At the Jardin de Montbrillant

Aug 8, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

Geneva, Switzerland, Rue de Montbrillant, n. 3. Like every other Friday I go to Jardin de Montbrillant, a welcome centre for needy people in this cosmopolitan city where you can have a free hot meal. Today, as always, at noontime, we welcome around 150 people of every nationality. The room is already full and everything is going fine. Amidst the usual faces in the diverse crowd I always notice someone new. My task is to find a place for each of them, to negotiate with one or another so that they will allow someone new to have a place to sit and eat in peace, which isn’t always easy given the physical and psychological state of many of the majority of our guests. But I’m mainly interested in giving a fraternal touch, to comfort the ones who are sad, depressed – to listen to the ones who feel desperate, to offer them some hope. . . In other words, to create a family atmosphere so that everyone feels loved just the way they are, beyond the diversity of ages, nationalities and religions. While we’re at table, the door opens and three of our Arab friends arrive accompanied by two newcomers. I immediately notice the hard, threatening looks on their faces. As soon as they are inside, they begin shouting that they want to massacre everyone and burn the place to the ground. The reason: they feel seriously offended by the caricatures of the Prophet that appeared previous days in the press, the main news of the week. The atmosphere immediately becomes tense and people propose violence. I already see plates flying and fists showering down blows. It’s time to act without delay, because the situation could quickly worsen. But what shall I say? What shall I do? I feel powerless but recognise in this acute suffering of today’s society that defends absolute freedom at the expense of deep values, the cry of the God-Man upon the Cross: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” This is Him before me now, through the reaction of this pair of Muslim followers. I place everything in His hands and stand up to go and meet them. I tell them that I share their pain and offer to talk about it after having something to eat if they would care to. In answer to my peaceful offer they allow themselves to be convinced to take a place at table. Suddenly their aggressiveness abates and tranquility returns, as if everyone perfectly understood the cause of their angry outburst. Lunch ends peacefully. I stay near them, trying to make them feel all the human warmth that I’m capable of. After lunch they apologize for their words and express regret for having voiced thoughts of revenge. This is followed by a moment of sharing about our respective faiths in total respect and mutual understanding. Before leaving, they embrace me, thankful for having been listened to. Now their relaxed faces express different sentiments than before. (Paquita Nosal – Geneva, Switzerland) Source: Città Nuova, 13/14, (2015).

Argentina: the unusual loot of a burglary

Aug 1, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

By the end of 2012 I had an awful experience. I was in a friend’s house with all his family and suddenly three armed and violent men entered their house to rob. They beat us and put us all lying down in the ground of his parents’ room. Then, they started interrogating us and shouting us “where is the money?” with guns in our heads… The father of my friend started saying to one of the thieves that he forgave him, but that was not the way he was supposed to act. The man was getting angry and we were afraid he would do something awful to my friend’s father. Surprisingly, the thief started crying and saying sorry. At that point, all the other thieves were gone with the family car, but this man, who seemed to be their boss, was still there with us. Amazingly he asked my friend’s father if there was something important, so that he would make sure we would get it back. My friend’s father told him that it was ok to take everything with him, but asked him the favour to return the car since he needed it for work. The thief promised to give it back, asked forgiveness to each one of us and left. The car, half an hour later, was found intact by the police. In order to build peace, I needed to forgive, and even if the thief asked for forgiveness, I didn’t quite feel like I could do it, my part was not completed. The fact of having felt powerless in front of a person that could take my life away or the life of people I love, just by a single movement of a finger, made me incapable of forgiving. And also, in front of the eyes of my other friends, they would say I had the right to hate, the right to be angry. I needed time, but I also needed to do something concrete to make sure I’d do my part to understand the root of so much violence, why would a person do something like that to another. So I decided, with other friends that are Youth for a United World (Y4UW), to start going to a shelter of men that have nothing. We wanted to at least start breaking the prejudices, sharing the pain and the difficulties of those who live in the peripheries. We are not politicians and we can’t do huge changes, but like one of my friends, Carolina, said: “I think that these small acts can help change the world, or at least, the reality next to me. Maybe at first sight it’s not visible, but you see the measure of your acts when the other makes you see it”. The moments shared with the men at the shelter helped me know about the “reasons” of that thief’s desperation. Thanks to having met these men of the street, that have, some of them, in fact robbed sometime, I knew they did it because they thought it was their last resource. I don’t know what I would do if people act like I don’t exist, if people don’t even answer me, if no one looks at me directly into my eyes and I have literally nothing and no one even cares… so then I felt that I had to forgive… and then I felt strongly that I was putting a brick on the construction of peace in my country. It’s simple, every Saturday we play games or play the guitar or we watch a football match (the World Cup was awesome) or even we play football together, then we have dinner and we get to know each other more, specially their stories, some of which are actually incredible, they are people that just need the strength to forgive others and themselves, but more than anything, they need to restart their lives. A group of specialists helps them progress, but us Y4UW have another role, as one of my mates, Francisco, tells “we grow next to them and we never stop making them feel our care, which is always mutual”. On December of 2013 the police in my city decided to do a strike and people went crazy and started looping businesses and shops and even the storage of a big charity organization was emptied. Lots of people were violently robbed and people started defending themselves with the help of their neighbors and it was like a small day of war between our people. The next day, after a terrible night of chaos, with other Y4UW we decided spontaneously to go clean the city, especially downtown where there were more ashes and dirt and to gather food for the charity organization. We said it all over the social networks and the media: at the beginning there were 15 of us, and then we ended up being more than 100 (and the people who brought food were even more). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WX_TbWHvVw&feature=youtu.be We realized that the TV news, that night, had at least one good news to talk about thanks to our initiative (because the media came to cover our actions) and a lot of people saw it. But that was not the only “good news”, because thanks to the food we gathered, the kids of a small kindergarten in a very poor neighborhood could eat. The kindergarten’s name is “The Light corner”. From that, a group of Y4UW didn’t want to finish there. As we continued to go to the men shelter, others decided to do something more for the kindergarten, so they started a project. First thing they did was to celebrate Christmas with them, playing with them, doing a live nativity scene and taking presents for the kids. Then they started thinking how to improve the facilities of this very small and poor place. In the meanwhile, they suffered a robbery of some construction materials and then all of us Y4UW, with the help of friends from University and work and families, we cooked and sold sweet cakes to make money to buy back the materials. Then with everyone’s help we gathered educational material, games and curtains for the windows, to also make more beautiful the space for the kids. One of the nicest things they live is what Caro, the Y4UW that leads the project says: “the relationship between us and the kids, their mothers, the teachers and the neighborhood has grown so much that we have become a family, where we share also our personal needs. One of the teachers, for example, is pregnant and she asked me for help because she couldn’t pay for a baby stroller. After sharing this necessity with a friend of mine from work, she decided to give the teacher the one she had at home, it was in great conditions and the nicest thing was that she decided to go and give it personally to her”. They have organized a dental hygiene workshop, an orchard workshop and also they did another Christmas celebration last year with new toys, donated by a Chapel of a city very near from ours. The next projects are to build bathrooms and to remake the electric wiring. Like my friend Caro said: “love is thirsty of love, love spreads in our hearts… and love “makes us cry with the neighbor” (like Pope Francis said in the Philippines). ‘The Light Corner’ gave me the chance to dream bigger and to believe we have all the hands that we need next to us, in our surroundings: family, work, university and friends, to make things go ahead. We just need to make the first step”. Source: United World Project

