The meeting in Castelgandolfo – (C) Thomas Klann
Udo and Ilona Knoefel, founders of the Jesus-Gemeinde Sohland Pentecostal Community – (C) Thomas Klann
Olivier Fleury and Raphael Tanner (Switzerland), Mons. Juan Usma Gomez (Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity)
– (C) Thomas Klann
“With some friends of the Focolare of Bangkok – Luigi Butori, one of the protagonists of the event shared – we have for some time now been bringing concrete help to some families of refugees from Myanmar belonging to the Karen ethnic group, who have settled in the north of Thailand. We shared this experience with some of our Italian friends who were helping us from afar and to who we would periodically send some updates and pictures.
In particular, after the visit of one of us in Italy in October 2013, a special relationship was created with the children of the kindergarten of I.C.G.Giuliano in Latina, who immediately showed a great desire to do something for their peers who were so far away, but who they now felt to be close to them.
Their help was directed in particular to an orphanage in Mae Sot, in the northern part of Thailand.
It was truly a touching experience for us to reach this place knowing that we were the messengers of children who were 10 thousand kilometers away, who did all they could to be able to send their humble help.
The faces of the children brightened up while they were opening the big boxes, and we also added some chocolates, milk and other good things, fruit of the sharing of our Buddhist, Christian and Muslim friends. It was a celebration for the children to see the toys: mini-motorcycles, fireturcks and small gadgets that we ourselves didn’t know how to use: the “Karen” children, in a matter of seconds, were already experts! We were able to distribute help also to other children in the refugee camp and in other “villages” (in reality, they are just huts grouped together near a factory, or maybe in the rice fields).
Yes the gifts are important but each time we experience that it is more important to look at the person in the eyes, to extend our hand, “to touch the other”, to make him or her feel that we are there for them. In the beginning, they were very suspicious; but then, gradually their faces lit up with joy, with hope and – even if we didn’t understand their language – it seemd as if they told us: “Thank you, today you made me happy… All these things are given free of charge? When will you come back?”. “Look I am here for you and I live for you… Don’t be afraid”.
This experience has gone ahead also this year and once more the customs office of Thailand did not ask us to pay any fees, as they admired the original and funny designs that the little ones of Latina put on the 30 big boxes that they sent.
We brought these things among the ricefields and canals of Mae Sot, where those without documents strive to survive as much as they can.
But we were also touched by how this experience is changing the life of the families of the children of Latina. A fatehr said: “The life of our children and also our life has changed from the moment we started to do something for the Karen people, whom we never knew existed before”. And a mother: “Thank you for having given us this chance to do something for the others; many of us have always wanted to do something concrete, but we didn’t know what and how. The television gives us a lot of bad news, instead this is a breath of joy and of hope”. Then a teacher: “The children are electrified by the idea that their toys arrived to the other part of the world by travelling on a big ship to reach children who have nothing. A little girl couldn’t contan herself when she saw her doll in the arms of a child in the orphanage of Mae Sot”.
The eyes never lie and those of the parents are sincere. We will continue to work so that this dream, this miracle of love that unites Latina and a forsaken place, in the midst of the mountains, in the northeast of Thailand, can still continue”.
“. . . how wise and true are the words of Pope John XXIII: ‘I must do everything: recite each prayer, follow each rule as if I had nothing else to do, as if the Lord had placed me on earth solely for accomplishing that action well, as if my sanctification depended on it, without a thought for before or after’.”
Chiara Lubich copied these words in her diary and often referred to them in public when emphasising the importance of becoming holy by doing the will of God in the present moment. She found a confirmation in the words of John XXIII. On the same page she writes:
“I often find my soul invested by two or three things in the present moment, two or three things to be done at once. This causes it [my soul] to become anxious. I often find that my desire to reach everyone, to do everything, to embrace the whole world, is interpreted by me in a mistaken way. It becomes a spiritual avidity that comes from the old self (see Rm 6:6), even though it is so tinged with zeal.”
This is no way for a Christian to live. Even someone in a shop full of edibles, eats either one or the other, but not all of them at once and never the whole store-full. We need to nourish ourselves, and content ourselves with what God wants from us in the present moment.
I’ve tried to do it these past few days. It’s been a wonderful experience. Violently severing away anything that is not the will of God in order to immerse myself only in that, I’ve experienced what it means to have a satisfied soul. It’s peace, gladness, happiness! It’s a sort of beatitude.”
Source: Città Nuova, August 11, 2010
On the occasion of the canonisations of Karol Wojtyla and Angelo Roncalli we offer a brief video which Chiara Lubich presented to the Holy Father in 2003, for the 25th anniversary of his Pontificate.
“Giorgio and I were married after being engaged for three years. As our relationship grew we thought of having a family.
A few years later we had a wonderful daughter with a slight malformation of the heart. I was happy. I felt that her birth had united us even more. But a year later while in hospital for a regular check-up, she died suddenly. It was horrible. I was overcome with darkness and angry with God for having taken away what was most dear to me. My husband supported me, without his love I would never have made it.
A year later Sofia was born and we were happy again. Later we adopted a boy. As the years went by, I noticed that Giorgio wasn’t at peace, he wasn’t involved with the children. Even though he loved them very much, he left decisions about their lives to me. One day he decided to leave his job and begin some new activities. So we began to spend time with other people, most of them single who enjoyed travelling the world and keeping late hours.
At first I tried out of love to follow my husband in this lifestyle, but then I realized that I didn’t have anything in common with these people and so, little by little, our lives began to follow different paths. I knew that my husband loved me and the children, but he was troubled and searching for something. I thought we could use some help as a couple, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He said there were no problems. Meanwhile his business deals were failing, also because he was surrounded by people who had no scruples.
One day he decided to leave us because he “didn’t feel like being a father anymore,” even though he still loved us, he needed to find himself. I couldn’t believe after so many years together it was all going to end like this.
I wasn’t able to think, I felt desperate. What hurt the most was the sense of failure, and I felt like it was my fault. It was a difficult period: during the day I tried to be strong for the children who were 11 and 14 years old, but in the evening all the suffering would come pouring out along with a thousand questions. What will I do now? Will I be able to raise my children at this delicate age of their life? I tried to make them feel that I was near and that their Dad loved them, even though he was rarely around.
I didn’t go out with my friends anymore, they all had families and I was alone. The only thing that kept me going was the love for my children, our relationship deepened and grew. My family was also close to me, even though after a while they began to tell me that I was still young and could begin a new life. But for me matrimony was still a sacrament, even if my husband was no longer there.
Then someone invited me to a Focolare event for couples experiencing separation. Surrounded by so many people who were experiencing the same pain, I felt loved and accepted, and our friendship united to journey of faith that we were sharing together helped me to overcome my sense of failure. I experienced for myself that love is greater than suffering, I realized that I was still a sacramental sign and, whenever I received the Eucharist I felt that Jesus was saying to me: ‘I will never abandon you!’ This gives me strength each day to stay faithful to the yes that I said on our wedding day, even though civilly we are separated. I know I’m not alone because God is with me and helps me to look at my life the way He sees it: with all his love and mercy.”
Focolare president Maria Voce and co-president Giancarlo Faletti have concluded their visit to Brazil. 
During the 55-year presence of the Movement in this South American country the spirituality of unity has penetrated several areas of society through numerous social projects; the Economy of Communion (EoC) which began in Brazil; the Movement for Unity in Politics (MUP); the ecclesial world, ecumenism; interreligious dialogue and dialogue with contemporary culture.
Klaus Bruschke, Director of Cidade Nova Press states: “Brazil is going through a moment of speedy transformations not devoid of contradictions. It is the world’s eighth economy, yet the twelfth on the list of countries with the most inequality, although in recent years 40 million Brazilians have emerged from a level of misery. Chiara Lubich pointed to the priority of working for social justice in this land through love for the most underprivileged, in harmony with the Latin American Church and now Pope Francis.” Bruschke went on to say: “In Recife, the Island of Santa Teresinha is one of the poorest quarters in Brazil where the Movement has been carrying out social projects from the moment it arrived. As she stood in front of the wall that separates this slum from the shopping centre on the other side, Maria Voce remarked that the wealth didn’t lie on the other side of that wall, in the shopping centre, but on this side among the community on the island, because the [real] wealth is communion.” In Mariapolis Ginetta Calliari, near Sao Paulo, Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti linked up with numerous Focolare communities around the world via internet, and shared about their visit to Brazil.
What is your impression as you leave Brazil? If you had to give a title to your experience, what would it be? “Brazil has enchanted me, and if I had to give a title to this trip, I would use one of Chiara’s own phrases: “embroidered in gold”, because all the wonderful fruits that have been brought about by Chiara here in Brazil are woven into my heart. I think of the many social projects that are carried out mostly by young people, the Economy of Communion businesses. . . . but also of all the new communities, ecclesial movements and people who took their inspiration from Chiara’s charism, who live the Word of Life, who love Jesus forsaken, or who answer to Chiara’s plea: “Give me everyone who is lonely”. They’ve brought about beautiful works, which we had the opportunity of seeing during this visit. We admired in them the abundant fruits of the spirituality of unity whose root lies in the Focolare Movement, in the spiritual family of Chiara. But the root is glad for the fruits that were born beyond it, and it offers thanks to God. And the fruits are grateful to the root, because they feel the nourishment that comes from there and they want to continue to be nourished. Therefore, it’s a great act of mutual love that shows up these embroideries of light that are spread throughout Brazil.”
The establishment of the Chiara Lubich Chair in Recife shows that many are able to share in the spirituality of unity . . .
Giancarlo Faletti: “During this Easter season in which we hear the words of Jesus’ testament resounding: ‘that all may be one’ (Jn 15:17), I have the strong feeling that through the charism of unity, the paradigm of universal brotherhood is being applied to many academic disciplines, even in large universities. Therefore, it has been a very dynamic experience that is linked to the testament of Jesus.”
During this visit you’ve listened to many stories, known and shared in the life of many local communities. Where would you go from here?
Maria Voce: “I really think we should continue to embroider these embroideries of light that I mentioned earlier. We should do it within the humility of the present moment, carrying out whatever God may indicate to us, moment by moment, never losing sight of the final design which is universal brotherhood, the design of a united world. Therefore I feel that each of these beautiful projects that I’ve seen are part of this universal design and that together they could offer a model to the world, an example of a unity that is born from the variety of God’s gifts in Brazil and in the world, so as to never lose sight of God’s dream: to make all peoples into one family.”
Klaus Bruschke’s final comment: “These days have given us a strong push to convey this message of unity that overcomes inequalities and embraces diversity – a richness that expresses the very richness of God.”
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We have still impressed on our minds the tragic pictures of the Haiyan or Yolanda (‘the bird of storms’) Typhoon that was unleashed on several Pacific countries, especially the Philippines, in November 2013. It was one of the most powerful cyclones ever recorded and from all over the world countries and organizations reacted in solidarity sending help to the victims of the disaster. 
Focolare communities, especially in the surrounding countries, also gave their contribution. An example of this comes from the immense archipelago that makes up Indonesia (245 million inhabitants), a country that is not exactly swimming in richness. In the city of Yogyakarta, on the island of Java, young people and adults of the Focolare got organized to do something. They didn’t have any money, but – they said to each other- “there is always something to give.” And so they organized a collection of superfluous things from their own homes, to set up a ‘Bazaar’. “We set up a committee to coordinate the work,” they tell us, “The Focolare Centre became the collection point for all the donations, so there was a constant coming and going of people sorting the items and putting them into different categories, all done with great joy and enthusiasm.”
