Jun 23, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
“Iraq is going through its worst period in ten years,” write Gemma and Pierre from the Focolare Movement in Jordan and Iraq, following their short trip to Erbil, Iraq. Their objective was to make the people there feel the closeness of the Focolare community that has been in that region for many years. “Being with them, even though we found them so tried and exhausted, we were struck by how their generosity towards others, and how they continue to believe in in God’s love.” “Nine months have passed since the villages of the Nineveh Plains were invaded by ISIS. The general situation of the country has worsened with recent developments, that is, the taking of new territories. The people, including our friends, feel a great sense of uncertainty about the future. Many have already fled the country and others are planning to do the same.” Spiritual closeness no small matter if, at the conclusion of the days together, one person confided: “We’ve lost everything, I wasn’t able to finish my university studies, there are no jobs . . . but finally, I have peace again, and I decided to begin my relationship with God again.” Pierre and Gemma recount: “During the meeting with the Focolare community there was one very important moment: it was when we openly declared our desire to give our lives for one another, to love each other with the measure of Jesus’s love, so that He could be present among us as He promises. Then we meditated on the link between the Eucharist and Church, using a 1982 talk by Chiara Lubich, The Eucharist makes the Church and the Church makes the Eucharist. We also met Archbishop Bashar Warda, Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Erbil, who was pleased by our visit. In concluding he asked us to pray for Iraq like never before.” I have come for you, each one of you is like the whole world to me. . .” said Bishop Salomone Warduni, Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad, from the Chaldean Catholic Church, who had travelled from Baghdad just to be at our gathering. He exhorted everyone: “Have no fear, carry on in the life of the ideal of unity, because each one of us has a mission to accomplish.” One person said: “I try live love in concrete ways until [love] becomes reciprocal within the community. In the Eucharist I find the strength to carry on loving.” Then there is the joy of being together. In spite of the situation there is very lively group children and teenagers who held a local edition of the Run4Unity sport relay for peace, with 35 boys and girls. “These were intense days for us,” conclude the two focolarini from Jordan, “a deep and divine experience. They gave much more to us than we were ever able to give to them. Who knows how much life must be coming from this suffering that is being lived in a Christian way.
Jun 22, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
“Upon my arrival, the first person I saw was the cardinal who took my bag. The art of loving, which Chiara Lubich speaks about in such a simple way, is life.” So says Mons. Ignatius Mascarenhas, bishop of Chandigarh, India, one of the 22 Catholic Bishops-Friends of the Focolare Movement reunited in Bangalore from June 3rd to 6th for a pan-Asian meeting. For the first time, among these, there are 12 Indian bishops and one bishop from Pakistan. This meeting was preceded by a preparatory meeting with a few bishops, who went together to visit the sick in a nearby hospital, to stress how contemplation is not separate from action, in the desire to be instruments of God’s mercy. The bishop from Pakistan lives near the border between Pakistan and India. He shared his pastoral experience: “Two weeks ago I was in a great desert near the border. For three days I was with a priest, visiting small towns who have been suffering for the last two years because of the drought. The children are dying. I celebrated the Mass using a box as an altar. Many people came, among them even a few Hindus. During the Mass we prayed that the rain would come.” The Indian bishops and the Pakistani bishop celebrated together: “It’s a sign of hope,” affirms Mons. Bobet Callari from the Philippines. Why the choice of India as the location to host this meeting? India, with its billion and 250 million inhabitants, in which Christians are only 3% of the population, represents a frontier for interreligious coexistence. The bishops, pastors of small communities, live in contact with people of other creeds, faiths, cultures. The “dialogue of life” must therefore precede any theological discourse, and communion, the affinity between the bishops (like that which was reinforced during the meeting and sealed by a “pact of mutual love”) is a great antidote against the discouragement which often seems at risk of prevailing. “In my diocese,” recounts Stephen Lepcha, Bishop of Darjeeling (West Bengala), “I have a lot of difficulty with some sects which sow seeds of hate and which put us to the test. I know it will continue to happen, but during these few days I have understand what to do: love with the love that comes from God, because be they Hindus, Muslims, Christians…they are children of God.” “We need the spirituality of communion,” affirms Mons. Elias Gonsalves, from the diocese of Amravati, India. “At times we are left alone. Communion between the bishops is very important, it helps the youngest but also the most elderly. We must improve our capacity to help one another reciprocally.” At the meeting, Hindu Professor Shubada Joshi also spoke, about her meeting with Chiara Lubich and the charism of unity. In fact, in 2002 Chiara, during a Hindu-Christian symposium, had shared with a group of Hindus her mystical experience of the summer of 1949, experiencing that with them, dialogue can be based on a plane of spiritual depth which is not always possible with others. The words of Shubada Joshi, along with the School for Oriental Religions (SOR), which took place in the preceeding months in Tagaytay in the Philippines, gave a panoramic view of the proposal of interreligious dialogue which starts from the spirituality of the Focolare. The meeting with the community of Bangalore, with various testimonies from families and young people, offered a cross-section of daily life lived in the light of fraternity.
