The Inauguration ceremony of the 2023/2024 Academic Year of the Sophia University Institute (SUI) took place on Friday, 12th April 2024, in the Auditorium of the international little town of Loppiano (Figline and Incisa Valdarno – FI).On 12th April, 2024, on the occasion of the inauguration ceremony of the 16th Academic Year of the SUI that took place on, in the Auditorium of Loppiano (Figline and Incisa Valdarno – FI), Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, extended her best wishes to the students who, in this historical moment, have chosen “with courage and hope”, to prepare for the future by attending the Sophia University Institute. She said, “May Sophia be a place which forms women and men who are able to be bearers of peace and unity in these times”. The religious and civil authorities present included Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, Archbishop of Florence and Grand Chancellor of the Sophia University Institute, Msgr.Stefano Manetti, the Bishop of Fiesole and Giulia Mugnai, Mayor of Figline and Incisa Valdarno. In his opening remarks, Card. Betori referred to times of crisis such as the one we are experiencing, saying that the event was a moment of reflection on the role of universities and of Sophia in particular. He said that Sophia has “the task of testifying to the reasonableness of the faith. And therefore educating to read and interpret reality, guiding the gaze of every young person towards that truth that maybe unconsciously, each one seeks”. Newly appointed Rector, Declan O’Byrne, an Irish theologian declared the 2023-2024 Academic Year open at the end of a speech that led participants to reflect on the social value of universities. He said. “If States invest in universities, it is because it is believed to be in the national interest to invest in young people. Investment is made because well-educated young people bring social benefits. It is believed that a nation that ensures the education of new generations will be able to adapt and bring innovation that, in turn, will guarantee the future competitiveness of the nation itself.” Regarding the particular mission of the Sophia University Institute, he reiterated: “We want to be a place where, while aware that we are experiencing a dramatic historical moment, we look at the human capacity to build lasting peace. We want to study and teach how to see those ‘seeds’ that already today express the possibility of resolving the crisis we are experiencing”. The ceremony concluded with a lecture given by Massimiliano Marianelli, Full Professor of the History of Philosophy at the University of Perugia entitled“Sophia, rediscovering the human in the ‘between’”, which focussed on the human being and the primacy of relationships. The event was streamed live and is available on Youtube in Italian and English at the links accessible from www.sophiauniversity.org
Unexpected gifts received by those who, every day, care for the most fragile in a small town in the Peruvian Amazon. “We have money until the end of the month”. With this message, Javier Varela shares the monthly report with friends of the Hogar, the “Chiara Lubich Home for the Elderly,” located in Lámud in the Peruvian Amazon. In which he is in charge of administration and his wife Jenny coordinates direct care for the elderly. The message, as one can easily guess, is troubling because the nursing home has no one to fund it; it is running and sustained only by God’s providence manifested through many friendly hands and hearts. But Jenny and Javier’s faith is disarming and contagious. Soon after, Javier shares another message: “Rafael, one of the grandparents present at the Hogar, is not well. He has been intubated with oxygen. Jenny is on her way to Chachapoyas, (capital of the Amazon region 36 km from Lámud where the Hogar is located) To get him urgently to the hospital. Hopefully they won’t have to stay overnight, it would also be very challenging for Jenny’s health. God will provide!”. Meanwhile, Jenny signs the authorization for Rafael to be taken immediately to the Lámud Health Center (so that they can administer oxygen to him). “I was left alone in the kitchen, pondering how to proceed – Jenny says -. I noticed that tears were beginning to flow down my cheeks. I said to Jesus, ‘What do you want from me? Help me and suggest to me what I should do’. It is powerful to know that Jesus hears your miseries, your struggles, and that in Him you can abandon all worries. All the while, my cell phone had been ringing, ringing… I would have been asked to go and sign the declaration to become his guardian, which I would have liked to avoid. As I walked to the Health Center, a nurse called me to tell me that they had already contacted Rafael’s relative and that he was waiting for his nephew at the hospital in Chachapoyas. I felt great relief, although at no time did I hesitate to accept God’s will, whatever it was.” Shortly after, all was resolved: Rafael was gradually stabilized and Jenny was able to accompany him to the hospital in Chachapoyas, where she met the elderly man’s grandson, to whom she handed over his papers and a bag of clothes. Jenny is thus able to return home “tired, but calm and grateful for all that had been experienced….”. But it doesn’t end there: while they were taking care of Rafael’s health and the other elderly people in the Hogar House, God took care of them, sending the Providence they so desperately needed. “Someone very dear to me – Javier narrates – told us that the financial aid request we had made together two months earlier had been accepted. It was wonderful to meet this person; I saw in him a true brother. He showed me the letter from the institution we had approached asking for help and the generous amount they sent us”. Jenny and Javier decided to share some of what they had received with the sisters of the Chachapoyas nursing home.
