At this crossroads of countries where the Iguaçu and Parana rivers meet, there is the busiest border in Latin America; the area is characterised by great cultural diversity and the centuries-old presence of indigenous peoples, such as the great Guaraní people. Tourism is the major economic resource of this region where people mainly come to visit the Iguaçu Falls, which are the largest in the world, with a width of 7.65 km and are considered one of the seven natural wonders of the planet.
In her welcome message, Tamara Cardoso André, President of the Human Rights and People’s Memory Centre of Foz do Iguaçu (CDHMP-FI), explains that in this place they want to give a different meaning to national borders: “We want our triple frontier to become more and more a place of integration, a land that everyone feels is theirs, as the original peoples who know no barriers understand it.”
Foz do Iguaçu, last stage
This is where Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán’s journey – president and co-president of the Focolare Movement – in Brazil comes to an end. They have travelled it from North to South: from the Brazilian Amazon, passing through Fortaleza, Aparecida, Mariapolis Ginetta in Vargem Grande Paulista, the Fazenda da Esperança in Pedrinhas and Guaratinguetà (SP), up to Foz do Iguaçu. Here the “extended” family of the tri-national Focolare community celebrates its young history and recounts the contribution of unity that it offers to this place: the embrace of three peoples that the spirituality of unity brings together into one, overcoming national borders, while each one maintains its own distinct cultural identity. Also present for the occasion are Card. Adalberto Martinez, Archbishop of Asuncion (Paraguay), local Bishop Sérgio de Deus Borges, Bishop Mario Spaki, Bishop of Paranavaí, and Bishop Anuar Battisti, Bishop Emeritus of Maringá. Also present was a group from the Islamic community of Foz, with whom there have been long-standing relations of fraternal friendship.
Peoples with common roots
Arami Ojeda Aveiro, a student of Cultural Mediation at the Federal University of Latin American Integration (UNILA) illustrates the historical journey of these peoples and the serious wounds that have accumulated over the centuries. The conflict between Paraguay on the one hand, and Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay on the other (1864-1870) was one of the bloodiest in South America in terms of human lives, with social and political consequences for the entire region. However, there are also many cultural factors in common, such as music, gastronomy, popular traditions derived from the same indigenous cultural root, such as the Yerba Mate Guaranì, a typical drink of the three peoples.
The Guaranì culture is one of the richest and most representative of South America; it is a living testimony of the resilience and adaptability of a people that has been able to preserve its identity over the centuries with a unique cosmogony, where the connection with nature and respect for traditions are fundamental and can be a great wealth for all humanity.
“This is why,” concludes Arami Ojeda Aveiro, “the Triple Frontier region is not just a geographical border, but a multicultural and cooperative space that strengthens the whole area”.
The “tri-national” community of the Focolare Movement
Among all the Focolare communities in the world, this one has a unique character: “It would be impossible to feel that we are one family if we only looked at our national histories,” says a young woman from Argentina. Monica, from Paraguay, one of the pioneers of the community together with Fatima Langbeck, from Brazil, recounts that it all began with a daily prayer of hers: “Lord, open the way for us so that we can establish a more solid presence of the Focolare and that Your charism of unity may flourish among us. Since 2013 we are one community and we want to write another history for this land, which witnesses that fraternity is stronger than prejudices and secular wounds. We are united by Chiara Lubich’s word of unity, when she said that true sociality goes beyond integration, because it is mutual love in action, as proclaimed in the Gospel. Our specificities and differences make us more attentive to one another, and the wounds of our national histories have taught us to forgive one another’.
The artistic contributions speak of the vitality and relevance of the cultural roots of the peoples who inhabit this area. There are the songs of the Argentinian community coming from the “litoral“, from the coast; then “El Sapukai”, the very rhythmic Paraguayan dance that is danced with (up to) three bottles on one’s head; the representation of the Guaraní people intone a song in their own language praising the “great mother”, the forest, which must be protected, produces good fruit and gives life to all creatures.
Father Valdir Antônio Riboldi, a priest from the diocese of Foz, who got to know the focolares in 1976, continues the story by writing: “The focolares of Curitiba in Brazil and Asuncion in Paraguay began to promote events involving people from the three neighbouring countries, an experience we called the ‘Tri-national Focolare’. Ecclesial life here is also moving in the direction of communion, promoting joint initiatives between the different dioceses’.
