A Light in the Illness

May 4, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

«When, about four years ago, Fernando was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) a shiver went down my spine.- Maria said – I was overwhelmed and full of fear. He guessed what I was feeling and whispered to me: “I’m up for it. You’ll see God’ll give us the grace for this really important moment.” I felt myself reborn. I too wanted to stick to God’s plan of love for us. Like this we began the adventure we’re on.

‘After a while Fernando was taken into intensive care because of a respiratory problem, but our calm way of facing the illness and Fernando’s attitude of love for the doctors and nurses changed all the rigidly professional attitudes into something more warm and friendly.

‘The whole Focolare family and the people we’ve met throughout our lives stood by us. We found a real competition of love going on around us: I never had to use public transport, people it take in turns to get me to the hospital and to help with filling in the forms needed to access home care.

‘When we returned home I had to face the problems of daily life caring for Fernando day and night, and I learnt to use the various kinds of life-saving equipment. At night I always have an ear open and often my sleep is broken. But, although I may be a bit tense sometimes, the look of love on  Fernando’s face always keeps me going.

‘In the last four years I’ve always felt God as a Father and he touches my life everyday in the most unexpected ways above all through other people. One morning a visiting doctor found me ill in bed and so, after she’d done what she’d come to do, she cooked some soup, put on a wash and fed Fernando.

‘Little things like that happen all the time. One Sunday I ran out of medical gloves and, in that very moment, a neighbour who knew nothing about it turned up with a box of a hundred. The little daily chores get done too, because things happen like someone turns up at the door and says something like: ‘Do you need any bills paying?’

‘Fernando never plays the sick person. He is 87 and what you see in him is joy and openness to  everyone. He keeps himself informed and is especially interested in politics and above all in the school of the Political Movement for Unity. He was the mayor of Ghilarza (Oristano) for three terms, the director of the Sardinian Regional Statistical Study Centre, and he is concerned in a special way about young people who he encourages to get involved with politics, saying: “We need to purify our way of thinking.”

‘The illness progresses and takes away the most simple and basic abilities, but he lives this out in a heavenly way, trying to do God’s will with simplicity,  just as he did when he was well, and his faith supports all of us around him. If anyone calls to see him and commiserates with him, he says to me later: “They speak about death, but I feel I’m overflowing with life!” and he doesn’t hesitate to tell believers and non-believers alike of his experience and philosophy of life: “I hand myself over completely to God as Jesus did. When I’m scared, I’m not afraid. Fear destroys life”».

In Colombia: “Project Innocence”

May 2, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

One leading initiative in Latin America called “Project Innocence” is being promoted by the Faculty of Law at the Manuela Beltran University of Bogota. The project aims at re-opening court cases of people who have been wrongfully convicted and lack the financial resources to pay for their defense. Project Innocence offers its legal services for free.

The project began in 2007. Project director, Juan Carlos Cardenas C. explains: “Most of the cases we deal with have to do with negligence or wrongful identification of the perpetrators of crimes. They are cases in which judiciary officials fail to carry out their duties because of negligence, lack of training, lack of evidence or false testimony, but also because of corruption, and they make wrong decisions that unjustly convict a person.”

Project Innocence is composed of an interdisciplinary work group, with psychologists, lawyers, detectives and, naturally, students in this field.

Divided into working groups, representatives of Project Innocence visit penitentiaries for both, men and women, twice a week. The detainees of these penitentiaries sign to be accepted into the project. Requests are often made on their behalf by relatives and friends. And claims of innocence are often submitted through electronic post via the website.

A professional lawyer, a monitor, and a student in the field of psychology or law are usually present at the interview. The project director stresses: “We never lose sight of the fact that this could be the only opportunity for this person to be heard.”

“Usually,” explains Lawyer Cardenas, “the inmates claim that there was a mistake in the trial and sentencing. For this reason it is important to have someone with deep and serious training. We start with the respect and belief that all the judgements issued by the courts are based on the principle of law and righteousness. It is even more difficult, therefore, to demonstrate to the administrator of justice that it has made a mistake, after it has made a final ruling. In principle, therefore, our efforts are not to identify the official who has made a mistake, but rather to show where and what the mistake was in the process that led to the conviction of an innocent person.”

The cases that arrive at Project Innocence include things such as kidnapping, murder, sexual offenses, extortion, money laundering, but the people behind these cases are innocent and have been unjustly accused and deprived of their liberty. Like the case of Manuel Mena, who was sentenced to seventeen years in prison for a murder he did not commit. After three and a half years in prison and the rigorous work carried out by the team at the University, analyzing the facts and evidence in the case, the Constitutional Court annulled the sentence of conviction and ordered his immediate release.

The professor concludes: “Detainees are among the most needy in the population, in need of help and solidarity; not only the innocent, but also those who are going through the process of rehabilitation and are in need of a friend’s hand, some counsel, a listening ear. The world of criminal justice is also in need of a transformation by the Gospel and by the truth. And this little project we are involved in is, for us, a tiny seed of this renewal.”

(Experience shared at the International Symposium on Fraternity, 4 April 2012, at Manuela Beltran University)

Juan Carlos Cárdenas is the director of “Project Innocence”. He teaches Law at Manuela Beltran University of Bogota, Colombia and has been actively involved in the Focolare Movement from when he was young having embraced the spirituality of Chiara Lubich.

To read more experiences in this field visit: http://comunionediritto.org/en/

“Let’s Bridge” Youth Meeting in Loppiano

Apr 30, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

REPLAY 1st May youth meeting in Loppiano LIVE STREAMING EVENT

Read article: http://www.genfest.org/newnews/Lets-bridge-VOLUME-ZERO-has-started

Photo gallery on Flickr

Germany – at the heart of Europe

Apr 29, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

10 November 1989: the day after the fall of the Berlin Wall

Today, after its reunification in 1990, with its 81 million in habitants, Germany is the most populous country of the European Union of which it was one of the founder members. Its GNP makes it one of the richest countries in the world and, in the wake of the Second World, it has developed a solid Parliamentary democracy.

Both its dramatic experience of nazi dictatorship and its forty-year East-West division have deeply effected its people. Since Germany is also one of the lands of the Reformation, with a strong presence of Protestant Churches together with the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches, Germans have lived the pain of the division of the Churches. They are now discovering the richness of diversity and see the unfolding of a more effective witness to Christian life.

There are about 30,000 people who say they are friends of the Focolare Movement in Germany. About 5000 thousand of them, adults, young people and children, meet regularly either according to  age or vocation or linked to common interests or specific topics. The first contacts with Germany go back to 1955. A little later, the Catholic bishop of Meißen, Otto Spülbeck, and Cardinal Alfred Bengsch of Berlin asked the founder of the Focolare, Chiara Lubich, to send focolarini to East Germany. The lack of doctors in the DDR make it easier for foreigners with a medical background to enter the country and so 8 focolarini who were doctors, German and Italian, went to Berlin and Leipzig. With them came Natalia Dallapiccola, a focolarina who had been with Chiara Lubich from the beginning of the Focolare in Trent, Northern Italy. From Germany Focolare spirituality spread also in other countries in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

In a country so much involved with the beginnings of the Reformation, it is natural for ecumenical dialogue to be of primary importance for the Focolare.