“Dare to be one” is the title of the Conference of Bishops from various Churches, friends of the Focolare Movement, which took place from 27 February to 1 March in Augsburg. The meeting also commemorated an important anniversary in the journey of reconciliation: precisely in Augsburg 25 years ago, the signing of the historic Joint Declaration on Justification. https://youtu.be/8kBoqmRmHP4
A request for help for a young man from Cameroon in Ravenna, northern Italy, sets in motion a network of solidarity and inspires solutions and opportunities for other migrants in the city. A young man from Cameroon arrives in Italy from France. He has been assured a job in the city of Ravenna, northern Italy. However, upon arrival, he discovers that the job promised to him does not exist. With no financial support, his only accommodation is a sleeping bag. At night he sleeps on the grass beside some churches. His name is Bienvenue which means welcome. Amu (Action for a United World) – an NGO inspired by the Focolare Movement and works to help peoples and individuals in difficulty, informs the local Focolare community about this person. “One day we arranged to meet Bienvenue at the train station,” Nazzareno and Vincenzo tell us, from the local Focolare community. “We told him we’d be holding a copy of the magazine Città nuova. Bienvenue recognised us immediately and there was an immediate and strong understanding between us. From everything he told us we understood that he really needed help”. After listening to Bienvenue for a long time, the two friends decided to accompany him to the public dormitory where he would get more dignified accommodation, a hot meal and access to a bathroom. With the help of some other friends over the next few days, Bienvenue managed to find several jobs, albeit short term and irregular, and was welcomed into a family home. “Nevertheless, the accommodation and work arrangements were only temporary,” Nazzareno and Vincenzo told us. ‘We stayed in contact with him in the hope that an opportunity would present itself, and met up with him periodically.” One day, Vincenzo contacted a friend of his who owns a small flat, where he himself had stayed when he first arrived in Ravenna some time ago. He took the opportunity to ask if the flat might be available for Bienvenue to rent. Vincenzo had been a good tenant and offered to act as guarantor, ensuring the rent would be paid regularly. The friend agreed. “Bienvenue was overjoyed to finally have a stable place to live”, the two friends said, “but unfortunately, after about a week, he lost his job. Putting all our trust in God, we did not lose heart”. After a few days, Vincenzo telephoned a group of friends- four brothers who owned a company in the electrical sector. ‘They immediately and generously agreed to hire our friend after a trial period. We decided to visit him at the end of the first week, and took with us another friend we had just met, a young woman from Angola who had been living in Italy for four years and was looking for accommodation and work. Great was the emotion we all felt at this meeting that made us feel like brothers of Bienvenue and our new friend. Nazzareno and Vincenzo lived this experience with great courage which gave them the impetus to care for the people that life puts beside them and who need everything. “In the following days, we met a group of Salesian religious. The bishop had entrusted them with a parish. During the blessing of the houses by the parish priest, a tradition in the run-up to Easter, they had met several people who were non-Italian and looking for work. To be able to stay in Italy they needed to find employment otherwise their residence permits would not be extended. So we approached some entrepreneurs who were preparing to open the summer work season near the sea and needed workers the region attracts a lot of tourists. Providence was not slow in coming, and we were able to offer a job interview on the beach establishments to three people the Salesians had introduced to us. And so, day after day, we go forward with this spirit of welcome and social integration, knowing that nothing done out of love is small”.
