Focolare Youth Prepare for World Youth Day
The youth at the "Gen School" in Loppiano prepare a choreography
“Academic Fields at Sophia”: When philosophy, economics and politics meet
The conference offered a series of lectures by prominent figures of contemporary culture: Ugo Amaldi, there was Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Stefano Zamagni, Sergio Zavoli and Martha Nussbaum. Perhaps, few know her by name, but in 1986 she was the first to introduce the concept of “relational goods” – which has since become a stable component of economy. She also greatly influenced the United Nations in the development of the human development index. This was thanks to the capability approach (an approach that respects ability) which she drew up in cooperation with Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen. And no, she is not an economist, but a philosopher, and like the American Martha Nussbaum, professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, she is known in academic circles – and beyond – especially for having introduced the topic of emotions in political and social reflection. And “public emotions” were at the core of the lectures that brought her to the Sophia Institute in Italy. At Loppiano she first met with the students of Sophia for an interesting discussion in which she was questioned not only by students, but also by Nussbaum. This was followed by a debate about the coexistence of different religions and cultures, and different educational systems, given the diverse religious, cultural, and geographic backgrounds of the students. But much of the debate focused on the relationship between philosophy and economics, beginning with the direct experience of Nussbaum with Sen, which led into the additional topic: the interdisciplinarity of knowledge and the need for collaboration among scholars of varying fields. 
Regarding the specific experience of Sophia, Nussbaum noted that it provides “a type of interdisciplinary education that is crucial in the formation of a ‘world citizen”. If we limit ourselves to just one field of knowledge, we are not sufficiently equipped in this sense.” She directed an invitation to the students to “try to understand how to put together the critical approach and the emotional,” essential elements of her thinking, to build a society that is respectful of every aspect of human life. The conference, open to the public and entitled “Public Emotions and the Decent Society”, was a journey through space and time – beginning with Europe after the French Revolution, with Comte and Mill, to India’s Tagore and Gandhi – to examine how the idea of a society built around a “civil religion”, which is in fact supported by emotions, was able to make headway and result in the experience particularly of the subcontinent. Emotions mainly understood in the sense of “empathy” for others, the ability to perceive a “common good” to be pursued, which embraces the entire society, and that the State itself is called upon to promote, beginning with the education of its young. Source: Città Nuova online
New entrepreneurship: from the street to the market
It is not situated in the main passageway used by the 650 people attending the Economy of Communion Assembly, but it is the most visited stand during work breaks. They sell women’s handbags, jackets, and women’s clothing. They are a mix of quality and modern design, with charming touches of originality, as is the source of raw materials: truck tarpaulins, scraps of leather, and old jeans – all environmentally friendly materials. But the striking thing about the business is the boys and girls, all of them minors except for a few who have recently become adults. They all come from difficult backgrounds. The product’s brand name “Dall Strada” (“From the Street”), is quite a good choice for the entrepreneurial project which opened in the Spartaco industrial park, five kilometres from Mariapolis Ginetta. Knowing the origins, it seems more like a challenge than a business production, but watching some ten young teenage boys and girls at work and hearing what motivates them, makes you understand the good results in production, which hold promise for the future of the business. The young workers come mostly from one of the poorest quarters, the Jardin Margaarida barrio, in Vargem Grande Paulista, 30 kilometres south of São Paolo. “This is more than a business. We help each other, because this is a group project, but tehre’s also a family atmosphere. We begin each day with the Word of Life which helps us to overcome the difficulties.” Divani is an eighteen year-old, who reached here after a year of professional training and a stay in the Northeast, in Recife, in the mother-business which began the Economy of Communion. 
Behind the business lies the meekness and determination of João Bosco Lima de Santana, an entrepreneur who went to Italy to specialize in producing handbags and then returned to the country to set up an acivity for profit. But something inside was urging him to do something greater. As a child, he had come to know the spirituality of the Focolare and was struck by the proposal of Chiara Lubich to “die for ones own people”. His life then went took another direction. But when he met Father Renato and his Home for Minors, which welcomes teens and children who live in the streets, it consolidated one of his desires: “To use my life and skills to provide youths with a profession.Work training is a form of development, and we’ve seen that living love for a great cause is capable of renewing things, ideas, and people who come from the streets.” From what he sees each day, João Bosco is able to credibly affirm that “here in the business, they are given the first place.” It is a paradox for entrepreneurial logic, but it bears fruit. A request arrived from the Ivory Coast to be trained in this production activity and to begin it there. And through the Youth for a United World, through the Equiverso Cooperative, handbags have begun to be imported in Italy. Tiny multi-nationals of the EoC are growing. By Paolo Lòriga
Cardinal Scherer: “Speak out loudly about the Economy of Communion”
Streaming: http://live.focolare.org/EdC2011/ Flickr Photo Gallery
“Speak! Speak out loud! Have courage to speak about the Economy of Communion, even to the important economists of the world. Maybe they won’t give you credit right away, but since this project is tried and true, it will affirm itself in time.” The Archbishop of São Paulo, Cardinal Odilo Scherer couldn’t have expressed it in better terms to give encouragement to all participants of the International Assembly of the EoC, taking place in Mariapolis Ginetta, 50 kilometers outside the Brazilian metropolis. “I wanted to come here,” he confided to the 650 participants, representing 37 countries, “to get a feel for how this meeting is going, to see you all and to say something to motivate you and to encourage the work of this initiative.” He explained right away, saying, “Yours in an event that proposes something new for society. It isn’t new for you, because you’re involved in it, but for the wide public it is new.” one of the most listened to public figures in all of Latin America, and is increasingly recognized at a global level as well. He does not doubt the presence of a widespread question and the research underway. “Certainly, many people are interested in knowing what the expression ‘Economy of Communion’ means, what good it can bring to our times, for the economies of our countries, for our society, what it can say to help resolve the economic crisis that persists in many places.” 