The Bazaar was fixed for the 3rd and 4th of March, in a Parish Hall 20 km from Yogyakarta. But in the meantime the Sinabung and Kelud volcanoes erupted, “and the victims were our fellow nationals,” Tegar recalls, “We asked ourselves if anyone would still support our initiative for victims who were further away in the Philippines.” They didn’t give up, and though not ignoring the new emergency, they went ahead with the intention of helping those brothers and sisters who were even more needy. “I was chosen to coordinate the event,” Endang tells us, “I myself was the victim of an earlier earthquake and I knew what that meant and how much sadness you experience. So I took on this responsibility, and even though I didn’t have any money, I could give my time and energy. A few days before the Bazaar took place, I was at a meeting and understood the meaning of the phrase that you often hear in the Focolare Movement – when we meet in the name of Jesus, he is present among us. We experienced, in fact, that if we get together and work in his name, he optimizes our work.”
Also for William “it was an incredible experience. I really threw myself into this project. We aimed above all at the people of the village who came to mass on Saturday or Sunday. There were about twenty of us helping out. Someone directed the visitors, others served the ‘clients’ as little by little they came to look and to buy. There was even someone who organized our tea break! It was a beautiful experience: to experience that when you love the others God gives you back happiness in the depth of your heart.” Altogether 5,115,700 Rupiah (452 US$) were collected, a significant sum considering that about half the population lives on 2 dollars a day. “Everyone was happy not just because we managed to collect a good sum of money,” William is keen to point out, “But for the love and the contribution that each one gave to help the victims of Hurricane Haiyan.”
“I think that through this Bazaar”, Wulan concludes, “We managed to give a little happiness not only to the people who will receive the money but also to those who contributed with their ‘purchases’. I am sure that this love will not stop here but will expand to many other places as well.”
Hitchhiking
“I was on my way home in the car with my wife when we noticed a hitchhiker. We pass him, but we felt the absurdity of having passed by pretending not to see him. We decided to go back. He is a student from Senegal on his way to Antwerp, and he had been standing on the road for quite some time already dressed in his summer clothes. He was feeling very cold and so we invited him for lunch at home. After having eaten I offered to drive him to Antwerp (25 km from our house). He was so happy and was deeply moved. When I dropped him off and greeted him, I felt that I could not just abandon him like this, in the cold. I gave him my coat, the best one that I had. On the way home I alone, I was singing”. L. H. – Belgio
Quarrels
“On a day in which I was particularly agitated, it was my wife who went to market. Hoping to release my bad mood, I left the house and spent the afternoon with our neighbours, boring myself in front of the T.V. As soon as I arrived back home, the stern voice of our little Milos startled me: «Papà, don’t you know that Jesus doesn’t want people to quarrel?». It was a healthy lesson. I ran to give my wife a kiss. The children are the real “thermometer” of unity in the family”. Stjepan – Croatia
Laziness
“Sometimes it is difficult for me to commit myself to a task because of my laziness. Like that time: I was supposed to fix the library where there was a great confusion of books on the floor, but I didn’t feel like doing anything. Suddenly it seemed as if someone was telling me within: «Be love!». So I decided to do everything for God and for those who would be using the library. When I finished, I felt a great joy in my heart and I understood that this joy was a gift from God”. T. – Brazil
«… Easter is drawing closer and it seems that it was just Christmas. I have the impression that time is passing quickly and I feel in the depth of my heart – I confide this to you – that I have resigned to let it pass quickly as long as it is all love. That is, as long as at the eve of each day I can say: “Also today I have loved.”
… On this Easter that reminds us of how Jesus, after dying, was resurrected, and how we too will one day rise up with our bodies, I would like that all of you would live so that each evening you can say: Also today I have loved.
… We do not know how long we have left to live, but how bitter it would be to draw closer to death with only a few days lived in love. What regret! We would say: “I could have loved and I didn’t do it.”
So there is Easter to remind us that every day must be a resurrection for us: always up, always ready to love whoever we meet without looking whether we like them or not. Love, love, love. Never getting tired of loving. Never stopping our revolution.
This will give us great joy and will make us savour the Easter Celebration because it is the Celebration of the Alleluia.
Just as the first apostles and Christians went out to everyone to tell them that Christ was risen (and so that we will also rise), so too those who know us should be able to say that we have spiritually resurrected from a life without meaning to a life full of light and fire.»
Source: Centro Chiara Lubich
Maria Voce with Nelson Giovannelli
During an open discussion with Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti, the young people discovered that the spirituality which was at the root of their recovery was the spirituality of unity that is shared by the founders of Fazenda. Many issues were covered during their dialogue: scars of the past; sexuality and chastity; and the significance of the charism of the Fazenda – understood as a gift from God given to one or more people for the good of humankind – and its relationship to the experience of Chiara Lubich. This was truly the novelty of the meeting: “A charism, which is the fruit of the charism of unity,” said Giancarlo Faletti. “This shows God’s life in action, his presence in our history. Coming here today with all of you we’ve had a great experience of God’s ‘productivity’!” Maria Voce added: “Considering the charism of unity even after meeting other charisms that have blossomed from it, I see it as a tree with many branches and each branch is laden with fruit. And each fruit is the magnification of some specific detail.” 
She went on to say: “When I think of the Fazenda, the problem of drug addiction comes to mind. That is Jesus who took upon himself the drama of drugs and cried out the Abandonment [of the Father]. The Fazenda focuses only on this detail, but it’s such a large detail that has evolved into a great and marvelous work. Another work focuses on the shortage of child education. That is the ignorance, which Jesus forsaken took upon himself. And a work was born that, which is offering a new educational approach based on the charism of unity. Even though the root is hidden and you can only see the branches and fruits, the root is rejoicing! And the fruits are thankful to the root.” Frei Hans reaffirmed this as he expressed his hope for more intense mutual collaboration, and that rehabilitation workers be nourished with the spirituality of unity. Maria Voce concluded saying: “It seems that all the charisms we’re coming to know and many others we still don’t know or are still to be born, fit in with the charism of unity because they’re linked by reciprocal love that shows up the particular greatness of each one. And they all contribute together to the fulfillment of the Lord’s prayer ‘that all may be one’.” So I say: “Hurrah Fazenda Esperanca!” Follow the journey on the Mariapolis Journal– Login required Website: www.focolares.org.br/sitenacional
The resurrection of Christ, who makes us sharers in his life, obliges us never to despair. It gives us the secret to pick ourselves up again after every fall; it is the sacred, visible, sign, of our resurrection. Ours is a religion of life: the only one in which death is victorious, and if we want it, permanently banned. Lent was – or should have been – an examination of conscience, through which we could contemplate the negative things that buzz around deep down in our souls and in our society. Many of us live a Christianity which has become routine, without thrills or surges, like a sail when there is no wind.
The resurrection of Christ has to be a reason for the rebirth of our faith, hope and love, victory of our deeds over our negative tendencies. Easter teaches us to overcome evil in order to be reborn. Each of us born afresh, united in affection with our neighbour, and every people working in harmony with other peoples. In divine grace there is the strength to remove every form of evil.
Jesus prayed, “… that they may all be one”. Love culminates in unity, and even politics as an effort that unifies is love in action, Christianity being practiced. And love is the solution to suffering and death. Where there is love there are no masters and tyrants, there are brothers who communicate goods of time and eternity with one another. So let’s love one another, replacing any hostility by seeking our brother, to help us to live. In this way we will rise again.
Igino Giordani: Le Feste , Turin International Publishing Company, 1954
The Mariapolis stands out for the green vegetation in which it is immersed and the harmony of its buildings. Its over 200 inhabitants come from all over Brazil and from several different countries: Italy, Congo, Portugal, Holland, Germany, Peru and Ecuador. Since the beginning of the sixties Chiara Lubich dreamt of setting up model towns like this, not only with houses, schools and churches, but also with factories, examples of how to live together in communion, governed by reciprocal love. And it was here that the first Business Park was started fulfilling this “dream”. It was here in fact in 1991 that Chiara launched a project that proposed a new approach to economics, the Economy of Communion; and founded the Business Park, which is a prototype of a renewed economy, right here in the vicinity of this little town. In a prophetic way she outlined its role: “A small town like this,” she wrote in her diary, “In Brazil, where the division between rich and poor is a massive social scourge, could become a beacon and a sign of hope.” 
The heroic faith of the first pioneers and their supporters, helped that prophesy become a reality. With its six companies, the Business Park is a focal point for academics and economists and has attracted the attention of high level politicians: from Hon Franco Montoro, a Councillor of the Republic and ex-Governor of San Paolo, to Dr Marco Maciel, the Vice President of the Republic; to a group of politicians from different parties, members of a multi-party commission for the battle against and elimination of poverty. Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti are here on the last leg of their trip to Brazil. During their visit to the Park, a businesswoman present recalled Ginetta Calliari, one of the first young people to follow Chiara, and to whom much is owed for the spread of the movement in Brazil and the development of the Economy of Communion. Maria Voce underlined the key to its success: “It is communion, which comes first and is the proviso for productivity.” This communion governs relationships at all levels – between the managers and workers within the company, between the companies in the Business Park itself and with other similar Business Parks throughout the world. In an attempt to help solve some of the social problems in the area, since the end of the seventies some direct action has been taken in two areas around the Mariapolis: in Jardim Margarida, which is right in front of it, and in Bairro do Carmo a neighbourhood with mainly people of African descent. Two community centres cater for children and adolescents during out of school hours, keeping them away from the risks of violence and drugs that try to ensnare them. The results are surprising. The changes in behaviour, brought about by the pedagogy inspired by the “art of loving” which is a characteristic of the different activities – from sport to I.T. – also influences the local schools and has awakened a growing interest in the municipal institutions giving rise to many forms of collaboration. 
Actions aren’t enough to bring about change however, ideas must also be spread through the media. This awareness has been there for over 50 years, when the Publishing House and Cidade Nova magazine were set up and whose Head Office is at present in the Mariapolis. The Publishing house has not been unaffected by the crisis in the world of publishing brought about by the digital revolution. The President and Co-President gave it a new impulse. “Brazil is developing very quickly,” Giancarlo Faletti observed, “We need cultural media that knows how to straddle history, that is not bowed down by it, but knows how to interpret and enlighten it with the charism of unity.” Follow the journey on the Mariapolis Journal– Login required Website: www.focolares.org.br/
At the beginning of February the representative of the African continent on the International Commission of the Economy of Communion, Genevieve Sanze, received a telephone call from the Apostolic Nuncio of Ivory Coast, Mons Joseph Spiteri, informing her of her nomination as member of the Pontifical Council of the Laity. “I had absolutely no idea that this was coming,” Genevieve tells us, with the open question about what it might entail. Genevieve, who is originally from the Central African Republic, lives in a Focolare community in Abidjan in Ivory Coast. The only African among the lay members appointed by the Pope, Genevieve was chosen because of the role she plays within the Economy of Communion.
“I’m very happy with this nomination, particularly for the fact that of all the roles I play in the context of the Focolare Movement, the Economy of Communion was the one mentioned,” she explained shortly after she heard the news, sharing her feelings on the subject. “It is a great joy for me to be able to work for the Church, because I chose to do this in my life, serving the Focolare Movement and the Church.”
A few days after the nomination, Genevieve Sanze was in Kenya working for the preparations of the upcoming Economy of Communion Assembly in Nairobi in 2015. She was able to meet with the Nuncio when she got back. “It was a very beautiful and profound moment. Mons Spiteri gave me the document with my nomination, with his advice to live this service for and in the Church. Maria Voce, President of the Focolare movement, wrote to me as well: ‘I am very happy with this appointment’, assuring me of her prayers and support. I feel that it is only together, in great communion, that we can be of service to our brothers and sisters and the Church.”
