Jesús Morán: It’s time for creative fidelity

Nov 22, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Jesús Morán, Spanish philosopher and theologian, was elected co-president of the Focolare Movement in the General Assembly 2014, which was held last September. These pieces are taken from a conversation with him:

“I met the ideal of unity – he begins – when I had just finished my studies at high school and I was preparing to join the faculty of philosophy at the Autonomous University of Madrid. It was a time of great political and social unrest in Spain. The desire for change was very urgent. Society and in particular young people were demanding freedom and democracy. The reason I chose to study philosophy was because the religious at the high school where I had studied had inculcated in me a Christianity that was engaged in social transformation. The encounter with the spirituality of Chiara Lubich was like finding the figure of what I wanted to be. This spirituality, in addition to changing society, could change myself as well and this was what I basically wanted most. I found in the freedom to love the answer to all my needs.”

“I have lived in Latin America most of my life,” Jesús Morán continues, “When I arrived in Chile I was 23 years old and when I left Mexico I was 50. I made my first work experiences there and saw first hand the history of these age-old peoples with their contrasts, their immense cultural wealth and their identity dramas. From Latin America, I learned the immeasurable value of life, of nature and interpersonal relationships. It was like a school of sociality. That continent gave me the sense of organic thinking, of culture becoming daily practice and history, of a religiosity that touches the deepest fibres of the heart.”

The experience of recent years at the centre of the Movement, he confesses, has enriched him with a more universal vision, as well as being a period of intense human and spiritual maturation.

“In my life, there have been some particularly bright moments lived with Chiara Lubich in which I felt her motherhood towards me.”

Only a little over two months have passed since his election as co-president and he tells us that he is living “a very strong and at the same time simple experience of God. I’ve never before felt so deeply loved by so many people. Of this I am very grateful to God.”

Asked if in his opinion something new has happened with Assembly 2014, he replied: “The Work of Mary is living a crucial moment for its future. It is a question of verifying the extent to which this first generation has really understood the charismatic gift that God has given to the Church and humanity with Chiara Lubich. Because this determines the actual level of the incarnation of the charism. It is a moment of a strong and new self-awareness that must result in a radical life on a par with the early days of the movement, even though different. It is the time of “creative fidelity”. The more faithful the more creative, and vice versa, the more creative the more faithful. Obviously, this means living out the charism on all fronts, a new apostolic outreach, and an expansion of the capacity for dialogue at 360 degrees. It seems to me that the Assembly, with its policy document and with the final touch of the message of Pope Francis, is oriented in this direction.”

As for his thoughts on possible conflicts between spiritual formation and cultural formation: “In Chiara there has never been any contrast between life and thought. She, in fact, would take up her books again immediately after a mystical experience. For me that is very significant. Chiara is the founder of the Abba School and the Sophia University Institute. Like all great founders, she was fully aware that a charism that does not become culture has no future.”

We ask, finally, what to ask for him and for the Movement: “A gift that I ask every day is that of discernment and docility to the Spirit, without fear.”

Aurora Nicosia

Korea: The Mystery of Life

Nov 19, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Cielo Lee, Young-Hee is a visiting nurse for a hospital in Seoul (Korea). The percentage of suicides among people over 80 is the highest in the world. “After reading some statistics, I began working in prevention, since 80% of my patients are over 80.” Following one negative experience with a deeply depressed patient, Cielo Lee decided to organise a course on the prevention of suicide, for 100 geriatric workers and 30 parish volunteers. “While visiting 40 patients each week with one of my colleagues we evaluated their mood and state of mind according to national health standards. Based on those results we decided to make twice-a-week visits to the 10 patients who were most at risk.” The Gatekeeper Project is a public service promoted by the government in Seoul. It operates in all the quarters of the capital for the prevention of suicides, and in close collaboration with local health services. “In this project,” Cielo Lee explains, “we also train the elderly as gate-keepers. These same-age men and women accompany the nurses visiting patients and offer helpful health advice.” Because of my desire to protect the life of even just one person, at work I shared my intentions with a religious sister, the head nurse. Then sixty of my nurse colleagues decided to attend the suicide prevention training.” One patient has suffered with a serious illness for 10 years: “When I went to his home,” she says “before going in I would pray, and I tried to listen deeply to everything he had to say. For a while now, this patient has returned to prayer and is becoming more stable.” A friend was suffering from insomnia after the death of her eldest son. She was only able to sleep with the help of sedatives. But after attending the course she has begun to care for an elderly neighbour with no family. Now she is able to sleep without the help of medication, and she is grateful that she can do something for other people. “One day the phone rang,” Cielo Lee recounts. “It was the mental health centre that I work with. The person from the centre told me that the Mayor of Seoul would be giving a prize to one person from each quarter and that I had been unanimously chosen! The next day I received a additional prize from the director of the hospital.” Members from the Focolare Movement in Seoul who attended the course wrote that it was “a precious opportunity for deepening our awareness of the mystery of life, and for going towards the existential peripheries.”

Ecclesial movements, a common and fruitful history

Nov 18, 2014 | Non categorizzato

«First of all I thank His Eminence, Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko, for having invited me to take part in this press conference. I take this opportunity to publicly thank the Pontifical Council for the Laity for having promoted this 3^rd International Meeting. With this I think that I am also expressing the feeling of many Ecclesial Movement and New Communities that enrich the Church and today’s society.

What does the Focolare Movement – and perhaps also the other Movements – expect from this Meeting?

First of all, I believe that this Meeting has been convoked at a suitable time and for many reasons: We are in the midst of the 50^th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. We find the whole Church, therefore all of us, faced with its great intuitions and teaching. Vatican II, especially for us laypeople, continues to be, and today more than ever, an encouragement and example of our role, vocation and responsibility towards the Church and the contemporary world.

Another reason for encouragement is the person of Pope Paul VI, who came to the fore on the occasion of his beatification, with his clear and often prophetical teaching, as the Pope of dialogue and the Pope of the laity.

Another great reason are the challenges that Pope Francis constantly presents to the whole Church, as an institution and the people of God. This is why us too, who belong to the Focolare Movement, feel the duty to be interrogated by his words and his choices. It’s not enough to appreciate, but we are working so that they may challenge us deeply, when it comes to strong convictions, openness and practicality.

