Nov 18, 2015 | Non categorizzato
Home of Lutherans in Rome, the Christ Church welcomed Pope Francis on Sunday, November 15. Before Francis, John Paul II was the first Pontiff to enter a Lutheran Church and, in 2010, Benedict XVI was the second. “Our 500-member community is relatively small, all of us on the front lines in the field of ecumenism. We are active as a parish at various levels in the cit, but also in our own family, with colleagues at work, with neighbours or, like me someone who has lived in a Focolare community for more than thirty years,” says Heike Vesper. She was there on Sunday along with Catholic women focolarini who often accompany her to the Sunday liturgy. Heike called the Bishop of Rome an “evangelical Pope”, a pastor who focused his remarks that day on our common witness to Jesus Christ, “both in Lutheran expressions and in Roman Catholic expressions” on the importance of life and not so much interpretation. He spoke from his heart as he confided to us what he likes: to visit the sick and the incarcerated. The meeting and the prayer service with the Pope was new in its kind, you could say that it was a lesson on what should be of importance among Christians of different Churches: dialogue and deep listening, mutual trust, sincere and truthful answers, common prayer and listening to the Gospel.” Jens-Martin Kruse, Pastor of the Evanglical Lutheran Church, gave a warm welcome while remembering the victims of the Paris attacks: “Let us trust that Jesus has conquered the world and therefore not allow ourselves to be conditioned by fear.” “My brother Pastor mentioned the tragic events in Paris,” the Pope remarked. “Even God’s name is being used to close hearts.” “Pope Francis’s freedom and sincerity was very touching,” writes Heike. “He gave his answers from the perspective of a fellow pilgrim on the same road as the listeners. He stressed the importance of following one’s conscience, of living for the neighbour; and that with faith, that is with love, all the walls will crumble.” The fraternal tone of the dialogue created a family atmosphere that was “more and more deep and encouraging.” Three questions were posed to Pope Francis: What does it mean to be Pope? What is the duty of Christians towards the needy? What must be done so that we can celebrate the Eucharist together, the Lord’s Supper, when husband and wife belong to different Churches? “Those who find themselves in this situation,” Heike explained, “suffer from the division even more. It was not easy for the Pope to answer, in fact, in spite of the steps that have already been taken, theological questions remain open concerning the Magisterium, the vision of the Church, that are still an impediment to a common celebration. The Pope mentions a few possible paths for sharing the Lord’s Supper. He referred to the Gospel, to Saint Paul: “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:5). He invited everyone to listen to his or her own conscience, to give more importance to life, to the common journey – more than to the different interpretations. His words instilled hope and peace. Even the gift he brought had a prophetic dimension: a chalice and paten for the celebration of the Eucharist.” The Gospel of the day was the Final Judgement (Mt 23) that reminds us that we will be judged on our love for the poor and needy. The Pope brought to the attention of those who say “our books say one thing and yours say another,” the words of a Lutheran idea: “There’s the hour of reconciled diversity.” And he concluded saying: “Today we ask the grace of this diversity reconciled in the Lord, the reconciliation of that God who came amongst us to serve and not to be served.”
Nov 17, 2015 | Senza categoria
The Assembly was held on 28-31 October 2015 at the Mariapolis Centre in Castel Gandolfo (Rome, Italy).