“Called to unity – Towards an ecology of relationships” was the title of the online workshop promoted by the Together for Europe (TFE) network. Representatives of various Churches, Movements and Communities organized the event, with the aim of highlighting one of the “7 Yeses” of the journey together: the “Yes to creation”. The challenges for the protection of creation and an integral ecology are growing exponentially throughout the world and the Together for Europe network dedicated an entire day to this theme during a recent online workshop. Professionals and Christians from various Churches belonging to different Movements, from 9 European countries, spoke at the Seminar entitled: “Called to unity – Towards an ecology of relationships”. It was an engaging “journey”, in which in an atmosphere of growing convergence, the speakers presented their research and their commitment to environmental protection, then entering into dialogue with the approximately 130 people present in the “virtual room”. The experiences already ongoing in many places and the encouraging good practices, easily imitated, highlighted the desire and commitment to respect and preserve creation for future generations. This was a bond of unity that is strengthened among Christians and connects everyone with others. The heart of this event was: to deepen one of the “7 Yeses” to which the Together for Europe network committed during the Stuttgart Congress in 2007. A “Yes to creation, defending nature and the environment, gifts of God to be protected with respectful commitment for future generations”. Prof. Nicolaos Asproulis, Deputy Director of the Academy of Theological Studies of Volos (Greece) was one of the speakers who explored the theme of an Ecology of Relations from different angles, saying, “Nothing, no creature exists outside of relationship, every being is inconceivable without communion” Stefania Papa, Professor at the University of Campania, introducing the day had highlighted the “‘logic of relational harmony‘ that frees us from selfishness by promoting the first and most essential form of ecology”.Gerhard Pross, moderator of the network, said: “For many of our movements the theme of ecology has great value and today we connect it with our charism of unity, of relationships.” It is about reaching a holistic vision of our relationship with nature, with creation and with its creator. In summary, we could also call it “ecology of the heart”, summarized Pross, citing the writer Johannes Hartl. The seminar was part of a project supported by the European Union “DialogUE” Project. Workshops provided the opportunity for an intense exchange of testimonies and experiences of people from various Churches and then the European Green Deal document was presented. This is an ambitious project, in which the European Union has developed some of the strictest environmental standards in the world. The contents of the Webinar and the responses of the participants to the questionnaires related to this event will help to develop a KIT with concrete suggestions for the European Union. On 16th October 2024 it will be presented to the European Institutions in Brussels (Belgium), together with the results of the previous workshops on communication and social policies, held in 2023 and likewise co-funded by the European Union. More information is available on the website: Together4Europe | A European Network of Christians, to Unite People and Cultures. All the speakers’ interventions can be accessed here: Our common Yes to the protection of creation | Together4Europe
Maria Wienken, International Secretariat of Together for Europe
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)
On 12th April, 2024, on the occasion of the inauguration ceremony of the 16th Academic Year of the SUI that took place on, in the Auditorium of Loppiano (Figline and Incisa Valdarno – FI), Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, extended her best wishes to the students who, in this historical moment, have chosen “with courage and hope”, to prepare for the future by attending the Sophia University Institute. She said, “May Sophia be a place which forms women and men who are able to be bearers of peace and unity in these times”. The religious and civil authorities present included Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, Archbishop of Florence and Grand Chancellor of the Sophia University Institute, Msgr. Stefano Manetti, the Bishop of Fiesole and Giulia Mugnai, Mayor of Figline and Incisa Valdarno. In his opening remarks, Card. Betori referred to times of crisis such as the one we are experiencing, saying that the event was a moment of reflection on the role of universities and of Sophia in particular. He said that Sophia has “the task of testifying to the reasonableness of the faith. And therefore educating to read and interpret reality, guiding the gaze of every young person towards that truth that maybe unconsciously, each one seeks”. Newly appointed Rector, Declan O’Byrne, an Irish theologian declared the 2023-2024