The programme of the forthcoming 3^rd Meeting, for what we know at the moment, will go over the important demands of the Evangelii gaudium. With these Pope Francis encourages and accompanies the Church towards the widest diffusion: he makes us penetrate all the “outskirts,” for which we live, with the duty of offering – with our being and our work – the light that comes from the certainty that “God loves us immensely”.

I would like to briefly mention our General Assembly, which took place two months ago. The participants included about 500 representatives of 137 countries, of all the branches, generations and dialogues that constitute the Movement. It practically concluded last September 26^th with the private audience with Pope Francis.

On that occasion, going through the journey of the Church called to a new evangelization 50 years from the Second Vatican Council, Pope Bergoglio wanted to give three “verbs” to the Movement. I noted a perspective in these words that – I think – can inspire, spur and interest also other associations of the Church.

First: to contemplate. To contemplate God and live in the company of men and women; to persevere in mutual love, said the Pope citing a writing of our foundress Chiara Lubich, who «inspired by God in response to the signs of the times» – he said – wrote: “The great attraction of modern times: to penetrate the highest contemplation while mingling with everyone, one person alongside others.”

Second: to go out. I quote: «To go out … to generously communicate God’s love to all» with respect, gratuitousness and creativity. «In order to do this, we must become experts in that art which is called ‘dialogue’ and which is not learned cheaply. We cannot be content with half measures,» but «with God’s help we can aim high and broaden our gaze.» To go out with courage where there are «the moans of our brothers, the hurts of society and the questions of the culture of our time.»

Third: to teach. Pope Francis remembered the expression of Pope John Paul II in the Novo millennio ineunte, with which he invited the whole Church to become “the home and the school of communion” (cfr n. 43). And he added: «You have taken this instruction seriously. It is important to form, as the Gospel requires, new men and women and to that end a human school according to the measure of Jesus’ humanity, is necessary. … Without an appropriate formation of the new generations, it is illusory to think that a serious and lasting plan in service of a new humanity can be brought about.» We must form “global persons,” he said citing an expression «that Chiara Lubich coined … which is especially relevant today … men and women with the soul, the heart, the mind of Jesus and therefore capable of recognizing and interpreting the needs, the concerns and the hopes which are harboured in the heart of every person.»

These three verbs blend with the three words that emerged from the General Assembly of the Focolare. We were trying to gather the essence from the 3,650 proposals that arrived during the preparatory months from the communities of the Focolare throughout the world and to offer guidelines for the future. They are three words that synthetically indicate the commitment and perspectives of the Movement in the next years: “going outwards, together, suitably prepared.”

This upcoming 3^rd Meeting of the Ecclesial Movements and New Communities is part of a common and fruitful history, which has witnessed Movements be born, develop and give their own contribution to the Church and humanity, according to the specific charism each one possessed. Not only this. Very often, especially after the founding moment of Pentecost 1998, it has also seen various Movements and/or Communities collaborating together in various projects and on different moments.

The Pontifical Council for the Laity has always been alongside us in this working together. In this way it gave us the guarantee that what each Movement brought was needed for the fulfilment of a project for the good of the whole ecclesial body. It always watched over us with love and discernment appreciating the good and knocking down all the secondary things there could have been. Many times the Focolare Movement, with its charism of unity, felt sustained in promoting all kinds of meetings that at times were complex, as for example the youth day meetings or the Laity Meetings, like the one held in Korea…

Following this history, we hope that the upcoming Meeting may mark a step of maturity. May the reflections, exchanging of views, the sharing of successes and failures, the experiences and projects create the conditions for God, Lord of history, to draw from this not only fruits of communion and mutual enrichment, but the fruit of making everyone, all together, focus better, to look and always live with renewed joy for the only great goal of the Church of Christ: “That they may all be one … Father” (Jn 17:21). This is “God’s dream.” We hope to be able to respond to the deepest longings of men and women today and help make humanity one big family. In this way we prepare ourselves to meet all the participants at the Meeting.»

From the speech of Maria Voce at the press conference presenting the 3^rd Meeting of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities

Third World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities

Nov 18, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Stanislaw Rylko, Department President of the department together with the secretary, Bishop Josef Clemens, presented the Third World Meeting in a press conference in the Vatican. The statement on the expectations on the part of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities will be relayed by Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement and Jean-Luc Moens, International PR Director of Emmanuel Community

This will be the third step towards “growth toward ecclesiastical maturity.” The first meeting was held in 1998 and again in 2006, in conjunction with the two big meetings of the Movements with John Paul I – who defined the phenomenon of the movements as “a stream of grace,” affirming that from these movements the Church expects “mature fruits of communion and commitment” – and with Benedict XVI, who regarded this itinerary a “healthy provocation for the Church, a creative minority that is decisive for the future of humanity.”

Pope Francis met the Movements and New Communities on 18 May 2013, and now the 3^rd World Meeting will draw inspiration from his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, in which he calls the movements the “true protagonists of a new step of the Church’s evangelical mission as a manifestation of joy, reaching out towards the geographic and existential peripheries of our world, side by side with all the poor, abandoned and isolated people – the bitter product of the culture of marginalisation prevalent today.”

Before the journalists, Cardinal Stanisłau Ryłko expressed what many are wondering about today. How come, “in a world that radically rejects God, there are still so many men and women, youth and adults who discover the joy of being Christians” and “choose Christ and his Gospel as the unwavering compass of their existence?” The variety and richness of the new charisms “offer pedagogical paths” of Christian life that are so “amazingly effective, as to be able to change the life of people and arouse an extraordinary evangelical fervour.” And with “their missionary creativity, they are capable of finding new ways of testifying to and announcing the Gospel.”

Bishop Josef Clemens, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, commented on the theme of the three-day meeting: context and various aspects of evangelisation, purification from obstacles and impediments, dynamism and collaboration between charisms, role of the women and the implementation of the inclusion process of the poor.

Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement, stressed how much the Second Vatican Council today is for the laity, an “incentive and mirror” of their own vocation and responsibility towards the Church and contemporary society.” In expressing the expectations of the laity, she hoped that the Congress would “mark a forward step towards maturity,” that “reflections and confrontation, communion of success and failures, experiences and project set the conditions for God, Lord of history, and may draw not only fruits of communion and mutual enrichment,” but orient all to “look to and live always with renewed joy, for the only great objective of Christ’s Church: Father, that all may be one… since this is “God’s dream.” We hope to be able to respond to the deepest expectations of men and women today and contribute to making humanity one great family.”