Jun 20, 2015 | Non categorizzato
“Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.” These are the words of Pope Francis in the Bull of Indiction with which he announced the Jubilee Year of Mercy on April 11, 2015. God “does not limit himself merely to affirming his love, but makes it visible and tangible. Love, after all, can never be just an abstraction. By its very nature, it indicates something concrete: intentions, attitudes, and behaviours that are shown in daily living.” Pope Francis clearly does not intend to exclude fidelity to the truth and doctrinal clarity, but rather combine them with the reality which people live. And not to yield to compromise, but to be faithful to the God whose Truth fulfilled is Love. A freeing message which leaves no one out. This is the platform upon which the two Synods of Bishops on the family are moving forward. A path to be lived — as stated in the Lineamenta, sent to the dioceses in view of the upcoming Assembly– ” to read both the signs of God and human history, in a twofold yet unique faithfulness which this reading involves,” facing with realism the family of today and keeping at the same time, ” our gaze fixed on Christ to ponder, with renewed freshness and enthusiasm, what revelation, transmitted in the Church’s faith, tells us about the beauty, the role and the dignity of the family:” The Gospel of the family. Fidelity, on the one hand, to God’s design which “is to be understood not as a “yoke” imposed on persons but as a “gift”, ” as “good news” which places itself in the service of the deeper fulfillment and happiness of people; but fidelity, on the other hand, to people in what they live and often suffer in a complex society with an interiority -one’s own and that of others- not less complex, from which numerous vulnerabilities originate. The key phrase is the art of accompaniment. In this regard, Pope Francis highlights in Evangelii gaudium: ” without detracting from the evangelical ideal, they need to accompany with mercy and patience the eventual stages of personal growth as these progressively occur.” It is always necessary to learn to ” remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other (cf. Ex 3:5). The pace of this accompaniment must be steady and reassuring, reflecting our closeness and our compassionate gaze which also heals, liberates and encourages growth in the Christian life.” In fact, ” Someone good at such accompaniment does not give in to frustrations or fears. He or she invites others to let themselves be healed, to take up their mat, embrace the cross, leave all behind and go forth ever anew to proclaim the Gospel.” A demanding agenda which the Church is called to carry out–as the Lineamenta states–” with the tenderness of a mother and the clarity of a teacher (cf. Eph 4:15).” That’s right, “The Church:” not only the bishops and the priests, but the entire People of God. ” Without the joyous testimony of married people and families, domestic churches, proclamation, even if done in its proper way, risks being misunderstood or lost in a flurry of words that is characteristic of society today.” The complete text in Italian, with reflections and testimonies, is found in: Periodical of Church life: Gen’s.
Jun 19, 2015 | Non categorizzato
All the popes, from Pope Paul VI on have spoken about the environment, focusing on the issue of ecology? Pope Francis’s encyclical on the Creation created a buzz even before its publication. What is the scope and significance of this document? “The uniqueness of this extraordinary document was highlighted at the presentation of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis, which I attended on June 18, 2015. Laudato si’ is the result of team work. The founder and director of the Postdam Institute for the study of the impact of climate change, Dr. Shellenhuber, said that it puts faith and reason together, and that its content is totally in line with scientific proofs. It is a concrete encyclical, as economist Dr. Carolyn Woo describes it, in which the Pope claims that it is important to protect the environment even from an economic standpoint because this will bear fruit and reduce costs. Metropolitan Jhon Zizioulas thanked Pope Francis several times, as he emphasised how the Encyclical highlights the relationship of man with the earth, along with his relationship with God and neighbour, a relationship very often forgotten. In conclusion, Cardinal Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, highlighted how Pope Francis places integral ecology at the core of the document, affirming that “when we speak of the ‘environment,’ what we really mean is a relationship existing between nature and the society which lives in it. Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it.” What projects will EcoOne be bringing ahead for the protection of Creation? “First of all, there is the intellectual contribution, and international meetings for the elaboration of an ecological theory based on care, environmental conscience-responsibility, new person-nature relationship, and sustainable development. There have been many initiatives over the years at the level of study, personal and team research. I mention only one, which was the recent contribution by EcoOne to the ongoing reflection on ecology published under the title Focus sull’ecologia in Nuova Umanità (34, 2012/1, 1999), which presents:
- an essay on the media debate over climate change, the result of a discussion with climatologist, Antonello Pasini. This essay is connected to the results presented in the last part of the book Il pianeta che scotta, in which you find the ideas of EcoOne, written by Lucca Fiorani, president of the EcoOne Commission, and Pasini;
- essay titled: Un etica ecologica basata su una ecologia di comunione (an ecological ethic based on an ecology of communion), written by Miguel Olivera Panao. It offers a philosophical vision of the synthesis among three levels of ecological understanding: the natural, the human, and the spiritual.
