The Awards Ceremony for the National Competition for Schools “One city is not enough. Chiara Lubich, citizen of the world”, took place on Friday 17th May, 2024, in the Auditorium of the International Centre of the Focolare Movement (Rocca di Papa – Rome). It was organized by the , Chiara Lubich Centre, New Humanity, Foundation Museo Storico del Trentino, and with the support of the Italian Ministry of Education and Merit.
The Competition took place for the 4th time. It was open to all Italian schools, nationally and abroad and once again provided an opportunity for many primary and secondary school students to reflect on pressing themes such as peace and the sustainability of humanity and the environment. These themes were aligned with the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and inspired by the thoughts and testimony of Chiara Lubich, Founder of the Focolare Movement and advocate for a culture of unity and fraternity among peoples.
About 330 students from 14 schools across Italy including the major islands, participated. They presented 21 diverse projects, which the students carefully planned and executed processes with the support of their teachers.
The award ceremony, included both in-person and online participation from the winning schools and those receiving commendations, was a moment of sharing and exchange. It highlighted not only the creativity of the students but also their strong focus on the contest’s themes The new generations, often overlooked, demonstrated their ability to observe, reflect and envision a better future and world, proposing viable paths to achieve it.
The VIPS who attended and those who presented the prizes to the winning schools, included Dr. Luca Tucci, Director of Office III (Area of Bio-Psycho-Social Well-being, Transversal Education and Legality) of the General Directorate Student Affairs, Inclusion and School Orientation at the Ministry of Education and Merit (MIM); Dr. Fabrizio Bagnarini, Director of Office III (Area of Bio-Psycho-Social Well-being, Transversal Education and Legality) of the General Directorate Student Affairs, Inclusion and School Orientation at the Ministry of Education and Merit (MIM); Dr. Giuseppe Ferrandi, Director of the Historical Museum Foundation of Trent; Prof. Maurizio Gentilini, historian and researcher at the NRC (National Research Centre); and Dr. Marco Desalvo, President of New Humanity.
In his online greeting before the awards ceremony began, Dr. Tucci reaffirmed the Ministry’s support for this initiative, stating: “Promoting certain values through raising awareness among young people and students is fundamental not only for their growth but for our society as a whole.”
In the Primary School category, first place was awarded to Class 4^ C of the I.C. 2nd Circle “Garibaldi” A. Moro School in Altamura (Bari) for their poetic work “The country of Fraternity”, which creatively expressed key concepts of Chiara Lubich’s philosophy and offered a hopeful vision for the future of the world.
In the Lower Secondary School category, second place went to Class 1^ C of the I.C. “San Nilo” I. Croce School in Grottaferrata (Rome) for their innovative news program “Let’s Build Peace! Peace TV News” a project that showcased the class’s concrete experience and daily commitment to peace. First place was awarded to Class 3^ D of the I.C. “Filippo Mazzei” in Poggio a Caiano (Prato) for their project which was a game, “Origami for the environment”, an activity that transcended play to become a tool for reflection and concrete action in favour of the environment.
In the Upper Secondary School category, second place was a tie between Classes 2^ and 3^ C of the A. Doria Classical High School in Genoa for their digital project “The common home”, which proposed a reflection-based educational path on the aforementioned themes and Estelle Le Dauphin from Class 5^ I of the I.I.S. A. Bafile High School in L’Aquila for her textual work “Love that enlarges heart and arms” a reflection on Chiara Lubich’s philosophy focused on the concept of gift, also inspired by French anthropologist and sociologist Marcel Mauss.
First prize in this category went to the photographic project “Horizons” , ” by Giulia Bilardello, Sara Marino and Chiara Parrinello from Class 3^ G of the P. Ruggeri Scientific High School in Marsala (Trapani). Their work conveyed a message of peace and the hope for a horizon where sea and sky unite, symbolizing collaboration to build a more fraternal world.
