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AIPEC: an economy “for” the others

AIPEC: an economy “for” the others

May 20, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide

Livio_Bertola“The inspiration to form the  Italian Association of Entrepreneurs for an Economy of Communion (AIPEC), goes back to 2012, during what seemed to be the worst economic crisis in Italy. It was then that a group of businessmen, members of the EoC, felt they had to react. The first step was to see if there were possibilities for their businesses to work with one another. In autumn that year, the memorandum of association was approved, along with the charter and an ethical code. The association immediately proved to be a means for the dissemination of the Economy of Communion.” Upon tracing the association’s origins, Livio Bertola, also illustrated the objectives: “The core values of the association draw inspiration from a “culture of giving.” This is why the shareholders feel the urge not to expect gains for themselves, but to find ways of doing something for the others.” What are the objectives of AIPEC and who does it address? “We are addressing businessmen, freelance professionals, cooperatives and generally, all those who wish to have a people-centred economy: employees, students, housewives, pensioners, unemployed, etc. AIPEC aims to promote the values of the Economy of Communion, and we are trying to do so as best we can: on the one hand, promoting throughout Italy, meetings with people who wish to obtain the utmost from their own work, and organising schools of civil economy with special regard for the young generations; on the other, supporting the activities of associated entrepreneurs, and enhancing the synergies that can be created among them.” The values of Economy of Communion are expressed in two words that seem to contradict each other … “In effect, the businessmen who join the EoC make a revolutionary choice. The reason why we inserted the preposition “for” is due to the fact that firstly, we are still in the process of building a full communion and none of us has the presumption to feel that we have reached the goal, and secondly, though not less importantly, because Economy of Communion was created for the poor; it is with them that each of the businesses freely shares a part of the corporate profits. This is why we entrepreneurs feel the need to work together by sharing ideas, giving support, paying attention to the others (employees, clients, suppliers, shareholders, or even competitors), and sharing ideas, difficulties and talents. We pay special attention to the businessmen and workers who in these years are suffering the consequences of the economic and social crises.” Who can join your association? “Our network is made up of entrepreneurs and professionals who we define as ordinary partners, and also all the people who want to uphold the values of EoC and who we consider our supporter-partners. You can cooperate with AIPEC also by visiting the site which offers a lot of information on the activities of the association, initiatives and events for information and diffusion. By becoming a supporter, you can become an active part of the projects underway, and also create new projects together.” Any project in the making? “We set an ambitious objective: to spend the next three years from the actual 200 to 6,000 partners! However, personal collaboration and contributions are fundamental, especially of those who already know the EoC and wish to give their time and energy to make the “culture of giving” grow in Italy and throughout the world.”

Basma and her Christian friends

Basma and her Christian friends

May 19, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide

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Photo: Rosario De Rosa

Latina, is a region in central Italy, historically the youngest of the peninsula, built during the Fascist period on the reclaimed land of the Agro Pontino. Its population is of “mixed” origin, with people from various regional backgrounds, now enriched by a greater cultural diversity as a result of immigration. Basma moved here 18 years ago, together with her husband Ben, both from Tunisia. Their two children were born in Italy. “One day,” Basma recounts, “as I waited for my youngest child outside the school, I became acquainted with an Italian mother, and little by little we built a profound friendship. Up until then, I knew a number of Christians, or at least that’s what they claimed to be, but they gave me a fairly negative impression of Christianity, where everything was permitted and you could not see the difference between good and evil. However, together with this newfound Christian friend, we discussed our faith and beliefs and we discovered that we had much in common: each of us had put God at the centre of their life. She always offered me a ride after school since she lived nearby and soon our families started seeing a lot of each other. I discovered that behind this new friend was a group of people, all Christians, living for God.” The friendship grew, by simply exchanging gifts and having mutual appreciation: such as couscous dinners served in Tunisian dishes for the whole family. “We crossed the city together on foot, as we usually do, and they remarked that they had discovered a hidden city, populated by many Muslim friends.” Then we organised a Tunisian evening with free entrance to support the school fees of the children, in a period when the father had had an accident at work. Our Christian friends furnished the house with traditional rugs, curtains, pillows, low tables and candles. “We went shopping together and Basma cooked for us,” they said. There was such much joy when the right amount of money arrived for the purchase of school books. It was a wonderful night in which we could express our Arabic culture and we all felt we were brothers and sisters. In presenting the cheque, the note said: “Thank you for taking us into a journey into your own land. Your family from Latina.” Basma’s weeping sealed the bond between us all. ”
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Foto: Rosario De Rosa