Cuba: Redemption of historic memory

Jul 30, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

“We received the news that Pope Francis will visit our country from September 19^th to 22^nd with great joy. The Holy Father wants to show us his affinity in a time in which, thanks in part to his mediation, we breathe the air of hope in our national life before the new possibility of dialogue in progress between the United States and Cuba. What he is doing as universal Pastor of the Church is very, very important in the search for reconciliation and peace among all peoples of the earth!” So write the Catholic bishops of Cuba in a message to all Cubans. While the Caribbean island prepares to receive the first pope from Latin America, we spoke in Avana with José Andrés Sardina Pereira, a Spanish architect with a specialization in sacred art and liturgy, who is also a Cuban culture enthusiast. “The project we are bringing ahead,” explains Sardina Pereira, “aims to be a contribution of the archbishopric of Santiago to the work started by civil institutions; that is, to seek to have the historic center of Santiago (with the complex of its colonial churches and parts of the surrounding area) included in the UNESCO world heritage list, as are already the historic centers of Avana, Trinidad, Camagüey, and Cienfuegos.” Having a Cuban father, Sardina Pereira in addition to being an architect is a Cuban history enthusiast. This nation, also known as the “Big Island,” was also, “one of the last Spanish colonies to obtain independence (1898), therefore the process of ‘transculturation’ has been the most prolonged. Studies on the origin of Cuban culture, as opposed to that of Spain, place its solidification in the course of the 18^th century, a time in which social, economic and cultural apprehensions, with a certain antagonism in respect to Spanish models and interests, were reawakened, all of which distinguish the island natives (the Creoles) from those arriving from the other side of the Atlantic.” Sardina Pereira clarifies that, “in the ethnic and cultural processes that give origin to the ‘cubanía’ (the essence of being Cuban), the Spanish and the Africans who arrived on the island brought with them cultures that were much more complex than those that are traditionally associated with ‘Spanish’ and ‘African’ concepts.” “Men and women from different linguistic, social, and religious groups, with different levels of economic development, coming from countries known today as: Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Benin, Nigeria, Congo, and Angola, arrived in Cuba.” Also people from other European countries, from Asia, and from the American continent itself. “Just think of the presence of the French in Cienfuegos or of the coffee fields on the east of the Island.” It is in this coexistence of a “rich and multi-coloured range of individuals from different geographical locations that the Cuban culture is born, one of the last cultures generated by humanity: audacious, integral, creative, and at the same time open, welcoming and respectful of diversity.” Sardina Pereira stresses how the Gospel message has been key to this genesis, as “this new country was founded thanks to the coexistence of individuals who were very different from each other: whites, coloured, and of mixed race, slaves and free people; many of them united by the love that Jesus came to teach us, a love that goes so far as to lay down one’s life. Just think of the heroism, the consistency, and the love of many fathers of the Cuban nation and of the many men and women who, following their example, generated it with their own lives.” People united by their faith who “travel together on a new ship in the tempestuous sea of history.” At this point in the conversation, our expert adds another element which he holds to be essential. Cubans are: “A people blessed by an extraordinary encounter with the mother of Jesus.” Such an affirmation alludes to that which tradition remembers as “the finding.” It is said that in the year 1612, three salt seekers (one of mixed race, one black and one white, three ethnicities who were up until that moment in conflict) found a small wooden board that was floating on the sea and upon which was the image of the Madonna with the inscription: “I am the Madonna of Charity.” “And this encounter with a Mother,” continued the architect with conviction, “is one of the elements which permits the Cuban people to discover true fraternity, which will be converted into an identifying symbol of this nationality. Mother of all, of sailors of every land, colour and creed.” Sardina Pereira likes to compare this hybridization to a typical dish of the center of the Island, made with a variety of ingredients called “ajiaco.” “In a globalized and ever-more interdependent world,” continues the architect, “many times intolerance of ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity continues to be the primordial cause of grave conflicts. Chiara Lubich, a great personality of the Catholic Church, in her discourse to the United Nations in 1997, affirms that to build a world more united and in peace today, it is necessary to love the homeland of the other as one’s own, and the culture of the other as one’s own.” Sardina Pereira concludes with a personal confession: “Fulfiling this work I realised how much the knowledge and the diffusion of the Cuban culture can be a contribution to peace in the world, as long as we are able to redeem its historical memory and its deep Christian roots and keep them genuine.” By Gustavo Clariá

Nigeria. Yakoko and the gift of rain

Jul 29, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

In Nigeria, there is great inequality in the development between cities and rural villages where there are almost no infrastructures and no electricity, medical care, roads, etc. Yakoko is one of these villages located closest to the desert, amid mountains – where the Christian and Muslim communities have always lived in great harmony. In the evening after working the fields, the men gather in the square to discuss while sipping an alcoholic drink produced from their Guinea corn. Some years back, a missionary, Sr. Suor Patricia Finba, had brought to Yakoko the spirituality of the Focolare and Felix, Abubacar, Nicodemus, Loreto, Father Giorge Jogo and others had made it their way of life. Last year they welcomed to their village more than 200 people who had arrived from the various regions of Nigeria, to get to know the Focolare spirit better. This year a group of youth and adults of Onitsha decided to pass a few days there. After a journey of 24 hours – which was at times dangerous – in over-packed public vans, loaded with bags and packs, they were warmly welcomed by the community into their homes. «We participated in their lives – Luce recounted – sharing all with them», «and – Cike added – we noticed that the youth were interested not so much in material goods, the clothes and medicine we had brought, but the spiritual ones, our friendship and our life-treasure: the discovery of God who is Love. » And so they decided to stay with us for a day of meditation, going on an excursion in the mountains which with its arid beauty, is an invitation to meditate. «It was an important event – Imma recounted. In an atmosphere of deep friendship we shared the values we believe in and on which we have based our lives.» And then in the following days, together we brought the material help to those in need, especially the elderly and the children and the many refugees who had come from the northern regions. We visited five villages. A Muslim community welcomed them with particular joy. Some of them had already started to live for unity in the world and with them we immediately felt a family atmosphere in which we shared joys and sufferings in that area. The villages, in fact, were undergoing a really difficult time due to the drought, and by tradition they had asked an important person of the village to pray for rain. But the rain did not come, and they had thus decided to kill this person. «On hearing this decision we were shocked and also started to pray to God to send rain – Luce continued – and in fact, on the third day, He blessed us with a great rainfall! But apart from the rain, we were so happy to have saved a person’s life.»