But there are also other initiatives of a didactic-educative type that can support those would like to change their lifestyle, such as the Earth Cube which engages them in protecting the earth, with one of the phrases that are written on each of its sides. Then there is the scholastic project ‘Giving to Save the Environment’ which invites people into a ‘saving energy pact’ which turns acts of energy saving into scholarships for disadvantaged teenagers. In 1949, Chiara Lubich lived a period of intense mystical contemplation amidst the splendid natural surroundings of the Dolomite Mountains in northern Italy, and this had a very important role. What insights are offered by that vision of the cosmos in the mysticism and spirituality of Chiara? “The culture that emerges from the charism of unity contains the foundations of a new understanding of the concept of sustainable development which is not yet fully developed. In Chiara Lubich’s mystical intuitions we’ve learned that looking at nature with God’s eyes, we catch the presence of God beneath all things. Nature comes to be seen as a gift of God, as an expression of His love. In those words of Chiara, ‘everything is substaniated with love,’ we see unity in the biodiversity just as in the non-biological diversity. Moreover, we see that God creates for and out of love. When God created, He created all things from nothing out of love, because He created them from Himself . . . He drew them from Himself because creating them he died (of love), died in love: loved and therefore created.’ Therefore, for Chiara, the logic with which God creates is forever that of self-emptying, so that creation emerges. Chiara sees the creation as an action of God that is not estranged from his internal dynamic, the dynamic of giving all of Himself. So, God not only created the cosmos, but He keeps it alive and sustains it in continuation second by second accompanying it with His providential love. Finally, we perceive the golden thread that joins all beings. ‘Everything on earth, therefore, shared in a rapport of love with everything: every thing with every thing. . . but you need to be Love in order to weave the gold thread among the beings.” The rationality in nature speaks to us of a Creator who is relationship, the rational being par excellence. God relates in a Trinitarian relationship, and all the things He created carry that Trinitarian stamp.
Jun 19, 2015 | Non categorizzato
Al convegno, promosso da AFNonlus, parteciperanno i partner di progetto tra cui l’Ente Nazionale per il Microcredito e il Dipartimento di Agraria dell’Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II. L’evento, patrocinato dalla Società Italiana per l’Organizzazione Internazionale (SIOI), si svolgerà presso la sala workshop 50 – Cascina Triulza EXPO Milano 2015. Il progetto Haiti, danneggiata dal grave sisma del gennaio 2010 e tra i paesi più poveri del pianeta con circa l’80% della popolazione sotto la soglia della povertà, è minacciata da una seria crisi ambientale, direttamente connessa al fenomeno della deforestazione. L’utilizzo di legname per le costruzioni e soprattutto come combustibile ha un impatto negativo sulla salute delle persone, sul clima e sull’ambiente con implicazioni sociali ed economiche. Il percorso per dare una risposta concreta a queste problematiche è complesso e lungo, ma può essere facilitato con la proposta elaborata da AFNonlus, basata sull’utilizzo di tecnologie a impatto zero e nello specifico un modello di cucina solare rispettosa dei bisogni sociali, ambientali, climatici e culturali del popolo haitiano. La sperimentazione avverrà presso la comunità di Mont-Organisé, nel nord est del Paese, dove AFNonlus è già presente dal 1985 e sostiene, tra l’altro, 20 scuole. E proprio queste scuole costituiranno il punto di partenza per sensibilizzare, utilizzare, formare e diffondere questa buona pratica.
Jun 18, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
Here are some of the topics to be discussed and experimented with the youth, participants and businessmen/women of the EoC, during the Summer School:
- Is economy of communion possible? Experiences of entrepreneurs from all over the world.
- Is man really an homo oeconomicus? If not, what has changed in economic and corporate practices?
- Activity and generativity: keys to building a new economy.
- Experiences of companies that have invented new business modes.
- The courage to change dominant convictions and practices.
- What can we do personalise the changes we desire?