Then, suddenly, came the illness and death of her husband. “Before leaving Ben entrusted me to these Christian friends. I for one was so surprised: there were his family, the brothers at the Mosque, but perhaps he felt that with his Christian friends there was a relationship based on God. Ben died leaving us in deep sorrow. We were alone in a foreign land. I did not have the strength to live,” confided Basma. In those days marked by profound grief, her Christian friends started to take turns in looking after the family, preparing meals and trying to encourage them to keep going. “Her pain and that of her children was ours,” they recounted. They launched a big communion of goods in order to support them. Soon after, they received ten sackfuls of vegetables. This type of “providence”, as her Christian friends called it, became contagious, and even Basma herself started to share what she received. Eventually, she was offered a job. But the shift at the factory started at four in the morning and it was far from her home. One of her friends offered to accompany her. This action started a chain of initiatives in order to share her burden and to to give her encouragement. “In this new work environment,” says Basma, “I have also started to love everyone, including those who considered me an enemy because I wear a veil. Now there is such a beautiful rapport with these colleagues that they offered to give me a lift to work, so my friends don’t have to accompany me any more. In the early days, when it was difficult, I repeated a phrase I had heard from my fellow Christians: ‘Where there is no love, put love and you will find love’. It’s so true; love is contagious.” Maria Chiara De Lorenzo

Kenya: “Mariapolis Piero” Today

Kenya: “Mariapolis Piero” Today

May 18, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide

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Foto © Ernst Ulz – CSC Audiovisivi

On May 15, Maria Voce and Jesus Moran, on their first day of their visit to “Africa”, were welcomed by the inhabitants of Mariapolis Piero amidst drum-beats and shouts of joy. Thanking the youth for their warm welcome, Maria Voce confided that she had received many messages from various parts of the world. We were struck by the fact that the communities of the Focolare in Syria too sent their regards to the Africans and assured their prayers. She concluded: “We thank God that there is peace in Kenya; let us remember those countries where there is no peace, and let us live these days so that our living in peace might somehow be a contribution to global peace.”  “First a flame, now a fire, has invaded the whole of the Africa, a fire of the love among us!” When I think of Mariapolis Piero today, the words of this song composed by the young people of the Focolare in the year 2000 during Chiara Lubic’s visit to Fontem (Cameroon), came to my mind. Located at around 27km from the city of Nairobi, Mariapolis Piero spans 18 hectares of green land. In 1992, at its foundation, this little town was indeed a small flame, a seed that after 24 years of existence, has grown into a big fire, into a tree. In her inaugural speech on that day, May 19, Chiara Lubich had confided that “this seed would grow into a flourishing tree whose branches can offer a home to many birds, just like the Kingdom of God spoken of by Jesus, and that is to many people who will come here from all over to learn how to build unity, how to put unity into practice and to spread it around us, to see how the world would be if the unity invoked by Jesus, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, for our times can be fulfilled.” In these years, this “prophecy” has been an ongoing experience. With the various realizations, the Mariapolis welcomes various people from all over Africa and beyond, of all backgrounds and religions, children, young people and adults, men and women, priests, bishops and laity, to live and give witness that unity is possible.
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Foto © Ernst Ulz – CSC Audiovisivi

It is a place for the formation in the spirituality of unity and its concrete realizations in society, as 21 year old Michael says: “It is like our laboratory where we live our most meaningful life experiences, where our way of living brings about numerous seeds of universal brotherhood.” What the experience brings about is a family experienced by the inhabitants of this Little Town, whether permanent or temporary, a family bound by the Gospel-based reciprocal love. It’s an on-going formation process in real life aiming at building up “mature Christian communities.” (Christifideles laici, 34) The characteristic of the Little Town traced by Chiara is Inculturation: “The specific characteristic of the little town is the calling of the Movement in Africa, it will be a particular accent on a particular duty, namely evangelization. To realize this, this centre will specialize in Inculturation”. This is how the “School for focolare-style Inculturation” was born. Its goal is to deepen the life of the Gospel by “trying to dialogue” with the various cultures and cultural practices of the African peoples from the point of view of the spirituality of unity. Liliane Mugombozi