It is clear that the life of this region and of the local Focolare community does not only speak to Latin America, but to the whole world. And it says that it is possible to walk together, being different: it is the spirituality of unity that comes into contact with the deepest part of the identity of people and peoples, making the common humanity and fraternity flourish.
A few words from Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán
“I felt embraced not by one, but by three peoples,” Margaret Karram said. “Throughout my life I have dreamed of living in a world without borders. Here I have felt that my deepest wish has come true, that is why I feel part of you. You are the confirmation that only love removes all obstacles and eliminates borders”.
“I have lived in Latin America for 27 years,” continued Jesús Morán, “but I have never come to this area. You have experienced so much pain: the Guaraní people have been dispossessed of their land and dispersed. What you are doing today is important even if it is small: we cannot rewrite history, but we can move forward and heal the wounds, accepting the cry of Jesus forsaken. Wounds are healed by creating inter-regional relationships also with the original peoples because they are in fact the only truly ‘tri-national’ people. They too have received the light of Christ; let us not forget the work of evangelisation and human promotion that the Jesuits did in this region with “the Reductions” from the 1600s to the 1700s. Today we are connected to this history, to all that the Church does, and we know that unity is the answer in this world that needs a soul and limbs to achieve true globalisation at the height of human dignity”.
At the end, Margaret shared what she had experienced this month: “This trip has increased faith, hope and charity in me. In Amazonia, at the edge of the world, ‘faith’ emerged powerfully: I met people who strongly believe that everything is possible, even the most difficult things. They dream and they achieve! I wish I had even a pinch of their faith, as the Gospel says: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (Mt 17:20). From there I take this faith that moves mountains and the courage to dream great things. Then, the word of the Genfest can only be ‘hope’: we lived this experience together: the whole Movement was committed with young people and for young people. It was also an ecumenical and interreligious event that gave a lot of hope.
And lastly, ‘charity’, which I have seen here among you today and which we have touched with our own hands in the many social organisations we have come into contact with this month: the Fazenda da Esperança; the many movements and new ecclesial communities we met with in Fortaleza; the UniRedes meeting that brings together all the social organisations and cultural agencies of Latin America that are inspired by the charism of unity (which we will write about separately). All this says ‘charity’, because every social reality stems from loving one’s neighbour, from wanting to give one’s life for one’s people.
From this frontier starts a hope for all the Focolare communities in the world and beyond. Last December I suggested the “Mediterranean of fraternity” project, where we could gather all the actions already underway and those that will emerge, to build peace in that region that suffers so much from war. A “fraternity for Latin America” project could also start from here and be extended to all its countries, let us entrust it to Mary!”.
“The charism of unity is one of these graces for our time, which experiences an epoch change and invokes a simple and radical spiritual and pastoral reform, to restore the Church to the ever-new and current wellspring of Jesus’ Gospel.”[1]
[1]29th January 2020, Message of the Holy Father Francis for the opening of the international conference “A charism at the service of the Church and humanity” on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the servant of God Chiara Lubich
This sentence of Pope Francis appears on the web site of the “Mariapolis Ginetta“, the most developed of the three little towns of the Focolare in Brazil. It highlights the recent years’ focus: a journey towards organizational change to better witness to everyday fraternity and to meet the needs and questions of visitors and the surrounding environment.
This has taken shape through the initiation of an updating processand a more participatory and less centralized management of the different realities within it. Today, each part has its own council or management committee, composed of Mariapolis residents and professionals, working in synergy with the town council. “Co-responsibility” is a key word at Mariapolis Ginetta, alongside a forward-looking approach and the ongoing quest to update the town’s mission: “to welcome, educate, testify, and radiate.”
In 2022 Mariapolis Ginetta celebrated its 50th anniversary, having grown from the first group of Focolarine who came to a small house without electricity or gas, today it has a total of 454 inhabitants living on its grounds and nearby.
Over the years, tens of thousands of people have visited including families, priests, religious and occasional visitors. Many young people have spent time there learning to live fraternity in everyday life or to discern their way to follow God in the Focolare Movement.