A characteristic of the Focolare in Germany is that right from the start there were meetings with Evangelical Christians (the bruderschäfte [fraternities], the nuns of Mary from Darmstadt). In the 60s there were numerous meetings with important people and members of various Churches. From that time to today, Christians of different Churches have found their place in different groups within the Focolare. They find there an inspiration for their lives, and an encouragement to work for and to  deepen unity among Christians.

On the basis of these relationships between Christians of different Churches, common initiatives have taken place and there has been real development at a community level. Among these there is the Centre for Ecumenical Life at Ottmaring, near Augsburg. Its founders and leaders are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Brethren of the Common Life and Focolare members. Ottmaring has become one the Focolare’s ‘little towns’ with a profoundly ecumenical character. It has had the blessing of both Lutheran and Catholic authorities and it now has 120 people permanently committed to it and linked to it in a variety of ways.

In the summer months, European young people take the opportunity to share for a time in the life of the little town. In 1999 the ecumenical experience of Ottmaring led to the initiative ‘Together for Europe’, a network of movements and Christian communities that includes Evangelicals, Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Free Church members.

There are other meeting centres of the Focolare in Germany in Solingen and Zwochau.

A further point of commitment for Focolare members is dialogue with believers of different religions and with people of no religious faith. Shared efforts for peace, justice and in social initiatives have provided common platforms for this dialogue.

In the history of the Focolare other people, together with Chiara Lubich, have given an important contribution to the Movement’s development. One of these was the German bishop of Aachen, Klaus Hemmerle (1929-1994).

He gave a decisive boost for the development of a theology developed from Chiara Lubich’s charism and he regularly took part in meetings of the interdisciplinary research centre called the ‘Abba School’. He also gave life to an ongoing ecumenical spiritual development involving bishops of different nationalities and Churches who take their inspiration from the spirituality of unity.

On the tenth anniversary of Klaus Hemmerle’s death, the Focolare in Germany set up a prize for persons who display a spirit similar to his. It is given every two years to those who have been ‘bridge-builders’ in dialogue among the Churches, among religions and among people of other kinds of convictions. The first to receive the prize was Patriarch Bartholomew I.

New website for Alberto Michelotti and Carlo Grisolia

Apr 27, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Alberto and Carlo are two young people from Genoa whose cause for beatification was started in 2008. The case is original because they are protagonists together. Their friendship and the friendship they showed to others is one of the salient points of their life: it is precisely in this human sentiment, lived in a Christian way, that the Church has seen an element of sanctity, mostly in their wish to help each other in bringing to all the evangelical ideal of a united world, of universal brotherhood. On the new site, that is dedicated to them, one can view and download for free, the documentary, in Italian “Together we can”, directed by Mario Ponta: A group of youths today, following in the footsteps and ways of Alberto and Carlo, and meeting the friends of that time, discover the authenticity of their experience, and that it can be lived also today. A version of the documentary with subtitles in various languages is being prepared. The Alberto Michelotti and Carlo Grisolia committee invite all to visit the site and leave their impressions: www.albertocarlo.it

Beppe Porqueddu: “A revolution within the revolution”

Apr 24, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

“Ciao Chiara! What a joy it is to live this afternoon with you.

Do you remember the phrase I wrote to you on that 16th December, a few hours after the motorcycle accident which, at 18 years of age, brought me so close to death? “I never thought it to be so wonderful to be completely touched by the love of God …”.

There the mystery of my life was not only revealed but fulfilled. Those words expressed my amazement at experiencing peace through the grace of God’s love for me. And it’s this amazement that, in all these years, has nourished my creativity, my way of expressing myself and also my new physical situation. It was such an unexpected development!

One morning as I was combing my hair in front of the mirror, I felt a sudden surge of happiness. I asked myself which was more true: that three quarters of my body couldn’t move or that my arms could still do acts of generosity. Both of these things were true and they had the same value. Therefore, in me there was unity and with it the perception of complete psycho-physical integrity. And even though I lived in flesh and blood every limitation dependent on my condition, my identity was intact. I was One in myself! That day I said to myself: “Every fibre of every muscle which is still functioning must be used to love.”

Later on, bewildered and astonished as to why I experienced joy despite the innumerable difficulties, I understood Jesus in his cry: “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” This is what attracted me when I first got to know the ideal of unity some years before the accident. It seemed as though Jesus was giving me proof of this paradox. In virtue of living reciprocal love in a dynamic way, it was possible to harness limitations and abilities in a positive and constructive way, as in “a game of love”.

Through wisdom, the condition of a person with a physical disability is seen in a new light. While many might see in it only suffering, a tragic circumstance to be pitied, a social welfare case, copious tears, it actually becomes not only liveable and saintly, but also a real opportunity to transform society. Every disability, looked at from a new perspective, is an opportunity to embrace that cry of Jesus.

Modern scientific theory considers “disability” as something that represents the socialisation of problems and needs. Since this is known and accepted, it must be loved by society by altering its structures to accommodate Jesus present in every person. This brings about the necessity for town planning and architecture – which I like to describe as mother sciences – to bring back Jesus in “his city,” the place where personal relationships exist.

The “handicap” – which is always a social discomfort born from the fateful relationship between the person’s disability and society’s refusal of that disability, the “non-love” – is longer there since the disability is accepted by those who bear it and it is loved and accepted by society which is thus not only renewed but is all-embracing of the suffering of the humanity of Jesus.

So the suffering of a disability loved by those who bear it, and loved by society, in a way eliminates the handicap and this reciprocal relationship transforms suffering into a gentle and light yoke, but it is also a source of light and a spark of true social transformation.

You know, Chiara, over the past 42 years, in every suffering, I have never found a cross that was empty; Jesus was always there – my Jesus, your Jesus. The revolutionary is God himself. Goodbye, Chiara!”

Beppe Porqueddu is a rehabilitation technologist. He conducts Peer Counselling training courses for doctors, rehabilitation personnel, architects and town planning engineers, and for people with disabilities. He is a consultant/project manager for government initiatives on issues of accessibility in cities and parks. He is a coordinator of SIVA (Aid Assessment and Information Services) of the Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation of Rome. He is also co-founder and current president of “Centro Studi Prisma” in Belluno, in the area of interdisciplinary study of technical and social integration of people with disabilities.

A Cagliari, “Via Chiara Lubich”

Apr 23, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Paraguay: At the heart of South America

Apr 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

In ancient times Paraguay was called ‘The Enormous Province of the Indies’ and it came into being from two sources: the troubled arrival of the Spanish conquistadores and the native Guaraní people. It has two official languages: Spanish and Paraguayan Guaraní. It covers  406,752 square km and is divided into two regions: the Eastern desert and the rich vegetation of the subtropical West. It has 6 million inhabitants. There is no sea coast, but it is crossed by two huge rivers: the Paraná and the Paraguay. Beneath the ground lies the guaraní aquifer, the largest known freshwater reservoir on the planet. Its capital Asunción has 600,000 inhabitants and is a cosmopolitan city still small enough to be comfortable.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Paraguay was formed as the principal crossroads between other regions of the continent. Asunción was called the ‘Mother of Cities’ because Spanish caravans set out from here to found other cities.

