Jan 17, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
Many hectares of forest were devoured by fires in different countries during the European summer last year as was the case in Albania. The Youth for a United World there thought of launching to many of their peers the idea to purchase trees that they would plant together in the burned areas. Hence the project name “Adopt a tree”.
They wrote from Albania saying that “Feverish preparations were being made for this meeting since many weeks with many unexpected occurrences, such as the concurrence with the national holiday of the 100th anniversary of the country’s Independence. Many universities would remain closed for a few days and therefore many young people would have returned to their home towns”.
Notwithstanding this and the hall with an 80 seats capacity, 140 young people arrived in Tirana on the 28th and 29th November to spend two days as a follow-up to the experience lived at the Genfest in Budapest.
They narrate that “We lived the strongest and most beautiful experience during the preparation made together with a group of young people who had participated with us at the Genfest. They felt as protagonists in the first person. There were some who organized the meals, others the choreographies, singing, testimonies, translation and dubbing of videos, presentations…
“This helped make us a very united group. It gave us the strength to invite our friends by helping them find ways to remain in the city, even if some boarding schools were closed”.
The meeting was entitled “Do unto others as you want others to do unto you”, the noted golden rule present in almost all religions. During the two-day program, besides listening to the main themes of the Genfest, the United World Project was explained. It is an initiative pursued by the Youth for a United World throughout the world.
They conclude saying that “The young people present were happy with this experience of unity and lived reciprocity. Many thanked us because they have seen that a more united world is feasible, that it is possible to change the reality around us by beginning with ourselves in the first place, and that we are not alone in doing so”.
The Youth for a United World in Albania
Jan 15, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
Maria Voce’s trip to Johor to meet the Focolare communities is the chance for her to get to know some Asian countries better, in particular Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Indonesia’s motto is ‘Unity in Diversity’ and it expresses the huge ethnic and linguistic variety of the world’s largest archipelago state, made up of 17,508 islands. In all these nations the Christians (of various churches) are less than 10% of the population and the majority are, in Indonesia and Malaysia, Muslim, and, in Singapore, Buddhist and Taoist. More or less during the 60s the seeds of the spirituality of unity began to be spread in this part of the world through religious such as Fr Tarcisio Centis, in Medan (Indonesia) and clergy such as Fr Jose Lai (Singapore), currently bishop of Macau, as well as through the magazine New City and the Word of Life leaflet. In 1991 two focolare centres were opened in Singapore, which have now moved to Yogyakarta in Indonesia, and in 2004 two were opened in Medan. Towards the end of the 80s it was the turn of Malaysia to receive the spirituality. This time it was via Fr Raphael Kang. After that in the 90s there were Mariapolises in Johor and Penang and a Familyfest (as the name suggests, a gathering for families) held in Penang. Some members went to the formation school in Loppiano and to international events such as the gathering for young adults, called Genfest. In Malaysia (in Johor) there is a ‘family focolare’; and various members of the Movement are spread throughout the nation. The seeds of the spirituality have grown, giving life to many small but active communities, which have started initiatives involving people from different confessional backgrounds,
Young people at Penang (Malesia)
Jan 3, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
“I was my father’s favourite daughter,” Mary recounts, “since I was the firstborn. When I was eight years old, I watched my parents argue and fight. One day my father forced my brothers and me to get into his car and leave our mother behind. But she stopped us. I helplessly watched so many terrible things that he did to my mother. Then he left. From that day that I saw my mother and father together, I completely rejected my father.
I tried to convince myself that he didn’t exist anymore. It was a dramatic choice that haunted me during the years of my adolescence. Growing up without a father had an influence on the way I treated other people, especially men. For several years I studied at an exclusive school for girls. When I went to university, it wasn’t easy for me to be with the boys.
Coming to know the Focolare Movement, I was invited to go to the little town of Loppiano, Italy, where there are people who try to live mutual love and have respect and trust for one another.
It was the month when everyone there was trying to live that Gospel sentence: “Forgive seventy times seven times” (Mt. 18:21). Reading the commentary by Chiara Lubich, I suddenly realized that my heart was filled with hostility towards my father. But it was only when I decided to also begin living it, that in my heart I felt the “bitterness” slowly transforming into pardon and I felt a strong desire to see my father.
When I returned to Manila, even though there was still an open wound, I found the strength to telephone my father and to arrange a meeting. We spoke for several hours, just the two of us, in a restaurant. I was happy and at peace, even though my mother didn’t agree with our meeting. But she left me free to meet him.
I continue to communicate with Dad, even if it’s not so often. But any time I have an opportunity to meet him, I try to make him feel my merciful love.
