{"id":306172,"date":"2018-05-20T23:10:35","date_gmt":"2018-05-20T21:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/a-message-of-unity-from-the-pampas\/"},"modified":"2024-05-15T20:37:13","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T18:37:13","slug":"a-message-of-unity-from-the-pampas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/a-message-of-unity-from-the-pampas\/","title":{"rendered":"A Message of Unity from the Pampas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It began as a dream, just as every other Focolare town had<\/strong>. In 1950, Switzerland, after contemplating from a mountain above the Benedictine Abbey of Einsiedeln, Chiara Lubich<\/a> had the idea that one day the spirituality of unity<\/a> would produce something similar: \u201cA small town with all the elements of a modern city: houses, churches, schools, shops, businesses and other services. A community of people from diverse backgrounds joined by Jesus\u2019s new commandment: \u2018Love one another as I have loved you.\u2019\u201d Her dream came true, first in Loppiano, Italy, then in another 24 small towns. Mariapolis Lia is one of them in the middle of the Argentine Pampas. Carlos Becaria, who is co-responsible for the town, was a member of the first group of pioneers: \u201cThere wasn\u2019t anything yet. But there was a prophetic inspiration. Vittorio Sabbione, one of the first focolarinos, said to us: \u201cYou\u2019re here because you chose God. Discomforts won\u2019t be lacking, so you\u2019ll have to keep Jesus on the Cross in mind. I\u2019m not offering you anything ready-made: you have to build it all for yourselves. We stayed because we believed in that dream.\u201d \"\"<\/strong>Mariapolis Lia<\/a> is named after Lia Brune<\/a>t<\/strong> (December 25, 1917 \u2013 February 5, 2005), one of the first companions of Chiara Lubich, invited by her to become a pioneer and take the charism of unity to the Latin American continent. A woman of Trent, like the foundress of the Focolare, she was labelled a revolutionary because of the radical way they lived the Gospel on a continent marked by so many social problems. Obviously, she never imagined as she gave a strong push to the Mariapolis in Argentina, that one day it would bear her name. \u201cLia\u201d, just like Loppiano in Italy, which was recently visited by Pope Francis, strives to be a tangible sign of a dream that is coming true: a more fraternal world renewed by the Gospel. Currently 220 people live in Mariapolis Lia, but it welcomes hundreds of visitors throughout the year, mostly young people for long or short stays. Nearby stands Solidaridad Business Park, inspired by the Focolare\u2019s Economy of Communion Project. \"\"More than 250 people took part in the celebrations at the end of April, which will continue during the 50th anniversary year of the Mariapolis\u2019s founding. They will be attended by Church leaders, representatives from the Movement, Christian Churches, Jewish faithful and people with no religious affiliation. \u201cWe got there at night,\u201d recalls Marta Yofre<\/strong>, one of the first young women to arrive on at the threshold of the Mariapolis. I was feeling a sense of powerlessness, but also one certainty: Our Lady would be the one to build it.\u201d Nieves Tapia<\/strong>, founder of the Latin American Centre for Learning and Solidarity Service, attended the training school for young people in the 1980s: \u201cHere I learned to love the other country as my own and to enlarge my heart to all of Latin America.\u201d \u201cWithout realizing it, I was given the gift to experience as something normal, what was actually totally revolutionary: love for neighbour.\u201d For Arturo Clari<\/strong>a, a psychologist, UNESCO Master in Culture of Peace, what he experienced in the Mariapolis twenty years ago \u201cis a mark that I will never be able to erase, a living demonstration that love transcends life.\u201d \"\"<\/strong>The Bishop of Mercedes-Lujan, Augustin Radrizzani<\/strong>: \u201cIt\u2019s moving to realize what significance it has had for our country and for the world. It unites universal peace and brotherly love, illumined by the grace of this ideal.\u201d Eduardo Leibobich from the Hebrew Organization for Inter-Confessional Dialogue, recalled the numerous \u201cPeace Days that were held by the Mariapolis. Methodist pastor Fernando Suarez from the Ecumenical Movement of the Human Rights of People With Different Convictions: \u201cI extend an invitation to join forces. It\u2019s too beautiful the ideal of a free and equal human race, made brother and sister by respect and by mutual love.\u201d   Gustavo Clari\u00e1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Loppiano was being visited by Pope Francis, Mariapolis Lia in Argentina was celebrating the 50th anniversary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[893],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-306172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focolare-worldwide-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}