Chiara Lubich And Religions. Traditional Religions

Fontem, a Jubilee of Thanksgiving

Carlo and Alberto: Friends also in holiness

Sep 29, 2016 | Non categorizzato

Carlo Grisolia and Alberto Michelotti

Alberto Michelotti was born in Genoa on August 1958. He was an engineering student, head of a group of youths of the Focolare Movement, and loved to put himself in the last place to serve others. A mountain climbing enthusiast, on 20 August 1980 he fell during an ascent, and died in an iced gorge in the Maritime Alps. The day after his death, Carlo Grisolia, another boy in his group, was diagnosed with one of the most malignant tumours, and so started his 40-day stint of passing on the baton “to meet Jesus,” during which he often affirmed that as always, Alberto was there with him to give him support. Both were real troopers of the spirituality of communion, and still today continue to touch the hearts of the people who knew them.

In the mountains

The Church thus introduced their cause for beatification (see website Beatified Saints). What was the secret to their lives? It was the discovery and practice of the spirituality of Chiara Lubich, a collective path that leads to the reaching of sanctity together. Here are some spontaneous impressions found in their website: Sara. “For me they were models of people I could look up to since they became saints by helping and loving one another, without being “different” from many others. Carlo and Alberto give me the hope of being always capable of starting anew and living like them, focusing my life on sanctity. Donatello. “I feel the need not to lose contact with them and their extraordinary experience. I also wish to communicate to as many people as possible, the story of these youths who opened themselves to their neighbours with enthusiasm, and without hesitation.” Ornella. “I learned about them by chance, and got to know their story in depth on the internet where I read their profiles. Their life was an extraordinary story of normal people. They are like luminous trails that lead to God… I hope many will be able to read their story; there is need today of strong testimonials like theirs!” E. “Like two strikes of lightning out of the blue, Carlo and Alberto suddenly and rapidly shone. They burst into my life to strike me, and I think, also other people who knew them.” A.A. “In just a few years Carlo and Alberto accomplished deeds which many of us are unable to do in their lives. They were determined, dynamic, and had the drive to sacrifice their lives for the project God had in store for them, like white canvases to be painted on. God did so and they embraced the faith even in the moment of death. I as a youth admire these two boys a lot. They are models for all of us.” To know more see: Alberto e Carlo Carlo Grisolia – Alberto Michelotti Documentary (Italian) Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI4jmG-pwsk The website dedicated to Alberto and Carlo, http://www.albertoecarlo.it, inlcudes photos and other archival material.

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