Jul 13, 2017 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
Elisa lives in the Focolare Centre in Welwyn Garden City, 35km north of London, in the County of Hertfordshire. It is a “garden city”, founded in the 1920s, with graceful neo-Georgian buildings, roses around the porches, tree-lined avenues. She recounts: “I was born in Northern Italy in a small village. The nearest city was Novara. I am the eldest and I have two brothers. My family was a very Christian family and gave us all solid values, such as always thinking of others. I was twenty, I had just finished studying and I was looking for a job. I studied French and English. Finding a job in a small town was difficult and I was very discouraged. Then a friend invited me to a meeting where plans were being made to go to a Genfest in Rome, a huge youth festival of the Focolare Movement at the Flaminio Stadium. It was May 1980. I went just to get away for the weekend. Instead I was was taken aback by the scene that met me, posters talking about a united world and tens of thousands of young people. During the first break I was in tears because I knew I had found something precious. I kept in touch with those people. I can’t put my finger on it but there was something that attracted me to the point that I went to every meeting. I started to visit the Focolare centre and gradually inside of I started to understand what I wanted to do with my life. It was to give my life to God through the Focolare. I got a job with Caritas, the social action of the Diocese. It was challenging and interesting. After three years I was asked by the Focolare to transfer to Bologna. But the priest tried to convince me not to leave. On that day, the Gospel reading at Mass said ‘Those who do not leave mother, father, fields… cannot be my disciples’. I felt as if Jesus was speaking directly to me. I left without delay. During the years 1985-1987, I attended the international school of formation in Loppiano (near Florence, Italy). And then … Africa! My first impression was like being in a film because everything was new and different. The next day I went into a chapel and I saw the tabernacle and I said: ‘You’re the same Jesus, I gave my life to you and I find you here too.’ Initially I spent one month in Fontem, Cameroon. Then I went to Nigeria and lived there for twenty years. In Lagos, in 1989, we started a project for girls who wanted to know more about the spirituality of unity. There was a religious sister who offered us accommodation in the staff quarters of her missionary hospital. Then a family gave us a house for five years free of charge. Later we found a piece of land and those same people, together with others, helped us build the first focolare house in Nigeria. Everything about that house came from providence. We started a small business making items in batik as one girl knew how to dye material. Someone in the community gave us some money in order to start it up. Everyone supported us and the project has helped countless girls over the years. In 2002 around one thousand people in Jos, northern Nigeria lost their lives in a clash between Muslims and Christians. No-one could understand how it had happened because these groups had always lived peacefully side by side. Our community asked if the Mariapolis could be held in Jos even though it was still a dangerous situation. There we spoke of dialogue, peace, reconciliation because there were a lot of physical wounds and emotional hurt. People had lost their businesses, places of worship had been destroyed. There was a lady invited by her sister and was one of the people inciting the boys from her village to fight against the rebels. At the end of the Mariapolis she said she had understood that violence was not the answer. The Bishop also came to the Mariapolis and was planning to undertake a reconciliation process for a month going from village to village. I subsequently went to Douala (Cameroon) where I lived for six years. Then, in 2013, I arrived in Great Britain and am now living in Welwyn Garden City. In my first year here it snowed from February to April! While externally everything is different, nothing has changed. Wherever God wants you to be, that is your home.” Source: New City Magazine (UK)
Jun 9, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Youth for a United World is an international movement which gathers young people of different races, cultures, religions from 180 countries and across 5 continents. They strive to live for a more united world by putting into practice the Golden Rule: “Do to others what you want them to do unto you; don’t do unto others what you don’t want them to do unto you”. In order to be better connected with young people throughout the world, Youth for a United World have created new communication channels, one of which is the newly launched website yfuw.org which includes content about the movement’s history, news items as well as past and forthcoming events. Genfest 2018: the worldwide event which will take place next year (6-7 July) in Manila, Philippines. More interaction: y4uw.org gives the possible to connect up with young people around the globe.It’s possible to post comments, suggestions, feedback regarding website content but also to convey news about local youth activities. New design: the revamped website makes it easier to view current projects and to contact the protagonists. It’s possible to contact Youth for a United World through the social media: Instagram & Twitter: Y4UW.official Facebook: Y4UW.international
Oct 18, 2016 | Non categorizzato
The tenth World Peace Forum and the second Youth World Peace Forum were held at Florianópolis, Brazil on September 22-15, 2016. Some events were held in common and others distinctly. The forum was attended by 1,500 adults and young people from 60 countries, different cultures and various religious faiths. “We Believe” was the main theme which was articulated: “We believe in change,” with a day dedicated to ecology; “We believe in human rights,” with a day dedicated to humanity; and “We believe in peace,’ with a day dedicated to education. The opening ceremony was held on September 21 in the plaza outside the Cathedral, with 400 dancers. Among the five flags that were waved during the dance there was also that of the Focolare Movement. The ceremony was marked by a deep atmosphere of prayer for peace. On September 22 there was a peace march through the city streets, with adults, teenagers and children. President of the Youth Global Peace Forum, Carlos Palma, commented: “It was very moving to see Chiara Lubich’s name written on the door of one of the halls, with the title “Peacebuilder” that had been given to her by UNESCO in 1996 for Peace Education.” 