In the second half of the sixteenth century the Franciscans arrived and founded populated places in the country’s interior. Their influence was great. An important chapter in the history of Paraguay was the presence of the Jesuits (1609-1768), with their well-know missions or ‘reducciones’, that is, small townships set up on the basis of reciprocity and the redistribution of wealth. The ruins, called Trinidad, Jesús, San Ignacio Guazu and so on, remain from that period and they have been declared world heritage sites. It was a period  of tremendous artistic and musical creativity and what resulted is the so called Guaraní baroque. In 1811 Paraguay gained independence from Spain.

Paraguayan history is full of tragedy, but also full of heroism. The result is a people of real simplicity, who daily rejoice over the little things of ordinary life, doing so especially as a fruit of the faith that has been sown in the depths of their hearts.

The Focolare Movement is as one large family made up of communities throughout the land. It well integrated in the nation’s civil, religious and cultural life. The gaiety, the deeply religious spirit and the hospitality typical of Paraguayans have aided the spread of Focolare spirituality.

The ideal of unity came to Paraguay in 1964, by means of two priests who had met the Focolare while studying in Rome. Returning to their own land they spread the new spirituality especially in their own parishes. The first people to adhere to the Movement went to a Mariapolis in the mountains near Cordoba in Argentina, about 1200 km away. They came back home with their hearts aflame with what they had experienced and they copied Chiara and her first companions: they chose God as the one ideal of their lives.

They met together regularly to read the Word of Life and to help one another by sharing their experiences of living it. In November 1964 a focolarina arrived, the first to come there. It was Ada Ungaro (Fiore). Then Anna Sorlini came to visit the community. By the following year there was sizeable group. One of them, Daniel Galeano, was the first married focolarino from Paraguay and the leading figure of the community until the focolare houses were opened.

In 1967 the first Mariapolis in Paraguay took place. There were 300 people and two of Chiara’s first companions, Lia Brunet and Vittorio Sabbione, came to it as well.

The life of love for one another spontaneously gave rise to the wish to help people in need. In 1966 the first initiatives began and spread from the capital to other cities. Young people too felt drawn by this radical ideal. In 1970 forty girls went to the ‘Gen holidays’ in Argentina. Two years later other young people joined in as well. Chiara’s appeal ‘to die for your own people’ inspired them to put in common their material and spiritual goods ‘so that no one should lack the necessities of life.’ In June 1981 a women’s focolare house was opened in Asunción and in February 1988 the first men arrived to set up a focolare house. Various vocations began to develop among people: men and women volunteers, priests and seminarians, monks and nuns, young people of every age, adherents and sympathizers.

The devastating floods of 1983 meant that the members of the Movement came into contact with people from the extensive poorer areas of Asunción. Inspired by the values of fraternity and solidarity they bought some land in Capiatá (24 km from Asunción) and about twenty families moved there, which greatly improved their quality of life. Currently there are seventy families present and ‘San Miguel de Capriatá’ is a tranquil village with a number of educational, health, work and recreational activities taking place.

In 2003 the long awaited Mariapolis Centre, Mary, Mother of the Humanity (18 km from the capital) was opened. It offers formation to the members of the Movement but it is open to all.

In the political field the Movement for Unity in Politics has come into existence, and in the field of economic life the Economy of Communion is spreading. The ideal of unity penetrates also into different environments, especially health, education, the arts and various forms of media.

There are about 9,000 members of the Movement from all walks of life, including adherents and sympathizers who wish to live the spirituality of unity.

Paraguay: Twenty Years of San Miguel

Apr 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

It all began in 1983 in response to a request by the local Church. A few members of the Focolare Movement started going to the ‘Barrio Republicano’, a district on the edges of Asunción where there is a huge rubbish tip. The constant humidity and the waste matter that every day is thrown there caused a great deal of illness, especially among children. The families were living on the edges of the river Paraguay in huts of cardboard, sheets of plastic and old corrugated iron. Frequent floods often swamped the whole area, forcing people to be constantly on the move. ‘Faced with such a dreadful situation we wouldn’t do nothing,’ said someone who experienced it all first hand. ‘We knuckled under and started looking for a solution to sort both the health and the housing problems. We looked for a place where the most disadvantaged families could go.’ Small savings were shared and together with other contributions they managed to buy some land a Capiatá, 24 km from Asunción. Roads started to be laid and work began on the first batch of houses, a well was dug and a cistern of drinking water was installed and, finally, electricity was connected. Between 1992 and 1993 the first 20 families moved in and the district of ‘San Miguel’ officially began. In the meantime UNIPAR (Unidad y Participación: Unity and Participation) Association was formed, a non profit organization that coordinates the various activities working for the area. Currently there are about 70 families and about 300 inhabitants. The San Miguel Clinic was set up to cope with the health problems. It is a surgery that deals with a side range issues, including the most common infections, nutritional education, campaigns for vaccination and prophylactic medicine, dental treatment and maternity and paediatric consultancy. In 2002 a nursery school was started and in 2004 a primary school. It is recognized by the government and its specific aim is to provide an education for peace, fraternity and solidarity. The Ministry of Education considers it a ‘model’ school, and has sent teachers from the region to it for further professional training. The project ‘Health-Education-Food’ was set up both to give continuity to the activities begun and to guarantee children’s ongoing support and education. The Associazione Azione per Famiglie Nuove (Action for New Families Association) gives support at a distance to this. Much else has been established to benefit the people of San Miguel and the surrounding districts: a free library, a book and stationery shop selling at affordable prices, adult literacy classes, professional consultancy of many kinds (legal aid, child protection, behavioural therapy, ophthalmic programs and the distribution of spectacles, and so on). It is a decisive and coordinated action that brings together the inhabitants themselves, the local authorities, and national and international bodies. It has been a fundamental approach, right from the beginnings of San Miguel, to encourage small-scale productive activities and to give families economic autonomy. Through the years AMU (Associazione Azione per un Mondo Unito: Action for a United World Association) has contributed to the development of these activities and still today it is involved in Paraguay in supporting micro-enterprise. These projects have solid foundations and realistic prospects because of the skills of Paraguayan people. It is sufficient to consider that in Paraguay there are the greatest number of Economy of Communion businesses in the world – more than 600 of them!

If you wish to contribute to the development of the micro-enterprises supported by AMU in Paraguay please send donations to: Account name: ‘Associazione Azione per un Mondo Unito’ At: Banca Popolare Etica, Rome branch IBAN: IT16G0501803200000000120434 SWIFT/BIC: CCRTIT2184D Payments should be marked for: ‘Sviluppo di attività produttive in America Latina’

“Concert on the Porch” for Burmese refugees

Apr 20, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

On Saturday 24 March a concert was held in Melbourne. It was hosted by the Focolare and the Kadhampa Buddhist Society. Around 100 people attended and the concert raised $840.00 for Action for a United World (AMU) project on the Thai/Burmese border, which provides schooling and food to children of Burmese refugees. A Sudanese family at the concert, who had arrived in Australia as refugees themselves, commented how happy they were to be able to support the evening’s fundraising and support other refugees.

The concert coincided with “Harmony Day”, an Australian Government initiative to celebrate Australia’s cultural diversity and share what all Australians have in common. Together with the Kadhampa Buddhist group, friends of the Focolare from various Muslim and Jewish communities were present as well.

The youth of the Focolare supported the evening by inviting their friends to perform and by making the guests welcome acting as waiters distributing finger food throughout the evening. They expressed the theme of a United World through a backdrop behind the performers displaying the world surrounded by people holding hands.

