Apr 8, 2021 | Non categorizzato
Arthur George Baum left for heaven on February 4th 2021 at the age of 92, in Augsburg, Germany. He was born on May 18th 1928 in Hinckley, a town in the county of Leicestershire, in the heart of England. Single, a Volunteer of God and a member of the International Volunteers of the Focolare, he worked for many years at Vatican Radio, people there have beautiful memories of him. In the last month of his earthly life, he was in a nursing home as he underwent surgery on his femur, fractured after a fall. He was one of the first Volunteers of God and formed the first nucleus at the International Volunteer Centre. He was renowned for his humour, which was obviously English, but he was also very tidy, one might say German, and as precise as someone Swiss, but above all he managed to overcome obstacles with Italian genius. Hèctor Lorenzo (God’s Volunteer and Arthur’s friend) tells us that, even in tragic physical situations Arthur could add humour. One evening after 11 p.m., he received a phone call: ‘It’s Arthur, I have a haemorrhage in my leg’. Hector, with his wife and son, rushed to Arthur’s flat and, after initial assistance, immediately called an ambulance. Before getting into the ambulance, Arthur uncovered his mouth from the blankets that had sheltered him from the cold and confided to Hèctor: “You know, I’m missing something”. Hector asks him what? And he said: “My hat!”. For the last ten years he was happily settled in Germany. Those who know Arthur know that he loved the strong winds of Ireland and the north of England, was moved by a flower, sang Tyrolean songs and some Elvis Presley themes. He rejoiced in the silence of Gothic churches or Gregorian chant, appreciated warm wine in winter and made a small amount of the drink ‘mead’ which he could not help but share with his friends. He also shared hot goulash and some oriental cuisine. He was very demanding in building a strong unity in the nucleus of Volunteers: he always started by loving everyone first in order to generate mutual love, always finding an intimate dialogue of mercy. Hèctor recounts: “Having been a companion in the same nucleus at the Volunteers’ Centre and living with my family next door to Arthur’s flat, we were enriched by his unique personality and evangelical witness. Our son, Julián, says: “Arthur is his name, but you could call him Humility, Generosity, Welcoming”. Arthur was a man of distinction, of essential words, of intimate religiosity. He knew how to move from serious reflections to healthy irony; to distinguish constructive attitudes from useless or harmful ones. His eloquent smile will always express gratitude.
Lorenzo Russo
Apr 7, 2021 | Non categorizzato
As announced in the press release of 23 December 2020, the Focolare Movement has commissioned GCPS Consulting to conduct the investigation into the abuse cases against J.M.M., a former member of the Focolare in France. Although J.M.M. has been prosecuted in relation to one victim, it is understood there is a large number of other victims who may wish to speak about their experiences within the Focolare Movement. GCPS Consulting is an independent body that specialises in helping organisations to ensure the safety of children as well as vulnerable or ‘at risk’ groups and to improve their abuse prevention and reporting systems. It also conducts independent investigations and case reviews on behalf of organisations. The Inquiry began in January 2021 and will close at the end of the year, when its results will be made public. Work has already begun listening to victims and gathering witness testimony. To find out in detail the terms of the investigation GCPS Consulting has made public the relevant section of the contract, published on a dedicated Inquiry website As stated in the document, there are the four main elements of the Inquiry: – To investigate the sexual abuse crimes committed by J.M.M., reviewing the details and assessing the context; – To establish the degree of knowledge of these events on the part of Focolare’s persons in charge at the time and/or subsequently; – To provide recommendations on the current arrangements put in place by the Focolare in France and elsewhere for the protection of minors; and – To produce a public report outlining the findings of the investigation and the recommendations that stemmed from it. In order to ensure that the Inquiry process is as victim-centred as possible, GCPS Consulting has shared and evaluated the proposed process with some victims to ensure it meets their expectations. It has also provided a contact page on the Inquiry website dedicated to receiving testimonies, requests, or suggestions from the victims and anyone wishing to get in touch with the Independent Inquiry. The Focolare Movement encourages anyone with information relating to J.M.M to make contact with the Inquiry via this webpage . It is possible to contact the GCPS Inquiry team confidentially by phone, email or using the site’s contact form. In order to guarantee the full independent nature of the investigation, the Focolare Movement has accepted GCPS Consulting’s invitation to maintain a “press silence” on matters related to J.M.M.’s case until the final report is published. Therefore, from now on the decision to make statements or respond to media enquiries relating to this abuse case will be solely at the discretion of GCPS Consulting.
Stefania Tanesini
For the Media: contact GCPS Consulting for this case: info@gcps.consulting
Apr 6, 2021 | Non categorizzato
After the audience of the Focolare General Assembly with Pope Francis what lies ahead for the Focolare Movement. In this Link up we take stock with Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare and Jesús Morán, co-president. https://vimeo.com/529523835 This is the link to Patrick Gilger’s reading of Pope Francis’ address to the members of the General Assembly of the Focolare Movement. Fr Patrick Gilger is a Jesuit, doctoral candidate at the New School for Social Research in New York. He is currently studying various Ecclesial Movements.