“We want to progress along the path of pastoral conversion” the Pope is asking of us, and above all to “make an experience of communion,” remarked Jean-Luc Moens of Emmanuel Community who underlined that “we are eager to discover how the Holy Spirit works in the others. The meeting will be a unique occasion for mutual discovery.”

More details: www.laici.va

See press conference 

An art form called “dialogue”

Nov 16, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Sophia University: Chiara Lubich’s cultural project and Latin America

Nov 15, 2014 | Non categorizzato

The preferential option for the poor, the painful journey of liberation theology, the current religious crisis, “do-it-yourself” faith and the lack of meaning. But also inequality is a lack of relationship. These were only a few of the topics discussed by a group of university professors and graduate students in search of a new cultural perspective for Latin America during the three-day meeting in Brazil at Mariapolis Ginetta (October 31-November 2, 2014). Examples joined with questions of witnesses and spiritual thirst, the promotion of native cultures and African descendents. Days during which the typically pluralistic and social calling of the country continued to surface.

Among the presenters, Dr Piero Coda, theologian and president of Sophia University Institute, Loppiano, Italy, who has seen many Latin American students, including Brazilians, studying at Sophia. He affirmed: “During this monumental turning point of epochal change, of the vision of man and of the world, there is an historic urgency to present the contribution of the charism that has matured over decades, the charism of unity that was given to Chiara Lubich.”

During the 50 years that the Focolare Movement has been in Brazil and Latin America, many projects have begun at several universities. Fraternity was often proposed as a category that brings renewal to the different disciplines, from politics to economy to pedagogy.

Through the intense exchange of experiences, proposals and reflections that characterized the three-day meeting, a new perspective was opened, a step to be taken: that a university centre under the same inspiration as Sophia should begin in Latin America. It would begin small, with specifically Latin American qualities.

Also participating was Maria Clara Bingemer, from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC), and Argentinian political scientist Juan Esteban Belderrain who put his finger on some of the deep wounds of the continent and their causes, such as the lack of social cohesian.

The cultural proposal offered by Sophia has a specific feature, which is in harmony with the leanings of the Latin American Church and with its roots in the original inspiration and methodology presented by Chiara Lubich in 2001. In recent years Sophia has been an experimental laboratory, as ex-students testify: “here students and teachers strive to link theory and life, focusing on relationships at every level and aiming for transdisciplinarity in answer to the fragmentation among the disciplines.” “For Chiara thought and life were never in opposition to one another,” remarked Focolare co-president Jesus Moran during a recent interview. Chiara was “devoted to the mind of Jesus” as the founder of the Abba School and Sophia University Institute. Like all the great founders, she was fully aware that a charism that didn’t become culture had no future. Culture is always life.”

Currently the students body at Sophia University Institute is comprised of people from 30 countries. Such an international community provides a further opportunity to be formed into world citizens, where the specific culture of each opens itself to more universal dimensions. This project has turned out to be in tune with the recent trio of Pope Francis which he presented in his videomessaggio on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Loppiano Mariapolis. He recalled Sophia precisely as a place in which new men and new women can be formed “who, aside from being opportunely prepared in the academic disciplines, are at the same time steeped in the wisdom which flows from the love of God.”

Focolare Movement: New Logo

Nov 12, 2014 | Non categorizzato

“In the year 2000,” explain Walter Kostner and Margarida Nobre, who were entrusted with the task of acquiring a new logo, “Chiara Lubich had indicated  ‘Mary, Mother of all Peoples’, in which she appears to gather everyone under her mantle, as the image which could in some way represent the Focolare Movement.” The new logo wishes to express this concept: the blue symbol evokes Mary with her arms open to humanity, in order to sustain it, to comfort and dry its tears and to lead it towards heaven. The smaller symbol, which has the same form, represents the Focolare Movement in its quest to ‘repeat’ Mary, while the colour of the flame signifies the presence of the Risen One among all the components, the effect of which is putting into practice the commandment of Jesus to love one another. Two German communication professionals, Andrea Fleming and Ludger Elfen, coordinated the graphic design contributions from around the world. The final version was created by Andrea Re. Considering the expansion of the Focolare throughout the world, the logo has been created in 44 languages. The adoption of the image – which from this point onwards will identify the Focolare in all its expressions through the various types of media (apps, social network, websites, multimedia, posters, leaflets, events, letterhead) – also had an impact on its official international website. While the multi-lingual website remains the same in its structure, the overall look and feel has been restyled thanks to Gabriele De Sanctis who created the new graphic design, Marius Teleman who, in collaboration with Andrea Baldas, implemented the new theme and template, and Marija Bonnici who coordinated the project. So what’s new? The colour scheme has changed throughout to be in harmony with the blue and yellow-orange hues of the logo; the multimedia-gallery is visible on the home page; the feature boxes in the side-columns have a more stylised look. Since the navigation throughout the website has remained the same, we hope that our online visitors will continue to feel at home!