The programme will include dissertations of Professors from various European universities and Sophia University Institute (Loppiano-Florence), along with businessmen/women of the EoC worldwide, entrepreneurial workshops, research, communication and social innovation.. For further information
Jun 18, 2015 | Non categorizzato
Raimundo is a hairdresser and Edilene, an anesthetist and public administration clerk. So to take interest in the environment is not exactly their line of expertise. But in the face of the environmental and cultural invasion they are undergoing, together with other families with whom they share Christian ideals, they started to pose some questions to themselves. What heritage would we be leaving to our children? How can we diffuse our vision to a society that seems to be unaware of this destruction? How can we go against the current? They have been married for 29 years, and have three children and three grandchildren.They live in Abaetetuba (Parà – Brazil), an «island» that covers Igarapé-Miri, Moju and Barcarena, three cities that were famous in the 1980s for the mining and industrial settlements. Many families had left their fields to work for the multinational companies, and settled down in the suburbs, nurturing new areas of poverty, with the illusion of a wealth they never reached. The impact of these industries on the environment was devastating, to say the least. It had started with the indiscriminate felling of the açaizeiros (a regional native plant) to extract the palmito which was exported, depriving the families of an essential nutriment. The industrial residues dumped in the rivers had caused a visible reduction of fish and prawns, while atmospheric pollution reduced the production of fruits remarkably. This happened at a local level. But the effects of the deforestation had a repercussion at global levels.The Amazon, in fact is a region where everything is mega in size, like its extension (occupying over 50% of the entire Brazil), its biodiversity, its forests and volume of sweet waters. But with the deforestation underway, all these precious resources run the risk of completely losing their efficacy. It was not easy to see what had to be done. But Raimundo and Edilene could count on an element to make the difference: unity with the other families and the strength deriving from letting God guide them in their choices in life. So they made a joint decision to transform with their own resources, a grazing field of 34 hectares into a fruit grove. For trees, they chose the typical varieties of the region that were more at risk of extinction, and at that point, some of these were no longer known by the youth. They worked hard and with great enthusiasm to create in Abaetetuba, an area for the preservation of local biodiversity. The fruit grove, now producing edible fruits of 166 native species with two African species, makes up a collection of a unique genre: a wealth that offers an alternative to the region’s sustainable future. The area called Radini, in honor of their children, Raisa, Radi and Raoni, is often visited by internationally famed researchers and environmentalists, actors, singers and also bishops and common folk but especially the youth. In fact, the site offers theoretic/practical lessons on biodiversity and conservation of the environment,with the distribution of informative material. Even after the awards and acknowledgements received – like the important recognition in 2012 given by the Goeldidel Parà Museum – the site is now the subject of newspapers and magazines in the region. Edilene and Raimundo are always surprised to see the interest of so many people, some of whom feel the urge to follow their example and become, as they like to define themselves, “environmentalists with a heart.”
See reportage on page 47 of the journal Amazonia Viva http://issuu.com/amazoniaviva/docs/43_av_mar_2015_web_ok/1
Jun 17, 2015 | Non categorizzato
See call for papers The international congress sponsored by Communion and Law will be held in Castel Gandolfo (Rome). The focus this year will be on how citizen participation can help to protect and preserve the environment, and how this concept might inform discussions regarding legal rights and responsibilities regarding environmental protection. The themes to be discussed: Environmental law and the right to the environment – The relational feature of environmental law – Principles of environmental law– Publications on the protection of the environment and participation rights – Environment, the city and territory – Environmental protection and responsibility– Entrepreneurial responsibility– Environmental protection and lawfulness. The topics were chosen following the works and reflection points that arose during the preparatory phase of the Congress, particularly during the international seminar of March 2014 held in Castelgandolfo (Rome) and in the Summer School of Abrigada (Portugal) in July 2014. Programm Press releases All the news regarding the preparation and enrollment for the Congress will be found on the site www.comunionediritto.org/en/.