The Mariapolis Ginetta is part of the municipality of Vargem Grande Paulista that is just an hour from the bustling megalopolis of São Paulo and the change of scene when you arrive is dramatic: greenery, houses, no skyscrapers, parks and playgrounds for children; the atmosphere of a small town, compared to a metropolis is the added value of this place. In recent years, fourteen families have moved from different cities to raise their children. A very young couple with three children say, “We moved from Sao Paulo 6 years ago to this place where people treat one another with love, where there is room to live a balanced, and person centred lifestyle”. This, together with a school for young people that started eight years ago, is signs of a renewed social vitality of the little town.
Co-responsibility and participatory management
Iris Perguer and Ronaldo Marques, co-managers of Mariapolis Ginetta explain, “Today in the little town there are many of the elements of urban coexistence, there are houses, a town centre represented by the Mariapolis Centre and the church dedicated to “Jesus Eucharist”, the publishing house “Editrice Cidade Nova”, an audio-visual centre, medical clinics, various workshops, the well-known bakery and cafeteria “Espiga Dourada”, social projects at the service of the most disadvantaged population, the “Polo Spartaco”, a commercial and manufacturing area where companies operate according to the principles of the Economy of Communion, the Brazilian section of the “Sophia ALC “University Institute (Latin America and the Caribbean)”.
Margaret Karram commented, “This new mode of participatory management that you are implementingis an extraordinary opportunity to open the little town to others who want to help build it, to learn about and to have an experience of unity. I must say that after attending the Genfest a great hope was born in my heart; I had the strong impression that in these days God has knocked again on the door of Brazil, asking for a response to and support for what began for the young people there. This little town, together with Mariapolis Gloria and Mariapolis Santa Maria, now has a new opportunity and responsibility to understand how to respond; to offer a witness of evangelical life lived in a social community.” ”.
The second generation of the “Polo Spartaco” Business Park
Mariza Preto told us that the Entrepreneurial Hub has also embarked on a courageous path of development and openness.
““In 2016, a debt accumulated over the years due to unpaid bills, clearly indicated that the economic sustainability of the Park was at risk. The entrepreneurs lacked motivation and were worried because there didn’t seem to be anyone interested in starting a new business. These have been difficult years, in which many things have been attempted, including building relationships with local entrepreneurs that has led to the common events and moments of dialogue and encounter. But the turning point came in 2019 when, during an exhibition we organised at the Park, most of the exhibitors were external to our reality. In that period “Espri”, our management company, had many vacant warehouses and a growing financial fragility. It was then that the Council decided to admit companies and entrepreneurs who were not involved in the Economy of Communion but who wanted to act according to its principles. Thus, a “rebirth” took place: every company that wishes to come today undergoes a process of induction about the business life that we live here and adheres to the lines of management of an Economy of Communion company “. ”.
Thirty years after its foundation, Polo Spartaco now consists of 9 buildings housing 10 companies with a total of 90 employees.
Jésus Morán said, “The economy of communion is alive here. In addition to the charismatic aspect, you can see that of manufacturing and a generational turnover of entrepreneurs is underway. All this tells us that we have entered a new phase in which the prophecy of Chiara Lubich is alive. We thank all the pioneers, those who started and believed in it and allowed us to reach this point”. ”.
SMFocolari
It is through the SMF, “Sociedade Movimento dos Focolari” that the little town engages in various social works in the area. SMF promotes community building, access to rights and protection guarantees, especially for children, youth and women in situations of social vulnerability. The three Social Assistance Projects, in which the inhabitants of Mariapolis Ginetta are involved, operate in the field of prevention for young people in vulnerable conditions, providing support networks for their families and welcoming homeless people. This is a drop in the ocean of the need for dignity, work and justice of many people and as Sérgio Previdi, vice president of SMF explained “It is just one piece of the cultural project based on fraternity that we want to develop in our area and in our town”.
Stefania Tanesini
[1]29th January 2020, Message of the Holy Father Francis for the opening of the international conference “A charism at the service of the Church and humanity” on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the servant of God Chiara Lubich
Video in Italian. Activate subtitles for other languages
The whole Genfest experience – from ‘Phase 1’ to ‘Phase 3’ – is a tangible witness that you young people believe in, and indeed you are already working, to build a united world. These were days of extraordinary graces for all of us; we put ”care” into practice in various ways: – in Phase 1, through service to the poor, the marginalised, those who suffer most, and we have done this by living reciprocity, the typical way of living communion of the charism of the Focolare Movement; – in Phase 2, in sharing life, experiences and cultural riches; – and then, in Phase 3, we have experienced the extraordinary generativity of communities, which are also an intergenerational space for formation and projects.