Nov 17, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
“This is a horrific and frightening moment. But we are also surprised at the international impact, by all the public support, and we feel responsible for responding appropriately.” Muriel Fleury is the director of the Focolare’s French magazine, Nouvelle Cité and this was her answer to Radio inBlu’s question about why such events could take place in France where the process of integration is older than in any other European country. She responded: “Although in the past we were successful at integrating other peoples, it seems that in recent years we have fallen a bit behind. We want multiculturalism, in the sense of welcoming other, but without taking their cultures into account, their values that are quite different from our own. Therefore, all the places that lend themselves to dialogue, true encounter, true cultural and religious sharing need to be developed. Our failure to have an authentic encounter has led to today’s tragic situation.” Paul Wirth, a member of the Focolare engaged in interreligious dialogue, remarked: “I belong to an Islamic-Christian Friendship Group (GAIC) in France. Every year we hold a week of meetings (the most recent beginning on November 12). We feel that it is very important to make everyone aware, so that people will make a distinction between authentic Muslims and those who claim to be Muslims but project hatred.” Speaking of the reaction of Muslim friends to attacks on Friday evening, he said: “There are many Muslim associations that have put out press releases condemning the attacks as barbaric, intolerable; they want to be close to the victims and their families. Just today I saw that many Muslim associations spoke of this as a horrible moment, and we Christians believe that these tragic events do not affect the relations of fraternal love that have been established amongst us [Christians and Muslims].” In her analysis, Muriel Fleury, director of Nouvelle Cité, pointed to other causes of the unease: “For economic reasons it seems that we have completely abandoned entire quarters of the city where even the police are at risk if they go into them. And our refusal to take care of these young foreigners, to not provide them some wholesome activity to keep them busy, to not be near to them, has led some of them to join radical pseudo-religious groups that have taken them away, many of them, and now we see the results.” From where do we begin, then, to mend such a complex fabric? “The problem,” says Fleury, “is that we are in France where, unfortunately, a spiritual void has been created. This French secularism has led to a denial of the spiritual dimension of a human being. Now we must take a new path, to develop the culture of encounter, of living together. Religions will be one of these paths, religions that are able to work with one another – even with the Republic. There are already signals in this direction that try to find solutions that include every voice from every religion.”
Nov 16, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
© Thomas Mandl
More information about “Together for Europe” can be found at: www.together4europe.org
The initiative “Together for Europe” is an international network of about 300 christian movements and communities from all over Europe. It originated in 1999 and connects evangelical, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox Christians as well as members of free churches and new communities. 70 communities constitute the group “Friends of Together for Europe”.
Nov 16, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
“Just try to imagine 2,000 kids rapping in unison: “Peace! Peace! War is death, peace is love.“ https://vimeo.com/148206731 And to think that all this has been happening for decades in a country torn apart by armed conflicts, the victims of which are mostly children. Now you don’t need to dream – Martine recounts – because all this really happened last 7 November in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” The art of loving for peace was, in fact, the title of the day meeting which the children of the Focolare Movement in Kinshasa held with the schools of the Petite Flamme social project which had thought of organizing an event to say: no to war and yes to peace and love, and involving their friends and other 20 schools of the city in this undertaking. On Saturday morning, under a dark sky that seemed to forecast rain but which later cleared out to a burning sun, a storm of children invaded the playgrounds of the main Petite Flamme School. Songs, dances, poems and sketches then unfolded to shout to the world that Peace is love, war is death. Also the various civil authorities, diplomats and ecclesial figures who sat in the audience were overcome with enthusiasm, along with the representatives of the Italian and German Embassies, the coordinator of the evangelical schools of Kinshasa, and about 300 children, not to mention the coordinator of the Catholic schools. 
“Upon casting the Dice of love and explaining its significance – continued Martine – the children demonstrated that “peace starts with ourselves.” And the many dices that brightened the stage were them solemnly delivered in the end to every school present, as a sign of a path and commitment to peace which all had initiated together. The 22 Evangelical school directors that we involved in this initiative, expressed their enthusiasm and desire to continue working with us in these types of activities. The children were the real protagonists in the preparatory activities right from the start, with their capacity to involve everyone in the rehearsals of the songs and presentations, and the courage with which they announced and presented the meeting in a TV transmission… It was all so full of joy, enthusiasm and serious work, not to mention that even God showed his benediction through his Divine Providence! In addition there was our communion of goods and presents from parents and embassies, and even a bank sponsored the event and financed the building of the stage and sound system! The event was then broadcasted on the national TV channel, the same one that had launched the initiatives some days earlier. And we, aged 0 to 99, lived this wonderful day for peace. What remained in the depth of our hearts after seeing the joy on the faces of these children? Hope. An unwavering hope. Because the future is in good hands.”