ROM, from evicted to included

Jul 28, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

For several years the ROM camp has needed to be removed because of serious health and environmental issues, but it was no easy task given the fact that it was home to thirty families. Mario Bruno, Mayor of Alghero, decided to involve the families themselves in choosing a new location for the camp. There are many unemployed people in Alghero and there are also many people on the list for a house. So, as the Mayor says, it can be difficult to make people understand “that there are specific funds, and sometimes we all have to take to heart social inclusion and sometimes take decisions that are unpopular that are sometimes not understood.” “The 30 ROM minors are just as important to me as each and every Algherese. And I have to try to show with facts that this is possible,” the Mayor went on, “and I have to help the Algheresi to take this step knowing full well that I hold all the problems in my heart and not only those of one side.” Concretely, finding solutions for the Algheresi is one way of showing this value for people. He did it by announcing a 3 million and six hundred thousand euro financing toward the construction of 28 dwellings for Algeresi citizens. BrAs a politician, at times Bruno finds himself in difficult situations which he says he tries to face “with common sense, delving into adminstrative decisions without skipping over them, because we are here to defend everyone’s good and not only our own, we are only administrators.” The Mayor felt the “need of coming to a solution in front of the complexity of the moment we are going through (. . .) in which you can be part of the answer and I believe that this answer can be given individually but also collectively, and giving a collective answer means living for a good that goes beyond us.” Watch the Video – original soundtrack in Italian https://vimeo.com/133758828

Burundi: a suffering that generates love

Jul 25, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

“Jean Paul is in his last year at the Faculty of Engineering and has known the spirituality of unity for several years. Burundi is going through a difficult political situation, because of the upcoming election. The political impasse has provoked many controversies that give rise to clashes and protests. Some people have lost their lives. It was in this context of great instability and suffering that Jean Paul and a friend, returning home on foot because there was no public transport, found themselves in front of a new and unexpected countenance of Jesus forsaken.” The one reporting is Marcellus, along with the entire Focolare community of Burundi and Rwanda. “It was the summer of May 2cnd when the two young men were assaulted by a group of wrongdoers. Jean Paul and his friend were brutally beaten to the point of unconsciousness. Helped by several police officers who found them thrown into a manhole, they were rushed to hospital. The friend had light injuries but Jean Paul was in serious condition: a fractured backbone and paralysis of the lower limbs. In spite of his serious state Jean Paul was always smiling and hoping to for a recovery. He entrusted himself to God and Chiara Lubich. “The fact that I’m still alive is already a miracle of hers,” he said. In a short time news of what had happened to Jean Paul reached the community which, besides praying for him, began to look for the money to hire an ambulance that would return him to Rwanda, where he would receive adequate care. On May 12th he left for Kigali, Rwanda, accompanied by a nurse and Séverin, a young man from his Gen group. The chain of love and prayer widened, involving the Rwandan and worldwide Focolare family, especially the Gen. Jean Paul and Séverin gave a strong witness of mutual love in Kigali, Rwanda. In hospital the people were astonished that the visits to this boy were more numerous than to all the other patients. They were also amazed that by the fact that Jean Paul and Séverin were not brothers, from the same village or ethnicity. The boys explained to everyone that the engine behind their action was something else: the spirituality of unity based on the mutual love that Jesus asks of us. After a few medical examinations, Jean Paul was operated on the back and chest, on June 10th in Roi Fayçal Hospital. The prices at the hospital were very high, but God intervened with Providence that was never lacking. Jean Paul, who never grew discourage, considers this experience a true miracle.   The surgery went well and this was encouraging to everyone. Jean Paul was transferred to another facility where he began physical therapy, and close monitoring by his physician and the team that performed the surgery. His condition is showing incredible improvement. He is beginning to feel hungry, physiological needs, pain and sensitivity in his feet. He is able to get out of bed and move around the hospital in a wheel chair. He continues to say that if it weren’t for this extended family he wouldn’t be alive. Jean Paul is very grateful to the Focolare community in Rwanda, to the Gen around the world, to the international Gen Centres, and to all those who have sent financial support and prayers. All our hearts overflow with gratitude to God for having given us the possibility of having this powerful experience that has aroused attention, communion, authentic love among His children and a powerful witness of the love that conquers all.”