The Central Commission of the Economy of Communion wrote to Genevieve: “Heartfelt congratulations on this new and beautiful challenge: from how we know you, you have all the qualities needed to face up to it”. Luigino Bruni summed up the joy of everyone: “This is the Africa that the world needs to know: wise, bright, soberly joyful, sisterly, regal, Marian.”
Luiza Erundina and Maria Voce – (C) CSC Caris Mendes
Two hundred members of the MUP in Brazil, including federal deputies, mayors, city councilors and young people testified to the innovation that the practice of fraternity is bringing to their lives and work environments.
Is fraternity compatible with the political battle? For federal deputy Luiza Erundina the answer was “no” when she was young and struggling against the dictatorship. It became “yes” when she met Chiara Lubich who launched the Movement for Unity in Politics (MUP).
For Mayor of Sorocaba, Antonio Carlos Pannunzio the most important thing is the revival of the understanding that we are first of all members of the one human family, all children of one Father. “We can disagree with our political colleagues, but this doesn’t mean we turn them into our enemies.”
And if the wall of emnity rises, it is not impossible to bring it down. “I was a bitter opponent of Luiza Erundina, when she was mayor of Sao Paulo and I was a councilor,” says federal deputy Walter Feldman. “Now we talk with each other every day. Dialogue becomes possible when contraries meet to arrive at a synthesis: the common good.”
“ You need to be among the people in order to be in tune, to heal the division among politicians and society. Change begins with personal behaviour,” said federal deputy Luis Carlos Hauly referring to the example of Mandela and Gandhi.
Pedro Paulo Fiorelli is a young man who is attending the Civitas School for citizenship training, so that one day he will be a better politician. The basic lesson is: politics is not for winning elections, but an art for the transformation of society, with a preference for the forgotten members of society.
Maria Voce remarked: “This enlightened political action that places the value of proximity and relationship at the centre, beginning from the least and their needs that cry out a longing for fraternity, is more than necessary.” Giancarlo Faletti referred to these politicians as “experts in humanity,” “prophets of a new world,” “prophets of hope”.
The meeting ended with a very significant gesture, the naming of a street in Porto Alegre after Chiara Lubich. Then someone sang a song based on the words of the Focolare founder, in which she described politics as the “Love of loves”. That song was adopted as the anthem of the Movement for Unity in Politics in Brazil.
The next event will be international: a worldwide convention in March 2015. It was announced in a message from the international president of the MUP, to present “the rich political thought of Chiara Lubich, which prophetically prefigured a world united by reciprocal love, not only among individuals but among peoples.”
Read more about Maria Voce ‘s visit at Area Riservata – Notiziario Mariapoli Website: www.focolares.org.br/sitenacional
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“Everything in Brazil tells of the resurrection – the flowers, fruits, colours and fragrances – and it is natural here to wish everyone Happy Easter! During Holy Week, I’ll visit the National Shrine of Brazil dedicated to our Lady of Aparacida. I’ll take to Her all your sorrows, joys and desires – especially those of Her Brazilian sons and daughters who have made Her family grow throughout the world.” In the joy of the Risen Lord, |
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| Maria Voce is scheduled to attend 9:00 Mass (local time – UTC -3) at Aparecida Shrine on April 15, 2014. The Mass can be viewed live on Aparecida TV at: http://www.a12.com/tv-aparecida/institucional/detalhes/tv-ao-vivo | |
Participants in the “Living Peace Project”
Cameroun
Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Marocco, Lebanon, Jordan
Spain
Brazil, Argentina, United States of America
France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, Malta
Italy
All the countries that took part in the project
Related news:Umanità Nuova
Twenty years ago, Pina’s country of Rwanda, was struck by an absurd civil war that resulted in the death of at least 800 thousand people in a few short months. “For the past twenty years my people have continued to mourn the victims of the war and, at the personal level individuals visited private cemeteries.” On April 6, 1994 President Juvenal Habyarimana’s aeroplane was struck by a missile attack. None of the passengers survived, and the war that was already brewing broke out.
In that moment Pina was living in the Philippines where she was following her vocation to the spirituality of unity that she had been living since she was a child. She recounts: “My family was also impacted by the war. Thirty-nine of my relatives were murdered. I was taken by despair. Gradually I felt emptied of those sentiments that had filled my soul up until then, I felt that nothing made sense anymore.”
She was transferred to Kenya in order to follow the situation more closely. She worked at the Red Cross and assisted the wounded and refugees from Rwanda: “but I wasn’t able to look at the people of other ethnic groups in the face, the ones who had taken part in the massacres.” The pain was too vivid. One day she came upon some people from another ethnic group and couldn’t avoid catching their eye. The animosity grew. “I thought about revenge, but I felt confused. I had come to a crossroad: either I would close myself in my pain and anger, or I would ask God’s help.”
A few days later at the office, she recognized some people from the enemy group who were living right there in the city. “They recognised who I was and felt uneasy, they began to turn back and walk the other way. They also saw me as their enemy.” Pina saw that forgiveness was the only hope for social reconciliation. She had learnt this from the Gospel. “With a sense of power, I walked up to them and spoke to them in their own language. I didn’t mention my own family, but only tried to show interest in what they needed. Just then, something loosened within me.” A glimmer of light had been given to Pina.
A year later she returned to Rwanda. She hardly recognised her sister, the only family member who had survived the massacre. She learnt that the man who had betrayed their family – a very close friend – was in prison. “Although I was in pain and opposed to the people who invoked the death penalty, it was clear that I could pull back now that I had taken the first step toward forgiveness.” She took her sister who had witnessed the massacre. “And so we went to the prison together, to visit this man. We brought him cigarettes, some soap and whatever we could find. But mostly we went to tell him that we forgave him. And we did it.” Her sister, Domitilla, would soon adopt 11 children from several ethnic groups, without making distinctions between natural and adopted children, and later won a national award.
This year, Pina explains, “on the 20th anniversary we have something new: Tutsi and Hutu together in carrying remains to the National Cemetery for burial – all of us Rwandese.” They are the true heroes of this country. “This is an important step forward,” Pina remarked, “we are returning to the way we were before the war.” The project was named The Flower of Reconciliation, so that it might continue to bear fruits of peace in Rwandan society.”
See also:
Il Rwanda ricorda, venti anni dopo, by Liliane Mugombozi in Città Nuova online
Il fiore della riconciliazione, by Aurelio Molé in Città Nuova online
Unemployed The factory has for some time now been showing signs of great difficulty. We found ourselves on the street without any possibility of obtaining any aid in time from the unemployment fund or from other sources of providence. Unemployed, without doing anything at home, I was entering into a deep feeling of frustration and uselessness. We were living on the salary of my wife. Then, certainly helped by our faith, I told myself that I could use my time to do odd jobs around the house that my wife had been asking me to do. So I started to repaint the doors and windows, put up the wallpaper… The other members of the family also got excited about it and they started to help me. It wasn’t important anymore to bring home a salary, but the real capital which the family needed was love, unemployed or not, I could love. L. R. – Italia Human justice n spite of the fact that I had prepared myself with the best of intentions, this Monday the audience at the court hearing was sad and lifeless. At the end of the morning I was discouraged by this state of justice that sometimes is so easy to just get over with. I felt that I had to do something. In the meantime the last defendant presented himself. He seemed much older than his age. He was already imprisoned before and this time he was caught with a stolen car. I came to know from him that when he left prison, he was able to get a regular job; his employer was satisfied with his performance. So I modified my closing argument and I asked the court for a prison sentence to be enforced during his annual leave. In this way he could keep his job. The court accepted this. A few days later, a television journalist telephoned me expressing his surprise at my action. I answered him that I just did my job, using all the resources of the law. During the television program, that journalist recounted the fact concluding in this way: «Applying the law with heart and intelligence can make justice more human». A.B. F. –Francia Builder of peace I am a seminarian. In the difficult situation of ethnic conflict in my Country, my village too was divided. Two factions were fighting in the absence of any police presence. Even if I knew of the risks that I faced, I asked God the strength to be a builder of unity among my people and, going through a barricade of tree trunks on the road, I was able to reach one of the two groups that took refuge in the parish grounds. I asked to speak to them and I was able to tell them sincerely how unfounded were the reasons for this hate and division. After listening to me, the asked me to also go and talk to the other group. Maybe I was convincing, because in the end everyone went back to live together. Gilbert – Burundi Taken from: Il Vangelo del giorno (The Gospel of the day), Città Nuova Publishing House.
On April 2, 2014, the Fon of Fontem, Njifua Lukas , died suddenly.
The title of the event was: “The merciful love of the Holy Trinity in the theological vision of Father Dumitru Stăniloae and of Chiara Lubich in the context of contemporary ecumenical dialogue”. Commenting on it, Professor Vasile Stanciu, Dean of the Faculty, said it expressed the depth of the subject endeavouring to compare the theology of one of the greatest Orthodox theologians of the last century, so Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae is considered, with the charism of Chiara Lubich.
Theologians from three churches took part: Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran. Five Romanian Orthodox Professors from the Theological Faculty of Cluj, Alba Iulia and Sibiu, and five from the Focolare Movement – from the Sophia University in Loppiano , from the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, from the Oriental Institute of Regensburg and from “Centro Uno” the Focolare’s secretariat for ecumenical dialogue.
The symposium began with a prayer and the greeting of Metropolitan Andrei in whose metropolitan area the meeting took place. The Orthodox Auxiliary Bishop, Somesanul Vasile, who participated at various times said: “Yet again, I can’t but be impressed by the warmth of the love with which you come to Cluj, the warmth we find every time and cherish in our being, in our daily life … we certainly try to transform that love into life, as did Fr. Stăniloae and Chiara Lubich”.
Experiences on mutual love of Orthodox and Catholics – young people, families, priests – emphasized that a life [of faith] is essential for Christians; theology understood in a very vital way and the path of ecumenism understood according to the trio of terms, “love – life – truth.” Stanciu highlighted the risk that theology can often remain at the level of theory and is difficult to put it into practice, it needs to be lived.
For Prof. Sonea, pro-dean of Cluj – “doing theology” is not an abstract discourse about God, but about the living God, in God and about God. This way of doing theology is specific to Chiara Lubich and provides an element on which we can build a dialogue that is not seeking the conversion of the other, but the discovery of the other. In the spirit of love we are in unity. We need to give a common witness to the world .
Metropolitan Andrei
As pointed out by Prof. Stefan Tobler from Sibiu at the conclusion, in the radicalism of love and in theological rigor, “we really are together.”
Prof. Ruxandra from Bucharest testified that she knew both Chiara and Fr. Stăniloae. ” I met Chiara first, at a meeting of young people in Rome which revived my faith in God and brought me back to the Church. Then when I was a student I heard Fr. Stăniloae talk about the great love of God towards men and about the love from the heart of the Blessed Trinity, the model of supreme love, the model of love in the family. For me, as an Orthodox, it was amazing to see how Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed theologians have found a common spirituality in the thought of Chiara Lubich and of Father Dumitru Staniloae, both theologians of love. It was a wonderful experience.”
With this meeting another step forward has been taken, opening up new perspectives on this journey together.
