Apr 12, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide
“I come from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Erzegovina, where for centuries, Bosnian Muslims, Croatian Catholics, Orthodox Serbs, Jews, Romani ethnic groups and others have lived alongside one another. The war of the 1990s that wanted to convince us that it is impossible to live together, only wrought thousands of victims, a million refugees, and devastation of cities, religious buildings and historical monuments. In our condominium there were Croatians, Serbs, and Bosnian Muslims, but we shared everything we had with one another, up to the last cigarette, the little oil, flour, coffee and also the pain of death. My husband who was working as an amateur radio technician in the State institutions, had installed a radio station to connect the people who, for months, due to the interruption of telephone lines, knew nothing about their loved ones. When the conflict ended, I started to get involved in politics, in the Social Democratic Party and became a candidate for the post of municipal councilor. The consequences of the war were terrible. In that period, a mayor from Sarayevo received an invitation to participate in the meeting “Together for Europe” in Stuttgart, and delegated me since he couldn’t go. It was then that I was introduced to the Focolare Movement, the people who live to bring unity to humanity. You may well imagine what this meant for me, coming from a war experience. On returning home I felt a great urge to live and fight to diffuse the ideals I had just met. Now, after 20 years, in our city we are still mourning our dead, and rebuilding what was destroyed, but we are also building bridges between people. We do this together, without hatred. And precisely in these days Sarajevo is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the end of the siege of the city, which lasted 1,425 days during which 12,000 civilians were killed, out of which 1,500 were children. The city’s wounds have now healed and it has regained its long lost spirit. The bells ring and prayer arising from the minarets of the mosques echo in the squares. Since I am an agnostic, I found myself involved in the dialogue started by Chiara Lubich with people who have no religious beliefs. I try to weave this network of communion and mutual comprehension in my city, with the Muslim cities nearby, and with the Catholics – for example, during the visit of Pope Francis, and with the people of various beliefs. Today in Sarajevo there is a group of young people, also of different faiths and cultures, who are also trying to diffuse the culture of dialogue.
Zdravka Gutic sharing her testimony at the convention in April 2016.
Apr 12, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide
The line is long and quite boring. People of all ages from many parts of the world are patiently waiting for lunch as they share their thoughts and opinions about the morning. The first session of the OnCity – Networks of lights to inhabit the planet Conference has just concluded. The conference took place on April 1-3, 2016 and really showed the many lights that have been lit up in our cities. “Rather than dwelling on an analysis of the darkness,” says Lucia Fronza Crepaz who is the moderator, “we’ve decided to turn our attention to the dawn, to the rising sun.” OnCity is organised by the New Humanity Movement, Youth For a United World, and the United World Project which are Focolare agencies actively engaged in building a more united and fraternal world at the social level, amongst young and old and through support and development projects. Certainly the current news stories constantly cry out to us : bombings, terrorism, new forms of marginalisation and poverty, piecemeal wars. Our cities are experiencing problems and contradictions in front of our very eyes. But there are also very positive and well-established experiences which confirm that it is possible to work, to hope, to believe in a more supportive and fraternal city that would be more liveable for everyone. With this awareness the organisers set out to create a three-day event in which the nearly 900 participants would be given the opportunity to experience a new kind of city life with one another, that could be taken back to their home environments. It was an opportunity to examine the topics of solidarity and fraternity in order to be be able to interpret the changes we see taking place in the cities where we live, and to learn a lifestyle based on dialogue. OnCity played out in three plenary sessions, thematic seminars and a good 32 work groups which were useful for coming to an understanding of their ability to be active, creative and responsible citizens. Forty six presentations were squeezed into those days with the purpose of valuing and appreciating the networks that already exist and encouraging new ones where needed: starting up “cells of brotherhood” wherever we are. Source: Città Nuova online
Apr 11, 2016 | Non categorizzato