The Basque region: a workshop where peace is taught

Jul 23, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

At the base of the itinerary of the Political Movement for Unity in Spain, is the desire to give an answer to a situation of violence being staged in the Basque Province by the armed struggle of the ETA. The objective is to try to heal the still open wounds and make an effort to ensure a future of peace. «It is a utopia, but it may be the only solution for our people.» There was a pressing surge of hope in some members of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa when about ten years ago, some exponents of the Political Movement for Unity (MppU) from Italy, spoke to them about fraternity as a political category.  This perspective almost seemed like a shock because of the atmosphere existing in the Basque Countries and the work of the ETA.. With the objective of obtaining independence for the Basque people, the armed groups of ETA continuously sowed an atmosphere of violence and terror. In fact, the tension was at its highest. During those times – the first six months of 2005 – a group of politicians belonging not only to different parties but also to diverse ideologies, got together to pave the way to a strategy that sought the renewal of politics, based on mutual acceptance of peoples, without exclusions. Thus a new ground for discussion and acceptance of the other was set, involving politicians of all convictions, State employees, members of labour unions, citizens… all thirsting for a normalized coexistence, and true peace. The meetings were held every two months at different locations, alternating between the various parties. Among the participants, there were those who were immediately threatened for their pacific membership, and they arrived with their bodyguards. And there were those who feared they would not be well received by their own party or  would be ousted. But they all tried to encourage one another, and overcoming every sense of mistrust, wished to testify that fraternity was possible, starting from themselves. As time passed, they saw the need to share this experience with politicians of other regions and communities. A group thus went to Madrid and participated in a series of encounters where they met other experiences, inviting everyone to unite Euskadi with the group of Gipuzkoa. It was a historic moment: four hours of dialogue (after lunching together) to get to know one another, and listening to and begging forgiveness from each other. Subsequently, they felt the need to draw up a document that each could bring to their own parties, to be studied as an alternative to the crisis. Many still felt the need to share the contents of the document and to hold seminars and round tables in other autonomous communities, also to present the experience of fraternity and pacific coexistence based precisely, on fraternity. When the ETA ceased its armed activities (2011) a new process began, though not simple, but which was a harbinger of hope. There are still many people, families, and groups that though sharing the same identity are divided and continue to clash, finding it really difficult to dialogue. The political workshop that had been created during those difficult times and simply called “workshop to learn about peace” – continues its journey toward pacification and search for peace, facing the diverse standpoints on historical facts and healing the wounds that are still open. They drew up a document named “Towards the path of reconciliation of the Basque society” (January 2013), that describes the basis to work on from then. This document is informally known as “The earth we trod on.” Every time dialogue seems to encounter a hitch, they try to start anew by helping one another believe that every man is a brother and that they could build something with all. This does not signify that the crimes should not be recognized as such, or  that the great number of people who paid for this with their lives are not acknowledged. On the contrary, by accepting the past and recognizing the injustice and senselessness of the violence suffered, they try to view history like a slow and painful path toward reconciliation and peace, in which all can and must give their own contribution. On 13 March, precisely at the eve of the anniversary of Chiara Lubich during which all over the world her view of politics was being deepened, this group held a meeting at “Las Juntas Generales de Gipuzkoa” (provincial parliament) in San Sebastian, inviting various experts, scholars, and political figures.  The debate was on “The relationship between common good and the common goods in globalization,” the basic manifesto of which, was sent beforehand to all and was greatly appreciated, and which described the deliberation to hold a “workshop to learn about peace.” In a climate of mutual acceptance, valid contributions emerged which were then integrated into the document itself, to be later diffused in order to promote the value of fraternity at all levels.

Living City wins two 2015 Catholic Press Awards

Jul 20, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

“We are honored, grateful and especially happy that the message of unity that we try to spread has been recognized. A special thank you to all our readers who support and encourage us on that path!”, the Living City editorial team reports. Living City received an award for the April 2014 issue for “Best coverage of immigration” by Marilyn Boesch, Susanne Janssen and Lori Chesser. The CPA jury wrote: “These stories are captivating and relevant, and they put the human element front and center.” In the category “Best Explanation of Church’s Position on Marriage”, Living City got the third place for the articles in the July 2014 issue written by Michael and Julie James, Pietro Riccio,Sarah Mundell and Emilie Christy. “The perspective on diversity in these pieces is valuable. There is a clear call to action to those who wish to use their faith to create dialogue and build bridges,” commented the CPA. You can read and share these articles on the website: livingcitymagazine.com

Paraguay: our thanks to Pope Francis

Jul 20, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

Ore aguije Papa Francisco pe, ha peeme avei pe ñembo’ehaguere ore rehe. In the Guaraní language: «Our thanks to Pope Francis and to all of you for your prayers.» «As we had imagined, overflowing graces have fallen on the entire Paraguay people, ever since His Holiness was here among us,» Nelson Benítes and Margarita Ávalos, heads of the Focolare in Paraguay wrote, after the Pope’s visit to their country. «The children, the sick and the youth were the main protagonists of the visit. Over 80,000 “servidores” (“stewards” – almost all young people) from all over the country worked day and night for three days. But the preparations started at least three months earlier, a concrete fact that gives true hope!»  Nahuel Espinola recounts: «I was a ”servidor” of the Pope – It was simply fantastic! I’m 15 and I don’t know when I shall experience something like this again. I hope that his message will reach all the youth.» «There was  instant bond with the people,» and some scenes will never be deleted from my mind: the children of the choir of Luque running towards Pope Francis for a group embrace, the thousands of people who filled the streets, his car stopping in front of the women’s jail. «When they found out that the Pope was coming, the children afflicted with cancer in a hospital did not want to be discharged!». Then there was the visit to “Bañado Norte,” one of the poorest districts of the capital, where the Pope visited a sick woman at home. «For that event, she had prepared the “chipa” and “sopa paraguaya,” typical dishes the Popes likes. This was followed by the surprise visit to the parish of Cristo Re, to pay homage to the still intact heart of the martyr and first Paraguayan saint: San Roque González de Santa Cruz.» In Caacupé, Pope Francis consecrated Paraguay entirely to Mary. Then came the meeting with civil society, one of the most striking moments when he launched a discourse on dialogue, inviting all to dialogue, by losing all in order to understand the other, and “enter” into the other. «Concepts like the humane side of development, giving priority to the person, and not treating the poor like objects, impressed me deeply,» affirmed Julia Dominguez, a member of the Economy of Communion of Paraguay, «From now on, we must not dwell on sentimentalism, but live this daily.» César Romero, active in the association for families added: «In the dynamism and freshness of the programme, I saw a Church that was making a big effort to update itself in its methods and messages.» Silvano Malini, a journalist in Paraguay wrote: «In these three countries of the Latin American “periphery,” Pope Francis decisively stood on the side of the “rejects” of society and victims of injustice and inequality, but in doing so did not “attack” anyone but human miserliness – the only sources of the serious and dramatic problems of this country (corruption, egoism, low-quality democracy).» Malini went on to say: «The Pope’s exhortations fell on soil tilled by the Church in Paraguay, as could be seen in the meeting with the representatives of over 1,500 civil society organizations. Pope Francis, with authority, gave an example of concrete dialogue which is not easy but does help to make small but sure steps towards a common project. » «At campo Ñu Guasú, a million faithful awaited him. The sun shone on the crowd that had been waiting for 15 hours in the mud, because it had rained over the last few days. But nothing could stop the celebrations.» Esteban Echagüe recounted: «Neither the mud nor the weariness could deter the immense joy we all felt. I was so struck by the Pope’s affirmation that the parishes should really be places of encounter with one’s brethren, and a place of acceptance and fraternity, and if this is not so, we would not be true Christians.» «After a brief but intense moment with the Paraguay bishops, the Pope “miraculously” regained his strength to resume his pastoral journey! One could feel that he was tired as was natural for a 78 year old! But everyone was convinced that in front of the youth, Francis would be transformed.» In fact, more than 200,000 were waiting for him along the Paraguay River! He asked all to have a free heart and furthermore…, «continue to raise a “ruckus” but an organized one.» Leonor Navaro confided: «The Pope aroused in the youth and in all, the desire to be better… because he saw us the way we should be – and through his eyes the world discovered us as such. From now on we want to reflect ourselves in his eyes!» Along the way back to the airport, he was moved upon blessing a place which is a really painful symbol for the country: the remains of a commercial center where ten years ago, around 400 people died in a fire. Nelson and Margarita continued: «Through Bishop Adalberto Martínez, Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Paraguay, we wrote to the Pope that the Focolare Movement is praying for him. We had sent him a gift of a book on the Guaranì culture and on the development of Economy of Communion in the country. To conclude: «This visit, like that of Pope John Paul 27 years ago, will bring about vital and positive outcomes and spiritual effects also in the civil life of the country. Pope Francis was very clear in his words, but conveyed them with the tenderness of a Father! It is now up to them to make use of these moments of grace, “a before and an after” of the first visit of a Latin American Pope to Paraguay».  