Apr 5, 2021 | Non categorizzato
To love Jesus in his abandonment on the cross means to love him in the pains and sacrifices that being attentive to our neighbor entails. This is a true way to perfection in Christian life as Chiara Lubich communicates to us through her experience. […] To encourage us on the way of our collective sanctification […] I think you would like to get to know a very recent spiritual experience of mine. A small one but one which seems to me to be valid. As perhaps you know, I am dedicating some days during the month […] to considering in depth a cardinal point of our spirituality […] Jesus forsaken, the key to unity. This theme has touched me so deeply, it seemed to me to be so interesting and attractive that I felt compelled to live it straightaway in the present moment. Almost forgetting the commitment to the tension towards holiness as such, I started loving Jesus forsaken, embracing him under his various aspects. However, exactly in those days during morning meditation, what St. John of the Cross called the twelve stars of perfection, came to my attention again. Love of God, love of neighbour, chastity, poverty, obedience, peace, silence, humility, mortification, penitence, choir and prayer. I knew them well; in fact, by meditating on them, I had learnt them by heart. However, in these days, I was not thinking about them at all, taken up as I was by loving only Jesus Forsaken, because I was so touched by this theme. And then the surprise, the joyous surprise like a luminous rediscovery. Re-reading these twelve stars during meditation, I realized that in loving Jesus forsaken, I had made these twelve stars shine a bit more in my soul. I had loved God a little more because I had loved out of love for Jesus forsaken, who is God. I had loved my neighbour more, because out of love for Jesus forsaken I had made the effort to make myself one with everyone. I had improved the third star – chastity- because love for Jesus Forsaken leads us to mortify ourselves. In the same way poverty, because for Him I had made the effort to extinguish every attachment. And obedience – the fifth star – because for Him I had made the effort to silence myself in order to listen better to “that voice”. Then living Jesus forsaken in sufferings I was able to keep peace better, another star. Loving Jesus forsaken, again I was able to observe silence better, in the sense that I mortified better useless words. Humility, I think, profited with the death of myself, which love for Jesus forsaken provokes. And in the same way mortification and penitence – other stars. I took better care of the choir, which for us means prayer together of all our focolare. And so personal prayer was truly fuller. Everything better! Everything better, solely though love for Jesus Forsaken. I knew that Jesus Forsaken was, as we say, a monument of holiness but I had not yet experienced with such evidence and such breadth how living Him truly means tending fruitfully towards holiness. […] I can wish you nothing better than to have this same experience. Try it! Love Jesus forsaken in sufferings, in renunciations, in dying to ourselves so as to make ourselves one with every neighbour. […] May Jesus forsaken become everything for us, and our collective sanctification will be assured.
Chiara Lubich
(from a telephonic conference call, Rocca di Papa, 16 June 1982)
Apr 1, 2021 | Non categorizzato
In spite of the continuing coronavirus emergency, Easter is still a time to pass from death to life and darkness to light through love for our neighbour. The strength that comes from solidarity and universal fraternity help us to keep alive hope for a united world. Easter greetings from Focolare President, Margaret Karram, and many others all over the world. Watch the video with subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. https://youtu.be/2BVukpY5b5s
Mar 29, 2021 | Non categorizzato
Dearest all, Easter will soon be here. It’s the greatest feast of the year and with it comes Holy Week, which abounds in the most precious mysteries of Jesus’ life. We are reminded of these especially on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and on Easter Sunday, the day of the Resurrection. For us, too, they represent central aspects of our spirituality. … So what can we live as Holy Week draws near, and during these blessed days? I think the best way to live all of them is to live Easter, to let the Risen Lord live in us. For the Risen Lord to shine out in us, we must love Jesus Forsaken and always be – as we say – “beyond his wound”, where charity reigns. Charity, then, urges us to be the new commandment in action; charity urges us to approach the Eucharist; charity leads us to live in unity with God and with our brothers and sisters. It is through charity that each of us can, in a certain way, be another Mary. … By doing so, all of us together will truly be that Easter People which some people have said they recognize in our Movement.