Organised by: Psychology and Communion Topic: “Psychology’s contribution to dialogue” Participants: 50-60 young psychologists from Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Europe. (Scholarships available for young students) Info: info@psy-com.org www.psy-com.org
Apr 11, 2016 | Non categorizzato
Organised by: Sportmeet and the Krizevci Kinesiology Association (a local association of physical education teachers from Croatia and Serbia). Participants: 50 teachers, young students and other professionals (Scholarships available for young students) Info: info@sportmeet.org www.sportmeet.org
Apr 11, 2016 | Non categorizzato
Organised by: Communion and Law The summer school dedicated mainly to law students and young professionals between the ages of 20 and 35, will provide an opportunity to be in direct contact with Sicily’s natural environment and the wave of refugees. The summer school is part of an ongoing process involving a group of young people and is meant to be a follow-up to the 2015 “Environment and Rights” conference held in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, in November 2015. Programme Info: info@comunionediritto.org www.comunionediritto.org
Apr 11, 2016 | Non categorizzato
Organised by: Medicine, Dialogue, Communion Participants: bio-medical students and young professionals (Scholarships available for young students) Info: segr.med@focolare.org www.mdc-net.org
Apr 11, 2016 | Non categorizzato
Organised by: VARCO Cultural Association with support from Clarté and Dialogues in Architecture Participants: 20-30 adults and 30 young people (Scholarships available for young students) Info: segr.architettura@focolare.org segr.arte@focolare.org www.clarte.org www.dialoghinarchitettura.org 
Apr 11, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide
Breakfast Dialogue with Cardinal Tagle opens 2016 World Interfaith Harmony Week. Photo: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila
A joint symposium on Mary in the Bible and Mariam in Quran also proved to be quite interesting. The unanimous conclusion: Mary, woman of love, mercy and compassion, is a mother for all Christians and Muslims. Another significant event saw the attendance of 80 cancer patients and survivors. The opening remarks were based on the spirituality of Chiara Lubich. At the Fo Guang Shan Mabuhay Buddhist Temple the awards ceremony of a digital poster-making contest took place. It was organized with the Buddhist International Association – Manila, on the theme “Creating Peace and Hope through Acts of Goodness”. At Sulyap ng Pag-asa Housing Project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teamVMfAoKw
Apr 10, 2016 | Non categorizzato
“While realizing that the foundation of the Gospel is charity… we did not immediately understand how to live it, nor with whom, nor to what degree we were to put it into practice. At the beginning, due mainly to the distressing circumstances of the war, we directed our love toward the poor. We were convinced that in those gaunt and, at times, repulsive faces, we could make out the face of the Lord. It was a real training. We were not accustomed to loving supernaturally. At most, we cared about our relatives or our friends in a spirit of warm respect or in a purely natural and healthy friendship. Now, under the impulse of grace, trusting in God and in his Providence which cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, we addressed our attention to all the poor of the city. We invited them to our houses, to eat at our table… (…) When we could not receive them in our home, we arranged to meet them somewhere, and we gave them whatever we had managed to put together. We visited them in their dismal shacks and we comforted them and offered them medicines. The poor were truly the object of our love because for them and through them we could love Jesus. They became the concern also of those who had been attracted by our common ideal. As the community grew around the initial nucleus of the focolarine, the possibilities of helping, of assisting whoever suffered grew. And it was quite a sight to see tons of food, clothing and medicine arrive; it was an unusual abundance which, considering that we were in the last years of the war, clearly made the special intervention of divine Providence obvious to anyone. (…) These are small events which happen to whoever, being a follower of Jesus, experiences ‘Ask and it will be given to you’ (Mt 7:7). Nevertheless, they never ceased to amaze us. At the same time, we were encouraged by other extraordinary events experienced by our great brothers and sisters who had preceded us and who also knew—at a time when they were not yet saints—the difficulties encountered in the ascent to God, in the process of thawing the hardened human personality by the fire of Divine Love. Hadn’t Saint Catherine, in her love for the poor, given to one her mantle and to another the cross on her rosary? And hadn’t Jesus appeared to her in a vision the following nights to thank her for the gifts she had given to him in the poor? And didn’t St. Francis give away his cloak to the poor some thirty