An EoC business in Cameroon

Jul 18, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

Pope Francis in Bolivia: A multifaceted and inviting harmony.

Jul 11, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

“I’ve discovered how the Pope favors the excluded. In some way it’s also my choice, but by his example I have understood how at times I continue to exclude, or I find myself in a group of people who keep silent in the midst of exclusions or injustices,” says Ana Maria Ceballos, a social worker in Bolivia. An impression that speaks of true conversion towards the excluded, one of the strongest themes of this step of the voyage of Pope Francis in Latin America. The same for Nestor Ariñez di Cochabamba, who lives in the Casa de los Ninos, a social project animated by the spirituality of unity: “In Palmasola the Pope said: reclusion is not the same as exclusion.” There, in the largest penitentiary in Bolivia, the most striking message was the pope’s “listening first of all, and then his saying that he too is a man who makes mistakes and who must do ‘penance.’ A message of hope for all the detainees.” “The pope’s visit to Bolivia leaves us with much to reflect upon,” he continues. “But I believe that what remains very clear is his preferential option for the poor, the motto of the Church in Latin America given to Puebla in 1979, which reminds us that the gospel brings the good news to everyone, but especially to those who are excluded and rejected by society. I felt that the Pope was speaking directly to us.” “His words are a call to conversion,” confides Pat, a Bolivian focolarina, after the meeting with priests, religious, and consecrated people. “But it is also much more: the sole fact of his presence in the midst of many ‘rare flowers of every age’ who one day said their yes to God, pushed me towards a greater commitment to sanctity, which then means to live with coherence the choice I made.” “Even from Bolivia, Pope Francis spoke to the whole world,” writes Lucas Cerviño, now 11 years in Bolivia, instructor in Missiology and intercultural theology. “At the mass in Santa Cruz there were many Latin Americans from nearby countries who listened to his call to not despair before the difficult situations that the world presents to us and that bring us to exclusion.” At the second meeting of popular movements, Pope Francis–before representatives from various continents who welcomed him with enthusiasm and attention–clearly indicated the way for social renewal, both local and global. “Land, Home, and Work,” continues Cerviño, “are sacred rights which permit us to dialogue with everyone in order to contribute to the common good. Pope Francis clearly highlighted for the members of social and popular movements that the fundamental aspect is the process, the starting of processes, for an economy at the service of peoples, to unite peoples on the way towards peace and justice, and for the defense of the homeland.” “Finally,” concludes Cerviño, “he left the Bolivian people a clear and beautiful consignment.” “Bolivia is at an historic crossroads: politics, the world of culture, the religions are all part of this beautiful challenge to grow in unity. In this land whose history has been marred by exploitation, greed and so many forms of selfishness and sectarianism, now is the time for integration. And this is a path we have to walk. Today Bolivia is capable, with its wealth, of creating new forms of cultural synthesis. How beautiful are those cities which overcome paralyzing mistrust, integrate those who are different and make this very integration a new factor of development! How attractive it is when those cities are full of spaces which connect, relate and favor the recognition of others! Bolivia in its process of integration and its search for unity, is called to be an example of such ‘multifaceted and inviting harmony,’ a harmony which invites along the path of strengthening the greater country.”

A family in Hong Kong

Jul 11, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

EXPO: Solar Power Cookers For Haiti

Jul 8, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

“Haiti, once one of the most prosperous French colonies, Pearl of the Antilles, today is amongst the poorest countries in the world, devastated by a serious ecological catastrophe,” says Ronald La Rêche, ex-deputy and candidate for the senate of Mont Organizé. Thousands of people live without access to traditional forms of energy such as electricity and gas. The constant recourse to firewood has led to to deforestation, which has a direct negative impact on climate change, causing desertification and progressive diminishment of the water supply. This led to the idea of supporting the Haitian population with the help of renewable energy, especially solar energy.      The “Cucine solari per Mont-Organizé Project was conceived  by the AFN, an association inspired by Focolare values – in collaboration with PACNE (Action contre la Pauvreté du Nord Est), the NationalMicrocredit Entity, the Agriculture Department of the Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II” , Tesla I.A. Ltd., and the SIOI (Società Italiana per l’Organizzazione Internazionale). Its goal is to introduce solar power cookers in the centres that are supported by AFN in the Mont-Organisé Haiti territory of Mont-Organisé. The solar cooker uses very simple technology, easy maintenance and installation, and it is possible to learn how to assemble it on site, favoring its dissemination amongst the community. It consists of a device based on a system of solar concentration. Through a lens, solar energy is transformed into thermal energy which is then stored in a battery. The project was presented on Saturday, July 4, 2015 at the “Cucine Solari, una risposta alle problematiche dei Paesi in via di sviluppo,” of EXPO di Milano 2015 in the Cascina Triulza-Civil Society Pavillion. President of the AFN, Andrea Turatti, explains: “The process we propose would use the solar cooker in schools, with the help of the AFN in Mont- Organizé, a rural area in the borough of Ouanaminthe, North-East Haiti. The next steps will be to train the teachers who, in turn, will train families and involve the local population in microcredit projects.” Attention to green technologies and overall sustainability were among the innovation cited by Luigino Bruni, professor of Economics at the University of Rome (LUMSA), and coordinator of the Economy of Communion. Then there is “the exploitation of local resources (such as the sun), the materials at the site, and the involvement of the population.” The economist said: “This is where the true success of the project is played out. It will work to the extent in which it is seen as a true opportunity by the local population.” Focolare president, Maria Voce, wrote: “The Cucine solari” project is in sync with the teachings of Pope Francis who has focused attention on the environment, making integral ecology the main focus of his encyclical letter Laudato si’, that is, the relationship beteen nature and the people who live in it. [. . .] This project that is founded on care for the environment and sustainable development from within the communities that benefit, can offer valid answers to the urgent problems of the country. The project seeks a resolution to the environmental crisis, health, nutrition, and  energy supply with an eye toward the basic needs of the most weakest and most vulnerable. It utilises solar energy, while being mindful and respectful of the local culture, offering opportunity for development and social inclusion of the most disadvantaged, such as the children who receive support and education in Focolare schools.

