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Nov. 2013 – The 32nd Ecumenical Conference of Bishops and Friends of the Focolare movement took place in recent days in Jerusalem. It was entitled “The reciprocity of love among the disciples of Christ.” It was started by Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare movement, and with John Paul II’s support, the conference brings together bishops from all parts of the world and the church, both Catholic and non-Catholic.

Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran and Catholic bishops gathered for four days of meetings for the sake of communion and sharing. In a land where one can feel the very difficulty of coexistence of many different faiths and denominations, the Ecumenical Conference was an opportunity to experience a communion which, if not yet theological and doctrinal, is a communion of the heart.

H.E. ROBIN SMITH – Anglican Bishops of St. Albans

“Every year, we bishops from all over the world and of all confessions meet in order to experience Christ’s unity together. Respecting all of our differences, traditions and doctrines, we very deeply believe that we are able to live together because Jesus is in our midst.

We are to be witnesses to the fact that unity is possible. Even with all our differences, it is possible to respect and even love our brothers or sisters who are different than us. Because is Jesus in them as much as he is in us.”

The meeting with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III was significant. He welcomed the representatives of the various churches in an atmosphere of brotherhood and friendship. Despite the dramatic nature of the division that separates the Orthodox Church from the various Christian denominations, the meeting at the Patriarchate was a sign of hope for the journey toward unity.

One desire—unity—manifested by the pact of mutual love that the bishops made in the shadow of the "Little Staircase", the place that according to the Tradition is where Jesus prayed they would all be one…

CALUDIO MAINA – Focolare Movement in the Holy Land

“The staircase is the remains of an ancient Roman staircase that connects the Upper Room to the Kidron Valley. There is a tradition that says this is the place Jesus’ prayer for unity took place. According to this tradition, after the Last Supper, Jesus, on his way to the Garden of Olives would have prayed for unity here. It is a tradition that the Focolare movement particularly likes because our own spirit is founded on unity.”

H.E. Mons. ARMANDO BORTOLASO – Apostolic Vicar Emeritus of Aleppo

"We meet and together we make this covenant of unity, with which we promise to love one another as Jesus loved us, ready to give our lives for each other, in the diversity of faiths.

We want to go deeper and live in mutual love between bishops, exchanging experiences in a spirit of brotherhood, convinced that if we love one another we can achieve an ecumenism of the heart.’

A dense and rich program of meetings, including numerous visits to the holy places in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, such as the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Holy Sepulcher and the Last Supper, the place that perhaps more than any other highlights the difference and union that have characterized the reflections of the Ecumenical Conference.

H.E. Mons. PIERRE MOUALLEM – Archbishop Emeritus of the Greek Melkite Church of Galilee

“Charity is the best way. God is love, and in that love, we can find our way toward unity.”

H.Em. Card. MILOSLAV VLK – Archbishop Emeritus of Prague

“The way to achieve unity is to live the Gospel and to give common witness of the different churches, of the Gospel, of God’s Word. Unity is achieved by living out the God’s Word. It does not depend on our own strength but on the power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.”

H.E. Mons. ARMANDO BORTOLASO – Apostolic Vicar Emeritus of Aleppo

“The Holy Spirit needs bishops from the various churches who get along and who love each other … then the Holy Spirit will do the rest! But if there is not this meeting, this knowledge, this fraternal atmosphere, in which they are ready to give their lives for one another, the Holy Spirit can do nothing.”

_{Original post published in cmc-terrasanta.org}

Oct. 2013 – Yisca Harani and Margaret Karram are from different cultures, religions and experiences. Together, at the Abbey of the Dormition in Jerusalem, they received the 2013 Mount Zion Award for the work and commitment that they both have shown and still show in their search for dialogue and coming together between cultures and religions.

YISCA HARANI – Winner 2013 Mount Zion Award

“I think education is the primary step to educate for love of differences.”

Yisca was born in Jerusalem in a family of observant Jews. She is an educator and consultant for various ministries of the Israeli government. But for many years, she has above all been the promoter of interreligious initiatives, particularly in schools, with the certainty that only a greater knowledge of others can be the beginning of a different kind of coexistence.

Margaret, an Arab Christian from Haifa: for over thirty years she has been working with the Focolare Movement, she is part of the Episcopal Commission for Interreligious Dialogue of the Assembly of Catholic Priests of the Holy Land and she was one of the main organizers of the International Jewish-Christian Symposium that was held in Jerusalem in 2009.

MARGARET KARRAM – Winner 2013 Mount Zion Award

“It is especially difficult in Jerusalem to find a common ground between two peoples. So, I think our work is to facilitate this and when people meet, whether they are children, youngsters or families, we can truly see that they begin to get to know each other and discover that we really are all the same! Beyond being Jewish, or Muslim, or Christian. We begin to discover that deep down we can all love one another.”

YISCA HARANI – Winner 2013 Mount Zion Award

“In this part of the world, people have preconceived ideas without knowing each other. If people would just search for some other human in the other person, that would be the beginning. It’s very small steps. You just have to believe that you may find a human soul in somebody you call an enemy, a competitor.”