A Powerpoint presentation explaining the fundraising project and highlighting the cooperation between Focolare and Kadhampa over the past year was keenly followed by the audience.

One of the Muslim guests said after the concert that she considered the Focolare her second home and throughout the evening there was a beautiful atmosphere of everyone being at home. A Jewish couple was happily surprised to see so many young people putting their talents in common for a good cause and commented how struck they were by the smiles of the people as they arrived. A beautiful conversation they had with a young Palestinian man who performed during the program epitomised the unity built during the evening.

Naples: Goods don’t circulate on their own

Apr 18, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

“The whole community of believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but rather they shared all things in common.” This phrase of the Gospel inspires us gen to live the communion of goods. In our group, we started to make a sort of inventory of all our goods, so as to share them with others. The economic situation differs for each of us. Those who have a regular income are willing to decide together how to spend the money. For example, with Federico we thought that if he were to spend less money on video games, the amount saved could help Andrea subscribe to a photography magazine for his work. It’s not about how we manage the funds, but the way we communicate openly and sincerely with one another. This openness makes us realise what is most important. Marco, a Geology graduate with a post-doctorate scholarship, due to sudden financial cuts by the Italian University, had not received his wages for several months. At that time he had pressing needs: to attend a professional development course in Cagliari and also to pay for his car registration. It was a bit awkward for him to tell us that he was short of money! However, his trust in our reciprocal love, which makes us one heart and one soul, made him overcome his embarrassment. As soon as he came out with it, there was an explosive show of generosity: “I’ve got some money remaining on my credit card.” “I have extra savings…”. And so we were able to loan him the amount he needed. Marco realised he had to use the small capital responsibly. This experience made us become more like brothers. One of us who has just finished university, started his forensic training in order to complement his law degree, but he’s paid very little, certainly not enough to support others as well. One day he met a friend who suggested that he could earn a lot of money through road accident compensation cases. He only needed to sign a few papers without investigating as to whether the accident actually happened or not. He had strong doubts about it; during the night he woke up with this phrase of the Gospel in mind: “Your Father knows the things you need even before you ask him.” The next morning, he called his friend to tell him that would not accept that job. A few months later, he received an unexpected telephone call from an insurance company asking him to attend an interview. Thanks to his forensic training experience, he was able to do well in the interview. He was employed as an inspector for accident compensation cases precisely by the same insurance company whose fraudulent employee he had previously turned down in order to remain honest. (The Gen from Naples)

Giovani in Argentina

Apr 17, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Argentina: Intertwining Roots

Apr 15, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Many years ago, trying to convey a vision of the various continents that underscored the human wealth of their peoples, in Latin America Chiara Lubich took the heightened sensitivity to sociality as a defining characteristic of this region of the world. During these first fifty years of the Focolare’s presence in this land no one here has ever forgotten this vision. And this was the dimension that emerged so strongly at the festive gathering with Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti and the communities of the Southern Cone (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay), on April 14, 2012 in Buenos Aires.

In a large tent auditorium that was filled with almost 3,500 people a parade of folkloristic music and dance accompanied by audiovisual shows presented the various countries that were represented, often referring to situations of poverty, inequality, marginalization… to which the Movement has often responded.

Then Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti began an intense dialogue with the audience, responding to a series of questions. How to grow and be fruitful even in times of crisis? Maria Voce responded by saying: “Moments of crisis are always moments of growth even when we’re not aware of it. Mothers know well that when their teenage children are growing they feel awkward and uncomfortable. . . but they grow just the same, even though they aren’t aware of it. I have found so much esteem and appreciation for our Movement in the Church. . . so let’s trust in what others see in our Movement. In this land of hope we must also hope because it’s a theological virtue. We mustn’t lose hope because God, who is Love, is bringing things ahead.” What about becoming involved in social issues? “We can’t be dispassionate,” Giancarlo Falleti responded. “Chiara has taught us to construct pieces of society that are renewed. We should bring forward whatever God may put in our hearts, with the help of others, together.” And Faletti added: “The difficulties of today invite us to reinvent while remaining faithful to our spirituality, but being moved by new creative thinking in order to understand how to fit ourselves into today’s history, today’s Church and today’s world.”

Asked about the significance of the New Evangelization, Maria Voce stressed: “The Gospel should be our clothing, and living it should be our way of proclaiming that Jesus is alive. And not only must we proclaim it but permit others to actually encounter Jesus present among us because of the mutual love that we live.” With so much cultural, social and ethnic difference, how are we to avoid exclusion? “God has made the universe with all these differences,” replied Maria Voce.  “We should see them as He does, that they are all actually rich expressions of his unlimited ability to express Himself in an infinite of ways. This rich diversity of the Latin American peoples can be a gift for the whole world in discovering the beauty and the richness of God.”

What about difficult situations such as the breakdown of the family? “This spirituality is to be incarnated in the issues of today,” Faletti insisted. “When the Movement spread beyond the Iron Curtain, we were completely blocked, unable to run any activities. But this turned out to be one of the most fruitful periods. These difficult times in Latin America are a time of grace. Let us love: the answers to all problems are in God and they are born from an abundance of love.”

Maria Voce concluded by saying: “You need to show the beauty of this diversity to the world, the beauty of these peoples whose roots are no longer separated but intertwined.”

Alberto Barlocci

Uruguay: a Nation for People

Apr 15, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

The República Oriental del Uruguay, its official name, has three and a half million people and is one of several smaller countries on the continent between two giants: Argentina and Brazil.

Its name comes from the river Uruguay – ‘river of painted birds’ in Guaraní – which forms its Western border. It has rolling countryside, vast meadows, wide expanses furrowed by water courses and a huge oceanic coast with stunningly beautiful beaches. A tranquil land, with hospitable people who have welcomed with open arms various waves of immigrants – from Italy and Spain, but also less numerous groups from Germany, France, Switzerland and Africa. All have felt at home and mixed harmoniously with the other inhabitants.

Uruguayans are friendly, respectful and naturally on the side of others. They are gifted with a strong critical sense: they love debates, lectures, art and football (a real national passion) and are deeply attached to their families and their friends. They have a strong democratic tradition.

The capital, Montevideo, was built in 1726. Today the city is still small enough to be comfortable and about 40% of the country’s population live in it. This is where, at the end of the 50s, Fr Pedro Richards, the founder of the Christian Family Movement, invited Chiara Lubich, whom he had met in Rome, to take part in a general assembly of his movement. Chiara was unable to come but in  her place she sent Marco Tecilla, the first focolarino, at that time in Brazil. On 12 January 1959 Marco found himself telling the story of the beginning of the Focolare to the assembly. Among the people present was Guillermo Piñeyro who became the first Uruguayan member of the Focolare Movement.

Marco went back in the April of that year and brought with him with Lia Brunet, a focolarina from the first group in Trent in Italy. In 1963 the first focolare house was opened and later, in 1967, a second.

The life of the Movement, in the meantime, spread also to other cities: San José, Canelones, Durazno, Mercedes, Tacuarembó, Salto, Florida, Paysandú and Treinta y Tres.

Towards the end of the 60s, near Canelones a place for the long-term formation of young people was set up. The dream was to begin a little town like the international town of Loppiano, Italy. This dream was later realized in Argentina and all the young people went there to rebuild a disused religious house in the midst of the Pampas given by the Capuchins. Nowadays it is known as the ‘Mariapolis Lia’.