Jun 17, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
https://vimeo.com/130879600 Video highlights of the event (Italian soundtrack) “For me dialogue is not a ritual; it is not something we do once a year and then put back on the shelf again. For me it is an essential contribution to finding solutions to some of the most difficult problems European societies are facing today, problems linked to fear of what is different, linked to the consequences of the crisis, the need for environmental sustainability. Religions will have to play the role between the communities, to perhaps help us bring Europe in a better place than it is today”. These were Frans Timmermans’ words after the annual High-Level Gathering of Religious Leaders which addressed the theme “Living together and disagreeing well”. With the First Vice-President of the European Commission were Antonio Tajani, Vice President of the European Parliament and 15 religious leaders from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Mormon traditions. An understanding of the role of religions is shown by the growing number of occasions which bring together political institutions and religious leaders. Religious leaders are invited not so much on an individual basis but so as to work together, to find solutions to conflicts and to seek a way forward towards peaceful co-existence. See the recent High Level Debate on Tolerance and Reconciliation at the United Nations, the meeting of religious leaders in Kazakhstan, the invitation to Pope Francis to speak at the United Nations and now, at European level, this meeting organised by the European Commission. Today’s event follows on from the meeting held on 2nd June with the philosophical and non-confessional organisations, and it falls within the framework laid down by the Lisbon Treaty. Some burning issues came up at the press conference – which concern European policies on immigration, the growth of foreign fighters (those who leave Europe to fight jihad), and the rise of far right groups in the European Parliament – which were answered by Imams, Rabbis and Bishops. Metropolitan Joseph, from the Romanian Orthodox Church, also highlighted the role of ecclesial Movements, like the St Egidio Community, referring to its work for the progress of interreligious dialogue. On leaving this long dialogue, Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement, expressed her joy at having participated in a truly free exchange, with genuine listening. She emphasised the Golden Rule, shared by all religions. Among the examples she gave of it being put into practice was the experience of the interreligious group “Vivre ensemble à Cannes”. Outside the main meeting she said: “There is no religion that does not want dialogue, there aren’t any religious leaders who don’t seek to do all they can to promote it. This gives hope because, despite all we see around us, religion can truly bring a new message and help in the process of dialogue which can at times seem almost impossible”. She further emphasised “that it is important for communities to be involved in dialogue and not only religious leaders, to foster a synergy that can lead to a shared effort in European cities to enable peaceful co-existence. This can come about only by overcoming feelings of fear – which are understandable when facing the unknown – with feelings of welcome, respect and the capacity to welcome the other truly as a brother or sister.” The outcomes of the debate on 16th June will be included in the discussion material for the first annual conference on Fundamental Rights, of the EU, to be held on 1-2 October 2015 and which will focus on the theme: “Tolerance and respect: to prevent and combat anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hatred in Europe”.
See also: Video of Religious Leaders being welcomed Video of Press Conference Photo gallery Press Release by the European Commission Press Release by Focolare Movement (June, 12 2015)
Jun 17, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
After the historic meeting between Francis and Tawadros II (Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church and Patriarch of Alexandria), which place on May 10, 2013 at the Vatican, for the first time a day of celebration was held in Alexandria between the two Churches in commemoration of that meeting. Three months after the election of Francis, Tawadros II went to visit him on the day of the 40th anniversary of the historic visit of Pope Shenouda III to Paul VI. On that occasion, the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch had proposed that May 10th be celebrated each year as the Day of Friendship between the two Churches. The event was celebrated on June 7, 2015 at the Jesuit Cultural Centre in Alexandria, Egypt, under the patronage of the Coptic Catholic Patriarch, Ibrahim Ishak, in the presence of Tawadros II, who was joined by 8 Coptic Orthodox bishops and 5 priests. Also present, Papal Nuncio, Bruno Musarò, Latin Bishop, Adel Zaki, and around 100 Religious men and women, and Catholic priests. Promoters of the event included Sohphia University Institute (SUI); the current Director of the Cultural Centre and ex-student of SUI and friend from the Orthodox Church. Following a moment of prayer with readings and songs, a documentary film was presented that recalled the various stages of the historic meeting between the two Churches. In his message, Pope Francis reminded everyone that “what we have in common is much greater than what divides us” and that “we can persevere in our march towards full communion, and grow in love and understanding.The Coptic Patriarch immediately responded. That afternoon he telephoned Pope Francis, confirming his “will to continue in the common effort for the unity of Christians,” as Vatican spokesman Father Lombardi reported. In his speech, which was filled with affection for the Bishop of Rome, Tawadros II expressed his conviction that “today’s world is hungry and thirsty for concrete love. The unity between the Churches is in need of heroes of the faith,” and he indicated some necessary preconditions for reaching unity, such as openmindedness, and praying each day: “Give me an open mind, oh God, like the mind of Our Lord Jesus towards the Samaritan woman, and towards the Good Thief on His right.” But also a big heart, capable of going “beyond the letter.” And, finally, a humble soul that “safeguards the gifts and grace that God bestows.” His Holiness was moved as he described the touching humility of Pope Francis, when he met him and said to him again: “This day we have to celebrate every year!” Tawadros II personally greeted each of the guests. The joyful event ended by remembering the “ecumenism of blood” and the Egyptian and Ethiopian Martyrs in Lybia.
