One Friday, Moisés, a migrant, arrived on the recommendation of another Venezuelan young man who was living in the same shelter and had told him to come to us, that we could help him. Moisés had arrived from Colombia a few weeks before Christmas and had only three changes of clothes, typically Caribbean, which he had brought with him on the journey. He was cold. Thanks be to God, he soon found work in a restaurant, washing dishes and helping in the kitchen. It was only a few days a week, but he receives lunch and dinner.
So we gave him winter clothes and a blanket, because he was sleeping on the floor on a thin mattress lent to him by the landlord, a man who also kindly agreed that he could pay the rent when he received his first pay check. He was truly fortunate, because shortly after arriving he had already found a job, a room and a very generous landlord. Not all migrants have the same luck. He began to cry when he saw what we were giving him and “the love of a family” (as he described it) that he was receiving.
He is a young professional, a commercial accountant. We prayed and asked God that in the future he may be able to practise his profession.
(S.R. – Peru)
True wealth
My relationship with my brother-in-law had always been difficult. First there were debts from a failed business venture, managed with inexperience and little prudence; then serious health problems that required costly treatments and operations and each time called for our intervention to find the necessary money for him at the cost of mortgaging the house and using the funds we had set aside for our two children’s education. It was not easy to go beyond the human limits in dealing with this relative, but seeing the state he was in, all that came to mind was that Jesus Forsaken whom my husband and I wanted to love. Perhaps no one would have blamed us if we had not continued to pay for the mistakes of another, yet, as Christians, we felt called to follow a different logic. When I spoke about it with my husband, he mentioned an account he had opened at the bank for emergencies: even though we would lose the interest, he would make it available to his brother. Immediately afterwards we felt more at peace and more united with each other. This is our true wealth.
(C. – South Korea)
compiled by Maria Grazia Berretta
(from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, year XII – no. 1, January–February 2026)
2026 will mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Città Nuova magazine. It was the 14th of July 1956 when, in Fiera di Primiero in northern Italy, during a summer meeting of the Focolare Movement called Mariapolis, the foundress and first president of the Focolare Movement, Chiara Lubich, had the idea of creating a “newsletter” so that all the participants could keep in contact.
Since then, thousands of publications have followed, and Città Nuova has always been committed to looking at the facts, reading and exploring current events from the perspective of universal fraternity. It is committed to dialogue on uncomfortable issues, to be close to the most fragile and the forgotten, to build bridges, to be present in the wounds of humanity, to highlight seeds of peace and hope, with a global horizon that looks towards a united world.
As the Movement spread throughout the world, editions were launched in different countries. Today there are 32 editions in 21 languages, both in print and online.
Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, addressed a video message on the 7th of January 2026 in which she stated that “today, faced with the terrible threats of our time – wars, polarisation of all kinds, environmental crises, an economy often based on exploitation, ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence – Città Nuova still and always chooses dialogue:
it chooses peace as a difficult but essential pursuit,
it chooses to believe that every encounter, every thought, every word can contribute to changing the direction of the world.”
Here is the complete video message. Activate the subtitles and choose the language you desire.
“In the midst of the darkness we are living through today in Venezuela, we remember that we are not alone. Under the roar of the bombs in 1943, Chiara Lubich discovered that there is an Ideal that nothing and no one can destroy: God loves us immensely.”
This is how the “Message of hope and unity” begins. It was shared on the evening of 5th January by the Venezuelan Gen (the young people who adhere to the spirituality of the Focolare Movement), both those who live in Venezuela and those in other parts of the world. They met online to pray and to share how each one is living this critical time for the whole population, never forgetting the choice to love everyone. There was a strong sense of the need to face together what they described as a “sacred” time: “we are not alone because we are supported by the prayer of all those who, from Venezuela and from all over the world, are asking for Peace.”
The message continues:
“Today fear wants to paralyze us, but the response is not hatred, rather unity. Chiara taught us that wheneverything collapses, the only thing that remains is Love. If we become “one”, if we look after one another and place God as our rock, fear loses its power.
Let’s not be afraid. Let’s make this moment an opportunity to:
have full trust that God is our Father and does not abandon us, even when the outlook is difficult;
become “one”: may the suffering of others be our own. Let’s help one another, let’s share the little or the much that we have and break down the walls of indifference;
be builders of peace: let our weapon be solidarity.
If we remain united, Jesus is among us and wherever He is, light ultimately overcomes darkness.
“A New Life” is the story of Hasan Mohammad, an economic migrant who arrived in Sicily (Italy) from Bangladesh. Thanks to the Formation & Communion (Fo.Co.) Cooperative, he found a home, a job and a new family. The “widespread reception” system is not limited to the integration of migrants but aims at reciprocity, where the encounter between different people becomes growth for everyone. Discover how solidarity can transform lives and geographical areas.
In the Muisne district, Esmeraldas, the ‘Sunrise’ project, set up by the Focolare Movement with the support of AMU (Action for a United World) and the Economy of Communion, brings together more than 500 young people in ecology clubs located in towns and villages along the coast. These clubs are not only concerned with ecology, but also with the integral development of the person as a response to the many risks to which they are exposed.
