![\"MovimentiEcclesiali_01\"](\"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/MovimentiEcclesiali_01.jpg\")
\u00abFirst of all I thank His Eminence, Cardinal Stanis\u0142aw Ry\u0142ko, for having invited me to take part in this press conference. I take this opportunity to publicly thank the Pontifical Council for the Laity for having promoted this 3rd<\/sup> International Meeting. With this I think that I am also expressing the feeling of many Ecclesial Movement and New Communities that enrich the Church and today\u2019s society.<\/p>\nWhat does the Focolare Movement \u2013 and perhaps also the other Movements \u2013 expect from this Meeting?<\/strong><\/p>\n First of all, I believe that this Meeting has been convoked at a suitable time <\/strong>and for many reasons: We are in the midst of the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of the Second Vatican Council<\/a>. We find the whole Church, therefore all of us, faced with its great intuitions and teaching. Vatican II, especially for us laypeople, continues to be, and today more than ever, an encouragement and example of our role<\/strong>, vocation and responsibility towards the Church and the contemporary world.<\/p>\n Another reason for encouragement is the person of Pope Paul VI<\/strong>, who came to the fore on the occasion of his beatification, with his clear and often prophetical teaching, as the Pope of dialogue and the Pope of the laity.<\/p>\n Another great reason are the challenges that Pope Francis constantly presents to the whole Church<\/strong>, as an institution and the people of God. This is why us too, who belong to the Focolare Movement, feel the duty to be interrogated by his words and his choices. It\u2019s not enough to appreciate, but we are working so that they may challenge us deeply, when it comes to strong convictions, openness and practicality. <\/strong><\/p>\n The programme of the forthcoming 3rd<\/sup> Meeting, for what we know at the moment, will go over the important demands of the Evangelii gaudium<\/em><\/a>. With these Pope Francis encourages and accompanies the Church towards the widest diffusion: he makes us penetrate all the \u201coutskirts,\u201d for which we live, with the duty of offering \u2013 with our being and our work \u2013 the light that comes from the certainty that \u201cGod loves us immensely\u201d.<\/p>\n I would like to briefly mention our General Assembly<\/a>, which took place two months ago. The participants included about 500 representatives of 137 countries, of all the branches, generations and dialogues that constitute the Movement. It practically concluded last September 26th<\/sup> with the private audience with Pope Francis.<\/p>\n First: to contemplate. <\/strong>To contemplate God and live in the company of men and women; to persevere in mutual love, said the Pope citing a writing of our foundress Chiara Lubich, who \u00abinspired by God in response to the signs of the times\u00bb – he said \u2013 wrote: “The great attraction of modern times: to penetrate the highest contemplation while mingling with everyone, one person alongside others.”<\/p>\n Second: to go out<\/strong>. I quote: \u00abTo go out \u2026 to generously communicate God\u2019s love to all\u00bb with respect, gratuitousness and creativity. \u00abIn order to do this, we must become experts in that art which is called \u2018dialogue\u2019 and which is not learned cheaply. We cannot be content with half measures,\u00bb but \u00abwith God\u2019s help we can aim high and broaden our gaze.\u00bb To go out with courage where there are \u00abthe moans of our brothers, the hurts of society and the questions of the culture of our time.\u00bb<\/p>\n Third: to teach<\/strong>. Pope Francis remembered the expression of Pope John Paul II in the Novo millennio ineunte<\/em>, with which he invited the whole Church to become \u201cthe home and the school of communion\u201d (cfr n. 43). And he added: \u00abYou have taken this instruction seriously. It is important to form, as the Gospel requires, new men and women and to that end a human school according to the measure of Jesus\u2019 humanity, is necessary. \u2026 Without an appropriate formation of the new generations, it is illusory to think that a serious and lasting plan in service of a new humanity can be brought about.\u00bb We must form \u201cglobal persons,\u201d he said citing an expression \u00abthat Chiara Lubich coined \u2026 which is especially relevant today \u2026 men and women with the soul, the heart, the mind of Jesus and therefore capable of recognizing and interpreting the needs, the concerns and the hopes which are harboured in the heart of every person.\u00bb<\/p>\n These three verbs blend with the three words that emerged from the General Assembly <\/strong>of the Focolare. We were trying to gather the essence from the 3,650 proposals that arrived during the preparatory months from the communities of the Focolare throughout the world and to offer guidelines for the future. They are three words that synthetically indicate the commitment and perspectives of the Movement in the next years: “going outwards, together, suitably prepared<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n This upcoming 3rd<\/sup> Meeting of the Ecclesial Movements and New Communities<\/strong><\/a> is part of a common and fruitful history, which has witnessed Movements be born, develop and give their own contribution to the Church and humanity, according to the specific charism each one possessed. Not only this. Very often, especially after the founding moment of Pentecost 1998, it has also seen various Movements and\/or Communities collaborating together in various projects and on different moments.<\/p>\n![\"MovimentiEcclesiali_02\"](\"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/MovimentiEcclesiali_021.jpg\")
On that occasion, going through the journey of the Church called to a new evangelization 50 years from the Second Vatican Council, Pope Bergoglio wanted to give three \u201cverbs\u201d to the Movement<\/a>. I noted a perspective in these words that \u2013 I think \u2013 can inspire, spur and interest also other associations of the Church.<\/p>\n