Città Nuova publishing house, in collaboration with the Chiara Lubich Centre, recently published “Diario 1964 – 1980” by Chiara Lubich, edited by Fr. Fabio Ciardi, OMI. Fr. Fabio Ciardi introduced the content of the new book of Chiara Lubich’s Diaries saying, “The Diary is an extremely valuable resource, which allows you to cross the threshold of external events (the ‘external life’) and to penetrate the way in which they are lived (the ‘intimate life’)”. The book is part of the “Works of Chiara Lubich” series. Fr. Fabio told us that even though 5 volumes of this series have already been published and fifteen are in the pipeline, “It is not the complete works because that would require an immense amount of work. Future books include Chiara’s main written works ranging from an introductory first volume that will be a historical biography, followed by her letters, public speeches, what we call founding speeches and then her more informal talks or conversations.” Fr. Fabio added, “The letters and diaries are perhaps the most intimate part of Chiara, the aspect that reveals most about her. When you give speech, it is an elaborate, prepared and revised text. When I access her correspondence or her Diary, there are no filters there. It is a direct grafting with Chiara’s soul. Her Diary and letters are those pages that allow us to have an immediate, direct, unfiltered relationship with her.” Fr. Fabio continued, “Chiara Lubich’s diary is quite special because it didn’t start as a personal diary, but as a way to involve all the members of the Movement in her travels. (…) . At first it started with a description of what happened, so it is a descriptive diary but it soon became an intimate diary. Because what she wanted to communicate was not simply the facts she was experiencing but how she was experiencing them”. The Diaries cover sixteen years and, to help the reader better place and understand Chiara’s texts, Fr. Ciardi made a deliberate editorial choice: “First I gave a general introduction to the entire Diary, year by year. Then I offered an introduction to that year, placing and contextualizing it in the life of the Church, in the life of the world, so that we can grasp what Chiara Lubich was experiencing but with the broader horizon of the life of the Movement, of the Church and of humanity.” For those who want to know how best to read this book and where to start, Fr. Fabio replied: “The first thing I would recommend is to open it at random and read a page. It’s sure to be addictive so then it’s like an invitation to read another page and another. Don’t worry about reading it continuously. You can open randomly and read one day, then another or one year then another. And then maybe this will make you want to follow the thread. So then start again from the beginning and slowly follow this path, which is a journey… Chiara’s path is not easy. It is a troubled journey, there are moments of trial and moments of illness. These are moments when she didn’t write in her diary which begs the question – why not? Maybe because she was living in a moment of darkness. So retracing the whole path chronologically helps to understand this world. But for starters, maybe you can open it randomly and read here and there. Then you’ll want to read it continuously and completely”. Fr. Fabio concluded, “The diary is hers, it is personal, it is her life and this can be deduced above all from the constant conversations with God, with Jesus, with Mary and with the saints that exists in the Diary (…) She reveals her soul to us, she shows us what she has inside. And this resonated with me because it is like an invitation to go on a similar journey, to experience that same intimacy; so in the end by reading Chiara I also reflect myself not in what I am, unfortunately, but in what I feel I should be”.
Carlos Mana
Video: In dialogue with Fr. Fabio Ciardi (subtitles in English)
The wide embrace of Bernini’s colonnade is not able to contain the crowd of people who belong to as many as 56 new communities and ecclesial movements; a tiny representation of the approximately 80,000,000 Catholics, for the most part lay people, who make up this immense people. It’s the first time that they are meeting all together with the Pope. An enormous multicolored garden: this is the way someone described St. Peter’s Square on that sunny afternoon of May 30. The presence of members of the various movements, who with their specific charisms contribute towards making the Church beautiful, alive, and credible, constituted a surprising and remarkable display of unity in diversity. A reality witnessed to by founders of four of the most widespread movements: Chiara Lubich, Kiko Arguello, Jean Vanier, Luigi Giussani. Their charisms draw life from the same Spirit; it is a unity in diversity, demonstrating Christian life as a reflection of the Trinitarian mystery. « …numerous charisms are always born in the most important moments of the life of the Church. I’m thinking of the Council of Trent. … Today then, I would say that the Holy Spirit …, blowing in the same direction, puts the accent on different notes, because the life of the Church is like a symphony, a great concert; many instruments are needed, the greatest number of voices are needed». (Msgr. Piero Coda) Therefore, a wide variety of charisms are at the basis of the many new ecclesial movements, supported and encouraged by the Pope as the providential answer of the Holy Spirit to the challenges at the end of this millennium. In his address Pope John Paul II does not hesitate to affirm that what happened in the Upper Room in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, is being renewed this evening in St. Peter’s Square. «With the Second Vatican Council, the Comforter recently gave the Church … a renewed Pentecost, instilling a new and unforeseen dynamism. … You, present here, are the tangible proof of this “outpouring” of the Spirit». (Pope John Paul II) In speaking of the journey taken so far by the movements, Pope John Paul II sees them now on their way toward a new stage of ecclesial maturity in which their strong common announcement is a valid alternative to the secularized culture which encourages and promotes models of life without God.«It constitutes a precious capital for the entire mission of the Church. Its founder did not say in vain that the witness of unity is “so that the world may believe.” The missionary fecundity of the movements will be potentiated if this witness of unity in diversity shines forth so that the world may believe».(GusmánCarriquiri) A witness of unity among all the movements in view of the new evangelization: Chiara expressed this need to the Pope.