He has no doubts about the foundation of the EoC. “I see that the EoC’s proposal is fully in line with what the Social Doctrine of the Church has been proposing for economy for some time.” He explains, “This proposal, elaborated at the beginning by the focolarini, gives a concrete experience that says that this is possible, that the issue of Social Doctrine of the Church is not utopian, not unfeasible, but can be translated into reality. That is why your experience, which is now present in many places, must be shared with society.” These are the considerations that led him to make his pre-emptory invitation: “Speak! Speak out loud!” The EoC certainly offers the possibility of a different way out of the world’s economic problems”, because “the economic system based on the binomial of socialism-capitalism will not bring about an economic solution, even more so if one considers population growth, diminishing natural resources, the development of scientific discoveries and technologies applied to production.” In fact, he commented that “If no new economic orientation emerges, one that is directed towards communion and solidarity, we – as Pope Benedict XVI warned in his encyclical ‘Caritas in Veritate’ – we’ll be walking decisively towards a disaster because the world does not offer goods in inexhaustible amounts. Wealth, if not shared, generates conflicts.” The core of his message seemed to be that, faced with a decidedly problematic picture, “the proposal of the Economy of Communion can certainly offer light for the economies of all the nations. This begins from something small, from the economy of families, from the economy of small local groups that, brought together, can truly give beginning to a great change. And that with the passing of time – maybe not in our time – it will bring a true transformation, even in the economy of the world.” In addition, the Cardinal recognizes that the EoC “is a proposal of the globalization of solidarity, as John Paul II called for many times and that the Church currently continues to call. The globalization of solidarity indicates a journey of solutions to problems, of the poverty of our time, and which also accounts for the environmental risks of an economy that does not consider the factor of solidarity or communion.” Referring to his eminent departure for Rome for a meeting of the Vatican’s Commission for New Evangelization, instituted recently, the Cardinal announced that he foresees in the EoC “a significantly suitable instrument for the new evangelization in the economic sphere.” The words of Cardinal Scherer, aside from instilling in the participants from all over the world a greater awareness of their task, also invested them with greater responsibility. “This is why I am very happy to greet you, to give stimulation, to encourage you. Keep going with much faith, with much hope in this journey, sharing these experiences throughout the world, until it can product an ever wider effect.” By correspondent Paolo Lòriga
Croatia: a New Humanity school
“Lighthouse” is the prophetic name of the Croatian Little Town, a formation center for people of different countries, churches, religions, and for men of goodwill. This is how Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, envisioned it, when in the ’80s, a few-hectare piece of land with some buildings no longer in use was put at disposal of the Movement in Križevci, about 60 km far from Zagreb. Nowadays Lighthouse is known as a privileged meeting place for persons coming from all over the Balkans, in particular after the reconciliation effort among all the ethnic groups during the ’90s war. In this Little Town, in April a formation school organized by the New Humanity Movement took place, addressed to participants coming from 12 different counties of Eastern Europe. Some of these countries were at war with one another in a recent past, others were characterized by enormous economical problems and a difficult transition to democracy. These are delicate situations, not always easy to reconcile, and this is why from April 15 to April 17 the focus was on the knowledge of all the values that characterize the commitment of New Humanity, the social branch of the Focolare Movement. The aim was to provide a concrete expertise, in order to apply these values in the different challenges, which professionals have to face in all the social fields: from medical doctors, to youth workers, politicians, economists, judges. Everybody has his own specific job, but all together they are fraternity witnesses. Indeed this is mainly what came out of the intense dialogue among participants and members of the central New Humanity Secretariat, arrived from Rome and other regions of Italy. Delia from Split writes: “I think that for each of us this school was a new opportunity to feel like being a protagonist in living for fraternity in his or her environment, and to roll up one’s sleeves in order to improve the place where he or she lives. Indeed nothing of what we do for love is too small”. Sanja Jurić echoes her; she tells us: “Coming home, I told everybody what I had experienced: in my family, with my colleagues at work, and I started to live more intensely, trying to do as best as I can my share where I am“. These are just few validations to the message which Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement, had sent the first day of the meeting: “I wish you can draw on the strong and enlightnening presence of Jesus in your midst. His way of thinking and acting for the common good, knowing that – as Chiara has often reminded us : “The world belongs to all those who love it most, and can best prove it“.