The Focolare’s little town of Fontem
Fontem, 19 January 1969. Chiara prays during the Mass celebrated for the inauguration of the hospital “Mary Health of Africa”
1974 – The inauguration of the Church attended
by the Fon of Fontem
From right: Fon Njifua Lukas (Fontem) , Chiara Lubich, Fon Njiendem Joseph (Fonjumetaw)
Fon Lukas Njifua (3rd from right) with Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti during their visit in 2009
Rio Tercero is a beautiful city in the Province of Cordoba, in Argentina. Situated in a mainly agricultural and livestock area there was great industrial expansion here in the middle of the 19th century (one the most important factories, Fabrica Militar Rio Tercero, is sadly famous for the fatal explosions which occurred there in 1995) which brought with it great demographic growth. Today there are many social challenges, particularly in the outlying neighborhoods where violence is the order of the day due to lack of work and education. Six years ago Estela, who is a dentist, was asked by her parish priest to take on responsibility for Caritas, with the specific task of introducing the spirituality of unity to this particular structure of the church. She began by asking people’s help coming out of church. If she could do it, with the little time she had what with work, children and grandchildren … surely others should be able to help as well. So together with the team that was set up she went to visit families in the poorest districts: meeting many young mothers with their children and husbands who were either alcoholic or drug addicts. They opened the ‘Tienda’, a shop selling clothes for the whole family. When winter came everyone was looking for warm blankets … but there just weren’t enough to go around. They decided to make them themselves. A workshop was set up involving 28 young mothers. As relationships grew, the women felt valued and appreciated. Estela suggested to everyone that they could include some meditation in their daily routine and to try to live a phrase from the gospel each month. When winter was over nobody wanted to leave. What were they going to do? “We had the idea of making bread”, Estela tells us. “We started with just an ordinary oven. We all brought some flour and yeast and would make bread together for our own families and then some extra to sell, sharing the proceeds. But it wasn’t enough. I updated the parish Pastoral Council about our activities and they encouraged me to go ahead setting aside enough money to invest in a bigger oven. We told all the parishioners about the initiative and everyone started to bring flour. In this way a bridge of unity was built between the people of the parish, which is in the centre of town, and the women from the outskirts who come with their children because they have nowhere else to leave them.” But it wasn’t possible to go to sell the bread with the children tagging along. 
So activities for the children were started, with an extra-curriculum support programme and fun activities organized by the young people of the parish. “As time went by, the relationship between the mothers and their children began to change. We tried to help the children appreciate the work the mothers were doing and on their part, the children were also spurred on to study harder seeing the efforts their mothers were making to earn something.” As time went on the business became public: the bread is now sold to several shops in the city and the Local Council has got involved setting up a development project. The result? – a real bakery! With 4 large ovens, all the necessary equipment and a large quantity of flour. A micro-business has been set up, where the workers themselves are the owners. At present there are 4 having responsibility for the bakery, serving schools, pizza shops and other bakeries on a regular basis. “Even if it’s only a small business,” Estela observes, “It is still a source of employment; but the most important thing is the integral human formation that has been carried out with each person and with their families.” A process that continues to influence others.
Author: Marc Foley
The reflections contained here invite us to ponder our lives and to open our listening hearts to the voice of God, so that our Lent can truly be a Lent in its deepest sense a spring that buds forth new life. Drawing upon classic and current literature, Marc Foley accompanies us in this Scriptural-personal Lenten journey. He does it in a way that invites us to both explore the human condition and embrace the grace the Lord again offers us in order to transform who we are and how we are living. What more than this can you ask of a Lenten guide?
A poor quarter – that was called “Hell Island” – becomes protagonist in the transformation of the social standing.
Mariapolis Gloria, with its hundred citizens has more than 40 buildings that blend in well with the natural surroundings. The Mariapolis was begun in the early 1970s as a training centre for the growing community of the Focolare Movement in that region. The generosity of many people not only made it possible to begin the work but provided even more than enough for unforeseen developments. One couple donated a large piece of land, several families settled on the property, and the permanent Mariapolis was begun.
The area is part of Benevides, a small city with some 50,000 inhabitants. The poverty, which is quite visible, generates violence and opens the door to drug trafficking. The first main victims are always the adolescents.
The Mariapolis stands against this background as an oasis. The Fiore School and Welcome Centre’s after-school programme have been in operation for 20 years. There, more than 300 children between the ages of four and twelve are able to find not only tutoring and academic instruction, but a family, a home that welcomes them each day.
Workers at the Centre are all ex-students. They are credible models for the children, because they live in the same environment and give witness to the fact that change is possible. G. cares for the younger children. She teaches computer science. She lives in one of the most violent quarters, but her shining eyes bear witness to the transforming power of love even in her family where relationships were practically non-existent. “In front of the violent attitude of many children, we need to discover what lies behind it. We listen. We only try to make them feel loved. Then, little by little, the change happens,” says Francesca who is the Director of the school. It prompted one drug-dealing father to say: “But what is there in this place that I see my son so changed?”
The press has also shown interest in the project. One journalist interviewed the Focolare president and co-president Giancarlo Faletti during their visit to Brazil. During the interview Maria Voce had this to say: “I admire this place so much, Mariapolis Gloria. Here you focus on the whole person, who is the future of Brazil; you provide great opportunities for human development, for an experience of mutual support among teachers, students and families. I want to offer my full support.”
The Mariapolis is also an oasis of spirituality that nourishes communion among the communities located there – some ancient like the Carmel and some new like the Bethlehem Mission that serve the poorest of the poor – as well as several others. It is a support for people working in politics. This was expressed by two city councillors and several representatives of religious orders and new communities, during their conversation with Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti.
The two arrived at the airport in Belem on March 31, 2014 for the third stage of their journey in northern Brazil. Previously they had visited the North East: Recife in Pernambuco where they attended the inauguration ceremony, establishing the Chiara Lubich Chair. Then there was the visit to the social projects on the island of Santa Terezinha and the visit to Mariapolis Santa Maria. Next, they moved on to Fortaleza where they met with founders and directors of the new communities of the Condominio Espiritual Uirapuru (CEU).
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Website: www.focolares.org.br/sitenacional
The backdrop for the third edition of the Living Peace Festival, which will take place in Cairo, is the tense situation currently present in Eygpt.
It was in 2011 that a professor of English at El Rowad American College in Cairo started this initiative to educate for peace, and today more than 25,000 students from all over the world are involved in the Living Peace project. On Sunday April 6, 2014, the third international appointment will be taking place.
Living Peace is characterized by the participation of students and teachers, who are involved in creating initiatives to educate for peace, through a global network of people and institutions. Schools taking part are allowed to develop projects according to their ability, while encouraging young people to use their creativity and making them aware of their contribution towards a common aim. This creates a dynamic participation that fills the various components of the school with enthusiasm while reinforcing solidarity among students, teachers, principals and parents, and also leaving an impact on civil society.
In Cairo, for example, Living Peace involves students and teachers, Muslims and Christians, that come from twenty schools. In other countries, the results of the project are presented to civil authorities (Uruguay,Spain,MaltaandLuxembourg) and to the media (KoreaandBrazil). The project is also presented through street activities, where the school involves the city in youth initiatives in favour of peace and fraternity. Of particular importance are those initiatives set up to address crisis situations, as schools in Japan hit by the tsunami in 2011 and those in Syria struck by war.
International organizations have shown interest in Living Peace since its very beginning. Carlos Palma, the mind behind this initiative said, “In 2011we were invited to the World Peace Forum in Schengen, Luxembourg to talk about our projects. Since then, we have attended the World Peace Forum every year and we have created a network of relationships with personalities both in the United Nations and the European Union, who sustain and encourage our efforts for peace”.
The Focolare Movement supports this project through AMU and New Humanity
The event can be followed on live internet: http://live.focolare.org/ipf (April 6, 2014, 10:30 CEST, UTC+2).
Lidia and Loris have 3 children who are 11, 9 and 6 years old. Each of them was born in a different city from the other because after their parents married, the family moved to Veneto, then to Alto Adige and then aruond Trentino. When her husband suggested moving back to the city of their origins in Crotone, Lidia reacted: “My first thought was the children and the wider range of opportunities they would have up north, but in the end I was convinced. Our city on the sea is truly beautiful, we know some very gifted people there and our children once adults, would choose their own futures for themselves. We wanted to do something to improve our country, because we love it! But we immediately realized that we were never going to begin a revolution, but at least we could begin with something small. So we began with the world of schooling; me with the classmates of my children and Loris with his students. He teaches German, but his first job in Crotone was as a substitute teacher. To begin with, he contacted the teacher of the boy who had been entrusted to him, to better understand his academic problems and built a relationship of trust with him. Several times, his intervention helped to resolve serious communication problems between school and parents. 
For almost 3 years we have been running a youth centre in our centre.. When we moved, Loris began the Associazione Amici del tedesco (Friends of German Association) that won a contract with the “With the South Foundation”. We offer children between the ages of 11 and 16 games and recreation, but also tutoring in Literature, Mathematics, as well as Italian and English for foreign students. Recently the Association won a competition connected to redevelopment of property confiscated from the mafia at San Leonardo of Cutro on the Ionian Sea, Calabria. Lidia explained: “We will use it as a hostel for young people and families who are unable to pay for holidays. We have been classified as a youth training project for youths and teenagers who have dropped out of school. We are supported by the Ministry of Youth Politics. We feel that all of this has come from God’s love, perhaps a plan that we don’t yet fully understand, but based on mutual love, because it’s actually not easy to work together. We are so different from each other and this is positive, but at times also difficult because we see things in such different ways. But then the discussions and misunderstandings pass and we begin again. 
The positive results are also the result of our sons’ love for us. They put up with it all with so much patience, all our organizing and moving around. It often happens that their love is what helps us to face the challenges of the forgotten on the fringes of society. And for them it’s a source of reflection and growth. Source: http://www.famiglienuove.org/
For the president and co-president of the Focolare Movement this is the final stage of their trip to Northeast Brazil before going on to Belem: they visit the CEU (Uirapura Spiritual Condominium), in the heart of Fortaleza, the capital of the Ceara State in Brazil.
Ready to welcome Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti in the foyer of the hotel in CEU, which is run by the Sisters of St Dorothy, are Moises Louro of the Shalom Community, Nelson Giovaneli, who together with Frei Hans Stapel, founded the Fazenda da Esperanca; Fr Renato Chiera, from the Casa do Menor, the Mother Superior of the Carmelite Convent and the Prioress of the Benedictine Nuns. Just to mention a few of the founders and leaders of the communities that have built their houses in this vast area known as the Fazenda Uirapuru. This is the name of the land given by Benedito Macedo, a businessman who dreamt of helping to find a solution to all the social problems of the region.
Renowned for its natural beauty, Ceara State is not dissimilar to other Brazilian States with its serious social inequality, which brings poverty and poor health and education provision as a consequence. A breeding ground for drugs, prostitution, violence and desertion. ‘Cammino’ is a group based at CEU which looks after ex-prisoners; ‘Sole Nascente’ helps those suffering from AIDS discover the possibility of a future; victims of abuse regain their dignity at the ‘Casa di Santa Monica’. Young people discover the beauty of contemplation following the way of the Carmelites or the Benedictines. The long list continues. “We are all here in answer to a double call”, Mother Bernadette, Superior of the Carmel, explains, “Firstly the call of our own charism but also to be a living image of the Church of unity, to witness the fruitfulness and richness of communion among the different charisms.”
And this is what shines out in the testimonies that are given in the Auditorium, packed with the residents of the CEU, together with the Archbishop of Fortaleza, Jose Antonio Aparecido Tosi Marques. A long-awaited meeting, marked however by a suffering: two days earlier Frei Hans, the first to start off this experience of communion, and among the first to invite Maria Voce, had a heart attack. He still wanted to give a welcome to the two guests however, with a brief video message. This was followed immediately afterwards by Moises who in his address defined the CEU as a “fruit of a plan of God”, “a spiritual lung” for the city of Fortaleza.