New City Africa

Video in Italian and English:

https://vimeo.com/146788855  

Exploring Inculturation

Exploring Inculturation

May 17, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide

Mariapolis Piero

Photo: © Verônica Farias – CSC Audiovisivi

The four day event will be dedicated to the examination and study of both oral and written traditions concerning the topic of the family as it is understood and experienced by various ethnic groups in Africa. These will be compared to the Holy Scriptures, the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and experiences and reflections that emerge from the Spirituality of Unity. This will be the essential approach of the School of Inculturation with a relational dynamic at its base:  “You can’t enter into the spirit of a brother [or sister] to understand them, comprehend them . . . if our [spirit] is rich with apprehension, judgment . . .” Chiara Lubich writes. “’Making yourself one’ [Cor 9:23-16] means placing yourself in front of others in attitude of learning, because you really have to learn something.” How did it all begin? “It was certainly and ingenious Chiara Lubich had,” explains Maria Magnolfi. Maria has been living in Africa between Kenya and South Africa for twenty years. She has a doctorate in Holy Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and has been with the School of Inculturation since it first began. “It all goes back to when Chiara went to Nairobi in May 1992. While there, she met the Apostolic Nuncio and listened to his concerns regarding the Church as it prepared for the first African Synod that would include the topic of inculturation. That’s when she founded the School of Inculturation, inspired by her Spirituality of Unity for the study of African cultures and the results produced amongst them by the life of the Gospel. It has not always been easy to find successful paths for inculturation in ecclesial contexts. The recent letter received from Cardinal Arinze seemed quite significant to us. In it the Cardinal expressed his pleasure because of the work that has been done in these years, and offered his full encouragement that we continue in this process.” Inculturation_booksThe topics that have been discussed in these years include: private property and work, the sense of the sacred, suffering and death, the reconciliation process, and communication. In 2015, the School focused on the concept of the human person in African cultures. This time we will move on to the intricacy of family relations, aware of the central role that is assigned to the family in African cultures. “We will explore the concept of matrimony in the Tswana, Zulu, Kikuyo cultures, and in cultural groups from Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast, Congo, Angola, Nigeria, Uganda, Burundi, Cameroon and Madagascar . . . Two guiding principles have been identified: the man-woman role and the institution of marriage as an alliance, and the transmission of values in the family, which is a topic that came into relief during the School on the concept of the human person. Which values? Sharing, hospitality, participation, respect for the elders who are sources of wisdom, willingness to share immediately when necessary.” What significance does the School of Inculturation have? What is its importance for the encounter amongst African cultures, and amongst these and extra-African cultures? Cameroon focolarino and lawyer, Raphael Takougang described it in this way: “In founding the School of Inculturation during her visit to Kenya in 1992, Chiara Lubich touched the soul of the African people. She showed that she understood Africa more than you might think? Her gesture was not a mere formality but the result of a deep love for the people and their cultures that history has not always acknowledged. For more than twenty years African experts, experts on Holy Scripture and of the charism of unity have been working to highlight the “seeds of the Word that are contained in the many different cultures of the continent: first, to shed light on them for Africans themselves so that they might know and appreciate one another better. Then, it is a helping the African people better known abroad, since up until now they have been little known for much beyond famine and war. The cultural patrimony that is gradually being constituted speaks of the presence of God in the daily life of these peoples and could be a significant contribution to dialogue among the peoples of the world that are more and more becoming a “global village”.