times? Surely, then, it was no great sacrifice for us to take off our gloves in the winter and offer them to somebody who needed to beg for hours out in the cold just to survive (…) Yet, in spite of everyone’s great generosity (…) it became clear that perhaps this was not the immediate goal for which the Lord had urged us to love in a concrete way. It was only later that we seemed to understand the Lord had urged us in this direction also for an intention of his own: it is in love and through the practice of love that one can better comprehend the things of heaven, and that God can more easily enlighten our souls. It was probably because of this concrete love that later on we understood that we didn’t have to turn only towards the poor but towards everyone indiscriminately. No doubt there were people who needed to be fed, to be given drink, to be clothed, but also those who needed to be educated, advised, put up with, or who were in need of our prayers…. The corporal and spiritual works of mercy opened up before us. Furthermore, they were the precise questions that the Judge of our lives would ask in order to decide our eternity. This thought immersed us in adoration considering the infinite love of Jesus who had revealed them to us when he came on earth so as to make it easier for us to get into heaven. (…) God was not asking us only to love the poor, but each and every neighbour, whoever they were, as we love ourselves. So if we came across someone who was weeping, we tried to weep with him and their cross was lightened. If someone rejoiced we rejoiced with them, and the joy was all the greater. ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep’ (Rom 12:15).” Chiara Lubich, May they all be one, New City Press, NY, 1984, pp.44-48.
Apr 9, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide
The centre of the 2016 United World Week will be Ecuador where interculturalism, peace and unity in diversity will be celebrated. Events will include opportunities to know and be enriched by the diversity of ethnic cultures in the country. The title of the event is: “LINK CULTURES – Un Camino para la Paz (A Path For Peace), and the overriding theme will be interculturalism that translates into dialogue with different ethnic cultures and recognises their dignity which makes us equals. The event will involve young people from many South American and European countries. Ecuador is strategically situated in the middle of the world. It has a population of some 15 million people and is divided into four main regions: the coastal lowlands, La Sierra, the East and the Galapagos Islands. The country is internationally known for the huge biodiversity, as well as for the multiculturalism of the population. Since 2008 the Ecuadoran Constitution has included interculturalism and multi-nationality and the defence of these characteristic features of the country, as well as the defence and promotion of “Sumak kawsay” (in the indigenous kichwa language, ‘good living’ in harmony with nature) and the rights of nature. UWW 2016 will have two parts. It will begin with a “traveling school” (May 1 – May 6) during which young people will visit several regions of Ecuador to have a living experience of interculturalism in the midst of different communities of the country. They will live and work amongst the local people, becoming more deeply acquainted with life in the South American land. The young people will choose between: Costa-La Sierra and Oriente-La Sierra. The former includes the provinces of Esmeraldas and Imbabura where the young people will have direct contact with the Gualapuro, Agato and Peguche communities. The latter includes the provinces of Pastaza, Tungurahua and Bolicar where they will meet the Shiwacocha, Kisapincha, Salasaka and Bolivar communities. Each stop is meant to be an opportunity to build relationships at different levels: with nature, with others and with themselves. Thus, the young people and the local people will be protagonists of real, true laboratories of community living in which they will be able to share, to learn, to experience and to become living witnesses to an exchange of gifts amongst different cultures. 
The second part (May 7) will be a Festival For Peace in the tourist region known as The Middle of the World, an Ecuadoran icon that is internationally famous. It will be a large event that will engage young people from many cultures, faiths and walks of life. The goal is to highlight fraternity in an intercultural context and to commit to living peace and unity in respect for differences, through the practice of the Golden Rule that invites us to “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” The Young For Unity in Ecuador is also promoting two contests, one for music and another for photography. They have high dreams of beginning a permanent Peace School. Simultaneous events will take place in other cities of the world during United World Week 2016, which will be led by the young peacemakers. Information: info@mundounido2016.com Official website: www.mundounido2016.com
