Focolare Movement

Start again… from below

Sep 10, 2019

In Austria 61 Catholic Bishops who are friends of the Focolare Movement gathered together for an international meeting. The Church’s "wounds" and the challenges faced by Christian communities today were at the heart of their reflections in a meeting enriched by spiritual insights and sharing fraternal life.

In Austria 61 Catholic Bishops who are friends of the Focolare Movement gathered together for an international meeting. The Church’s “wounds” and the challenges faced by Christian communities today were at the heart of their reflections in a meeting enriched by spiritual insights and sharing fraternal life. 20190808 111851A kind of tsunami has struck the Church as a institution in recent years. The revelation of scandalous abuses has shaken the credibility of the Church to its very core, a Church that for some time has seemed to be in decline in many traditionally Christian countries. And this is not the only scourge afflicting Christian communities across the world. Urbanisation, poverty, war, corruption in society and the Church itself, political and cultural pressures, all kinds of intolerances and religious fundamentalism, a lack of opportunities for development and serious risks to the environment are leaving many people hopeless and overwhelmed. These are just some of the “wounds” that 61 Bishops from four continents who know and live the spirituality of the Focolare shared when they met from 2 to 10 August near Graz in Austria. Even though they came together primarily for a meeting to deepen their spirituality and live fraternity together for a few days, they listened together to the “cry” of their people. Otherwise, how else could they be witnesses of a crucified and risen God who took on every evil and responded to it?! We must not stop at theories – they said – or give in to pessimism but go to the roots. On the Church front, individualism and clericalism were highlighted, a lack of formation and coherent witness, the need for solid spirituality and accompaniment, the need to grow in the capacity to listen and dialogue. 20190808 102050How can we respond to these challenges? Not from above, under the illusion of being able to impose solutions, but from below, following the way of Jesus who, by becoming small, becoming nothing to be a gift, took love to its very limit and in this way generated fraternity. Looking at the situation from this perspective allows us to recognize the potential for good even where, at first glance, there only seems to be evil. This is the path these Bishops want to tread in a decisive way, mindful that it is a matter – as the Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii gaudium” recommends – of triggering processes that will only start to bear fruit over time. Nothing less is required today: being faithful to its origins, exploring new ways of being Church. With very precise paths, which include basing the proclamation and catechesis on the life of the Gospel and the communion of life; forming people in the spirituality of communion and the ecclesial and social “we”; creating “living environmental cells”; and listening to those who think differently to ourselves. “Show yourselves as a joyful group” was the wish of Pope Francis for this meeting of Bishops who are friends of the Focolare Movement. This is how it was because, by sharing sincerely with each other, they experienced God. Then everything changes at root level. Only by being can an enlightened doing be born.

Hubertus Blaumeiser

___

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Newsletter

Thought of the day

Related post

Simply Emmaus

Simply Emmaus

Jesùs Morán, the co-president of the Focolare Movement, shares his memories of Emmaus Maria Voce, the first president of the Movement after Chiara Lubich.

On the road with Emmaus

On the road with Emmaus

From her election in 2008 to the end of her second term in 2021, here are some images of the moments that marked the 12 years in which Maria Voce Emmaus was President of the Focolare Movement: events, milestones in the journey of dialogue, meetings with religious and civil leaders, and with various Focolare communities around the world.

Maria Voce has returned to the house of the Father

Maria Voce has returned to the house of the Father

The first President of the Focolare Movement, after the foundress Chiara Lubich, Maria Voce passed away yesterday, 20th of June 2025, at home. Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán share some memories. The funeral will be held on the 23rd of June at 3:00pm at the International Centre of the Focolare Movement in Rocca di Papa (Rome).