Chiara Lubich
https://vimeo.com/529414892 Link up, Sierre, March 24, 1994
Mar 24, 2021 | Non categorizzato
This is the journey towards the next World Youth Day in 2023. The story of a young woman from the Focolare who is collaborating in planning the event. The next World Youth Day will take place in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, in 2023 with the theme “Mary got up and went in haste” (Lk 1:39). The pandemic leaves open questions regarding the event, but the preparatory work has been underway for some time. Mariana Vaz Pato, a young woman from the Focolare Movement, is part of the local team working to organise the event.
the WYD cross
Mar 23, 2021 | Non categorizzato
Despite the violent clashes in Myanmar, through the work of the “Drop after Drop” (Goccia dopo Goccia) association, the Focolare community continues to bear witness to universal fraternity during a time of pandemic and revolution. Here is the account of the journey undertaken by the focolarini in that area at the beginning of March. (All activities were carried out in accordance with the Covid regulations in the country) Myanmar is still living through a revolution that began last February on the 22nd of the month: it is called ‘22222’. This country, made up of different ethnic groups and rich in natural beauty and raw materials, experienced the longest civil war in human history from 1947 to 2010. Among the various revolutions that have occured in the past, there was the one that took place on 8 August 1988 called ‘8888’, resulting in thousands of deaths and another in 2007, known as the ‘saffron-coloured’ revolution because of the large number of Buddhist monks who began the protest and lost their lives. During the clashes in 1988, thousands of people began to migrate towards the border with Thailand, to the province of Tak, to the town of Mae Sot, then in Mae Hong Song, and even further south, towards Kanchanaburi. Today, 32 years later, nine refugee camps are still active: millions of Burmese people who are working in Thailand are living in them. 
The focolarini who have been in the area since 1988 have begun to help many young people who they first met a few years ago in Rangoon and Bassein. “Our contact with them,” says Luigi Butori, a focolarino who lives in Ho Chi Min in Vietnam and who has been travelling in those areas for years, “went on until Father Justine Lewin, a priest linked to the Focolare Movement, arrived in Mae Sot. He helped these people who lived not only in the refugee camps, like the most famous one in Mae La with 50,000 people, but also scattered across the countryside, often close to the factories where they worked, or in the cornfields close to the town of Mae Sot. About twenty years ago we started small projects in the Mae La camp and gradually in the town of Mae Sot. The goal was to feed and clothe the people.” Beginning in 2011, a bridge of solidarity has gradually been built between Italy and Mae Sot. The Focolare community in Latina in central Italy and some students taught by Maria Grazia Fabietti, began to help the children and adults living on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Luigi explains, “One of our Italian friends, Paolo Magli was celebrating his 50th birthday and rather than receive lots of presents, he asked for money to help these Karen ethnic groups (a population that fled Burma during the conflicts and has been forced to live as refugees on the border between Myanmar and Thailand for years, some in the Mae La refugee camp and even more in the area outside it.) This was the beginning of “Drop after Drop”. Today, this project helps more than 3300 people in three countries in South East Asia and also collaborates with the Charis association in Singapore to bring help to those affected by poverty, loneliness, disease and even the pandemic. Areas of Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar give us the ‘possibility to love concretely’: there are people there who know the spirit of universal fraternity and today do everything to help those who are excluded, marginalized, rejected, sick and alone.” “Drop after Drop” helps everyone, people from many different ethnic groups – Karen, Bama, Kachin, Thai Yai, and Xtieng and Hmong people in Vietnam. The project also assists Muslims in need who are in contact with the focolare in Bangkok. At the beginning of March, the focolarini went to Mae Sot with a van loaded with food, clothes, toys and much more, as shown in the video you can see below. (The intiative was carried out in accordance with the covid rules in the country). Donations came from Muslims, Buddhists, Christians and many people in contact with the Focolare Movement. Luigi said, “Everyone is our brother or sister. We want to live out in our own situation one of the most beautiful reflections written many years ago by Chiara Lubich, the founder of the Focolare: ‘Lord, give me everyone who is lonely: I have felt in my heart the passion for all of the forsakeness in which the whole world is drifting.’* The latest project born helps six abandoned mothers and their fifteen children in Mae Sot. We have sent two sewing machines and 15 kg of cotton fabric which can be cut and sewn to make shirts, skirts and trousers for whoever needs them. It is a joy and a celebration to see how people help each other. Universal fraternity is a reality that takes hold, day after day, and “Drop after Drop” represents just that.”