Paul VI and Chiara Lubich

Nov 11, 2014 | Non categorizzato

An event which falls 50 years after the first audience granted by Pope Paul VI to Chiara Lubich (31 October 1964) and a short time after the beatification of the pope. An opportunity to illustrate, through a wide selection of contributions, the thoughts of Paul VI on the ecclesial movements and their significance in relation to the vision of the Church given by the Second Vatican Council. This was the focus of the Study Days (Castel Gandolfo, 7-8 November), which were opened by Maria Voce, president of the Focolare Movement, and Prof. Don Angelo Maffeis president of the Paul VI Institute, and saw a succession of talks by scholars, specialists in different disciplines. This great Pope has played an important role in the history of the Focolare Movement: “We are indebted to him for several reasons – said the president Maria Voce – first of all for his luminous teaching that marked in a clear and strong way the formation of those coming to our movement.” But also because, she continues, “in the exercise of his Petrine ministry, Pope Paul VI was instrumental in recognizing, promoting and also for identifying ways which were juridically feasible to express the specific character of this new work in the church.” The talks by Professors Andrea Riccardi and Alberto Monticone offered a general historical background on the birth of ecclesial movements, their novelty in the 20^th Century and the maturation of the vision and the role of the laity. An analytical investigation of the two figures followed, on the basis of unpublished documents. Lucia Abignente (Chiara Lubich Center), starting from Chiara Lubich’s first meeting with Mgr. Montini in ’53 through Giulia Folonari, and looking at also delicate moments in her history up to ’64, based on diaries and unpublished writings, showed what that first meeting was for Chiara, in a period when the very secular nature of the nascent Focolare Movement was in danger. It is important for the members of the Focolare themselves, therefore, to realize who Paul VI was. Chiara speaks of him as “the father of the Opera.” Prof. Paolo Siniscalco was then given the task of analyzing how important the Focolare Movement was for Paul VI in keeping alive the spirit of Christianity in Eastern Europe, and how the Pope encouraged the concrete initiatives in this area. Ecumenical dialogue, another issue of central importance, was examined by Dr. Joan Back. Suffice it to recall the story that ties Paul VI, Chiara Lubich and Patriarch Athenagoras. The lawyer Adriana Cosseddu pointed out the difficulty for completely new forms like the realities of the movements, to be recognised within the Code of Canon Law (1917). It seemed that an organisation with different vocations in it was not possible because … canon law had not foreseen it! “The Pope wanted to take care of this himself, personally, and that is how approval was reached,” Chiara said in an interview with Città Nuova in 1978. Prof. Albert Lo Presti, director of the Igino Giordani Centre, offered a new perspective of the concept of the social doctrine of the Church in Giordani – considered the co-founder of the Focolare Movement – in relation to the social teaching of Pope Paul VI. Prof. Piero Coda, rector of Sophia University, crowned it all with a theological reflection which, on the background of the encyclical Ecclesiam suam, manifesto of the pontificate of Paul VI, and the mystical experience lived by Chiara in the years ’49 -’50, highlighted the profound harmony and synergy between the Petrine ministry of Pope Paul VI and the charism of unity of Chiara Lubich. “It was particularly rewarding for me to see the Focolare Movement and its founder, through the eyes of Paul VI – Fabio Ciardi, one of the participants at the conference, writes. This enormous figure, who had a wide perspective on the Church and society of his time, also had a special eye on this work of God, experiencing at the same time joys and doubts, praise and concerns, hopes and enthusiasm …  Looking at things from his perspective we can see new aspects of this charism and how it developed in the Church.” At the conclusion of this work  Prof. José-Román Flecha Andres,, compared the mystical experience of Chiara to that of the Spanish mystics of the 16^th Century, Teresa of Avila in particular, and remembering how they had understood the need to make a gift of their inner life to the whole Church, said: “Here we have been able to see what, thanks to the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, was accomplished in the life of Chiara, of this Movement.”

Focolare: On the side of 43 Mexican students

Nov 8, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Photo: Jorge Mejia Peralta / Flickr

“We are living on top of a cemetery, and we demand justice, ” says the slogan of the protest which led thousands of students to take the streets. In fact, from 5 November in Mexico, all the schools have started to strike. A student revolt which in these three days have asked the government to make a greater effort to search for 43 of their peers, who disappeared in the state of Guerrero last 26 September.

The mayor of Iguala (the municipality where the students disappeared) José Luis Abarca and his wife, María de los Ángeles Pineda were arrested, accused of being the persons responsible for the students’ disappearance. While they were being interrogated on the mysterious disappearance, also the Focolare Movementin Mexico asked the government to further clarify the facts.

“The violence and injustice committed against the disappeared students and against the thousands who have disappeared over the last years in our country are things we cannot accept and we strongly denounce this with indignation, while we demand that similar events no longer be perpetrated. We are deeply moved and involved as persons and as a society,” they said in the press release.

They moreover invited all to take a stronger commitment to build a reconciled country:  “Peace is not built through violence. To regenerate ourselves as a more humane society we have to respond with charity and forgiveness. Not with gestures of indifference and tolerance, but with the commitment to work concretely for the common good.” The declaration targets therefore, to transform the hearts of people first of all, and especially those who govern: “A legally constituted state cannot suffice, we need to transform the hearts of those who make up the institutions.”

The appeal addressed “all the people who profess a faith, whatever it may be, and all the people of good will, so that, united, we maintain and nurture the commitment to be builders of peace wherever we live and work.”

In brief, they suggested a “Time-Out for peace,” to the Mexican people and to call attention to the tragic situation in Mexico and in all the countries suffering from violence: “…A minute of silence and prayer for peace, every day at 12 noon, as a visible and concrete sign of fraternal solidarity towards every person in suffering.”

The Focolare Movement spread throughout the world adheres to the “minute for peace,” in support of the Mexican people with the hope that respect for life, search for truth and justice prevail over all forms of the abuse of power.

Pope to the Bishops, Friends of the Focolare: Gospel witness way to unity

Nov 7, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Pope Francis received the participants in the 33rd Ecumenical Meeting of Bishops, Friends of the Focolare Movement, this Friday. The meeting opened on November 3rd, and concluded with the audience at the Vatican. For four days, nearly forty Catholic and non-Catholic Church leaders from nearly thirty different countries met to explore the theme: “The Eucharist, mystery of communion”. In remarks to the participants in the conference, Pope Francis praised the gathering as a “bright and attractive sign” of the common faith in Our Lord, Jesus Christ. “In fact,” said Pope Francis, “if we, as Christians, desire to respond in a meaningful way to the many problems and dramas of our time, then we need to speak and act as brothers, so that everyone can easily recognize that we belong to Christ, the One Lord.” The Holy Father also renewed his appeal on behalf of all those suffering religious persecution, and denouncing the lack of effective protections for authentic religious liberty around the world. “The fact that people in many countries lack the freedom to express religion publicly and to live openly according to the requirements of Christian ethics; the persecution of Christians and other minorities; the sad phenomenon of terrorism; the plight of refugees caused by war and other reasons; the challenges of fundamentalism and on the other extreme, exaggerated secularism; all these really challenge our conscience of Christians and pastors,” he said. Pope Francis concluded saying that all these challenges are a call seek with renewed commitment, perseverance and patience, the ways that lead to unity – “that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21), and in order that we ourselves might be full of confidence and courage. Source: Vatican Radio

A family open to the world

Nov 5, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Fiorella & Andrea Turatti

The Focolare community in Honduras

The Turatti Family

Schönstatt: A Hundred Year Mission

Nov 4, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Fr Kentenich

June 10, 1999: Chiara Lubich and Andrea Riccardi visiting Schönstatt

Volunteers, contemplatives in the midst of the world

Nov 1, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Photo © Giancarlo Nuzzolo