“Here I have witnessed something really great”, Maria Voce said afterwards visibly moved. Just as Frei Hans had mentioned in his video message she recalled a historic fact which gave rise to the path of communion among the movements: their meeting in St Peter’s Square in 1998. The President of the Focolare Movement recognized in CEU “a realization of that invitation to unity launched by Pope John Paul II and of Chiara Lubich’s promise of commitment to it.” And here she underlined another aspect of the novelty which CEU represents: the fact that many communities, each one with its own charism, find in the spirit of unity of the Focolare Movement nourishment for their own community and want to participate in it also and above all to live the not so easy path of communion among the different charisms. And this was the reason for the invitation.
“In this experience”, Giancarlo Faletti added, “there is a special strength, the strength of unity.” And he defined the CEU experience as “a model for the Church”. But the last word goes to the Archbishop of Fortaleza: “This is a path of unity which God wants for the good of our Church and of society”, he said. And he prayed to God for “great strength for what you are doing”.
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Website: www.focolares.org.br/sitenacional
The event, now in its sixth year, saw its numbers double from last year as around ninety young people from the Netherlands, Finland, Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland came together for the occasion. All over Europe the event was followed online as talks were streamed live through the internet. In fact, at its peak, as many as twenty-eight laptops were linked to the event and joined in the discussion. This year “Regenerate” took the theme of happiness as its focus point. Bishop Brendan Leahy from Limerick, the key speaker, led the group in questioning the difference between happiness and joy and between happiness and sorrow. The programme was interspersed with workshops, break-away group discussions as well as large feedback sessions in order to interrogate the subject most fully. The youth had the choice to attend lectures on happiness and psychology and happiness and economics by Angela Manning and Fabio Tufano respectively. As well as questioning the meaning of the word ‘happiness’, the weekend presented the very practical ways in which we can look for, work for and, indeed, find happiness. It reinvigorated those attending to return home living the Focolare spirituality anew in the pursuit of a very real and shared happiness. You can still watch part of the Happiness discussion online at http://www.livestream.com/regenerate2014 Source: www.focolare.org/gb
Patriarch Zakka I Iwas. Ecumenical Bishops Meeting (September 2008)
Patriarch Zakka I Iwas in the focolare in Córdoba (Argentina)
wisdom. With his meekness and love he worked tirelessly to build up the Church in the true sense of the word. He wrote over 30 books on the Fathers of the Church, the dogmas and liturgy. His most famous teachings and homilies have been gathered in 8 volumes. He was truly an apostle and a teacher.”
Born in Mussul in 1933, he entered the convent of Mar Afram in 1946. Then he was ordained to the priesthood in 1954. With a soul so open to ecumenism, he attended the Second Vatican Council as an observer in 1962. He was unanimously elected Patriarch by the Holy Synod in 1980. When he met Pope John Paul II in 1984, historic steps were taken, especially concerning Christology. On March 28, 2014, his body was accompanied to Damascus for a final farewell.
Located in an area where there are evident signs of both poverty and development, the Mariapolis has a distinctive social feel that is highlighted by the school for children and teenagers, and a business park inspired by the Economy of Communion.
Since the 1960s Chiara Lubich saw the permanent Mariapolises as miniature “cities” that would show that a better and more united world is possible. Mariapolis Santa Maria is one of these twenty little cities spread around the world. Chiara Lubich had visited this site during her third visit to Brazil in 1965.
The school, named Santa Maria, has been operating for nearly 50 years. Ten of its current teachers and workers are ex-students. Others have entered into professions and some hold positions of responsibility in society. The values transmitted to them have remained with them: the culture of sharing, the art of loving and an education to peace. Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti were warmly welcomed at the school by the smallest members of the school orchestra performing Talents at the Service of Peace.
The majority of families have low incomes. The school is economically supported with national and international solidarity through the Focolare’s New Families projects and AMU. The first classes of reading and writing were offered to the workers at the Mariapolis, then to their children by request. Now the educational approach of this school is spreading to other schools of the region and in other educational environments.
Ginetta Business Park is located just a few kilometres away. There Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti were welcomed by administrators of the park, business people, shareholders and researchers of the Economy of Communion in Pernambuco. They described their successes and challenges. Giancarlo Faletti recalled that Chiara’s initial inspiration took place in Brazil in 1991. Maria Voce expressed gratitude for the commitment that was undertaken in a spirit of complete generosity. Then there was a visit to the buildings that house two of the businesses; the first dedicated to the manufacturing of bags and accessories, the other to the manufacturing of furniture.
The Mayor of Igarassu, who called the Mariapolis a “landmark” of his city because of the school and business park, gave the keys of the city to Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti, on behalf of the citizens, as a sign of gratitude and desire for an even closer bond.
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No longer in need of running after game or scaling cliffs in order to gain the high ground, we now turn to sport and recreation to measure ourselves against one another. Competition is the ultimate aim of that common human activity called sport, and now more than ever it is a metaphor of life. This is why Sportmeet, the Focolare’s expression of dialogue with the world of sport, decided to point the spotlight on its international convention being held in Pisa this April 3-6, 2014. The event is called Live Your Challenge. But does healthy competition still exist? President of Sportmeet, Paolo Cipolli, explains: “With the help of international experts and live testimonies, we want to reflect on the value of competition. Competition in sport is regulated and healthy. Although it is often intense, it can be engaging and team-building. We each have our daily challenges in life, and the prize is not a medal but the satisfaction of having given our best. This is the meaning of the logo that was chosen for this convention, it represents an obstacle made to the measure of each one’s ability.” Interviews with experts directly involved in the event gave an idea of the interesting programme of reflection and live experiences. Bart Vanreusel from the University of Lovanio explained: “Competitiveness in sport is a great concern, but also an opportunity; it’s both idealized and despised, but it is certainly an extremely interesting expression of human life today.” Football is probably the sport that shows both the good and the worst side of competition,” said Michel D’Hooghe who is a member of the FIFA Executive Committee. 
Benedetto Gui, political economics researcher at the University of Padua, drew a parallel between sport and economics: “Competition is an indispensable social mechanism, both for economics and human growth, but, as the saying goes, too much can be bad for you. In sport, you learn to measure yourself against others, but also to share with them. If too much emphasis is placed on the result, you forfeit your opportunity to experience those ‘relational goods’ that are at the very heart of sport.” Social sport trainer, Roberto Nicolis, offered an original idea: “The word competition is rooted in the Latin phrase cum petere, which means to want the same thing together, and cum petizio means to call one another to the same goal. Cum petere is what a child means when he asks: “Can I play with you?” and is prepared to enter into the game, to accept its rules and regulate himself against the others and with nature. He knows and accepts that he can either win or lose.” Information: sportmeet.org Program of the Congress Enrol
Jesus was about to die and what he said was affected by this. His imminent departure demanded an answer to one problem above all. How could he stay with his people and help the Church grow?
You may know, for example, that Jesus is present in sacramental acts: he makes himself present in the Eucharist.
But Jesus is also present wherever there is mutual love. Indeed, he said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Mt. 18:20).
In a community whose deep life is mutual love, therefore, he can remain actively present. And through the community he can continue to show himself to the world and continue to influence the world.
Isn’t this wonderful? Doesn’t it make you want to start right away living this love together with your fellow Christians?
John, who tells us of these words, saw mutual love as the Church’s supreme commandment. The Church’s vocation is precisely this: to be communion, to be unity.
Jesus said immediately afterwards, ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ (Jn 13:35)
So if you want to discover the true mark of authenticity for Christ’s disciples, if you want to see their badge, you have to look for it in mutual love.
Christians are to be recognized by this sign. And, if it’s missing, the world will no longer find Jesus in the Church.
‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.’
Mutual love creates unity. But what does unity do? Jesus prayed, ‘May they be one … that the world may believe’ (Jn 17:21). Unity, by revealing Christ’s presence, draws the world to follow him. When the world is faced with unity, with mutual love, it believes in him.
In the same farewell discourse, Jesus called this commandment ‘his’.
It is his and so is particularly dear to him.
You ought not take it as simply a rule, a precept or a commandment alongside others. Here Jesus wants to reveal to you a way of living, to tell you how to set up your life. Indeed, the first Christians made this commandment the basis of their lives. As Peter said, ‘Above all, maintain constant love for one another’ (1 Pt 4:8).
Before starting work, before studying, before going to church, before any activity, make sure that mutual love reigns between you and whoever lives it with you. If it is so, then on this basis everything has value. Without this foundation, nothing is pleasing to God.
Jesus also tells you that this commandment is ‘new’. ‘I give you a new commandment’.
What does he mean? Perhaps that the commandment was unknown before?
No. ‘New’ means that it is made for the ‘new age’.
But what’s this about?
It’s like this. Jesus died for us. Therefore he loved us to the utmost extreme. But what kind of love was his? It certainly wasn’t like ours. His was and is a ‘divine’ love. He said, ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you’ (Jn 15:9). He loved us, therefore, with the very same love with which he and the Father love one another.
And it is with this same love that we must love one another in order to carry out the ‘new’ command¬ment.
But you, as a man or a woman, don’t have a love like this. Yet you can be happy because, as a Christian, you receive it. And who gives it to you? The Holy Spirit pours it into your heart, and into the hearts of all believers.
There is, then, an affinity between the Father, the Son and us Christians because of the one divine love that we possess. It is this love that introduces us into the Trinity. It is this love that makes us children of God.
It’s through this love that heaven and earth are linked as by a great current. Through this love the Christian community is brought into the sphere of God and the divine reality dwells on earth where believers love one another.
Doesn’t all this seem to you divinely beautiful, and isn’t the Christian life utterly fascinating?
Chiara Lubich
First published in May 1980
Journalist and art critic Mario Dal Bello used an interesting approach to explain the major points of the Focolare Spirituality and the thought of its founder, Chiara Lubich. In his Dialogue on Art & Beauty he examines a series of European masterpieces to describe the ideal of unity, since “there is a very strong common link between this art and this spirituality,” claims Dal Bello, “and it wasn’t by chance that while admiring Michelangelo’s Pieta, Chiara Lubich prayed God to send artists into the world who were saints. Because what is sanctity if not the perfection of love, and transmission of the beauty of God who is Love? ” The event was offered by the city of Udine in honour of Chiara Lubich in the 70th year since her birth and the 6th anniversary of her Heavenly birth. It was a reflection on her words: “Beauty is harmony, and harmony is highest unity.” “Many seek to explain art, but that is an impossible feat,” admitted Dal Bello who explains art for a living. “It is ineffable, like the Spirit. It draws us for no reason, like falling in love.” Therefore Dal Bello began with a Christ by El Greco, “from the gaze that one feels for a beloved with which one is bale to grasp the face of God.” This is seeing God in the other and grasping the love there which is one of the key points of the spirituality of Chiara Lubich. And if the Good Shepherd, indeed the “beautiful shepherd,” as Dal Bello points out, “loves his sheep, then we must also love our neighbour. And this was illustrated in the magnificent mosaic of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna. Here Christ is shown surrounded by the flock. He is Risen and clothed in light. He points to the jeweled cross he is holding, which is a symbol of the Resurrection.” By virtue of this mutual love Jesus is present wherever two or more are gathered in his name. This is shown in Rembrandt’s Supper at Emmaus, in which “Jesus enters into our everyday life, to the point that the others don’t even realize it, not even that he breaks the bread.” And this is a presence that makes a change in the community; it makes a difference as can be seen in Raphael’s Transfiguration, in which there is a strong contrast between “the superior level, with Jesus, Moses and Elijah clothed in clear colours and an inferior level where the Apostles are left confused, where darkness prevails.” 