In 1968 the first Mariapolis in Uruguay took place. From the gospel life of its members, over the years, there have developed contacts and initiatives with members of other religions (especially Jews, whose community in the capital is one of the biggest in South America); with Christians of other Churches (Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Armenians); and with people whose convictions are not religious. Indeed Uruguay is not a typical country in the region: only 55% of the population claims to be Roman Catholic. There are many agnostics.

Ciudad Nueva, the local edition of the Focolare magazine, began in 1980. From 1985 onwards it has also covered Paraguay. In 1994 construction began on the centre for formation or ‘Mariapolis Centre’, which Chiara Lubich named: The Pelican. In 2003 three members of parliament from three different parties, at the launch of a book about Igino Giordani, discovered that they shared  many of the same values. This gave rise to the Political Movement for Unity in that country. In the ‘temple of secularism’, that is the seat of government, in October 2008, in a hall filled to overflowing, Chiara Lubich was gratefully commemorated just months after her death.

Even before the creation of ‘Comunión para el Desarrollo Sociale’, a civil body that works for the poor, there were activities for those most in need. But from 2000, following a request from the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Montevideo, the Focolare took over Nueva Vida (New Life), an initiative active among the starving and poor of the capital. Thanks to the charism of unity, work is done together with the people who are served and a network has been set up with other associations that work in the same area. Today there are about 9.000 members and adherents of the Movement, and many Uruguayans are in touch with the spirituality of unity.

Nueva Vida in the Barrio Borro

Apr 15, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Uruguay, on the border between Brazil and Argentina, is one of the most developed countries in Latin America and has the most equal distribution of riches. Nevertheless, it is also possible to find areas of extreme poverty such as the Borro quarter, north of Montevideo. This neighbourhood is inhabited by some 4,000 families, nearly 26,000 people. In tourist brochures it is marked as a place to be avoided, since many of its inhabitants live by their wits on the edge of legality. And it is here that the Nueva Vida social centre was begun.

Its origins go back to 1992, thanks to the work of Sr Eva Aguilar from the Congregation of the Sisters Slaves of the Sacred Heart and the assistance of her community, until 2000 when she was given another assignment. The bishop then appealed to the Focolare Movement, which took charge of the neighbourhood’s needs and began the Nueva Vida project, a project for “new life” (nueva vida) brought about through love for the poorest and most marginalized. In 2001 the bishop officially entrusted this nascent social project to CODESO (Communion for Social Development), a civil entity founded by members of the Focolare Movement.

The primary objective of Nueva Vida is to create a positive environment for the growth and development of children, teenagers and their families, beginning with those in greatest difficulty, using an individualized and “holistic” approach. The activities are carried out in two 300 square-metre wharehouses, and are organized according to age groups. There is a kindergarten for children up to five years of age, a Children’s Club (6-12 years) and a Youth Centre (13-18 years).

Today Nueva Vida Centre is a permanent part of the quarter, with a well-constructed building for forty workers, and the recognition of local educational authorities. It regularly welcomes more than 250 children, teenagers and young people involved in extracurricular activities including psycho-motor skills for the youngest, artistic workshops, after-school programmes, languages classes, recreational, cultural and environmental activities, and professional workshops. The centre also provides a daily meal, paediatric medical care and legal assistance thanks to financial aid from Distance Support from the New Families Association.

Natural Neighbourhood Outreach

After a few years of working with children and teenagers, the directors of Nueva Vida programs saw the need of working also with their mothers. The typical family is comprised of a young mother with four to five children; and so it is the woman who is responsible for raising the children and supporting the family. Economic hardship and family instability (absenteeism among fathers at a rate of 80%) have produced negative effects and social isolation.

One answer has been the Natural Neighborhood Outreach project, which proposes the development of woman entrepreneurship, through courses on wool processing (dyeing, spinning, weaving and packaging.) The project which is fully supported by AMU, was begun in 2007. Up until the present it has involved more than twenty women, who have learnt a trade and acquired professional status which is very rare in this environment.

One of the professional course directors remarked: “Uruguay is a very secular land and culture, in which it is not common so speak of religious aspects and values. One day we met to talk about one of the main attributes of the project, that is, of the communion that we strive to live and the spirituality that nourishes us. After having listened, everyone told what they had understood about putting into practice reciprocity of this gift-giving. Perhaps their economic situation is not changing very quickly, but one thing that is certainly changing is the way of facing it and of living as a family.”

Latin America: the richness of cultural diversity

Apr 14, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

‘The charism of unity in dialogue with contemporary culture’ was the theme of Focolare president Maria Voce’s recent meeting in Buenos Aires on  13 April. In fifty years of the Movement’s activity in Latin America, its members’ life has touched many cultural environments. This was the context of what Maria Voce said to a hall packed with more than 300 people at the University of Buenos Aires’ Faculty of Economic Sciences.

Quoting Chiara Lubich, she recalled that ‘the powerful contradictions that mark our age need an orientating key as powerful and effective as they are. This mean a set of categories and activities capable of inspiring individuals, as well as entire peoples, with its patterns of economic, social and political life. Such a universal idea exists. It is showing itself able to meet the challenge of our times: universal fraternity.’ She went on to say that ‘the idea of fraternity is acquiring academic credibility.  It is an effective cultural category with a single source, the charism of unity, and with multiple impact as it comes to be accepted in the most varied cultural contexts, promotes a wide range of values and has various practical and social applications.’

Several of the distinguished people present took Maria Voce’s words as a starting point for their own reflections. Marta Oyhanarte, a member of the UN’s Social and Economic Council, emphasized that ‘a new social contract based on fraternity needs to be formulated, not just in the political and economic spheres, but in all fields, a 360 degree dialogue.’ Cristian Cox, Dean of the Catholic University of Chile, referred to how the idea of fraternity could influence educationally: ‘Our study programmes do not offer an education in how to establish relationships with those who are different, those who are distant culturally and socially. In all sturdy programmes fraternity ought to occupy an equivalent place to that which till now has been occupied by the idea of the nation.’ Rafeal Velazco, Rector of the Catholic University of Cordoba, referred to the development of a theology of fraternity that, to give a convincing witness of the gospel message, must take an option for the poor, for those marginalized from history. He said: ‘God does not look down from above, but from the margins, from the edges.’ He finished by asserting: ‘A theology of fraternity is born with the new commandment, which when it is lived radically generates unity and has an amazing result: Jesus himself, the Risen Lord, who comes to be present among us.’

At the end of a brief series of questions, referring to how to dialogue within plural and complex context like Latin America, Maria Voce affirmed: ‘Latin America can be a gift to humanity precisely because of its deep cultural roots. It can give an example of building a new society where diversity is not a problem but becomes a richness. I say this as a European, I ask you to give us this experience, the world needs to see this realized in a specific place and I think that these lands are suitable for this.’ Words like these have tremendous weight in a region that has always felt it suffered from discrimination, from exclusion. The enthusiastic applause that met her words expressed the desire to change history.