Photo © Giancarlo Nuzzolo

Maria Ghislandi, Maria Voce, Paolo Mottironi, Jesús Morán. Photo © Giancarlo Nuzzolo

Paolo Mottironi, Patience Mollè Lobè – Photo © Giancarlo Nuzzolo

Reformation Day 2014

Oct 31, 2014 | Non categorizzato

International Congress 2013

Kathrin (first row left) with Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti and a group of Swiss focolarini – November 2012

Chiara Lubich in Grossmünster (2001)

Myanmar: A light begins to shine in a small village

Oct 29, 2014 | Non categorizzato

“I thought my life would end up like everyone else’s, without any challenges, but now I’ve been ‘awakened’ from a great dream because, during this youth camp I received so much strength and courage” (William, 20 years old). “Now I know what it means to love: serving others. I made many new friends and it was one of the happiest moments of my life” (Maung, 21 years old). “These three days were like a vitamin pill for carrying on toward my future” (Benjamin, 18 years old). These are only a few of the impressions following a youth camp that was held in Kanazogone, a tiny village in southern Myanmar (October 3-5, 2014). The idea began with the Youth for a United World from Yangon (also known as Rangoon, capital of Myanmar since 2005). “We took off in a bus, 23 young people from Yangon, then continued by boat since the road didn’t reach this remote village. We were welcomed by a small community in this mostly Christian region, which is under the guidance of a priest focolarino, Father Carolus. Another 60 young people joined us from the surrounding areas. For many it was the first time attending a meeting of this kind. Right from the start the young people listened with attention and embraced our message seriously.” The programme focused on the figure of Blessed Chiara Luce Badano. “When we began watching the video of her beatification,” the young people explained, “the rains were falling so noisely that we couldn’t hear the audio. So we stopped and improvised games until the rain stopped. . .  The presenters proposed that we prayt together asking Chiara Luce to make it possible for us to hear the video. Shortly afterwards the rain suddenly diminished significantly. But the great miracle was the testimony of her life that reached the heart of each young person. It was a solemn moment, like when we spoke of peace: peace within ourselves when we forgive others, peace with those around us, concluding with a time-out for world peace. Many of the young people made a decision to begin loving the people around them, especially the closest people like their families.”  “We wanted to do something useful for the village,” they recounted. “Even though it was such a hot afternoon, we went with the tools brought by the young people to remove the weeds that were growing along the river in the forest. We worked in the mud, with snakes and mosquitos everywhere. . . Some were amazed that they were doing such work, but everyone was overflowing with joy! And we left a beautiful garden behind. In the evening we feasted. We invited all the families and thanked the women who had cooked our meals for those two days. Many came and joined us in spite of their shyness.”  “Even though there was no electricity – except for the generator – no telephone nor internet. . . oh, how difficult it was to leave that place!” The return trip to Yangon will never be forgotten, because of the group’s joy that was expressed in loud laughter and endless singing during the 15 hours on the bus.” “When we reached home, with the excuse that one of us would be travelling abroad for studies, we immediately organised a reunion that same week, to share photos and know more about the life of Chiara Luce. The atmosphere of those days in Kanazogone returned and our new friends also expressed a desire to imitate her.”

Living the Gospel: Mending a broken friendship

Oct 28, 2014 | Non categorizzato

At the restaurant “Following an argument with an old friend, he, feeling offended, decided to end our friendship. I wrote him a letter asking for forgiveness, saying that perhaps, quite unintentionally, I had hurt his feelings. I didn’t get an answer back. Through some mutual friends, I came to know that he was adamant in keeping his distance: a wall had gone up between us. I started being afraid of meeting him, and sometimes on the street, I would change my direction if I saw him coming from afar. Until one Saturday evening. My wife and I decided to have dinner in a restaurant. We had already ordered our meal when, at the door, I saw precisely that person together with his wife. As soon as he too became aware of my presence, he hesitated, as if he wanted to leave. My wife and I looked at each other for a moment: we immediately understood one another. We went towards them with a smile and invited them to sit at our table. He accepted, at first he was quite perplexed, but then he was clearly happy of the invitation. The evening passed peacefully. It took so little for our relationship to go back to what it was before, as if nothing ever happened.” .R. S. – France Miracle? “During a written exam one of my classmates, considered by all as the worst in the class, asked me insistently to allow him to copy the assignment. I did not think it was right so I didn’t pass my work to him. After the class he wanted to take his revenge on me so my friends suggested that we inform the teacher about it. But instead, I had another tactic. I went to him and I asked him: ‘What would you have gained by fooling the professors? If you want, we can study together starting from the very beginning.’ He accepted. Now he is quite diligent in his studies. Everyone told me that I had worked a miracle… but I know that these are just the effects of love.” E. – Cameroun The terrorist “I’m a primary school teacher and I’m often sent to teach in the mountain villages, where communist terrorists usually hide. I had already experienced an encounter with a group of them, but I was able to hide among the rocks. But once, they kidnapped me and took me to their camp. I remember the endless days during which I underwent long interrogations. Despite my fear, I tried to answer them with much respect. To one of them who had tried for hours to indoctrinate me on the socialist ideology, I objected saying that first of all we must change ourselves if we want to change the structures of power that seem to be unjust: ‘What can change us is the love we have for one another.’ Maybe my words touched him. The fact is, after the interrogation, he set me free.  From that day onwards I always continued to pray for him. Recently I recognized him in a news broadcast on television which showed a terrorist who had given up his weapons to the military, leaving his group.” N. – Philippines