Someone told me about the creativity that each community has developed and the interesting workshops in which you have participated (which you just told me about).
“From Genfest I take my community home with me,” one of you said, “it is something practical that continues. A chance to live the Genfest experience on a daily basis’.
You felt that you were protagonists in the construction of these communities, and you want to continue to “generate” ideas and projects. It has given me joy to know that some of you have said that you have rediscovered the meaning of your profession, and that you now want to live it in the name of a united world.
We have walked together during these days, with a style that Pope Francis would call ‘synodal’ and not only among you, young people, but with adults; with people from other movements and communities; with people from different Churches and Religions and people who do not identify with a religious belief. This network greatly enriched the Genfest!
The presence of some bishops who experienced Genfest together with us was also very beautiful.
Now Genfest does not end! But it continues in the United World Communities where we will remain connected both globally and locally
I am sure that when you arrive in your countries and cities, you will understand where you would like to get involved, according to your interests and your studies or your professions: in economics, intercultural dialogue, peace, health, in politics etc.
In these days you have had the experience of living these “communities” in “unity”; a reality that will continue. This will be your training ground in which you will learn and you will train to live fraternity.
When I was your age, I was very struck by an invitation Chiara Lubich made to everyone:
“If we are one, many will be one and the world will one day be able to see unity. And so? Establish cells of unity everywhere” (1) – perhaps Chiara, if she were alive today, would call these cells of unity, “United world communities” – she invited us to concentrate all our efforts in this.
That is why now, I would like to ask you something important: please, please do not miss this unique opportunity, it’s a unique opportunity that we have lived here. God has knocked on the door of the heart of each one of us, and is now calling you all to be protagonists and bearers of unity in the various spheres in which you are engaged.
Yesterday as I was leaving, someone stopped me, one of you who was here in the hall, and said I have to tell you something, please can I tell you something important. She said it was the first time she had participated in a Genfest and she didn’t know the Focolare Movement, and she said: “I want to tell you, you should do much more because this movement isn’t well known, you should do more but not as you have been doing up to now, you need to do more because this Movement, this idea of fraternity, needs to be known by many more young people.” So I asked her if she could help us and she wants to commit herself. But now I hope that all of us are committing ourselves to doing this.
Of course, as you heard before, it will not all be easy and we cannot deceive ourselves that difficulties will not come… but in this Genfest you yourselves have announced: ‘a God who is different, abandoned on the cross, you have said abandoned on the cross, all divine and all human, asking questions without answers’ and for this, a God who is close to all of us. It will be by embracing every suffering, our own or that of others, that we will find the strength to continue on this path.
So let us go forward together with a new hope, convinced more than ever that a path has now been mapped out.
And, something beautiful that the Chinese writer, Yutang Lin, says: “Hope is like a road through a field; there has never been a road, but when many people walk there, the road comes into existence”. I think that in this Genfest, this road has begun to exist, So, let’s walk, and this road will be there in front of us.
So I greet everyone, have a wonderful time to those of you who will be attending the post-Genfest and safe travels to those returning home!
Ciao to everyone.
Margaret Karram
(1) Chiara Lubich, Conversazioni in collegamento telefonico, Città Nuova, 2019, p. 64.
Twenty-three organisations – Catholic communities and institutes – spread out across Across 112 hectares of land, have chosen to live an experience of communion between charisms. This experience in Fortaleza (Brazil) has been known for 24 years as Condominio Espiritual Uirapuru (Spiritual Condominium Uirapuru) or CEU, an acronym which means ‘heaven’ in Portuguese.
Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán, President and Co-President of the Focolare Movement, stopped off at Fortaleza during their trip to Brazil to meet the Focolare communities. There they were able to take part in various meetings with different charismatic realities in the Church. At the CEU they met leaders of other communities, including Nelson Giovanelli and Brother Hans from the Fazenda da Esperança, Moysés Azevedo from the Shalom Community and Daniela Martucci from Nuovi Orizzonti.
Through the organisations that form the CEU, it carries out various activities to support and protect the individual, from vulnerable children who have suffered abuse and sexual exploitation to young people and adults living on the streets or suffering from addictions. The union of the charisms present is an expression of the love that makes it possible to develop activities to restore and enhance human dignity, particularly for those who are most in need.