To illustrate love for Jesus forsaken on the Cross, which is another aspect of Chiara’s spirituality, Dal Bello examines The Crucifixion by Dali: “Christ is seen from above. He seems to bend over humanity and draw everyone to himself. It is significant that we don’t see his face: because we are all in his face.” Another central figure emerges – but only to the eye of the expert – from the Final Judgment by Michelangelo: “If you look carefully,” Dal Bello points out, “Mary watches an angel who is raising the souls of the saved, with a Rosary. Mary appears as the one who takes Christians to Heaven and, indeed, the Focolare Movement is also called the Work of Mary.” Finally there is the Ghent altarpiece by the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, where the Heavenly Jerusalem of Revelation with the entire Church gathered around it, is represented by a contemporary city. This recalls the commitment that focolares are called to bring to the local communities in which they live.
“What most impressed me was that wall. The true poverty is on the other side of it. The true wealth is on this side, for love is the true wealth, the ability to give and to share. On that side of the wall, there is self-interest and competition. . . .” Focolare president, Maria Voce, spoke these words before leaving the island of St Terezinha, Brazil. Focolare co-president, Giancarlo Faletti added: “Today we were at school. You were our teachers. It was a gift from God. Thank you!”
The wall of which Maria Voce speaks was constructed to interrupt the view of the poverty stricken quarter so near. But the poverty is still there and the wall remains a sign of the social segregation.
What are the signs of wealth that Maria Voce refers to? “This place had been called Hell Island because of the poverty and degradation of the people living here. The Gospel message that the people of the Focolare have been living and sharing with us for fifty years, supporting us, has freed us within,” says Johnson, who was our guide through the area. “It has opened new horizons for us, changing us into protagonists in the transformation of the quarter and our social standing.
Gradually a community with a deep civic awareness formed. An association of islanders was established as they took responsibility for their development. The country’s democratic openness made new systems of participation possible with the city, as well as public financial resources. There were many achievements: electricity for the area, paved roads, a school and health centre staffed by teachers and medical workers from the Movement. Several times Johnson proudly repeated: “We obtained it all through the power of dialogue, with the power of the community, without seeing a single politician.”
The final stop on the visit was to the Centre for Children and Teenagers that is open after school hours, providing a safe haven from violence and drugs on the streets. Here they are offered a solid human and spiritual experience, through a variety of sport and musical activities. The centre is administrated by the AACA, an association supported by many, Brazilian Focolare families and families around the world. The guests were welcomed with a song from the little ones: “Oh, my God, I know life should be better than this, and it will, but this doesn’t stop us from singing: it’s beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!”
“This is a place in which you can see the good fruits that are produced by the seed of the Gospel,” Maria Voce said to the workers at the centre. “When we leave we will not only be bringing all of you with us in our hearts, but also your example that is an incentive for the entire Movement all over the world.”
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Website: www.focolares.org.br/sitenacional
Nord-Kivu (Nord-Kivu (DRC). The inhabitants of Rutshuru lived as if they were hostages up to the time that the rebels were defeated. Freed from their presence, about a hundred members of the Focolare Movement were able to meet after a long time, at Rutshuru (North-Kivu). For the ocassione of the Mariapolis, they also arrived from Goma and Kinshasa. They wrote us: “Now, the fear and tension on the faces of the inhabitants, are gradually giving way to a new hope”.
J. S. works in a hospital as a nurse. In her department of orthopedics she saw many cases arriving of those who were wounded during the war or urgent emergency cases. This is her experience:
“One evening we admitted a woman to our hospital. She was about to give birth to twins and she was bleeding profusely. Since it was an extremely urgent case, she was admitted directly to the operating room. The doctors did all they could to save her and her two infants. But unfortunately what they feared happened: the woman died a few days after the birth of her two children, a baby girl and a baby boy. The father said that he would not be able to raise them without their mother, and also he did not have the means necessary to do so. When the doctor came to our orthopedics department and shared to us this information, I felt a great pity for these babies. I remembered that point of the spirituality of unity that we are trying to live in the whole Movement this year: the love of neighbour; and these babies seemed to me like the suffering face of Jesus in person
I said to myself that something must be done immediately. I thought: “Five months ago I had a baby girl, so I cannot take more than one of the babies.” But I had not yet spoken to my husband, who obviously had to agree with me. So I went home and I told my parents about this proposal of mine regarding this adoption. Everyone agreed with joy! Even our little child, seeing another baby, didn’t want to be breastfed anymore… We took this as a sign of welcome on her part, towards her new little sister.
Three days later, urged on by my example, another nurse offered to adopt the baby boy. My joy was immense! Together we went to the Town Hall to legitimize the adoptions. We gave the name: ‘Hope’ to the baby girl who became part of our family”.
As a confirmation, Mons.Théophile Kaboy, Bishop of Goma, commented during his homily at the concluding Mass of the Mariapolis: “Hatred and death will never have the last word”.
Fraternity, in this case, is not “a romantic or solely religious value, but an appeal to the intelligence, a concrete project that accepts the risk of history,” of a country, of Brazil, which is “marked by serious inequalities, but also emerging as a country that occupies a strategic position in the world.” These were the opening words of Jesuit Pedro Rubens, Rector of UNICAP describing the significance of the Chair. Prof Paolo Muniz, Director of the Asces Faculty (the project partner) added: “These universities now turn their reflection and research to the work of Chiara Lubich who, aside from being a great spiritual leader, is also an inspirer of a new light that illuminates all fields of human knowledge.” Focolare president, Maria Voce was invited to give the opening address at the event, which was the heart of her visit to Brazil. During her presentation she described the anthropological vision of the human person that emerges from the spirituality of Chiara, which is firmly rooted in Scripture. Voce began by asking who the human person is. In answering this question, she examined the dynamic of Love in the Triune God, the reflection of this love in human life and in the cosmos and the call to be “Love-in-relation”. She recalled that “we are, if we are the other” which means “being empty of ourselves,” “total gift of ourselves.” The lifestyle that springs from this dynamic provides the “fertile ground for authentic humanism, concrete fraternity.” The Bishop of Palmares, Dom Gerival Saraiva, highlighted the social dimension of knowledge, which can be understood in more concrete terms thanks to projects such as this. 
The thought of Chiara Lubich has been the object of study and research in several universities, and in several different academic areas. The Focolare founder received 16 honorary doctorates and degrees, the 1996 UNESCO Peace Education Award, and the 1998 European Council’s Human Rights Award. In honour of the occasion, Cidade Nova published a new book entitled: Fraternidade e Humanismo: uma leitura interdisciplinare do pensamento de Chiara Lubich (Fraternity and Humanism: an interdisciplinary approach to the thought of Chiara Lubich). For further reading: Opening Address by Maria Voce in Italian At the Catholic University of Recife, the Chiara Lubich Chair for fraternity and humanism – Radio Vaticana Universidades lançam Cátedra sobre fraternidade e humanismo – Cidade Nova UNICAP cria a catedra Chiara Lubich de fraternidade e humanismo – Rede Globo http://www.catedrachiaralubich.org/ Follow the journey on the Mariapolis Journal – login required
On July 12, 2012, the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 20th as International Happiness Day. UNRIC Italy has decided to bring this to the public’s attention with the help of Professor Luigino Bruni, Professor of Political Economy at the LUMSA University of Rome, and global coordinator of the Economy of Communion project which was launched by Chiara Lubich in Brazil (1991). The project currently includes over 1000 businesses worldwide. The Economy of Communion proposes that entrepreneurs share business profits with development projects in different parts of the world, which is based on a model of reciprocity and gift. 
Prof. Bruni, you were one of the first to re-launch an Italian rendition of happiness that is different from the one that comes from the United States. Can you explain more about what lies beneath this vision of happiness? “The most distant origins of the notion of happiness are found in the ancient Greek and Roman culture, especially in Aristotle who had linked happiness to the virtues and had distinguished it from pleasure. It was a concept which today we would have to translate as “human blossoming” because it goes back to the idea that happiness is a general state of existence. The Greeks had understood that only the virtuous man could become happy by cultivating the virtues, even in the face of bad luck. This is where our responsibility begins, because it is possible to say that the main protagonist of my happiness (and unhappiness) is me, and not the external events which certainly are a burden on my wellbeing, but never decisive in determining my happiness.” Where does the idea of happiness in economic science come from? “Italian economists and philosophers from the 1700s placed happiness at the centre of their reflections on economy and civil life. They were thinking in Roman and Medieval terms of public happiness and then the common good. Throughout the 1800s the Italian school of economy was known for its focus on happiness as the main object of its study. Therefore, it is not surprising that Italian economists today are among the protagonists of the new movement on Economy and Happiness, which was re-launched in the 1970s. It mostly focused on the link between happiness and social relations, an obvious reference to the ancient tradition of felicitas publica.” Which aspects would you say are most relevant for civil and economic life today? 
“The first element that seems of particular relevance to the state of the economy and the society today is the profound relationship between happiness and virtue. In a culture that underscores hedonistic pleasure and recreation as the values matched with happiness, the ancient Italian tradition of the felicitas publica invites us to keep in mind that no good individual nor social life exist without the cultivation of excellence and therefore the commitment to sacrifice. Secondly, in a phase of the West in which narcissism is becoming an actual pandemic, the tradition of public happiness reminds us of the unavoidable link between the good life and social relations. You can never be truly happy alone, because happiness at its roots is something relational.” Source: www.unric.org
The blood
The car in front of me skidded, hit a wall and overturned. I was able to brake in time. There were people helping the wounded: an elderly lady, a little boy and a youth. But no one wanted to bring them to the hospital for fear of being accused of causing the accident. So in my case, even if the sight of blood would often cause me to faint, I took courage and loaded them into my car. Before the hospital would accept them they asked for a deposit, but they had no money. So I signed a cheque and made sure that the wounded were well cared for, happy that I was able to overcome my emotions, but above all because I was able to do something for my brothers in need.
M. S.-Argentina
Beyond tiredness
Many times, when I arrive home, I feel the emptiness that the death of my wife has left and I would prefer just to remain alone, peaceful; but I felt that I had to forget myself and increase the relationship with my children. It is difficult to be both father and mother. The other evening, coming home from work, I realized that everyone was still awake: I would have wanted to rest, but instead I started to play with them, forgetting my tiredness. To my surprise, one of them, with whom the relationship has always been difficult, came to me and with affection sat on my lap. He never did this before.
S. R.-Usa
Chocolates
I brought as box of chocolates for some of my very dear friends. In return they wanted to give me an even bigger box: “For your daughters”. On the bus, while I was on my way home, a gypsy couple came in with a child who was maybe five years old. The little girl was looking at my box of chocolates longingly. In the beginning I pretended not to look at her. But I was not peaceful. “Jesus help me to understand what I should do”. Precisely in that moment the litle girl came to me and held out her hand towards the chocolate. I couldn’t refuse and so I gave them to her. But as I went down from the bus I was a little disappointed that I was going home empty-handed. But as soon as I arrived home, my wife told me that a friend passed by to greet her and left a big basket of sweets. I was speechless and very happy.
W.U. – Rome
Taken from: Il Vangelo del giorno (The Gospel of the Day) , Città Nuova Publishing House
Stages of the journey 
Brazil has the fifth most powerful economy in the world. It covers 8.5 million square kilometers, and its nearly 200 million inhabitants, descendants of European and Asian immigration and indigenous peoples, as well as other immigrants from every part of the planet, all speak a single language: Portuguese. It is a country the size of a continent, with varied climatic and geographical conditions, enormous natural resources and a powerful potential for growth. It is a country that is also marked by huge social contrasts, which are growing somewhat less, thanks in part to the efforts of the last governments. It faces the challenges of a young democracy, of a nation that has emerged from military dictatorship less than thirty years ago.
Mariapoli Ginetta
There have been various activities run by the Focolare in all the States of the Federation: from Civitas, the school for political formation in João Pessoa, to the Young People for a United World’s solidarity project and to the families’ weekend in the State of Alagoas; from the youth Olympics in the State of Rio Grande Do Sul, to the Unicidade Project in the Mariapolis Ginetta, which celebrated its fortieth anniversary this year – to name but a few. 