Lisbon: Healthcare: present and future

Jul 6, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

Teaching methodology: an interactive approach, open to dialogue, sharing, and re-working with the instructors, experts, and students together, through seminars, workshops, and debates. Subject matter: proposals, analysed and studied in the preceding 6 months by an international preparatory committee formed by several of the participating students with the co-operation of the experts.

• Relationships in healthcare activities
• Ethics in daily clinical practice, starting with several documents from international medical institutions, and finishing with clinical experiences on aspects such as end of life care.

Participants: students and young people from 20 to 35 years of age in the various professions of the biomedical field (medical doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, etc.) coming from various countries. Maximum number of participants: 50 Languages: Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish Objectives: Offer to healthcare professionals the skills necessary to care for the person and not only the pathology, and to remedy the fragmentation of care, guaranteeing that professionals are united in taking responsibility for the patient. At the end of the programme, a certificate of participation will be issued. Location: Cidadela Arco-Iris, Rua Senhora da Graça, 60 2580-042 Abrigada Tel. +351 263 799 995   + 351 263 790 131   Fax: + 351 263 799 091 Hours: The programme will start September 3rd at 9:00 a.m. and will conclude September 6th at 1:00 p.m. Cost: The cost, including meals and lodging for all days of the Summer School (starting with dinner September 2nd and ending with lunch on September 6th), transportation from the Lisbon airport to the location and return trip, and the touristic excursion to Lisbon, is 180€. Enrollment: Complete and send the registration form (www.mdc-net.org) to the address: mdc@flars.net. Registration will be accepted after the receipt of payment by means of a bank transfer to: ASSOCIAZIONE MEDICINA DIALOGO COMUNIONE (M.D.C.) IBAN: IT68L0335901600100000113321 BIC: BCITITMX For more information, please contact mdc@flars.net. ——————————————————————— Associazione Medicina Dialogo Comunione Via IV Novembre 7, 00046 GROTTAFERRATA (RM) Fax 06-94549841   Email: mdc@flars.net Website: www.mdc-net.org

From Brazil, João’s story

Jul 6, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

It was in the air. Too many times João had heard his parents argue, and the fact that he and his mother and brothers had to leave home because his father had a child with another woman didn’t surprise him very much. He was 16 then, he was involved in his parish, he had friends. Within him, though, he felt betrayed and dissatisfied, with a strong need for freedom, to be himself. It was an apprehension that led him to discontinue his studies. He took up his schooling again years later, only after he had found the real reason for living. “At 20 years of age,” recounts João, “I participated in a Focolare activity with the youth group from my parish. During those few days, I realized that the Gospel isn’t so much to be commented or reflected upon, as it is to be put into practice immediately. I was particularly struck by those passages which say how to treat our neighbors: the Good Samaritan, the Golden Rule. I had gone to the activity out of pure curiosity, and instead it was the event which changed my life.” In Sao José do Rio Preto (State of Sao Paulo), which is my hometown, there are many people who live on the street. One evening, as I was going back home on my bicycle, I crossed paths with a man who was walking barefoot. His feet were dirty and wounded. At the sight of him, I couldn’t pedal any further. “That man is my neighbor, I have to go back to him.” Before I reached him, I took off my shoes to give them to him. He looked at me, surprised. I saw that he was wearing a T-shirt with my favorite soccer team on it, and I said to him, to take away his embarrassment, “So you’re a Santista fan? So am I! What’s your name?” He took the shoes, and we became friends. I was at the train station, returning from a meeting held in another city. At that hour–two o’clock in the morning–the means of public transportation no longer run, and so I started towards home on foot, crossing the center of the city. Looking around, I saw lots of people who took advantage of the fact that stores were closed to sleep in front of the shop windows. I wasn’t afraid, because this was my hometown. At one point, however, a big, tall man came up to me and asked for money. I must confess that I started to be a little afraid. Who was to say that he wasn’t violent? But I thought, “He, too, is my brother, the Gospel says so.” Calmly, I told him that I couldn’t give him anything because I had no money either. He began to tell me his story, then he had me put on his headphones. He was listening to a sermon by a Protestant pastor. I listened to the transmission for a bit, so that I could tell him that this person was saying nice things and that it’s good to listen to these positive messages every so often. He asked me, “Who are you?” Not knowing how to respond, I asked him why he wanted to know. He said, “Because nobody treats us this well.” This went on for 30 or 40 minutes. I thought about the distance I still needed to travel in order to arrive home, about the fact that I needed to wake up at 6 the next morning to go to work. But I felt that I had to stay a while longer to accommodate this neighbor who needed company and listening. In the end, after he had asked for my address in order to come to my house for a barbecue, we said goodbye, with the knowledge that we had each found a brother. One rainy day, as I was returning home on my motorcycle, I saw a man, soaking wet, who was trying without success to get up from a puddle. I recognized him: he was one of my next-door neighbors who was always drunk. In the nearby bar, there were several men who simply watched the scene without doing anything. Trying not to get angry, I stopped, left the motorcycle there and accompanied him home, explaining to his wife what had happened. Then I retraced my steps to go back for the motorcycle. As I walked, a phrase re-echoed deep in my heart: “You did it to Me.” I was no longer angry. It was enough for me to feel happy and to not blame those men, astonished, who continued to watch me.

