“We were happy because we finally understood and Chiara Lubich confirmed it to us, that we were not made to remain closed in on ourselves, but we were called to go out into the world and meet all the children of the earth”.

Maria Chiara Biagioni, now a journalist, described it as a real mandate received directly from the founder of Focolare 40 years ago; the birth of a reality, of the Teens for Unity, which changed her life and that of many young people.

It was Easter 1984 and for the first time, the schools of formation for boys and girls of the Gen 3 Movement were underway in Castelli Romani (Rome). There were about eighty from all over Italy and a few representatives from Germany, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Belgium and the Philippines. No-one imagined being part of the beginning of a “new era”.

Chiara Lubich invited them to the Focolare Centre in Rocca di Papa (Rome) at 5 p.m. on Easter Sunday. Something amazing was waiting for them there.

Chiara had prepared a gigantic Easter egg for them. Inside, like in a series of Russian dolls, there were some envelopes and, in the end, a huge surprise: a message from her in which she announced the foundation of the Movement “Teens for Unity”.

Federica Vivian told us, “That moment was very important for me (…). Chiara Lubich sent us her gift, a long letter and I felt that it perfectly expressed what we were experiencing with our friends and with many others. We did many things to show that we believed in fraternity (…) and that seed gave rise to the desire in me to never set limits, to build bridges with everyone”.

In her message, Chiara Lubich urged the young people to live the Gospel concretely and to bring to many others that ideal they had in their hearts, with a single great purpose: to unite the world. The answers were not long in coming. The “Yes” to this mission resounded in the room and very soon many other answers arrived from all over the world.

Fiammetta Megli, a teacher, said, “I was 12 years old and when that big Easter egg was opened, I felt an immense joy, but I didn’t even realize what was really happening. I felt like I belonged to a big family. Everything I learned in those years, as a young person, not only remained, but is the basis for everything I do today, including the work I do with my students at school”.

Today, after 40 years, Teens for Unity, (the teenagers of the Focolare Movement), is present in 182 countries of the world. They speak different languages, belong to different religions or none but what unites them is that common goal: to work to achieve universal fraternity. They are engaged in the most diverse actions, at all latitudes to break down barriers and divisions, so that a united and peaceful world will soon be a reality among all the peoples of the earth.

Since that day, continued Maria Chiara Biagioni, “indifference had no place in my heart. Everything I saw around me, everything that happened in the world, belonged to me, somehow it involved me and I was committed to meeting the needs, problems and challenges that were also facing me in my life. The second thing was to believe (…) that good is stronger than evil. Believe despite everything, despite people’s tears, the bombs that continue to fall in many countries of the world, despite the many evils that we find around us (…) believe that light is stronger than the darkness, always”.

Maria Grazia Berretta