By Alberto Barlocci

12 May 2012 – Together for Europe

Apr 13, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

A fair economy, integration of refugees, the marginalized and families for a more humane society: these are some of the emergency situations facing today’s Europe that will be spoken about at the Together for Europe’s main event in Brussels on 12 May 2012. And the popular demonstration will be repeated on the same day in many cities across Europe. One of these activities will be that of the teenagers, which will be held contemporaneously with Together for Europe: the 2012 Run4Unity, a worldwide relay race promoted by Teens for Unity of the Focolare Movement. The basic objectives have been summarized in a series of “Yes” (to peace, to solidarity, to life and the family, to creation, and to a fair economy), which have been creatively expressed by the teenagers through mathematical signs. In many spots during the relay race the teenagers will become a flash mob that composes the word “Yes!” in several languages. Outline of the 12 May gathering at Brussels Square Meeting Centre   Following a welcome from Brussels to the 150 cities that will be involved in the single European event, Together for Europe – how it began and what it can offer today’s Europe – has been entrusted to the president of the Focolare Movement, Maria Voce. Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, will give a presentation with reflections on the Contribution of Christian Movements and Communities to today’s Europe. Then the word will be given to European university students, followed by an overview of the emergency situations in Europe today including the defence of life and the environment, peace and citizen participation. The second part of the programme, beginning at 5.00pm local time, will be transmitted via internet and satellite, in connection with other local events.    Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio and Italian Government Minister for International Cooperation and Integration will speak, and space will also be provided for the teenagers and their creative involvement in the vision for Europe. Representatives of European institutions will be present, including Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, with a video message, and Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament. At the conclusion Thomas Römer (YMCA, Munich), will present the “Brussels 2012 Manifesto”. The event was awarded the medal representing the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, and was held under the patronage of José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Comission; Thorbjørn Jagland, General Secretary of the European Council; Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO. Official Together for Unity website Download the program

Argentina: With our Jewish Friends in South America

Apr 12, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Yesterday evening’s meeting with a large group of people from several Jewish communities in Argentina and Uruguay was the first appointment in a series of appointments which will take place over the next few days with the president of the Focolare, Maria Voce as she visits various sites of the Movement in the Cono Sud. The appointment was held in the magnificent Golden Hall of the San Martin Palace, which is the Seat of the Argentine Foreign Affairs Ministry. Here there were authorities from the Secretariat for Religious Affairs who welcomed Maria Voce. The external context could have made you think of a formal reunion, but the long friendship that has been established over the years with the Jewish community in Argentina immediately transformed the evening into a family gathering for dialogue and discussion among brothers and sisters. The under secretary, Ambassador Juan Landaburu, concluded his remarks by underscoring that Argentina has made interreligious dialogue a real and true politics of the State.  There followed a series of presentations recalling the different stages of the friendship between the Focolare with members of the different Jewish communities in these lands.  “Here are your Jewish brothers and sisters presenting themselves before you, with our faces, our stories, and our willingness,” began Rabbi Silvina Chemen. Paul Varsawsky, pointed to the need to gather around the message of the Bible and mentioned the role that the “Golden Rule” (Do not do to others what you would not want to be done to you) assumes for the three great monotheistic religions. Additional presentations underscored the importance of four Jewish-Christian symposiums that were held for twelve years at Mariapolis Lia, 250 km from Buenos Aires; as well as the figure of Lia Brunet, one of the first companions of Chiara Lubich, who gave a strong push to this dialogue of the Focolare. One event that was several times mentioned as an essential part of this friendship was Chiara Lubich’s visit, in 1998, to the B’nai B’rith during one of her visits to Argentina, where she formulated a pact of mutual love together with those who joined her as she lit the Menorah. A few questions for Maria Voce gave her the opportunity to discuss a few different topics. How will the Movement carry on without Chiara and with Maria Voce? “Chiara was the bearer of a collective and communitarian spirituality. . . you need at least two people to live it, because it requires reciprocal love, which is both given and received. I never felt alone in succeeding Chiara, because I felt that the entire Movement was with me. And all of you are also contained in this commitment, and I feel that, together, we can walk along the path that was opened by Chiara.” What can we do so that the dialogue among us is not limited to a circle of specialists? “We need to look to the neighbor beside us as a brother or a sister. In this way we will begin a never-ending chain. In this way we will be able to reach everyone, and overcome prejudices and the difficult situations that have arisen in history. Finding it possible to have trust between us, we must abolish suspicion and sincerely love one another. . . this will help us to reach all of society.” We belong to the same family because we are children of God and we must always turn to Him, but we have to arrive together.” The meeting ended. Everyone joined arms and sang: “Hine ma tov umanaim, Shevet ajim gam iajad (How sweet it is when brothers live in unity), from Psalm 133. Then it was time to say goodbye. . . as brothers and sisters often do. di Alberto Barlocci

Argentina: 360° Dialogue

Apr 9, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

With an area of 2,8000,000 square kilometres, the Republic of Argentina has a great variety of climates, from tropical heat to Antarctic cold. Between the Andes mountain chain and Atlantic shores lies an endless fertile plain: Las Pampas, that famous “breadbasket of the world”. The variety of landscapes makes them tourist destinations for many visitors.

Argentina is a nation open to the many immigrants who have made this country their home and contributed to its development. Forty million inhabitants, concentrated in large cities, who can trace their origins back to many different parts of the world, the majority Spanish and Italian.

The history of Argentina is presented as a series of conflicts that are still reflected in the present: the battle between the provinces and the central government of Buenos Aires, coups (the last dictatorship being the hardest, between 1976 and 1983), the war that was lost to England for the Falkland Islands in 1982, the 30% of the population that lives below the poverty level.

The majority of the population claims to be Roman Catholic, with a presence of other Christian denominations. Then there are groups of Jews and Muslims, and a minority of faithful of other religions and people of no religious belief.

Cultural environments such as the arts and sport have produced world famous figures.

When Chiara Lubich visited Argentina in 1998, she had the opportunity of having different meetings in which she appreciated the cultural, religious, political and social richness and diversity of this people. When she met with 8000 Focolare members, she left them with a charge:  “Here I suggest a 360° dialogue; so love everyone… And in order to reach this 360° dialogue, you must begin from the first point of the art of loving. This is what I would ask of you, then: love everyone.”

The Focolare Movement arrived in Argentina in 1957 through a priest who had attended a Mariapolis in the Dolomite Mountains, Italy. A first community began in Santa Maria de Catamarca (in the northeast), which is rich in ancient culture.

Towards the end 1958, Lia Brunet, Marco Tecilla and Ada Ungaro arrived in South America, with an itinerary that included Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. In October 1961 and in February 1962 the first focolares were established in Buenos Aires, to animate the growing community.

The spirituality of unity appeared like a new way for this young population, and spread quickly. The Mariapolis multiplied and, in 1963 Ciudad Nueva Publishing House was opened. The next few years were fundamental for the Focolare in Argentina. Chiara Lubich visited this land three consecutive times (1964, 1965 and 1966). In 1966 she placed the first stone of the Mariapolis Center in Jose C. Paz near Buenos Aires.

Like a beacon for Argentina and its neighbors, in 1968 Mariapolis of O’Higgins was born in the province of Buenos Aires (today it is known as Mariapolis Lia). It has become an important formation center for members of the Movement, and of spreading its spreading among thousands of people who visit it every weekend. Since 1968 more than four thousand youths from around the world have spent time in this Mariapolis, trying to become true witnesses of this lifestyle in their places of origin.

In 1980 a Social Research Center was begun to explore the Social Doctrine of the Church and its implementation in the Argentine political and social setting. Then came the School for Ecumenical Training for Focolare members who are invovled in the Church’s dialogue with different Christian Churches. Many of them now belong to the Ecumenical Councils of their diocese.