But what gives rise to this life? Let’s take a step back in time. It was the year 1958. A ship landed in Recife, carrying three focolarini from Italy: Marco Tecilla, Lia Brunet and Ada Ungaro. They communicated their experiences in schools, universities, parishes, associations, hospitals, families. After a month they were travelling again: Rio de Janeiro, São Paolo, Porto Alegre, and then Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. On returning to Italy, the aeroplane made an emergency stop in Recife because of a serious fault which held them there for four days. They used that time to follow up a whole host of contacts. In this way the community in the North East of Brazil came into being. It was the first of many. With the arrival of other focolarini who came to stay, the first centres of the Movement were opened in 1959 in Recife. A rapid spread of the Ideal of unity began in the larger cities and in the villages, among young people and adults, whites and blacks, rich and poor… and all it happened with a characteristic mark: social harmony. Many social activities came in to being as an effect of a life rooted in the gospel. In 1962 a centre was opened in São Paolo. The publishing house Cidade Nova and the magazine Cidade Nova were founded. Other centres were opened: Belém, 1965; Porto Alegre, 1978. Today there are centres in all most all the 27 capitals of the federal states and in many other cities. In 1965 near Recife the Movement’s first little town of witness in Brazil was founded. It was called Santa Maria, a reference to this people’s love for Mary. Two years later there was established São Paolo’s little town, called at the time Araceli and now renamed Ginetta, after one of the first focolarine who had an immensely important role in the spread and growth of the Movement in Brazil. Following that Belém’s little town, Gloria, was set up and in Porto Alegre there was established the Mariapolis Centre Arnold which has particular a focus on ecumenism, and then Brasília’s little town called Mary Mother of the Light was founded. 
Chiara Lubich always showed a great love for Brazil and its people, ‘a people who seem very like those who listened to Jesus: magnificent, magnanimous, good, poor, who give everything: their hearts and their goods.’ Her first visit was in 1961, to Recife. She returned a further five times. She received various forms of public recognition and honorary degrees. In 1998, on her last visit, she inaugurated the Spartaco Business Park, the first of such parks belonging to the EOC in the world. On this occasion, one of the fathers of democratic Brazil, Prof. Franco Montoro, referring to Chiara in a speech given at the State University of São Paolo, recognized in the thought and activity of the Movement – and not only in Brazil – ‘a consistent witness that has drawn behind it millions of people. It has protected human rights during periods of dictatorship and, in the scientific boom, it has demonstrated that we must be guided by ethics. It has promoted love, universal fraternity.’ These are values that today the Movement’s members are committed to living, together with others, in a historic moment that sees Brazil emerge on to the global scene and take a leading role in events such as the World Youth Day 2013 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Website:www.focolares.org.br/sitenacional Insights on Mariapolis Journal – login required
Some words of Grand Buddhist Master Ajahn Thong became rather famous when Chiara Lubich accepted his invitation to share her Christian experience at a monastery in Thailand (1997): “When we are in darkness and someone brings us a light, we don’t ask whether the person is a man or a woman, young or old [and so it is with Chiara who] will speak to us of the light she has discovered.” What took place today was not merely a commemoration, but a step into the future, rooted in the experience begun by Chiara Lubich and now shared by many, despite their individual differences. Roberto Catalano from the Focolare’s centre for interreligious dialogue called it: “a choral witness that testifies to a common decision and commitment. We’ve been meeting in many parts of the world, discovering that we can become brothers and sisters. We are called to continue this path together, making it real in our daily lives.” The audience of 500 guests included 250 people who had previously attended a three-day interreligious convention at the Mariapolis Centre in Castel Gandolfo. Among these there was a group from 8 religions who had attended a private audience with Pope Francis prior to the general audience of March 19, 2014. Iranian Muslim theologian Shahrzad Houshmand remarked: “He’s a fatherly figure who increased the brotherhood among us.” She also presented a letter to the Pope in the name of all the Muslims attending the Focolare gathering, in which they expressed their “profound love and respect for him and for his outreached hand towards Muslims around the world”. Hindu Professor Kala Acharya said that she gladly welcomed the Pope’s invitation to continue this journey without ever stopping: ‘For us too, the joy of the journey is more important than reaching the destination.’” Then the Pope turned to all of them and said: “Pray for me.” 
Enriched by this experience, later in the afternoon, the interreligious convention opened its doors to the public. The venue chosen was the Pontifical Urbaniana University, which is known for its interest in world cultures and religions. The title of the gathering was: “Chiara and Religions”, but it could equally have been called Chiara and different religious paths. In her address, Focolare president Maria Voce stated: “Among her outstanding skills, perhaps the one that spoke most to today’s world was dialogue. Chiara had intuited that the path of the human family could be a different one, one directed towards peace. However, the condition for this would be a radical change of mentality, because ‘not only is the other person not a threat to me – but a gift!’” What was Chiara’s secret? Maria Voce explained it like this: “Love, the love which Chiara who was a Catholic discovered in the Gospel and in Jesus. But she also found the presence of love in other faiths and cultures.” This presence of love transforms a “potential clash of civilizations into an authentic encounter of men and women from different cultures and religions.” Cardinal Arinze (once president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue) presented the impact of Chiara’s charism on dialogue: “The focolarini and focolarine are a people on the march, in communion, on the move. They go out to the peripheries: they go out, encounter, dialogue, listen and collaborate.” 
The day concluded with a series of testimonies from Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Jews: Dr Waichiro Izumita, Japanese Buddhist from the Risho Kosei Kai; and Thailandese monk Phra Thongrattana Thavorn who prefers to be known by the name given to him by Chiara – Luce Ardente (Burning Light). He told of his first personal meeting with Chiara: “I was overwhelmed by her, by her eyes, her simplicity, concern and respect for who I was, her deep listening, that indescribable atmosphere. . . She talked to me about her Christian life, about her charism of unity. . . I also felt like one of her children, also because of the light that I received and the zeal to spread the light of unity among all.” Rabbi David Rosen from Jerusalem: “The commandment to love God invites us to follow the example of Abraham: to behave in such a way that God is also loved by others. This is what we see in the Focolare Movement.” Then spoke Imam Ronald Shaheed from the Mosque of Milwaukee and close collaborator of Imam W D Mohammed; and Ahmer Al-Hafi, professor of Comparative Religions in Jordan: “Chiara has helped me to understand the Koran in all of its deepest senses. I understood from Chiara that love is the essence of God, and that the religion of love is one.” Vinu Aram, Hindu and honorary President of the Religions for Peace Assembly, met Chiara when she was a teenager and Chiara was a friend of her parents. As an adult she discovered Chiara’s great message, which now continues to inspire her on her journey to “build a more united world, a world in which everyone can feel at home.”
(C) CSC Media
February 22, 2014. An idea that is growing day by day: “if, with the passing of weeks, the study experience we are living at the Sophia University Institute, increasingly corresponds to the questions we are asking about our future, about the future of our people, why can we not imagine that this experience could find a home on the African continent as well?” Today’s date marks a step. Today, students who come from the sub-Saharan area of Africa, enrolled in degree and doctoral programs at the IUS, have given themselves an appointment to not only share reflections, but to share a project as well. Martine Ndaya from the Congo thus describes the road taken: “To come and study at Sophia was not an easy choice to make… And yet, just a few months since entering the classroom, I can say that this interdisciplinary experience and the multicultural co-habitation is meeting with and answering my deepest expectations.” Pulcherie Prao from the Ivory Coast adds: “We are often confronting one another, exchanging impressions and difficulties, and we often meet again together to talk about the challenges we all face ahead. For this reason, someone asked the question: Is there a way for Sophia to come to Africa?” There have been numerous higher formation initiatives taken in recent years in the various regions of the continent, but they are not all able to give a response to the actual problems dictated by demands for peace, development, and participation in the various areas. In Africa, as well as all other places on this planet, society is not spared from violent processes in which consumerism and materialism lacerate the moral and cultural fabric. A program of formation inspired by Sophia’s experience could represent, both on the level of research, and as a cultural and ethical commitment, not only a space of communion between African peoples, with all of their diversities and beauties, but also a place open to young people of other cultures to be enriched by the sense of community of which Africa is a testimony, by its models of widespread participation, its courageous paths of redemption. 
“We put ourselves on the line first… – continues Melchior Nsavyimana from Burundi -. Sure, we are talking about a project that does not materialize from one day to the next, but as many leaders such as Nelson Mandela, have said, education is the most powerful motor for development, it is the most useful instrument to answer the suffering that is devastating the lives of many people.” Sophia in Africa: a dream, yet at the same time, a process that is beginning. While dialoguing, various opportunities have come to the fore that could be used to open the way without under-estimating difficulties and objective obstacles. An all out exploration of the different possibilities is needed, and it would be useful to engage many in gathering willingness, availability, means, and resources so as to weave synergy. For now, the promoting group at the IUS has decided to meet periodically to keep interest alive and to bring the program forward. Other steps should follow this first one: “We will let the providence of God guide us, as we have full trust in Him”; for this reason too, at the end of the evening, the celebration of the Mass was one of the most meaningfully charged, moments. A festive dinner followed, coloured by numerous ethnic platters, and immersed in a joyful, communicative atmosphere. The African continent, under many aspects, has been defined as a prophecy for the third millennium. “If here at Sophia – concludes Pierre Kabeza from the Congo – today, it is us who live such an experience as this, of discovery and of sharing, it is up to us then to take the initiative to give it to many others.”
In her opening statement at the interreligious convention held in Castel Gandolfo on March 17, 2014 Maria Voce remarked: “Chiara Lubich had always wanted to see a gathering such as this, but it was never possible during her lifetime.” Voce went on to say: “Today we have the joy of knowing that she is watching us from Heaven, seeing us gathered here as brothers and sisters with such a wide array of customs, ethnicities, cultures, faiths and traditions.” Voce called it a solemn occasion for several reasons, but especially because it was the first time that Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Shintoists and members of Tenriism had joined together to meet.
The meeting was the result of years of commitment to deepening mutual understanding, “becoming friends and then brothers and sisters.” Voce described the steps that have been taken along this path since her election six years ago. The initial fears and concerns were legitimate: What would ever become of this dialogue after Chiara’s death? But only two months following Voce’s election a gathering of Christians and Muslims took place, which was followed by a gathering with traditional religions in Cameroon, Africa; Jews in Jerusalem and Hindus.
Voce stressed that this journey of dialogue was the result of a charismatic experience: “We must thank each of you for your great faith in God and for the friendship that joins us. But we must be especially grateful for the gift of dialogue that Chiara led us to. Thanks to this mutual trust we have been able to continue the journey along the path traced out by her and others, who with their own religious faith gave life to this experience of dialogue: Reverend Nikkyo Niwano, Imam Barkat, Dr Aram and his wife Minota and others.”
During the six years since her election Maria Voce has visited Focolare communities in lands where Christians are a minority. In Asia: “I was impressed by how Hindus and Buddhists felt like full-fledged members of our family. We weren’t so much in dialogue with each other, but together in dialogue with the world”.
In these communities she met Christians, Jews and Muslims who are praying and working for peace; and she was touched by their daily experiences, reaching out to people who were different from themselves.
In Buenos Aires she met with Jewish communities and in Algeria she found a Focolare community that was totally comprised of Muslims. In Tlemcen she said she saw a “Muslim expression of the Movement inspired by the Ideal of Chiara. We were truly the same family.” Now this experience is spreading to other countries.”
“This is certainly a deep experience, not easy to convey and not without some questions. . . . But it witnesses to the fact that unity in distinction is truly possible, but you need courage to experience it.”