Nov 15, 2015 | Non categorizzato
“There is an infinite number of rays, all coming from the same sun: a single will, particular for each person. The closer the rays come to the sun, the closer they come to one another. “We too . . . the closer we come to God, by doing the will of God more and more perfectly, the closer we come to one another. “Until we are all one!” (Chiara Lubich, L’unità, Città Nuova, Roma 2015, a cura di D. Falmi e F. Gillet, p. 48-49).
![Paris: New Responsibilities for Peacebuilders]()
Nov 14, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
“In the face of the dramatic events that took place in Paris last night, in addition to those in many other areas of the world, we stand in mourning with those who have lost loved ones and with those who believe that the unity of the human family is possible. As we stand in dismay and in the firm condemnation of such acts against human life, a question becomes very clear: have we taken every step and every action possible to build the necessary conditions for preventing violence and terrorist acts – including the encouragement of equality, of more solidarity, more communion of goods? In the face of events that appear perverse, it is obvious that there is no single answer. But it is also obvious that an uncontrolled reaction to violence will not deter those who want to destroy the life forces of peoples and their aspiration to coexist in peace. 
The conviction that the world can walk towards unity, and overcome confrontation and armed violence, remains alive in the spirit and in the actions of those who have love for every person and the future of the human family at heart, and want to bring it about through political action, through the right use of economy, and the rule of law. The Focolare Movement, while it weeps with those who weep, continues to believe in the path of dialogue, of acceptance and of respect for the other, whoever that may be and from whatever background, religious belief, and ethnicity. Therefore, together with all those working for peace, in various posts of responsibility and often at risk to themselves, the Focolare renews its commitment to intensify and multiply acts and gestures of reconciliation, opportunities for dialogue and communion, for encounter and sharing at all levels and in all parts of the world, so as to embrace the cry of humanity and transform it into new hope.”
Nov 14, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
The Fifth National Ecclesial Convention in Florence, Italy, (November 9-13), Foto: Cristian Gennari/Siciliani
Pope Francis having lunch at the soup kithen. Photo: Ansa
Nov 14, 2015 | Non categorizzato
That evening with friends I have some very close friends, most of them agnostics, with whom I had never explicitly spoken about my spiritual life. This had always left me with a certain sense of incompleteness. One evening we were taking a walk. Passing a church, I felt a strong desire to enter for a moment and greet Jesus. Being in the company of the others, this action seemed out of place, but I wanted to follow the impulse. During my brief visit in the church, I felt I had to say to Jesus: “Stay with me, because I am with you.” Shortly thereafter, at dinner, I felt I had to “reveal” myself to the others, but I didn’t know where to start! But then they spontaneously began to confront the topic of faith. It was a beautiful moment of communion. They expressed their perplexities to me, and words that even I hadn’t expected came out of my mouth. And all of this with mutual respect! Nothing of the kind could ever have happened if there hadn’t been that profound relationship between us. S. – Italy Sensitivity I am a nurse in the radiology department. In the corridors some patients wait their turn in their beds. One of them, with her arms bandaged, had been left uncovered. I greeted her, and with tact I covered her with the sheet. Years passed. One day, at a book presentation, a very elegant lady approached me: “I thank you for that day when you respected my dignity.” I almost didn’t recognize her. She continued: “It is when we suffer that we need even more to be respected as men and women. Thank you, because your service hasn’t made you insensitive.” E.M. – Hungary The embrace Seated at the desk of the charity center where I work, I was listening to a refugee whose appearance and clothing betrayed a past full of suffering. He was desperate because, having long been without work, he would be evicted from his lodging within a few days for not having paid the rent. I asked him, as I do with many like him, if he had friends here in the city who could help him. His reaction was unexpected: he burst into convulsive sobs, repeating: “I’m alone, alone! I have no one!” I was speechless, overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness. Then, on impulse, I got up and went to embrace him. Slowly, he calmed down. He got up too, and with a tranquil tone of voice he said, “Now I know I am no longer alone,” and he made to leave, as if that simple brotherly gesture were enough to give him hope again. At that point I stopped him to show him how to procure himself clothing, make use of the Caritas dining hall and also a bed in our dormitory. By the time we separated, he was completely serene S. – Italy
Nov 13, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
European Union and African nation leaders present at the Valletta Summit on Migration (Malta, 11-12 November 2015)
