There is an aspect of marriage defined by Jesus in the sense that Jesus said of marriage, “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Sometimes it is not man who separates, it is God who separates, because he calls either the bridegroom or the bride to heaven. It is some divine thing like, let the word pass, a little Trinity that splits. Here then is the state of widowhood, male, female. Here is the widow who remains as if broken in half; here is the figure of the one who says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, in that the unity is broken by God’s will.
(The Founding Speech of the New Families Movement – Chiara Lubich)

The GENFEST, which gathered over 4000 participants from all over the world to live an experience of Fraternity and Sharing took place last summer.

Today the bond between couples is perpetually in balance between the possibility of being kept or broken. Paradoxically, it is the certainty that a separation could take place that allows a couple to make the choice to stay together with greater responsibility.

The Italian Pathways of Light team met in Sacrofano, Rome, on the 5th and 6th of October for an important moment of discussion and growth. This project, started 15 years ago as part of the New Families Movement, has as its primary purpose the accompaniment of couples in difficulty, helping them to improve communication, intimacy and to discern the best way to deal with their crisis.

From the 8th to the 28th of July, 22 families from various parts of the world participated at the first edition of the “Loppiano Family Experience”: a three-week immersion in the life of the Loreto School and the citadel of Loppiano.