Hungary, a “dice” for future citizens

Oct 27, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Jánoshalma is a town of about 10,000 inhabitants in southern Hungary, where about 3% of the population belong to the Rom ethnic group and social integration is a burning issue. It was the last town that conferred honorary citizenship to Chiara Lubich while she was still alive, in February 2008. Within this context, last 7 October the Dice of Peace installation was inaugurated in Chiara’s birthplace, Trent. The Dice was installed in the park in the centre of the city facing the Town Hall, almost like a symbol of the city’s aspiration, close to the playgrounds created some years earlier with the contribution of the local Focolari community together with the Municipality, upon the request of some children who had told the Mayor that they did not have a nice playground. The proposal, launched by the Focolari Movement, was accepted by the Municipality. The building of the Dice, the sides of which are 120 cm high, with the load-bearing framework the height of a person, in a diagonal position, was the fruit of the generosity of many: the company that did most of the works, for example, offered to do it for free…. The originality of this huge dice is that it can be “cast,” exactly the way small dice are cast: it can be turned in various directions and inspire people to live up to the phrase which pops up… The inauguration was attended by 150 people, among which were various elementary and high school students and even toddlers frequenting the kindergartens. The representatives of the Catholic School, who for many years have used the dice in their classes, had proposed it to the entire town. There were also the gen4, children living the Focolari spirituality, who narrated to the crowd some of their experiences on how they try to love everyone. The next day, some children on their way to school, changed their itinerary in order to pass by the dice and give it a “turn.” For those who want to practice a bit of the Hungarian language, these are the first six phrases of the dice: megbocsátok a másiknak – forgive the others meghallgatom a másikat – listen to others mindenkit szeretek – I love everybody elsőként szeretek – I am the first to love szeretem a mellettem lévőt – we love one another szeretem a másikat – I love the others

EoC: work as a vocation

Oct 26, 2014 | Non categorizzato

«Last year I was fortunate to have partecipated in a workshop of the Economy of Communion in Loppiano. There my eyes were opened: up to that moment I was still in the process of deciding on “what shall I do”, without asking myself “who am I”. I understood that work is a vocation: I had, therefore, to find my vocation, that which would make me happy.

I was concluding my university studies in biomedical engineering. In October, 2013 I graduated from the Polytechnic University of Turin, after presenting my thesis at the Polytechnic University of Lausanne in Switzerland. I spent 5 years at the Polytechnic, lessons 8 hours a day. I would study at night, spending entire days without building any true relationships with my colleagues. In certain famous environments, individualism is very strong, there is the fear of being overtaken and the professors also transmit the “anxiety of being the top”.

After many sacrifices I was going to graduate on schedule, having achieved the highest grades. There was a big probability that I would also be granted the doctorate in Switzerland with a high salary, a house by the lake and great friends who were waiting for me there. It was a fundamental moment in my life, wherein I could decide on very important things for my future.

But something frightened me: the attachment to a career and to money. I wanted to have the instruments neccesary to be able to work, I would say, “against the current”. During times of crisis, young people like me have a difficult time in finding work and I didn’t want to close myself up in my career without looking at anyone else. It was with this state of mind that I arrived at the EoC workshop full of many questions. I didn’t find all the answers, but I found an atmosphere of openness, where entrepreneurs , professors and youth were all together, all equal, as we looked at Italy today with all its challenges.

https://www.focolare.org/it/focolare-worldwide/asia/filippine/I understood that having a lot of money would have been the first obstacle to my happiness,  which for me means something entirely different. This was confirmed when I went to the Philippines, before beginning my doctorate that I knew I was granted while I was on the plane!  This was a social trip that I had already planned, wherein I experienced first-hand a culture that was quite different from mine.

I arrived right at the moment of the strongest typhoon in the world,  supertyphoon Yolanda, in Novembre 2013. The Filipino people, even if they are often struck by similar tragedies, had that dignity that made me also feel that … I had everything I needed to be happy! I understood the difference between “poverty” and “misery”. “Poverty” is what I saw in the Philippines, whereas “misery” is poverty without trust, without hope, which I saw in the faces of many of my Italian friends due to the (economic) crisis. Here in Europe depression and the psychologists enter into the picture… It’s true, there is a crisis. But we still have a roof over our heads and even daily meals. The dignity that I discovered in the Philippines is a lesson that will be useful for my working career.

Because of this, I gave up a career in Switzerland and now I am working in Loppiano, in a company of the Economy of Communion that was started to form young people not only on a relational-social level but also through work. Here I don’t work as an engineer, but I do manual labor, since automatic equipment does not exist. I work with clay, using my hands. And I feel that, in order to be a good engineer, after years spent studying, I also need to know what an ordinaruy labourer does. Maybe for some it seems like I am wasting my time, but I would like to be that engineer who, when he looks at the labourers, knows that he is looking at persons with their dignity, and who puts them at the center of his own work».  (Maria Antonietta Casulli, 25 years old, Italy)

Focolare Priests Assembly

Oct 21, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Give a response, along with the entire Focolari Movement, to the demands of the Church and humanity. Experiment on new roads to go towards all, fully aware of their own identity and the specific contribution they are called to give: «The existential periphery is also our sick, the elderly, those who have abandoned the ministry… the periphery is the Church itself when it does not comply with God’s will.» This, in short is what emerged from the “five intense days, full of communion and great joy,” in the words of some who described the experience they lived at the centre of Castelgandolfo in the assembly of the priests-focolarini. The programme consisted of the approval of the  priest-focolarini statutes and mission, a one-day retreat and the report on the past six years and new prospects. There were also work group sessions on specific themes and the election of the new director. The last day was dedicated to the goals targeted for the next six years, and the dialogue with Focolari President, Maria Voce, and Co-President, Jesús Morán. The morning meditations with selected thoughts of Chiara Lubich, helped to go deeper into the specific calling of the priest-focolarino. Particular focus was given to the figure of Fr. Silvano Cola who had helped Chiara to found this branch of the Movement, when it still had to be defined. In 1965, during a first meeting with the diocesan priest-focolarini, Chiara had summarized her views on the priest-focolarino, as one who would always strive to achieve the prayer of Jesus, “Father, that all may be one,” and that «he will not rest until this becomes a reality in his parish […]. And therefore must not be content […] only with the good members of the parish who go to Church, but try to maintain a relationship with all […] and who must keep moving, and not be stagnant.» Chiara spoke about focolarini who set their lives in conformity with the Church and explained that the «priest-focolare is like that salt which has to penetrate into the diocese to make it a tasty soup, meaning to say, a “fully ‘salted’ diocese.” But if this salt remains an end in itself, it would be a nonconformity to one’s vocation. When the report on the past six years, was presented, the priorities targeted in the previous Assembly were analysed, among which was the relationship with the new generations, family life with the elderly and sick priests, and the spread of the spirituality of communion within the Church. The dialogue which followed testified to the commitment of all and mainly questioned three aspects: education, community life, and the need to go out. They were reminded of the keywords of the targets advocated by the general Assembly: go out together, and be well prepared and strongly fine-tuned to what Pope Francis said to the Focolarini in the audience of 26 September. Then followed the work groups and plenary session, during which the agenda for the next six years was laid out. Imbued with this reality, the assembly voted and the votes converged on Antonio Bacelar from Portugal, who said he accepted «with God’s grace, and was ready to give my life for each of you». It was a very touching moment. Fr. Antonio confided: «What I desire deeply is to discover more and more the meaning of our Marian priesthood. A lot of queries will arise like “how will things go?” We shall let God guide us, with Jesus in our midst we shall find the way. Humanly speaking, I should be overwhelmed but with you all by my side, it will be an extraordinary adventure.» To end, he remembered a citation of St. Teresa of Avila which Bacelar himself recalled the day before: «If we love, we shall accomplish much in a short time, without effort.»

