![\"20150422OnuMariaVoce2\"](\"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/20150422OnuMariaVoce2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
To risk your own life so as to relieve the suffering of the poor<\/strong>. This was Maria Voce<\/a>\u2019s invitation as she spoke of the last terrible phase of the Second World War, when in 1943 \u201ca group of young women got together in the small city of Trent in northern Italy. While their city was being bombed, those young people, who were guided by a young teacher named Chiara Lubich<\/a>, and urged on by a new understanding of the radical nature of Gospel love, decided to risk their lives to relieve the suffering of the poor.\u201d<\/p>\n A choice many people make today too, helping to regenerate the fabric of society:<\/strong> Maria Voce referred to the refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq; the slums surrounding some huge cities and the united strength of those who \u201cintroduce into the destructive cycle of conflict a commitment to regenerate the fabric of society, by doing \u2013 according to the vocabulary of this organization would say \u2013 peace-building action\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 She affirmed: \u201cThose young women decided to break the vicious circle of violence by responding with attitudes and actions which in the atmosphere of conflict might have seemed unrealistic or even irrelevant. However, they were not and they are not!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToday too we are experiencing very serious political, institutional, economic and social breakdown<\/strong>, which requires equally deep-seated responses, able to change the prevailing paradigm. It seems that conflict and violence prevail in many parts of the world, affecting innocent people, guilty only of being in disputed territory, or belonging to a particular ethnicity or adhering to a specific religion.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Focolare President dispensed with half measures. \u201cIf violent extremism exists<\/strong> – she stated – (\u2026) our response must be similarly radical, but one that is structurally different, by which I mean \u201cextremism in dialogue\u201d! A dialogue which requires the highest level of engagement, which is risky, demanding, challenging and which aims to sever the roots of incomprehension, fear and bitterness.\u201d<\/p>\n The civilisation of alliance<\/strong>: referring to the United Nations \u201cAlliance of Civilizations\u201d, one of the promotors of this event, Maria Voce asked \u201cwhether, nowadays, we could get closer to the roots of this new outlook and focus not only on an alliance of civilizations but on what might be called the \u201ccivilization of alliance\u201d; a universal civilization which enables peoples to see themselves as part of a great happening, which is both varied and fascinating, that is humankind\u2019s journey towards unity. A civilization which makes dialogue the pathway to recognizing each other as brothers and sisters, as free and equal.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"UN_ReligiousLeaders\"](\"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/UN_ReligiousLeaders.jpg\")
<\/a>The encounter between cultures forms a new identity<\/strong>: \u201cIn the Focolare Movement, which I have the honour to represent \u2013 Maria Voce said – the encounter between cultures and religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Traditional Religions) is an ongoing and fruitful experience not confined to tolerance or the mere recognition of diversity. It goes beyond reconciliation, essential as that is, to create, so to speak, a new identity, one that is broader, more general and shared. It is an effective dialogue which brings together people of very different beliefs, including non-religious beliefs. It spurs us to see what the real needs are and to respond together to the most difficult challenges in society, culture, economics and politics, as our commitment to a more united and socially inclusive world. This is happening in places which have been or are at present characterized by very serious crises, such as Algeria, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and the Philippines.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"ChiaraOnu1997bis\"](\"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/ChiaraOnu1997bis.jpg\")
<\/a>