‘The CEU is the realisation of a dream that Chiara Lubich promised Pope John Paul II in 1998, to work for the unity of Movements and the new communities,’ said Nelson Giovanelli, founder of the Fazenda da Esperança and newly elected president of the condominium. The charism of unity, spread by Chiara Lubich, is the inspiration for fulfilling the mission for the different communities present. Jesús Morán added: ‘If there is one place where an experience of the Church can be understood, it is here at the CEU. This is the Church – many charisms, both large and small, all walking together to make the Kingdom of God a reality”.
There are 230 people who live in the CEU, including children and adolescents, young people and adults in recovery, and over 500 volunteers. Last weekend, the Obra Lumen community organised a meeting entitled ‘Com Deus Tem Jeito’ (With God there is a way), which has taken 250 drug addicts off the streets and sent them for therapeutic treatment in various partner communities, such as the Fazenda da Esperança. The area also provides a stage for cultural activities aimed at social reintegration through art, such as the Halleluya Festival of the Shalom Community, which brings together more than 400,000 people each year.
The Genfest, an event organised by the young people of the Focolare Movement, is also currently taking place in Brazil. ‘Together to Care’ is the motto for the Genfest which comprises an international event in Brazil and over 40 local Genfests in various countries around the world. Each one will begin with an initial phase in which the young people will be able to have an experience of volunteering in and solidarity with various social initiatives, including the CEU. Between 12 and 18 July, a group of 60 young people participating in the GenFest were able to get to know the different communities and get involved with different activities. ‘All these communities are already involved with caring for marginalised and vulnerable people. Our proposal was to join them, as a bond of unity. The more we gave of ourselves, the more we were open to others, the more we discovered our essence, who we were,’ said Pedro Ícaro, a GenFest participant who stayed at the CEU for four months with young people from different countries.
‘When this communion of charisms inflames the hearts of our young people, they will be able to transform the world. This is the aim of the events we organise at the CEU, like GenFest,’ said Moysés Azevedo, founder of the Shalom Community.
The third phase of Genfest 2024, held in Aparecida, Brazil, included workshops organized by so-called United World Communities – meeting places where young people can share their talents and passions. These communities offer the opportunity to discover talented people, concrete forms of commitment and initiate actions and projects aimed at building a more united world, which seek to respond to the local and global challenges of today’s world; to activate processes of personal and collective change; and to grow fraternity and reciprocity in all dimensions of human life. An important feature of these communitites is that they are the fruits of work between people of different generations.
Continuing the experiences of the previous phases of Genfest, in this third phase the youth were able to participate in workshops in different areas, whose methodology was based on fraternity and dialogue, as a proof for projects and actions that can now be developed in the “glocal” sphere (local projects with a global perspective). Activities were held in the areas of economics and work, cross-culture and dialogue, spirituality and human rights, health and ecology, art and social engagement, education and research, communication and media, and active citizenship and politics. The teams responsible for running the workshops were composed of young people and professionals who worked intensively for months to organize these activities.
From now on, Communities will have a working method that consists of three steps: Learning, Acting, and Sharing. The first (to Learn) is an in-depth exploration and analysis of the most current themes and issues in each community, with the goal of identifying problems and presenting solutions. The next phase (Take Action) is the implementation of actions with primarily local impact, but with a global perspective. Finally, in the third phase (Sharing), it is proposed that the community promote spaces for ongoing exchange and dialogue between initiatives, with the aim of strengthening the global collaboration network. An application-the United World Communities WebApp, -has been created as a tool for sharing ideas, experiences and news, as well as promoting collaborative projects.
“God has visited everyone’s heart.”
Al termine della terza fase del Genfest, le Communities hanno presentato in modo creativo le loro impressioni e alcuni dei risultati delle attività svolte nei giorni precedenti. Da questo lavoro è nato il documento “The United World Community: One Family, One Common Home”, che sarà il contributo dei partecipanti del Genfest 2024 al “Summit of the Future” delle Nazioni Unite del prossimo settembre. Secondo i giovani che hanno presentato il testo, esso non è un documento conclusivo, ma vuole essere un “programma di vita e di lavoro” per le varie United World Communities, oltre che una testimonianza da presentare al “Summit of the Future”.