Lorenzo Russo
https://youtu.be/xv5W3hxZInc * Reflection: “Lord give me everyone who is lonely” by Chiara Lubich – September 1949
Mar 22, 2021 | Non categorizzato
It is fairly easy to Love God and our neighbours when we are well. However, when we are sick, even physically, it can become a huge challenge. Chiara Lubich tells us how we can prepare for those moments in a way that also includes the possibility of failure. As we all know our Ideal can be defined with just one word: Love. Love is the whole of our life, love is the soul of our prayer, the soul of our apostolate, of all the expressions of our existence. Love is also the “health” of our individual spiritual life, just as reciprocal love is our “health” as a community, as the “mystical body of Christ”. When we love, everything is right with us; we are before God whole and entire, whether we are enjoying physical wholeness or whether we are ill. However, when one is healthy, it is easy to love; it is easy to love God and our brothers and sisters. It is more difficult to love when you are ill. […] [I would like] to ask you and me a question. Is it really right that someone who finds themselves in such difficult moments of their earthly life should live with such commitment the marriage of their soul with Jesus forsaken, and that we who perhaps have greater physical health, live our tension to holiness in a mediocre way? Must we always allow God to permit special trials to happen to us – trials that seem to take our breath away, in order to make us decide to love Him in a total way? […] Therefore, […] we cannot waste any time. We all have the Holy Spirit in our heart, and we know what his requests and suggestions are. He tells us that here we should love Jesus Forsaken in a suffering for example, or in an effort we have to make; here we should prefer Jesus Forsaken in a virtue, in brotherly love for example. Here, again, we should choose him in an aspect of the Movement or of the Church or of humanity… We must make a resolution to love Jesus Forsaken day by day, always, […] with 100% commitment. And. […] repeat before each action we take “For You”. If such a committed life frightens us, […] let’s remind ourselves of the words of Jesus, “Let the burden of each day be sufficient for that day” (Mt 6, 34). Let’s concern ourselves with the face of Jesus Forsaken of today, the face of Jesus Forsaken of each moment. For tomorrow, we will have other graces. In this way, we will store away full days, all completely consecrated to Jesus Forsaken. It is with these days that we will build our holiness. If then it happens that we fail, that we betray Him, that we became blocked, we know that also beyond all these circumstances His face is there. May we be able to answer to ourselves each evening, or rather answer to Jesus who questions us in the depth of our heart about how the day went: “it went well, 100%”.. With our embracing Jesus Forsaken 100% – the Risen One shines out in us and gives witness. […]
Chiara Lubich
(from a telephonic conference call, Rocca di Papa, 16 January 1986)
Mar 19, 2021 | Non categorizzato
Every day, on the eastern outskirts of Lima, Peru, the Focolare community supports people living in situations of extreme poverty by sharing many things – food, material aid, literacy skills and Gospel experiences. Huaycán is located in the eastern suburbs of Lima, Peru. It has a population of approximately 200,000 and 90% are immigrants from the Andes, people who arrived to escape from poverty. They preserve their traditions and their language, Quechua, the ancient language of the Incas. The people living high up in the hills are often experiencing situations of extreme poverty. Their houses have dirt floors and consist of just one room (beds are in the kitchen), they do not have a clean water supply, electricity or a sewage system… Many of the people are street vendors. Some women do house cleaning and some men are construction workers or scrap collectors. The community in Lima has seen that these people are living in a situation that is like the “wound of Christ” and has chosen to love them in a special way. “We first visited Huaycán in 1998,” Elsa recalls, “when Tata, Carmen, Maria and Milagros and I brought the Word of Life to a community close to the ‘Fe y Alegría School’ run by the Franciscan Sisters. Then Elba, Mario, Lula, Yeri, Fernando, Cristina and Eury… joined us. We went higher up in the hills and shared Gospel experiences with the poorest of the poor. Many of the people had poor health and were suffering from a variety of different illnesses and family life was very difficult: violence, promiscuity, unemployment, drugs and hunger were part of their everyday experience.” “At first, we would sit on the ground,” Elba says, “but then as the people began to feel more secure, they would pull out their chairs and offer them to us. In the winter, they would invite us into their humble houses. There we met Olinda, the school cook, who opened her home to meet us. She is a beautiful person – the “heart” of the community for us . We suffered together when her eldest son died suddenly.” The community in Lima community has begun several initiatives to support the many needs of these people: these include material aid, educational support for children, training and literacy for adults, psychological support, follow-up and health care and the sale of second-hand clothes. “Every year we celebrate Christmas and Mother’s Day together. We also organize trips and some of the people take part in the annual Mariapolis,” Mario recalls. “One couple followed a preparation course and then got married during the Mariapolis, in the presence of their five children and other relatives. It was a turning point in their lives, just as it is for many others when they meet the God of Love.” “With the pandemic,” Cristina continues, “many people have lost their jobs and do not have enough to feed their children. Working with some families we managed to procure food and distribute it to those most in need. One woman installed an oven, which had previously been disused, to produce bread. From March to June, we distributed 140 baskets of food and 12,720 loaves of bread. We met with the poorest community, Granja Verde, because we needed a kitchen and dining area to prepare and serve food. We began to organise what we could do: they offered a piece of land and laid a concrete floor. We provided essential utensils for the kitchen and a 2,500-litre tank for drinking water. The dining room was inaugurated on 15 November 15 2020, and started working the following day. Today we produce 100 meals a day. We know, as Pope Francis reminds us, that if we forget about the poor, God will forget about us. Huaycán, Christ’s “sore spot” is our favourite place and where we most clearly experience God’s blessing.”
Gustavo E. Clariá