The young people’s forum was an explosion of life, with touching testimonies and presentations of their many projects and personal experiences in being committed to peace. On September 23, an additional 500 young people from around the world were linked up via web for the World Conference of Young People for Peace, which is part of Living Peace International in collaboration with Peace Pals International (New York, USA). The Global Peace Forum concluded on September 25 with a profound inter-religous prayer with 30 representatives from different religious and spiritual traditions. An important part of the programme was devoted to Peace Education, during which Living Peace was presented. The presentation and history of this project, how it has spread throughout the world and its teaching method, was accompanied by a series of testimonies by Brazilian, Spanish, Paraguayan and North American young people, and others. The conferral of the Luxembourg Peace Prize to the young Omar Aobou Baker from Cairo, Egypt and member of Living Peace International, was particularly moving. The next Global Peace Forum will be held in Amman, Jordan, September 2017 with adults; and another in Manila, Philippines, organized by the young people in conjunction with the 2018 Genfest. The solemn signing of the Florianópolis Letter of Intent, titled 1% for Peace, brought the conference to an honorable conclusion. This document proposes that private and public entities destine 1% of their internal and external security spending to financing peace education projects. Eliana Quadro, a young woman Volunteer from the Focolare in Florianópolis, received the Commandant of the Global Peace Forum Silver Medal in recognition of her efforts in producing the event. “The Forum was characterized by the deep relationships that were created,” Carlos Palma concluded, “by the great joy in everyone’s hearts and, above all, by the immense gratitude to God and to the charism of Chiara Lubich that projects us towards humanity and makes us builders of peace and unity.”
Oct 12, 2016 | Non categorizzato
The XV General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to be held in October 2018, will focus on “Young people, the faith and discerment of vocation”. This decision of Pope Francis arouses joy and interest even in the Focolare Movement, especially in its branches for young members. The new generations have always been essential to the life of the Movement, in reciprocity with adult members, who accompany the young ones also in discerning their life goals. Here are some first impressions shared by young members of the Focolare in reaction to the news: “This is good news and it is also a response. The choice corresponds to the need. We already try to live our vocation in a bond with our faith, and not merely as a choice. It is time that these two realities are unified in our lives. We are so happy that the Pope has thought of us!”. (Gloria, Uganda) “Great news. If young people are not offered a good environment in today’s Church, tomorrow’s Church will lack good culture. I think Pope Francis wants to leave the Church in good hands. We need good ideas about living the vocation, not just about future choices: getting married, becoming a priest, a religious, a focolarino….In my Focolare formation I have learnt to consider the vocation as an anwer to a call that has to be lived also presently, right away. I hope that the Synod will also focus on this aspect so that the Church will be in good hands”. (Ryan, USA) “It’s a surprise! I am sure the Pope knows how to get to all young people. Many of those who no longer participate in the life Church, have shown great interest in his encyclical on the environment. I consider this synod as a great opportunity. It will be fantastic if it reaches everyone”. (Amanda, Brazil) “What I have learnt from the Catholic Church in the State where I grew up differs in certain aspects from its teaching in another State. Ideas vary even though the same material, as for example Youcat, is used. Globalization and social media put us in contact even with what the Church teaches in other parts of the world. Differences in approach on important issues can cause confusion in the absense of a clear voice.The Pope and the universal Church have a very important role in this, while they take into consideration the different cultures. I think the Synod offers excellent prospects”. (Aileen, India) “Young people are getting to know more about Church problems, especially about hot issues: scandals, social problems, Church and politics. In Peru, for example, such issues cause further distance between the position of the clergy and the reality of youth. The news of the Synod fills me with hope: the contribution and the ideas of the youth,using the media and the social networks in a transparent and convergent manner, can show a more human face of the Church.” (Jorge, Peru) “I grew up in the parish, and I think that the theme on vocation and youth should have been addressed years ago. Today we are in the midst of a crisis of vocations: family, religious life, as citizens, etc. So I say: Well done for chosing this theme”. (Damián, Argentina) “World Youth Days have shown the Church’s openness towards youth. Giving priority to youth shows that Pope Francis now wants to pass from words