“With our communities we don’t want to make demands, formulate slogans or complain about political leaders,” the young people said. “Instead, we seek to name our common dreams, dreams of a united world. Personal and communal dreams, which will guide us in our activities in the coming years.” They concluded, “We hope that by living them, ‘together’ and step by step, they will become signs of hope for others.”
Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán, President and Co-President of the Focolare Movement, also spoke at the conclusion of Genfest 2024. Jesús Morán said that although the experience of care has been the most lived experience in human history, it is not the one that has been reflected on the most.
This has begun to change, as was demonstrated at the Genfest, in which care emerged as a response to the need for human dignity. In this sense, he concluded, it is important that young people remain connected to this global network of generative communities. Margaret Karram, for her part, said she has seen throughout the Genfest experience that young people have given tangible witness to their faith and are already in action to build a united world. Regarding Phase 3 in particular, she emphasized the richness of this experience because of its creativity, intergenerational and intercultural imprint, and the fact that, through the communities, there is a concrete possibility of living the same Genfest experience in one’s daily life. She concluded by calling on the young people to be the protagonists of these communities, the foundation of which is unity. “Please do not miss this unique opportunity that we are experiencing here: God has visited the heart of each of us and is now calling everyone to be protagonists and bearers of unity in the various areas in which they are involved”.
On a sunny day in June 2024, more than 400 guests from all over the world came to Montet, Switzerland, to greet the multicolored and international Focolare community. The Movement’s formation center will indeed be closed and the community will focus its efforts on other formation centers. During the second half of the year 2024, most residents will leave the small town in French-speaking Switzerland to join other communities.
The people in charge of the “Mariapolis Foco,” as this citadel is called, Maria Regina Piazza and Markus Näf explained the path that led to this step: “To understand this decision, one has to look at the path that the Focolare Movement has made considering the decline in vocations to consecrated life and the challenges of today’s society around the world.” It is about “redistributing forces and reducing structures to promote proximity to people where it is most needed.”
Markus Näf – Maria Regina PiazzaMargaret Karram – Jesús Morán – Celine RuffieuxIon Sauca
Guests in attendance from the worlds of politics, society and churches emphasized how much the citadel has shaped and positively influenced the surrounding area: peace, a sense of community, a spirit of unity and fraternity were spread, and a testimony of mutual love was given. In total, nearly 3,800 people lived here over the course of 43 years, most of them teenagers and young adults.
In a greeting statement, the Secretary General of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, expressed gratitude for the rich ecumenical experiences shared and lived together during the students’ annual visits to Geneva and emphasized that “the real legacy of the Montet Center is not its physical structure, but rather the fellowship, relationships, and Gospel values promoted.”
Cédric Péclard, longtime mayor of Les Montets, to whose municipality the village of Montet belongs, greatly regretted this closure. However, he was pleased that the “ Cube of Peace” from the Focolare Center park was donated to the municipality. This interactive sculpture embodies and conveys values that are important to the Focolare Movement and in fact originated in the village: a group of focolarine had created it to work with children during their stay in Montet, then “the cube” spread around the world. A large mobile model of it can be found today in a playground in the center of Les Montets.
Dr. Vasile-Octavian Mihoc
In her speech, Focolare President Margaret Karram, who was present together with Co-President Jesús Morán in Montet, did not hide how painful it was for the international community to close this center. “We feel very clearly that we must look to humanity that awaits the gift of peace, of unity, and that we must be able to grasp, even through circumstances, God’s desire for us and for our activities and structures.” The decision to close the Focolare Citadel in Montet was not taken lightly. “It is like witnessing the pruning of a tree that has borne so much good fruit for many years,” she said. “But we know that nothing happens by chance, but Divine Providence is always behind everything.” And she encouraged everyone – guests and residents – to take the experience gained in Montet to the world: “Many of you will be destined for other cities, other countries, other communities or you will return to your own country and you will take wherever you go the valuable experience that you have had here, and that therefore, will not only continue but will bring you an even greater dimension of love that will amaze you because it will be new.”
The future involves the sale of the 5-hectare estate. A committee headed by Hugo Fasel, former director of Caritas Switzerland, will oversee the sale and ensure that the future use of the property is in line with the values of the Focolare Movement.