Pope Francis in Ecuador: evangelize with joy

Jul 6, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

” I want to be a witness of this joy of the Gospel and bring to you the tenderness and caress of God, our Father, especially to his children most in need, to the elderly, the sick, the imprisoned, the poor, to those who are victims of this throwaway culture.” Pope Francis spoke from the heart in the video message to his “dear brothers and sisters of Ecuador, Bolivia, and Paraguay,” on the eve of the voyage that from July 5th to 13th will bring him to three South American countries, praying “that the announcement of the Gospel can reach to the farthest outskirts and continue to make the values of the Kingdom of God a leaven of the earth in our days as well.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5QEBJ8-IJw “Right from the preparations we sensed that this visit would be a providential grace for the people of God in this land,” write Bernadita and Fabián, who are responsible for the Focolare Movement in Ecuador. Inés Loato is on the organizing committee. She remembers with gratitude the path undertaken in just two months of preparation: “it has been a new discovery meeting members of other Movements and church communities, a tremendous richness. We all feel we are truly brothers and sisters.” In this period they sought to “testify to this love as preparation for the grace that we will surely receive.” Many others were involved as volunteers, thousands throughout the country: “Joy, humility and love are the three consignments that the Church has given us for our volunteer work,” explains Adriana Guallasamin, a young volunteer and coordinator in the formation sector. A mission of “proclamation, door to door, in contact with many people who are far from the Church, but slowly responded to the invitation to help with the logistics.” “I am grateful to God,” she concludes, ” for this unique opportunity to serve the Church.” What to expect from the pope’s packed schedule, in the first stop in Ecuador (http://papafranciscoenecuador.com/) There are the two mid-ocean masses in Guayaquil and Quito, a meeting with the world of education, with representatives of civil society, a visit to the Sisters of Mother Teresa nursing home, a meeting with priests, religious brothers and sisters, seminarians, and the Bishops of the nation. In addition to the greeting for President Correa and the visit to the Cathedral of Quito and the Church of the Company. In Bolivia (http://www.franciscoenbolivia.org/) with the motto, “Renewal and Reconciliation,” awaits –among other appointments–the 2nd World Meeting of Popular Movements and a visit to the imprisoned in the Center of Reeducation in Palmasola. In Paraguay (https://franciscoenparaguay.org/) the visit to a pediatric hospital and the inhabitants of a barrio (neighborhood) in the capital city, Asunción. The voyage concludes with a meeting with young people on the riverfront, Costanera: “messenger of joy and peace,” or as they say in guarani, the official language of Paraguay along with Spanish, to highlight the cultural variety and preciousness : Oguerúva vy’a ha py’aguapy.

Economy of Communion on the roads of Poland

Jul 2, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

https://vimeo.com/132331626 Everyone who experiences its effects says that the Economy of Communion (EoC) is a way of life, more than a way of running a business. And it is precisely for this reason that the most diverse businesses decide to administrate their activities in the full spirit of the EoC. Complex Projekt, which is in the business of projection and construction of roads, motorways and bridges, is also an EoC. In 1990, when the EoC began in Brazil, the business was in trouble. The removal of the communist regime raised strong doubt and uncertainty, and the transition to a capitalist system generated constant questioning and mistrust. The very concept of private property created uncertainty and discomfort in entrepreneurs. Andrzej Milkowski, president of Complex Projekt, discovered the answer to “freeing himself from the pressures of private property” in the EoC. Thanks to the EoC, he found that he was “merely an administrator” and that “the business owner was God.” This made Milkowski realise that what mattered most in the business was its human capital, and that good management depended on the values one believed in. For him, they were the values of the Gospel put into practice by applying the teaching of St. John Paul II: “to be, rather than to speak”. This kind of talk can sound far removed from the real business world, but in the long run, in Complex Projekt, it actually made the difference. “Our work consists of creating complex infrastructure projects, and that carries a great responsibility,” Milkowski explains. “In the EoC proposal I found the interior freedom that was needed and the distance from myself, values which led me to no longer make decisions on my own, but through shared understanding. Such decisions then prove to be just right for growing the company.” Milkowski describes how colleagues and personnel strive to base their life on mutual respect as they strive to create a climate of trust and giving priority to interpersonal relations. The internal regulations include the Golden Rule, a version of which can be found in the sacred texts of all religions: ‘Everything that you want others to do for you, do also for them’. It is “understood as an opportunity,” the president explains, “offered to each employee for them to freely decide.” Two years ago, Andrzej Milkowski began handing over the administration of the business to his son, Stanislaw. This generational transition is also being carried out in the light of the values that have been acquired over years. Andrezej reflects: “I think it is a result of the working lifestyle that all of us in the business, personnel and administration, receive from God. If we make even a small attempt each day to live the values of the Gospel,” the Polish businessman concludes, “we receive ‘something more’ from the Creator, a greater capacity even in front of things like project planning, professional and family difficulties which can be listened to and discussed. This is how we build the Kingdom of God . . . and the rest will be given us as well. We experience it every day. Indeed, in spite of the economic crisis, the business continues to grow and develop.”  

A Bed and Breakfast near Florence

Jul 1, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

Migration: What can I do?

Jun 30, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

“When it comes to migrations, the numbers say more than the words. In one report published in October 2014, it was estimated that there were 7,124,000,000 people in the world. If the wealth were equally distributed, every person would have a median annual income of 14 thousand USA dollars. In reality, the income of 2,700,000,000 people is two USA dollars per day. Now, this economic inequality, which is a social inequality, has a very strong impact on migration. Entire populations pick up and move toward wealthier countries.” What is a migrant? In 2013, the United Nations claimed that there were 232 million married people in the world. And it defined a migrant as “a person who leaves his or her own country for reasons of employment and settles in another place for a period of more than twelve months.” That’s the only definition that you find, Flavia Cerino stressed. In fact, there are the refugees (the ones who are in need of political asylum in another country); the refugees fleeing from war situations, the so-called “illegals” (who move without having a document that makes them eligible to enter another country). And the reasons vary: war, poverty, studies, cultural interest, natural disasters . . . What were the most repeated words in the reports from the workshops at the New Humanity international training course where this topic was discussed? A few things stood out in the workshops. “The first was “fear,” fear of anything that is different from me,” continued Cerino. In reality, diversity is a great enrichment. We see that in nature where biological diversity is very enriching. If we lost it we’d be heading for extinction. We obviously have to consider the fear that is born of uncertainty; and this brings us to the topic of public order, national security. One thing is public order, and another thing is fear of diversity. Another topic that was frequently raised was the family. A migrant who travels alone, leaving the family behind, finds it difficult to describe the hardships he or she faces, in order not to worry their loved ones. But actually it would be important to tell one’s family what the real life situation is like, so that they will have a real understanding of what migration entails also in terms of reuniting the family, since families generally look forward to staying together. Another word that came up was interculturalism. That is the capacity to overcome the fear of diversity in order to create an environment of encounter and understanding. And it’s not only cultural understanding, but existential understanding, sharing problems. The migrant should be placed in a position of giving, but he and she believe that they have nothing to give when they are not recognized as persons who can act as active citizens, and therefore they are excluded from the start. Flavia Cerino cited a question posed by Igino Giordani many years ago: “What do I do for him?, referring to an immigrant. “That’s the question we’re asking ourselves now. What do we do? There are countless experiences, great projects. My experience is the same as many of you. It turns on two elements: the first is that everything depends on a personal sensitivity. As a human being I feel called, and my and put into question right where I live, by a problem that I see in my next door neighbor. And I try to figure out what I should do, turning to the people and institutions who have the authority to act. Because it’s a matter of alleviating, making the presence of a migrant easier in my city. Actually, to the question of “What can I do?” we can answer by acting and doing what is within our power; so, getting together with others who share this desire, beginning with small gestures, we can weave together a network right where we are: simple gestures that generate a renewal of humanity right around us.” Source: “Reflections on migrations and interculturalism,” intervention during the New Humanity international training course (February 2015), coordinated by immigration expert Flavia Cerino. www.umanitanuova.org