Chiara Lubich: “This is how I saw the Pope”

Oct 19, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Audience with Pope Paul VI (1975)

Paul VI, the Pope of the Council

Oct 18, 2014 | Non categorizzato

“At 80 years of age and in the 15th year of his pontificate, Paul VI may look back on his pontifical work, amid social and intellectual turmoil, as a rejuvenation process of the Catholic Church.  […] Pope Montini has received the Second Vatican Council’s message to ‘update’ itself in order to act against the frenzy of the “death of God,” “irreligious Christianity,” and archaic conservatism, a work that entails patience, foresight, courage, updating of the main pontifical institutes and the creation of new dicasteries and services, among which  are the “Iustitia et Pax” and “Pontifical council for the laity.” These and other universal organisations trigger a growing cooperation of bishops and clergy, religious monks and nuns, and laymen and laywomen, in a sense of ecclesiastic renewal: which sprouts from a new communitarian spirit, and fruit of evangelical love which puts an end to individualism and religious classism, and unites the people in the parishes, and local and world institutions at the level of the Church and society in order to fulfill God’s will on earth as in heaven. All of these remind us that the Christian follows God’s will whether in prayer or at work. The Fathers of the Church considered the faithful in prayer, also when they carry out God’s will in all their undertakings. This is why social action – service for the common good – if performed with one’s mind turned towards our Father in heaven, acquires a characteristic and outcome of authentic religiosity.  Because of this, when speaking to a group of bishops from Cuba, Paul VI reminded them that the Church continually invites the faithful to be “new men” in justice, truth, and charity, so that it can educate the social conscience of the faithful, favour active cooperation towards the good, teach them to overcome their own egoism and never resign themselves to being “inferior citizens.” This is the inspiration to stimulate a social reform, the dawning of a “new world,” that the young G. B. Montini had foreseen ever since those years when he worked for the Catholic paper of Brescia, “La Fionda,” where he advocated a free school of thought to counter the newborn fascism. With such perspectives, broadness of mind and modernity which explain the development of Christian social movements, and which even non-religious sociologists acknowledge, the Pope reminded the Diplomatic Corps of the most audacious principles of equality regardless of origin or race, in the exercise of religious and civil rights and in condemning racism, torture and all violence towards political opponents. The Pope’s interventions manifest that truth which even we, Catholics, forget: that is, that religion is life, that God is life […]. Love: central theme of the Holy Father’s life and work; the central themes of Christianity are the creation and redemption. He has with love, brought closer to the church, individuals and multitudes, separated churches and hostile states. And in the field of ecumenism, his activities in silence rather than acclaimed, have in fact led to the return of churches, for which we comprehend why Athenagoras in a prophetic and familiar way, called him: Paul the second.” (Excerpt of: Paul VI the Pope of the Council by Igino Giordani, “Città Nuova,” 10.7.1978, p. 26.)

Charisms in Communion: A young religious recounts

Oct 17, 2014 | Non categorizzato

Speaking recently at the Focolare’s General Assembly (September 2014) Alessandro, a young Religious who shares the spirituality of unity with other young Religious, had this to say: “How great! I was recently in contact again with Jacopo, Gianluca, Alessandro, Alberto, Matilde, Jenny and many others! And happy memories of that beautiful experience we shared during that last meeting in Loppiano returned to my mind. I hope I can see you all again soon! I feel a strong need and desire to be in communion with them for a while. Do you want to know who those people are? You’re right, I didn’t tell you who I was talking about. They’re all men and women Religious from many different charisms, with whom we are in constant contact, with whom I live in a great friendship that always fills my heart.” At that meeting over a hundred young men and women Religious from 36 countries and belonging to 56 Religious families, gathered around the slogan: Yes! We choose the Gospel. The meeting was prepared with much enthusiasm in view of 2015, the year that will be dedicated to consecrated life, but it will also be one further step on a journey by people who have chosen to follow the Gospel that reaches beyond the diversity of charisms. The presence of Cardinal Braz de Avis, Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Apostolic Life, highlighted the importance of their meeting. On that occasion “Don João” as he likes to be called, said: “The Pope loves you and our congregation is your home.” Alessandro went on to say: “It was the Lord puting us together, making us experience the joy of donating our charisms to one another. It was just beautiful and answered our deep need: that of having other young consecrated people with whom we could share simple things, concrete things, everyday things from our consecrated life. We found out that we have the same moments of difficulty and darkness, and we told each other how we try to overcome them. Sharing those experiences in order to live them together was like taking a deep breath, like opening the windows of the heart not only onto our own charisms, but on all the charisms of the Church, indeed, on the whole world! That universal breath made us fly high!”   Alessandro’s experience seems to echo what Pope Francis said during the general audience in St Peter’s Square on October 1, 2014: “Woe, then, if these gifts become a reason for envy and division! As the Apostle Paul reminds us in his First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12, all charisms are important in God’s eyes and, at the same time, no one is irreplaceable. This means that in the Christian community we are in need of one another, and every gift received is acted fully when it is shared with brothers, for the good of all. This is the Church! And when the Church expresses herself in communion, in the variety of charisms, she cannot err.”