to deeds; even because we have to be the ones to find solutions for world problems. Sometimes one tends to think that we are unable to address problems, but together with mature and experienced persons we do arrive to solutions. It seems as if the Pope is telling us: you are ready for this challenge”. (Jorge, El Salvador) “Who knows what will really happen during the Synod! It would be great if some young people would actually be present. I think we all wish to have someone voicing us in this Synod”. (Jose Luis, Brazil) The young people of the Focolare Movement are also pleased because the Synod will take place just after the Genfest, when young people from the five continents will be gather in Manila, in July 2018. “This is a marvellous coincidence. We will be in the Philippines, in a continent with so many young people and to whom the Pope gives much attention. This time of preparation will help us understand how we can contribute towards the Synod”. (Jose Luis, Colombia) Source: Press releases (OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL WEBSITE)
Jul 23, 2016 | Non categorizzato
(C) CSC Audiovisivi
Elisa lives in the Focolare Centre in Welwyn Garden City, 35km north of London, in the County of Hertfordshire. It is a “garden city”, founded in the 1920s, with graceful neo-Georgian buildings, roses around the porches, tree-lined avenues. She recounts: “I was born in Northern Italy in a small village. The nearest city was Novara. I am the eldest and I have two brothers. My family was a very Christian family and gave us all solid values, such as always thinking of others. I was twenty, I had just finished studying and I was looking for a job. I studied French and English. Finding a job in a small town was difficult and I was very discouraged. Then a friend invited me to a meeting where plans were being made to go to a Genfest in Rome, a huge youth festival of the Focolare Movement at the Flaminio Stadium. It was May 1980. I went just to get away for the weekend. Instead I was was taken aback by the scene that met me, posters talking about a united world and tens of thousands of young people. During the first break I was in tears because I knew I had found something precious. I kept in touch with those people. I can’t put my finger on it but there was something that attracted me to the point that I went to every meeting. I started to visit the Focolare centre and gradually inside of I started to understand what I wanted to do with my life. It was to give my life to God through the Focolare. I got a job with Caritas, the social action of the Diocese. It was challenging and interesting. After three years I was asked by the Focolare to transfer to Bologna. But the priest tried to convince me not to leave. On that day, the Gospel reading at Mass said ‘Those who do not leave mother, father, fields… cannot be my disciples’. I felt as if Jesus was speaking directly to me. I left without delay. During the years 1985-1987, I attended the international school of formation in Loppiano (near Florence, Italy). And then … Africa! My first impression was like being in a film because everything was new and different. The next day I went into a chapel and I saw the tabernacle and I said: ‘You’re the same Jesus, I gave my life to you and I find you here too.’ Initially I spent one month in Fontem, Cameroon. Then I went to Nigeria and lived there for twenty years. In Lagos, in 1989, we started a project for girls who wanted to know more about the spirituality of unity. There was a religious sister who offered us accommodation in the staff quarters of her missionary hospital. Then a family gave us a house for five years free of charge. Later we found a piece of land and those same people, together with others, helped us build the first focolare house in Nigeria. Everything about that house came from providence. We started a small business making items in batik as one girl knew how to dye material. Someone in the community gave us some money in order to start it up. Everyone supported us and the project has helped countless girls over the years. In 2002 around one thousand people in Jos, northern Nigeria lost their lives in a clash between Muslims and Christians. No-one could understand how it had happened because these groups had always lived peacefully side by side. Our community asked if the Mariapolis could be held in Jos even though it was still a dangerous situation. There we spoke of dialogue, peace, reconciliation because there were a lot of physical wounds and emotional hurt. People had lost their businesses, places of worship had been destroyed. There was a lady invited by her sister and was one of the people inciting the boys from her village to fight against the rebels. At the end of the Mariapolis she said she had understood that violence was not the answer. The Bishop also came to the Mariapolis and was planning to undertake a reconciliation process for a month going from village to village. I subsequently went to Douala (Cameroon) where I lived for six years. Then, in 2013, I arrived in Great Britain and am now living in Welwyn Garden City. In my first year here it snowed from February to April! While externally everything is different, nothing has changed. Wherever God wants you to be, that is your home.” Source: New City Magazine (UK) 