The story of Estelle in the Ivory Coast

Jun 29, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

Estelle is the eldest of eight brothers, in a family from Ivory Coast who, after having worked as a secretary at a medical clinic in Abidjan, moved to Man in 2006 where she volunteers especially as a contact person with sponsors of a medical centre run by the Focolare Movement. When the project finished, she decided to expand her administrative skills. Meanwhile, her father died and she had to provide financial support for the family. She applied for and received a scholarship from Fraternity with Africa. Now, along with working, she is specializing through distance learning courses in “Administration of NGO organisations and non-profit associations” at university in Burkina Faso. After finishing her studies, with the support of a tutor and of AMU, she will travel to Burundi where she will complete one stage in administration and finance at CASOBU, an NGO that promotes human and community development through acitivites and projects based on the values of sharing and sustainable development. “It was a nice concrete experience for me, because it was the first time I travelled outside Ivory Coast and got to know other cultures and learn much from CASOBU; their approach to microcredit, for example. When I returned to my own country, I decided to propose that same microcredit model, beginning with the people I knew. We’ve already begun two groups that up until now seem to be functioning quite well. . .“ Everything she received, spurred Estelle to become involved in Fraternity with Africa: “When I finished my studies, I thought that since I couldn’t make a financial contribution, I could share my time and talents with the project.” So, on the one hand there was the work in adminstration, running and finances of the medical centre, and on the other hand keep up relationships, taking care of the adminstration and, from within the adminstration, she evaluates scholarship candidates and accompanies the students who receive them. The medical centre in Man began in 2002, during the civil war when the hospital was closed. It was hosted in an apartment with three rooms. Then, in 2008, the current Social Medical Centre was opened with visiting rooms, one-day recovery rooms, pharmacy and laboratory. But now the number of patients has gown so much that a new centre is being constructed where diagnostic facilities will be added, and programmes for the reduction of infant malnutrition in the region of Man. There will also be training programmes for mothers, in the field of nutrition. The health situation of the people in Man is problematic. Medical bills are paid in advance and without the possiblity of riembursement. Given the poverty of the population, families are generally able to cover the cost of food and school fees. But if illness comes knocking, they only go the doctor when the illness is at its worst, and the patient is dying. The new medical centre will be able offer medical care to six thousand adult patients and three thousand children. See: AMU notizie 2/2015

Seeds of Peace: US Buddhists and Christians come together in spirit of dialogue

Jun 25, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide

Buddhists and Catholics from the United States are holding an interreligious dialogue meeting for the first time near Rome this week, focused on the themes of ‘Suffering, Liberation and Fraternity’. The five day meeting, which opened on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Focolare Movement in Castelgandolfo, Italy, includes 46 Buddhist and Catholic participants from New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. In an opening address to the group, which will meet with Pope Francis on Wednesday, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran said “in a world where diversity is seen as a threat”, the encounter is “a sign of our openness towards one another and our commitment to human fraternity”. “We are all pilgrims”, he stressed, adding that the dialogue between Buddhists and Catholics is part of “our ongoing quest to grasp the mystery of our lives and the ultimate Truth”. To find out more about this dialogue, jointly sponsored by the PCID and the U.S. Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Philippa Hitchen spoke to one of the Catholic participants, Fr Leo Lefebure, a theology professor at the Jesuit Georgetown University. Listen to audio recording Buddhists and Catholics from the United States are taking part in a meeting for the first time this week, focused on the themes of ‘Suffering, Liberation and Fraternity’. The five day event, which opened today (Tuesday) at the headquarters of the Focolare movement in Castelgandolfo, includes 46 Buddhist and Catholic participants from New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington DC. In his opening address to the group, which will meet with Pope Francis on Wednesday, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran said: “in a world where diversity is seen as a threat”, the encounter is “a sign of our openness towards one another and our commitment to human fraternity.” “We are all pilgrims”, he stressed, adding that the dialogue between Buddhists and Catholics is part of “our ongoing quest to grasp the mystery of our lives and the ultimate Truth”. The meeting is jointly sponsored by the PCID and the US Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. In an interview with Philippa Hitchens on Vatican Radio, one of the participants, Fr Leo Lefebure SJ, a theology professor at Georgetown University said the PCID asked the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to begin a new series of conversations focused on the theme of ‘Be friends and help the world’ so the dialogue will explore beliefs and ideas that “resonate across both traditions”, especially the concepts of ‘suffering and the end of suffering’. He noted that the basic values and virtues of Buddhists and Catholics “converge to a great degree” and there is a long history in the United States of leaders of both traditions coming together to oppose violence and work towards peaceful transformation of conflict. Fr Leo says that every major urban area in the US has large immigrant populations from Asia, so part of the Buddhist population is made up of these people. Another part includes people who have converted from other faiths, especially from Judaism and Christianity. What is sometimes controversial, he notes, is that some see themselves as ‘practitioners of both their religion of origin and some form of Buddhist tradition’. But many Catholics, he says, find their faith much enhanced by practices such as meditation – in a survey of Christians in the US who engage in some form of meditation, he says most found their own faith experience ‘profoundly deepened’ by these practices… Fr Leo says it was very significant that this meeting is taking place in the year that we mark the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the document that for the first time described Buddhism and said the Catholic Church “rejects nothing of what is true and holy” in these traditions, “implying there are things we can learn from them.” Source Vatican Radio

Back from Iraq

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.

Bishops in Asia

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.

Prague: Summer School of Economy of Communion

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

The European Union: “Dialogue is not a ritual”

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)

Egypt. Feasting Amongst Christians

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.