The Philippines: Feeling at Home

Oct 13, 2014 | Non categorizzato

“Chiara Lubich left us the family spirit as a heritage, and being open to humanity. This is the magna charta of our local community at Dumaguete, a central region of the Visayas in the Philippines. There have been so many occasions to experience it. We got to know about the situation of a mother and her baby who needed a house to live in for an undetermined period of time. We opened our home to them, without thinking of the consequences. To give them the best welcome we prepared everything, and tried to know more about the culture of their country of origin. A month after their arrival we realised that this would be a big challenge, and we would have to change many of our habits. We both still remembered the discomfort of the previous experience. The mother, nervous and full of hatred, had doubts about God’s love. The child was more and more restless, violent and capricious. When the situation become impossible to bear, we turned to Jesus on the cross, who seemed to say: “ If you do not love me, who will?” This gave us the courage to move on. We understood that we had to take up a dialogue with them in order to love them more concretely, for example, cooking their favourite dishes, or carrying out the most suitable activities. We felt that it was important for the child to go to school and the mother to find some little job. So we did all we could; each suggested some job possibilities, and through a communion of goods we managed to pay for some necessities like the child’s school uniform. Some even took turns to take care of the child while the mother was at work. This was a source of great joy. The two were invited to birthdays and parties of the members of the community, and they found a circle of friends, and soon said that they felt “at home.”  With time, through everyone’s love, they began to acknowledge God’s love. The mother had the chance to start a new life, and rent a flat – which we furbished together – and find their independence. Another episode regarded another couple, when the husband was diagnosed with cancer at an advanced stage. Only the wife had a stable income, but they immediately became poor when the treatment began. The community tried to love them concretely: not only with funds, but also in terms of time and trying to gain knowledge on how to take care of a sick person like him. When he become bedridden, the sisters of the Congregation of the Poor of St Francis offered to bring him Holy Communion daily. We lived the entire vicissitude with the couple up to the end. During the funeral, the community took care of the ceremonies, the preparations in Church and the funeral. There was a strong family atmosphere. Our daughter’s friend came to our place while some adults and young people were preparing an activity. It was something new for her, to see how an adult showed great respect and belief in the ideas of the youth, something uncommon in the environment she came from. She told us that before she met the gen (young people of the Movement), her life was ‘a disaster’. She didn’t take school seriously, and made use of drugs. At a certain point my daughter, who is her best friend, had moved to another city to study, but the other gen continued to stay close to her. Now we have taken her in, and slowly she has started to change, even up to the point of improving her performance at school and has stopped consuming drugs.”

War and peace in a school

Oct 11, 2014 | Non categorizzato

“I work in a school in an underprivileged area. One of the experiences I had lived at the end of the year was a confirmation of how each of us can build unity in his own workplace. An ugly episode had happened, involving a professor against the school Principal and other colleagues. While I was taking down the minutes of a school council, there was a moment of conflict. The police arrived, the ambulance, etc. and there was a very explosive atmosphere.  Injunctions were served, there were threats to sue, complaints… It was a very negative moment, colleagues were taking sides with one party or the other, at times making mischief and then each going his own way. I felt really uneasy, the report I had to make was really tough, and I tried only to describe the facts. I tried to listen to everyone without prejudice. I felt I had to do something to mend the relationships. The various parties trusted me, seeing how I had worked during the year and because of my relationships with the students, the families and colleagues. I was in this state, just waiting for an occasion when the School Principal asked me to do something to calm down everyone and bring peace back. At this point I went to pray before Jesus in the Eucharist and asked him to make me his spokesperson, since I knew I was not capable of resolving the situation with my own resources. So, with great apprehension, I called the colleague who was involved and who risked getting fired. An idealist with a great sense of justice, and in my view, very honest; he wasn’t a believer but was in search, and with whom I had built a deep relationship based on common convictions. The minute he saw my concern over the situation, he loosened up. We spoke about his life, the motivations behind all that had happened, and he said he was willing to take back his words and ask excuse for some of his attitudes, and certainly not in defence of his principles. I then went to the School Principal, and also on this occasion tried to listen and share. At the end they met and cleared things with one another, to dispel the many misunderstanding of the past. After other encounters the situation was resolved. It was a great relief to all, and a chance to start anew and look ahead. My colleague told me: ‘I want to thank you above all because I managed to free myself from the grudges and I was able to forgive, in a civil manner, that is, I managed to move on.” On my part instead, I knew I had to thank God for his love and mercy.’  (G. B. – Italy)

Holland: Freedom and the West

Oct 10, 2014 | Non categorizzato

“In Holland there are no wars, no poverty like in other countries of the world, we do not have natural disasters nor the persecution of Christians or of other peoples. We live in a free country where we can do and say whatever we want. And perhaps this freedom was at that moment my greatest enemy. ” Thus begins the story of Laura, a young Dutch girl who helped in the organisation of the 35th National Day for the Catholic youth of Holland. A festival with live music, stands and the sharing of experiences: this year, for the first time, it lasted for 2 days, and was hosted by the little town of the Focolare in Marienkroon (Nieuwkuijk), in a picturesque landscape in the woods. 700 young people arrived there on the weekend of June 28 and 29. “It was a really nice festival, full of joy and sunshine, very informal – continued Laura – The music groups played, someone was eating candy floss or attending a workshop, there was always something to do or experience.” During the preparation, the national television Talpa, contacted the organizers. It was a question of participating in a reality show in which an actor and a singer visit different groups in the Netherlands who share a passion or a way of life. They spend a bit of time with them, have interviews and a dinner to say thank you. When they heard about this festival for young Catholics, they asked to spend the weekend with them. “In this period of great criticism of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands, it seemed that this could be a great opportunity to show to the whole nation a church that is young, vibrant and full of strength and courage. At the same time we were a little afraid, not knowing how the interviews would be modified for the final transmission.” Three young people were chosen to be interviewed during the festival, among them Laura: “During the conversations prior to the final interview, I realized they wanted to create an image of a young Catholic in a precise stereotype: boring and with a limited view on the world. There were questions about pre-marital relations, on living and preaching the Gospel, the prejudices that exist in the Church today and the choices I was making in life at that time. I had to think for a few days before accepting the invitation. So many thoughts were going around in my head, ‘You do not know who will see this program. Maybe my college friends, my neighbours, my teachers, people who do not accept me because of my faith.’ I was sure that with this interview I would transmit a certain image of myself to the whole country, the image of a girl who devotes her life to the Church and to the building of a united world. And I didn’t feel happy about that. I had to take a huge step to overcome this fear of revealing my soul, my ideals, before an audience of a million and a half people. I finally said yes. The interview went very well. There will be people who see the interview and make negative comments or will not want to stay in touch with me. However, the intense and infinite Love that I feel inside of me for having remained faithful to God and to his plan on me as a young Catholic gives me great joy. I could not have given a greater testimony of my faith and my passion for a united world.”

See Vatican Radio article. Pope’s message to the young people