The dialogue among the Movements and ecclesial communities has produced abundant fruits for the Church in Argentina.

A stable dialogue of mutual knowledge, understanding and very strong collaboration has been established with  faitful of the Great Religions – Jews, Muslims, Hindus and others.

There are also groups of people who share in the spirit of the Focolare, without holding any particulare religious faith.

Chiara’s proposal of a 360° dialogue is taking root in several social settings through people and structures of the Focolare Movement.

In 1991 the Economy of Communion was also begun inn Argentina and “Solidaridad” Industrial Park was opened in the O’Higgins Mariapolis. Fifty-six businesses and economic initiatives currently belong to the project.

Because of a deep political and economic crisis, in 2001 the Political Movement for Unity was begun, which promotes several training projects, reflections and activities. Political dialogue groups were formed and a Political and Social Training School for young people, with twelve centers in the country. As a result of this involvement in social issues, a Political Society and Fraternity Chair was established at the National University of La Plata. It was the beginning of the University Network for the Study of Fraternity (RUEF).

The Focolare Movement in Argentina has 7,000 involved members, 42,000 adherents, thousands of sympathizers, a Mariapolis town with 200 inhabitants, Ciudad Nueva Publishing House, three Mariapolis Centres for formation training, focolares in major cities, communities spread throughout the country social projects and participation in several political, social, cultural and ecclesial environments. There are many other people who have come into contact and remain connected to the Movement’s many expressions in this land.

Visit Argentina in Focolare Worldwide!

Zapala (Neuquén)

Apr 7, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Giancarlo Faletti in Mexico

Apr 5, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

“The Mariapolis town will become more and more of a reference point for your peers if the youths of the Movement manifest their friendship with Chiara Luce Badano. She will speak to the hearts of these young people, telling of her friendship with Chiara Lubich, her relationship with the spirituality and charism of unity which led her to holiness in our own day.” These were the final remarks made by Giancarlo Faletti, co-president of the Focolare, at the conclusion of his visit to “El Diamante” Focolare town in Mexico. The Mariapolis town is located at a distance of 50km from Puebla and 170 km to the southeast of Mexico City. Fifty-five permanent residents live here and there are always many others who visit for extended periods of time. Several meetings were organized for the occasion. There was a deep dialogue between Giancarlo Faletti with some thirty priests who live the spirituality of unity. They exchanged experiences on the effects of living out the charism in their lives as priests and in building communion in the Church. In keeping with Giancarlo Faletti’s desire for inculturation, he could not go without making a visit to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Morenita. There, on 28 March 2012 he and a few others who accompanied him were welcomed by the shrine’s Rector Msgr Enrique Glennie. The visitors were given the privilege of going into the private room where the tilma of Juan Diego can be viewed up close. The tilma is the piece of fabric on which the image of Mary was left impressed. The Rector then invited those present to page through the Album of Honour, which contains the signature of many honored guests, from John Paul II to Mother Teresa. The album also contains the signature of Chaira Lubich: “My heart remains here with La Morenita,” she wrote. It was 1997. One hundred and eighty youths from all over Mexico then joined Giancarlo Faletti at El Diamante. They brought up many of the issues in their hearts: city violence; social breakdown; among their peers, a total apathy toward great ideals; competition for success at any cost; homosexuality and conditioning by the mass media that is all in the hands of a few people. Faletti concluded: “The modern challenges give us more work to do, they call for interdisciplinary knowledge and ongoing study, but this is the life of Jesus in 2012. What remains basic is understanding together and as deeply as possible what we are living as sons and daughters of Chiara, and why.” A meeting with more than 1,200 people including some from as far away as Torrion (16 hours by bus), was interspersed with dance, song and a variety of traditional dress. Maria Voce was connected via Skype from where she was staying in Guatamala. It was the family of the Focolare in Mexico. At the conclusion Maria Voce told everyone: “I say thank you again. I hope that by witnessing to the charism of unity you may transform the environments in which you live and as a Movement contribute to renewing Mexico.”  

Colombia: Focolare co-President at Unidad Social Centre

Apr 5, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Joana is a teenager with flowing black hair. She sings a popular song, “Here is the Colombian traveler,” which describes the beauties of this country.
Giancarlo Faletti has just arrived in this land touched by two oceans. His first visit is to the site of a significant project where he is welcomed by boys and girls dressed in colorful paper costumes and are dancing in the crowded little hall filled with locals who have come to welcome the co-president.

The Los Chircales (Bricklayers) neighbourhood is located on the southern outskirts of Bogota. It is an expanse of disordered red houses, the color of the bricks for which the place is named. The surrounding landscape is rough with broken roads and walls that seem that they are ready to fall. This is where the Unidad Social Center is located.

Everything began in 1977. A group of city youths accepted Chiara Lubich’s bold challenge to “Die for one’s own people.” They went to this quarter within the parish of Father Luis and began to play with the children. Here they encountered the wounded but profound humanity of two bricklayers, Gabrielina and Macedonio, who were making bricks to be used in the attractive buildings of the grand metropolis of Bogota.

Thanks to their generous involvement, a group of social projects were begun in this neighborhood that had been forgotten by all (but not by Providence.) A doctor’s office was opened and a dental clinic, an attractive boutique that sells clothes at accessible prices, and an after-school program for the children of the quarter. The Bogota Municipality took notice of the people’s efforts to redeem themselves and provided for the installment of public electricity, a sewer system and running water.

Gabrielina and Macedonio are a witness to their hope that was transformed into reality. Now illiteracy and alcoholism are no longer their story. They are the living examples, and they have become reference points and advisers because of the human dignity they have regained.   

The Unidad Social Centre is a more than dignified place, in which educational programs are held for different age groups, and it has a fully-equipped computer room. Seventy-five students are supported by the New Families Association. Regular remedial courses are offered for seventy students and there are recreational activities that involve 120 children.

A few years ago a teacher heard about the Project and wanted to offer her professional skills to help mothers. A key role is played by this “community Mum”. Currently there are fifteen of these community Mums, who care for fourteen children in a sort of kindergarten where the children are taught early academic and social skills.

The time flew! “I discovered a great page of sacred history in this place,” commented Giancarlo Faletti, “I encountered the living Gospel. I’ll tell the president, Maria Voce, what a precious treasure you are for this neighbourhood and for the city.” This was followed by endless embraces, as is the custom here.

Alberto Lo Presti and Paolo Lòriga

Colombia: dialogo con la cultura

Apr 5, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Colombia: Benvenuto Giancarlo!