Always aware that Mum and Dad will never be able to get together again because he already has another family, I feel that, through my forgiveness, we all remain united. And this fills me with peace.”
Official Genfest website: www.genfest.org
Jan 2, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
A chain of text messages containing Scripture quotes to end the day together, this was the idea of a small group of volunteers at the Word Youth Day. Among them was Nard, a young Dutch Focolare member, who wanted to have a moment of communion during the day so as to enter deeply into God. All the things to be done and the work for the World Youth Day seemed to get in the way. A combination of the desire to be united and of using the means of communication well meant that the group started a chain of text messages to share something valuable from the day they had just lived. The text chain did not stay in Madrid; it is still going on and increasing numbers of young people are part of it.
This is one of the stories told in a lively and enthusiastic way at the Katholike Jongeren Dag (‘s-Hertogenbosch, 4 November 2012), the annual gathering of Dutch Youth where for many years the Focolare Movement has been actively present both in the crowds and among the organizers.
Many of the Dutch young people still remember when Chiara Luce’s parents spoke in 2010 and Maria Voce’s talk the following year. This year the Gen were present in the organizing committee, as helpers and stewards during the day itself, and with a stand both promoting the United World Project launched at the Genfest and presenting the life of Chiara Luce.
The stand was visited by many of the young people circulating in 2012’s ‘Square of the New Movements’ where the various stands were all grouped together in their own areas. It was a chance to strengthen contacts among the different Catholic groups in the Netherlands.
During the lunch break, a moment when participants had time to go to the stands, the members of the various movements put on a programme to show passers-by how they live and witness to the Gospel in daily life. Of course this included music and performances, and there was also the presentation of the testimony of Eric Mwangi, a focolarino recently arrived in the Netherlands after a period in the international performing arts group, Gen Rosso.
The next appointment with the Katholike Jongeren Dag is at the end of 2013, but everyone wants to see each other again so much that they will also meet at the various gatherings for young people who want to build a better future, from the 35th European Meeting of Taizé youth (Rome, 28 December 2012 to 2 January 2013) to the World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro.
Dec 18, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide
It’s not every day that you go to a government ministry to receive official recognition. This is what happened to Youth People for a United World (Y4UW) in Hungary, after they had worked hard for a year in their own country to organize the Genfest. It was a huge event that from 31 August to 2 September 2012 drew together 12,000 young people from all over the world. Among them were 2000 from Hungary. Rita and Agoston, among the key figures, spoke of receiving the prize at the end of November. What was the prize for? ‘At the beginning of October the Hungarian Ministry of Human Resources sent us a message to say that, in recognition of our professionalism at the Genfest, the Focolare’s Young People for a United World was to be given a certificate of merit. We were surprised and happy at the news. It immediately spread to all the young people of the Movement. The minister, accepting our candidature, was recognizing the youth of the Focolare Movement and was giving us a prize. This took place on 20 November on the occasion of Universal Children’s Day.’ 
Someone within the ministry had nominated Y4UW. This person and the Minister of State for Social, Family and Youth Affairs, Miklós Soltész, had been at the opening of the Genfest. Rita and Agoston continued, ‘Both of them were struck by the dynamism, enthusiasm and sense of fraternity they experienced with the young people.’ On 20 November a delegation of five young people representing the Focolare and Y4UW went to the ministry. ‘The prizes, 14 in all, were given to organizations and persons who had done something special for children and youth. In his speech Miklós Soltész emphasized that all the prize winners were ‘examples’ who, with their activities, poetry and prose had educated young people and, through them, had also given help to parents, supporting them at critical moments.’ In the official citation, the youth section of the Focolare Movement received a certificate of merit for having put on the Genfest collectively, efficiently, professionally and in a way that was effective and exemplary in the youth sector. For Y4UW this contained a pleasant surprise, ‘We really liked hearing that word “collectively”, because it showed us that there was an understanding of our intention of building universal brotherhood by living the spirituality of unity.’ After the Genfest, new prospects have opened up for young people in Hungary, especially with regard to the United World Project: ‘After the ceremony the Minister of State said again how, at a personal level, that international meeting had been an important experience. He said that he hoped in the future to work together with us for the good of young people. We gave him as a gift a copy of Új Város [the Focolare Movement’s magazine in Hungarian] which contained articles on the Genfest.’ Rita and Agoston concluded by saying, ‘Now, together with many young people who’ve worked with us in the last few years, we will carry along the way of building a more united world “together”, as highlighted by the prize’s official citation.’
Many hectares of forest were devoured by fires in different countries during the European summer last year as was the case in Albania. The Youth for a United World there thought of launching to many of their peers the idea to purchase trees that they would plant together in the burned areas. Hence the project name “Adopt a tree”.