«We know that the Church, and you too, desire full communion, unity among the Movements, and this has already begun. We want to assure you, Your Holiness, that, because our specific charism is unity, we will make every effort to contribute, with all our strength, towards fully accomplishing it». (Chiara Lubich)
This commitment assumed by Chiara corresponds to the aspirations of all the leaders of other movements.
More than anyone else, Jesus knows the God we must truly love and knows how we should love him: he is his Father and our Father, his God and our God (see Jn 20:17). He is a God who loves each one personally; he loves me, he loves you: he is my God, your God (“You shall love the Lord, your God”).
And we are able to love him because he loved us first: so the love he commanded us to have is a response to his love, to Love itself. We can turn to him with the same confidence and trust that Jesus had when he called him Abba, Father. We too, like Jesus, can speak with him often; we can tell him all our needs, our resolutions and plans, and we can tell him over and over again of our exclusive love for him.
We too eagerly await the moment in which we can be in profound contact with him through prayer, which is dialogue, communion, a relationship of intense friendship. In those moments we can pour out our love: we can adore him beyond all creation, glorify his presence everywhere in the universe, praise him in the depths of our hearts and alive in our tabernacles, think of him present wherever we are, in our room, at work, in the office, while we are with others …
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
Jesus teaches us another way to love God. For Jesus, loving meant doing the will of the Father, putting mind, heart, energies, life itself at his disposal, for Jesus gave himself completely to the plan that the Father had for him. The Gospel shows him to us as being always and totally turned toward the Father (see Jn 1:18), always in the Father, always intent on saying only what he heard from the Father, on carrying out only what the Father told him to do.
He asks the same of us: loving means doing the will of the beloved, without half measures, with all our being: “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Love is not just a sentiment. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?” (Lk 6:46), Jesus asks of those who love only with words.
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
How should we live this commandment of Jesus? Certainly by cultivating a filial relationship, a relationship of friendship with God, but above all, by doing what he wants. Our attitude towards God, like that of Jesus, will be that of always being turned toward the Father, listening to him, in obedience, in order to carry out his work — that alone and nothing else.
To accomplish this, we are asked to be radical in our choices and way of life, because we cannot give less than everything to God: all our heart, all our soul, all our mind. And this means doing whatever he asks of us well and completely.
Living his will and conforming ourselves to it will often require burning our own will, sacrificing anything we have in our heart or mind that does not concern the present moment. It could be an idea, a feeling, a thought, a desire, a memory, an object, a person …
In this way, we are all intent on doing whatever is asked of us in the present moment. Speaking, talking on the phone, listening, helping someone, studying, praying, eating, sleeping, living his will without wandering off; carrying out actions that are complete, whole, perfect, with all our heart, soul and mind; having only one motive for everything we do — love — so that we can say, in every moment of the day: “Yes, my God, in this moment, in this action, I love you with all my heart, with all my being.” This is the only way we can say that we love God, that we reciprocate his being love toward us.
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
To live this Word of Life it will be helpful to examine ourselves from time to time to see if God is truly foremost in our lives.
So then, to conclude, what should we do this month? Renew our choice of God as our only ideal, as the all of our life, putting him back in the first place, living with perfection his will in the present moment. We want be able to say with sincerity: “My God and my all,” “I love you,” “I am all yours,” “You are God, you are my God, our God of infinite love!”
Therefore, a wide variety of charisms are at the basis of the many new ecclesial movements, supported and encouraged by the Pope as the providential answer of the Holy Spirit to the challenges at the end of this millennium. In his address Pope John Paul II does not hesitate to affirm that what happened in the Upper Room in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, is being renewed this evening in St. Peter’s Square. «With the Second Vatican Council, the Comforter recently gave the Church … a renewed Pentecost, instilling a new and unforeseen dynamism. … You, present here, are the tangible proof of this “outpouring” of the Spirit». (Pope John Paul II) In speaking of the journey taken so far by the movements, Pope John Paul II sees them now on their way toward a new stage of ecclesial maturity in which their strong common announcement is a valid alternative to the secularized culture which encourages and promotes models of life without God. «It constitutes a precious capital for the entire mission of the Church. Its founder did not say in vain that the witness of unity is “so that the world may believe.” The missionary fecundity of the movements will be potentiated if this witness of unity in diversity shines forth so that the world may believe».(Gusmán Carriquiri) 