Apr 5, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

From a ‘non-believer’s’ point of view

Apr 5, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

‘I got to know the Focolare through some members of Youth for a United World who were in my class at school in Rome. When the time came that I felt the need to deepen my spirituality and my ideals, I asked the advice of my friend who is a gen. I liked the Movement and I really wanted to love concretely, but I was scared I would be unable to live up to the Ideal of unity, because I was far from having any religion. ‘I don’t like being called an atheist, because nowadays atheism is seen a position of aggressive opposition to the Church and to religion. But I try to respect everyone and everything. For this reason I prefer being called a ‘non-believer’. ‘I have never accepted evangelizing people; it’s always seemed to me to be about putting pressure on them. But I try to ‘shine’ as much as I can, so others may be struck by my light. Living each moment as love is what makes me feel I’m really following this ideal, that I’m a person with something extra because I love everyone and love what I do. ‘Living among a lot of people who are always ready to love has made me understand that it’s not necessary to be heroes to save the lives of others. If you love in the present moment wherever you are, people change. A small act of kindness can make someone smile and can set off a chain reaction of positive events – it creates a piece of united world. ‘One day, during a trip to the mountains, a man decided to join our party, even though his climbing boots were broken, because he was suffered from vertigo and was frightened of using the chair lift. I decided to swap boots with him, and go on with one bare foot and one foot in a broken boot. It was easy to get to the second chair lift, where he thought he could manage to use it and give me back my boots. If an action is inspired by a love that doesn’t seek to gain anything, perhaps it doesn’t change the day much for us personally, but it does for lots of others. ‘My choice of living as a person who follows this Ideal isn’t easy. Every day I live trying to do the right thing. To everyone who has doubts about faith or who thinks that being a non-believer is to be branded for life, I’d like to say that it’s not like that. Above all here, in this environment, I have always felt myself welcome as in a family. At worst… you risk having to talk about yourself on stage like I’m doing now!’ A.O. Italy Recounted at the event ‘Chiara Lubich and the New Generations’, Rome, 11 March 2012  

Messico: il piccolo Gabriel e un Paese da rinnovare

Apr 3, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Messico: Scuola Santa Maria, laboratorio di promozione

Apr 2, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Colombia: Between Two Oceans and the Andes

Apr 1, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Bathed by two oceans and crossed by the Andes, Colombia is like a garden of 1, 141, 748 square kilometres in the far northwest of South America. Beaches on the Caribbean, Amazon rainforest, modern cities, flowers, gold, oil, emeralds, energy exports, culture and the arts make it a nation overflowing with richness. But its people, tough, filled with joy and initiative, are the real treasure of this nation which took its name from Christopher Columbus.

The history of the Focolare in this land begins in Bogota, a modern and cultivated metropolis of more than 9 million inhabitants, which lies on a magnificent plateau at 2, 600 metres. During the Eucharistic Congress in 1968 Lucero – a young Boy Scout who was doing community service at the Congress – met Fr Sotelo, a Franciscan friar who gave him a book that Chiara Lubich had written for youths of the Movement entitled, “Tappe Gen” (Gen Steps). Fascinated by what what he found written there, he began with other teenagers to live the adventure that the book proposed. Soon other people were drawn by the way they lived.  

Meanwhile, in the industrialized and ever-changing city of Medellin, Salesian Father Luis Bonilla discovered in the pages of Ciudad Nueva, a Focolare magazine from Argentina, that vibrant Gospel life he had always been looking for. He began to visit the houses in the quarter where he was living, sharing the “Ideal” he had found. He began a correspondence with the publisher, and a few months later Anna Sorlini, an Italian focolarina arrived. She would then continue to visit the fledgling community on a regular basis.

Marita Sartori (centre)

The first “focolare” was opened in 1976 and a second in 1976. From these this Gospel spirit began to spread to 12 Latin American countries – from Mexico to Peru – finding an enthusiastic response. Two of the main players in this story are Marita Sartori, one of the early focolarina from Trent, Italy, who lived in Colombia from 1973 until 2002 and Carlo Casabeltrame from Piemonte, Italy.

During those years Bishop Libardo Ramirez attended one of the first gatherings of Bishop Friends of the Focolare and brought the spirituality of unity to his diocese in Armenia, Colombia. With the arrival of Fr Agostino Abate, a focolare of diocesan priests was begun. Men and women religious spread the spirituality and gave life to Focolare communities as they transferred from place to place in the Huila Valley, Santander, Narino, Atlantico, Choco, Antioquia and Cundinamarca. A Columbian edition of Ciudad Nueva magazine was also published.

From a socio-political and economic point of view the situation of the country becomes more and more difficult. Besides the poverty of more than 48% of the population that has generated armed struggle and guerrilla warfare, there is also the problem of drug trafficking violence and forced migration.

The Focolare communities find themselves continually called upon by these situations. In response to this, in 2002 Chiara Lubich suggested that the Focolare in Colombia work particularly at developing the new law and politics that emerge from a spirituality of unity. And this was an important development for the Movement in this land.

Currently the headquarters of the Movement are located at the “Gioia Mariapolis Centre” in Tocancipa (50 km from Bogota). It is a centre of formation in the spirituality of unity and of its spreading in the region. There are two “focolares” in Bogota and two more in Medellin. Several social projects have begun, such as “Unity Social Center” in the south of the capital, “Rising Sun School” in Tocancipa, solidarity-at-a-distance programs in Medellin and Bogota and some academic and development projects grounded in fraternity in politics.

It is estimated that there are 6,500 Focolare adherents in Colombia.

Messico: il copresidente Faletti per la prima volta nel Paese

Apr 1, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

“Sole nascente”, scuola di speranza

Apr 1, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Bogotà: “Social Unidad” Centre

Apr 1, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

“We’re closer to Heaven here!” exclaims eight year-old L.M. who lives in La Merced (Bogotà) and regularly visits Focolare-run “Social Unidad” Centre. Her family came to the humble neighborhood in the mountains south of the capital to escape the violence. Their situation was the same as many others who can be seen in this place, where they find a group of solid people who have welcomed in these families in search of a secure future. In the beginning the situation was quite desperate. To stay alive working meant digging into the hard earth of that region in order to make cement blocks. It is a tiring process, demanding physical strength and strong lungs that can support the gas pouring from the enormous ovens. It also means forgetting one’s dreams, because this work takes up every minute of one’s time. Even children of five years have to put aside their toys or invent new ones as they share in the work of making cement blocks. And it is normal to see them with their faces blackened by smoke, but happy to be helping their parents. Thirty years ago, inspired by Chiara Lubich’s invitation to “give our lives for our own people”, thirty members of the Focolare Movement, together with Fr Luis Dies and a group of pioneers got involved. The local inhabitants were very indifferent at first, due to previous negative experiences. “But how could we not open our doors,” asks P.T., “to people who had come only to help us?” The shared in our pain of finding ourselves so needy; they also shared moments of relaxation with us; they never judged us; they really loved us and, right from the start, they were engaged in improving the quality of our life. They brought a doctor, a dentist. . . they made us feel that we were people who are loved by a Father who is Love!” Today there is a social centre. In the midst of many difficulties this community is working to become a model of coexistence in which the practice of human and Christian values ​​is the basis of each day’s work. At present, “Centro Unidad” offers scholarship aid to thirty-five children and teenagers, between the ages of six and seventeen. They are assisted by local youths and by others who work in the centre in cooperation with the social projects they are involved in. There is an instructional programme for twenty-four mothers who care for pregnant women and children between the ages of newborn and five years-old. There is a library service, cooking classes, health assistance with a medical doctor and dentist and computer training. . . One original idea was the “boutique” that offers home furnishings, home utensils, school materials, and whatever else is useful. There are also dance, theatre, and art workshops. The Centre is supported by the New Families’ “Distance Support” project, which benefits seventy-eight children and teenagers from the local families. This is one beautiful story, one which is still being written amid sorrows and joys. The doors of the Centre are always open for anyone in need, and also for those who wish to give. It is a small slice of humanity, which is committed and struggling to belong to a more just society, inspired by Gospel values.