“Tacloban, a city of 60,000 inhabitants in one of the many Philippine islands which was largely unknown to a large part of the world until last 8th of November, when it sadly became famous because of the Supertyphoon Yolanda that hit it with all the strength of its 320 kilometer per hour winds, causing more than 10,000 victims. [On February 25] after three and a half months, we went there for a few hours to share the experience of suffering, of giving, of heroic generosity… of those people who did all they could to find water, food, clothes, gasoline, for themselves and for others; people who won over fear with faith, people who are proud to have survived…”. (continued in The kites of Tacloban) “The metropolitan city, called Metro Cebu, is the second in the Country, bested only by Manila. The Sacred Heart School Ateneo de Cebu is a private Catholic school of the Jesuits that welcomed us for another incredible project: “Spark for Change”. The characteristic was the participation of the students of a public school, who for the first time entered into a private school: it was beautiful to see them playing together in the courtyard of Sacred Heart School, as if they all belonged to just one school. Here is one of the more meaningful impressions of one of the teens: “I was a lost person… when I was able to get rid of my burden, I understood in a marvelous way what life is and what love is: it is not only being admired but it is sacrifice and determination to work for the good of the others”.
Video Choreography in prison in Cebu
Buddhist-Christian Symposium at Castel Gandolfo (2012)
The opening session will take place at Castelgandolfo. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Shintoists and members of Tenrikyo, hailing from various parts of the world will be participating. There will be 23 Jews from Israel, USA, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico and Europe; 69 Muslims, Shiites and Sunnis from the Maghreb and Middle East, Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Europe and USA; 34 Buddhists of the Therevada and Mahayana traditions from Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Italy: 19, Hindu from India.
This is an unprecedented event in the history of dialogue of the Focolare Movement. In fact, in past years various symposia have been organized, but the mutual understanding and reflection took place between Christianity and one other religion (Muslim – Christian, Christian – Buddhist, Jewish – Christian, etc). This will be the first time that a plurality of religious traditions will find themselves together and highlight the richness of this dialogue, one of the most relevant aspects of Chiara Lubich’s charism of unity, thus taking up her call to “aim at keeping our sight on the one Father of many children” and then to “look at all men as children of One Father”. Brothers and sisters of different faiths – a varied piece of mosaic composed over the years in the Focolare Communities around the world will be together on the path of dialogue.
The programme at Castelgandolfo will consist of moments of dialogue and of witness in homogeneous groups according to religion or in plenary sessions, allowing participants to open up to a 3600 dialogue, thus going beyond what is specific, without ignoring the inevitable difficulties and the reflections that matured in the course of time.
When confronted with new challenges that arise from history, current politics and economy and from the collective imagination, the path of interreligious dialogue does not appear only as a challenge, but as a “pilgrimage towards the truth”.
This is the perspective of the conference, “Chiara and Religions. Together towards the unity of the human family”, to be held in honour of Chiara Lubich in Rome, at the Aula Magna of the Pontifical Urban University, at the conclusion of a meeting held at Castelgandolfo. It will take place on Thursday, March 20.
The conference will offer a public and plural witness of Chiara Lubich. The speakers will be the Buddhist monks Phramaha Thongratana Tavorn and the Rev. Waichiro Izumita, Dr. Vinu Aram, Hindu; Imam Ronald Shaheed and Prof. Amer Al Hafi, Muslims; Rabbi David Rosen, Jew. Cardinal Francis Arinze and Maria Voce, the current president of the Focolare Movement will open the conference.
Chiara Lubich dreamed of unity in the world, the discovery that even amidst differences of culture, ethnicity and religious tradition, all people are brothers and sisters who can live for peace and universal harmony. This was the goal for which she lived and worked and it was the specific purpose of her charism and of the Focolare Movement which she founded. A foundational moment in the Focolare’s journey was the award ceremony in London, England, where Chiara Lubich received the Templeton Prize for progress in religion. There she had the strong sense that the audience, although from so many different faiths, formed a single family. This intuition sparked the Movement’s dialogue with people of all religious traditions. The Focolare’s spreading around the world facilitated the development of interreligious dialogue with orthodox, conservative and reformed Jews; Sunni and Shiite Muslims; Hindus; Mahayana and Theravada Buddhists; and followers of traditional religions in Africa and other aboriginal cultures. There are also contacts with Taoists, Shintoists, Sikhs and Baha’i. This dialogue focuses on the centrality of love which is summarized by the Golden Rule found in all the main religions and cultures of the world: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” 
This dialogue has led people to a deeper relationship with God (the Absolute); to a rediscovery of their own religious or traditional roots; to an attitude of openness that leads to trust, understanding and friendship. The experience of the Focolare in this field has shown that our diversities can be gifts when we pursue what unites us. And the appreciation of one another’s gifts has led to symposiums and studies; efforts to bring brotherhood into places where violence and intolerance prevail. It has contributed to the healing of the social fabric, easing tensions and integrating communities that are in conflict. There have been many significant examples of humanitarian projects carried out in common. On March 20, 2014, there will be an event at the Urbania University of Rome, dedicated to Chiara Lubich and Religions: Together for the Unity of the Human Family. The gathering will highlight her efforts for interreligious dialogue, six years after her death. The event also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate.
On December 7, 1943, the young teacher, Silvia Lubich, would never have imagined that a few decades later so many personalities from the civil and religious worlds – including four popes – would have spoken quite striking words about her and her spiritual family.
She didn’t have any idea what she would live and see during the 88 years of her life. She didn’t have any idea that millions of people would follow her. She didn’t know that she would reach 182 nations with her ideal.
Could she ever have thought that she would inaugurate a new season of communion in the Church and that she would open channels of ecumenical dialogue that had never before been used?
Much less could she have imagined that her spiritual family would welcome in the faithful of other religions and people without any religious affiliation. Quite the contrary: She never thought of starting a movement.
On that 7th December 1943 Sylvia only had the sentiments of a beautiful young woman in love with her God with whom she was entering into a marriage pact, sealing it with three red carnations. That was all she wanted. Could she have imagined the crowds of people of all ages, race, and background who would follow her on her trips around the world and address her simply as “Chiara” (a name she chose in honour of the beloved saint from Assisi)?
Could she ever have imagined in her small little city of Trent that her mystical intuitions would create a culture of unity for a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-religious society? Chiara Lubich was a pioneer of her time. As a lay woman in the Church she had proposed themes and openings that were only later taken up by Vatican II. In a global society she pointed the way to universal brotherhood when no one was speaking of civilizations drawing closer to each other. She respected life and searched for the meaning of suffering. She traced out a way of religious and civil holiness that can be practiced by anyone and not reserved for only a chosen few.
In 1977, at the Eucharistic Congress in Pescara, she stated: “The pen doesn’t know what it must write, the brush doesn’t know what it must paint, and the chisel doesn’t know what it must sculpt. When God takes someone into his hands in order to raise a new work in his Church, the person chosen doesn’t know what she should do. She’s just the instrument. And I think that this might be the case with me.”
And then she adds: “There were so many fruits and such wide spreading that seemed disproportionate to any human planning or effort. There were also many crosses, but also much fruitfulness. The human instruments that God uses generally have a thing or two in common; they’re small and weak. . . As these move in God’s hands, the Lord shapes them through countless joyful and sorrowful means. In this way He renders them more and more suited to the task they are to perform. Until they come to a deep awareness of themselves and an intuition about God that is certainty. With confidence they are able to say: I’m nothing; God is everything. When this adventure began in Trent, Italy, I didn’t have a plan, I knew nothing. The idea of the Movement was in God, and the plan was in Heaven.”
The Focolare Movement began with Chiara Lubich. She was born on 22 January 1920 in Trent, Italy. She died on 14 March 2008 in Rocca di Papa, Italy, surrounded by her people.
The news quickly spread to the members of her spiritual family around the world, who were united in prayer.
In the days that followed thousands of people, from plain working men to political and religious leaders began to arrive in Rocca di Papa to honour her. The funeral was held in the Roman Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, but was unable to hold the huge crowd that had arrived (over 40,000 people). Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone presided at the Eucharistic Celebration which was con-celebrated by 9 cardinals, 40 bishops and hundreds of priests. Cardinal Bertone read the message sent by Benedict XVI in which the Pope described Chiara as a “Woman of intrepid faith, a meek messenger of hope and peace”.
Some words spoken by Chiara resounded among the crowd: “At the end of time, when the Work of Mary is prepared in its compact unity to appear before the forsaken and risen Jesus, I would like it to be able to say: On your day, my God, I shall come to you. . . . I shall come to you, my God. . . . with my wildest dream come true: to bring you the world in my arms. That all may be one!”
In the current extensive public discussion concerning the contribution of women to the life of the Church the name Chiara Lubich often comes up because of her spiritual, intellectual, and practical legacy. On March 14, the sixth anniversary of her passing, that challenging legacy still inspires those who remember her. 
In Pretoria, South Africa, Dr Kobus Gerber, General Secretary of the Dutch Reformed Church, will reflect on her contributions to ecumenical dialogue. Similar events will take place in Perth and Melbourne, Australia. In view of the upcoming Synod on the Family, Chiara’s passion for the family will be the central focus of events in Luxembourg and Spain. In Perugia, Italy, Mayor Waldimiro Boccali will name a street after a teenager inspired by Lubich, Blessed Chiara Luce Badano. A similar ceremony will take place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where an exhibit, “Chiara Lubich, Protagonist of New Times” will be mounted in the Hall of the Municipal Council.. There will be book presentations, concerts, and other cultural events throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, and Africa. In small communities and in large metropolises many will pause to thank God for the gift of Chiara Lubich to the human family. In Sydney, Australia Cardinal George Pell will lead the community celebration, as will Archbishop John Dew in Wellington, New Zealand, and Archbishop Jan Graubner in Olomuc, the Czech Republic. The Muslim Noor Center in Toronto, Canada, will host a discussion of her contribution to interreligious dialogue. 
On March 20, at Rome’s Pontifical Urbaniana University, several prominent representatives from a range of world religions who knew Chiara will share their impressions at a conference entitled “Chiara and Religions, Moving Together Towards the Unity of the Human Family.” The event will conclude in Castel Gandolfo with an interreligious symposium among Christians and faithful of other religious traditions, including Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Shintoists, and Sikhs. On this, her sixth anniversary, the preliminary phase of the Cause of Beatification of Chiara Lubich will begin. On December 7, 2013 Focolare President Maria Voce made the formal request to open the process to Raffaello Martinelli, Bishop of Frascati. Voce commented, “This invites all of us to greater holiness, to build it up each day in our daily lives, in order to allow a ‘holiness of the people’ to emerge, which is what Chiara always sought to promote.”
I love you
not because I learned to tell you so,
not because my heart suggests these words to me,
not so much because faith
makes me believe that you are love,
not even for the sole reason that
you died for me.
I love you
because you entered into my life
more than the air in my lungs,
more than the blood in my veins.
You entered
where no one could enter
when no one could help me
every single time no one
could console me.
Each day I have spoken to you.
Each hour I have looked to you
and in your face
I read the answer,
in your words
the explanation,
in your love
the solution.
I love you
because for so many years
you have lived with me
and I
have lived of You.
I drank from your law
and I did not realize it.
I nourished myself on it,
gathered strength,
I was restored,
but I was unaware
like a child suckling at its mother’s breast
but not yet knowing how to call her
with that sweet name.
Let me be grateful
— at least a little —
in the time that is left to me
for the love
you have poured upon me
and that has compelled me
to tell you:
I love you.
Chiara Lubich
“Essential Writings”, New City Press, New York 2007, pp132-133.