Young volunteers: MilONGa project

Young volunteers: MilONGa project

May 16, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide

manos-mundo-blog-2-720x384The MilONGa project is the name for a thousand NGOs in action, and offers to young people of 18 and above, the opportunity to practice the role of protagonists in the social work yards of the world’s outskirts. The initiative is promoted by the Focolare Movement in synergy with other humanitarian organisations in the territory. To implement the project, the Focolare in the five continents placed their own facilities and their experience in the field of international relations at the service of the youth, to give them the chance to become promoters of peace and dialogue, in a constant effort to build bridges among individuals, peoples and cultures. Another objective is to develop in the youth those cross-linked competencies that can make them an active part in their own group and be able to influence decision-making processes and lifestyles in their respective social settings. This is a sort of “intercultural volunteer work” which gives the new generations a way of training themselves as protagonists in the change processes, while trying to capitalise on the assets acquired with the implementation of social projects in the world. It is an occasion to learn how to take stock – in the attitude of reciprocity – of the different cultural contexts, put into practice an active citizenship, and develop their own relational and leadership competencies. All of these happen in a continual synergy with the other actors of the project, and not as isolated individuals but in a programme of growth together. La-Casa-de-los-Niños-01The first phase will provide assignments in the South American and Caribbean countries, to then extend to other areas where there are socially inclusive development activities that can host them, and where the youth may spend periods of one to six months, accompanied by local volunteers and tutors. Consult the portal United World Project to view the localities where volunteer services can be done and download the pdf file for registration. Subsequently, the regional coordinators will contact the subscribers for an interview, and assess with them a personalized proposal which also includes preliminary training (in collaboration with AMU, the Focolare NGO), informal teambuilding and networking activities, and present associations that will host them onsite. Upon reaching the destination, after a brief training period on the local context, the youth will start their established volunteer service, during which they will also be involved in cultural tours, participation in international events and recreational activities. For Europe, the agency in charge of the selection and dispatch of volunteers is  New Humanity, for the Spanish-American regions, the Sumá Fraternidad, and for Brazil, Sociedade Movimento dos Focolari. Gustavo Clariá Website Milonga Facebook Info: mariachiarahumura@gmail.com

The Focolare Community in Africa offers a festive welcome!

The Focolare Community in Africa offers a festive welcome!

May 14, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide

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Arrival at Nairobi airport. Photo © Verônica Farias – CSC Audiovisual

There, they will be given a festive African welcome by representatives of the Focolare communities in Kenya and by several people from other African nations: “I leave with a lot of joy, thinking that in Kenya I’ll also be meeting other parts of Africa,” says Maria Voce before leaving Italy. This is her second visit to the African continent, after that of 2009 to Fontem, Cameroon for the solemn celebration of Chiara Lubich’s Cry Die. The schedule of events provides a rough idea of what the trip will be about: enculturation, family and ecumenism. Numerous meetings are scheduled with civil and Church authorities, the general public and with Focolare communities.  The first appointment is at the School of Inculturation, May 17-20, which will be attended by 257 people from Sub-Saharan Africa. Maria Voce and Jesús Morán, who will attend the work sessions, will also offer presentations at the beginning and at the conclusion of the event. Jesús will give a third presentation related to the recent apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, on love in the family. On May 7, 1992, during a trip to Nairobi, to visit Focolare members of the African continent, Chiara Lubich noted in her diary: “Inculturation, the great way for the evangelization!”. Five days later, permanent Mariapolis Piero was inaugurated in Nairobi and Chiara founded the School of Inculturation, an intuition that turned out to be prophetic. The 11th School, titled “Family and Inculuration in Africa”, will include several commissions from the Sub-Sahara region and will be composed of scholars, experts, academics and families.   On May 25, at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa’s (CUEA) Law School, Maria Voce – who was amongst the lawyers who began the Communion and Law network – has been invited to give a lesson on “The Law’s Role in Today’s World”. CUEA Law School has three departments: public law, private law and international law. It offers four-year Bachelor of Law Degrees with the goal of producing graduates with a mastery of Kenyan Law. Maria Voce’s presentation will be addressed mainly to students and scholars of the Law School, but is also open to other Schools of the University and to people outside the CUEA community. May 27 will be the appointment with the International Ecumenical Movement of Kenya (IEM-K). The international ecumenical movement of Kenya began in the 90s, and has always aspired to “evangelize the city of Nairobi by living a faith that is not intimidated as it challenges, in a practical way and from a Biblical prospective, political and economic questions of justice that are of interest to the community in which we live”. The general goal of the IEM-K is to provide a forum for Christian communion on an interdenominational level. Maria Voce has been invited to share the Focolare’s experience in the ecumenical field. On May 28-29 a final meeting is scheduled with the Focolare communities in Kenya, which will include representatives from Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania. That same day “Mary of the Light” Church will be inaugurated.