The Mount Zion Award for Reconciliation was founded in 1986 by Wilhelm Salberg, a German priest who died ten years later and it is awarded every other year to individuals or institutions committed to intensifying dialogue and understanding in the Holy Land. This year’s winners especially witnessed how the motivation for true dialogue always starts with a well-established sense of belonging:

MARGARET KARRAM – Winner 2013 Mount Zion Award

“Family played an important role in my life. They truly educated us to be real Christians, to learn and love our enemies and neighbors.”

YISCA HARANI – Winner 2013 Mount Zion Award

“I believe that there are lots of loves in the world and that my love, rooted in my Jewish background and with my Jewish life, is beautiful and I’m not diminishing anyone else’s love, and this is what we should education [people on…]”

A work that continues on…

MARGARET KARRAM – Winner 2013 Mount Zion Award

“To change people’s hearts it takes a lot but it is important to sow and create a new mentality. This is why for me today it is encouraging to move forward and create this new mentality of respect and love toward others and to help each other so that more people can work in this field…it is the only path, I think that will take us toward true peace here.”

_{Original post published in cmc-terrasanta.org}

Apr.-May 2013 – To create bridges of peace, the wish of Young People for a United World and the musicians Gen Rosso and Gen Verde. Giving witness to Universal Fraternity by thinking about the Holy Land. So, from the 18th April to the 1 May the week of a United World 2014 is to be brought here to the streets and among the people of the Land of God. We are walking together from city to city, as a bridge of peace.

From the 18th to the 1st of May: “Be the Bridge” is the motto for this year. Workshops, Concerts and Ventures along with the Musical Groups Gen Rosso and Gen Verde, with the single aim: To Build a World United.

_{Original post published in cmc-terrasanta.org}

Mar. 2024 – "Called and Sent": this was the theme that approximately 80 families, youth and children from Galilee wanted to deepen together on March 15-16 in Tiberias, on the shores of the Lake, that very Lake that had witnessed the calling and sending forth of the apostles and the public mission of Jesus.

This call is repeated to each one today: in the face of ever-growing challenges, God calls us to the radicality of the Gospel and to give our lives for peace, for dialogue. "What does dialogue mean?” shared Margaret Karram, born in Haifa and now president of the Focolare Movement. “Dialogue says I want to get closer to you, to know you, to be enriched by your diversity. The willingness to dialogue says I open… arms, heart, mind to go beyond fear."

"Called and Sent": on this theme several families had also met in Jerusalem on March 9^th, and in Bethlehem on March 14^th.

Intense meetings of spirituality, conversation with God and communion among all, which gave balm to wounds, opened souls to forgiveness, purified hearts to know how to welcome the others, their sufferings and their hopes.

Appointments filled with joy and cheerful games by the children, which helped them overcome any worries and better understand the the reality of Easter now approaching and the power of the Resurrection.

Occasions to strengthen mutual love among all participating, strengthening the conviction that this is the truest witness, that dialogue and unity among people and peoples is possible.

Precious moments to then start again with renewed commitment, to be together witnesses of this hope.

The words of Desmond Tutu, Anglican Archbishop and South African activist, read during a reflection, well express the lived experience: "If we could but recognize our common humanity, that we do belong together, that our destinies are bound up in one another’s, that we can be free only together, that we can be human only together, then a glorious world would come into being where all of us lived harmoniously together as members of one family, the human family."

Some impressions:

"Until the last moment I was in doubt whether to participate or not. But in the end I decided for yes: it was an act of love for my daughter who wanted it so much. I thank God that we went. It was beautiful. Both my family and I received the sacrament of reconciliation. It was a grace to be with everyone."

"It was a very beautiful retreat! We needed to get away from the world. We really felt like family. The atmosphere was very beautiful. Thank you for all the work! It would be important to do it again and again: we need it."

"It was important to retreat from the world in this hard time. To be together with Jesus in our midst, with peace among us. It was a meeting with so much love among everyone. There was a need to draw strength together to go out and face the challenges in life and in the world. We thank God for this opportunity."

May 2012 – Woman: “Sono molto contenta di essere qui”

Man: “Il team di lavoro è come una famiglia, questa è la cosa più importante di questa iniziativa”.

In conjunction with 300 other cities from around the world, the beautiful coastal site of Caesarea Maritima hosted Run4unity, an initiative now in its third edition that has brought children from around the world to run in the relay of peace. In the Holy Land, this day organized as always by the Focolare movement assumed a particular significance, with many young Israelis and Palestinians coming together in the Herodian city where, according to Christian tradition, Paul of Tarsus was imprisoned. Approximately 400 students in all, including Christians, Muslims, and some Jews. Different beliefs joined together by the golden rule, as the event organizers stated: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" – the universal commandment of love that is also transmitted through the games.

Woman: “È la mia prima volta, ero preoccupata di fare degli errori, ma poi mi sono fatta trascinare dall’evento ed è stato bellissimo”.

Woman: "It’s enriching to get together and exchange ideas. This program today is not my idea or that of another; it’s the idea of a body, of the experience of Jesus among us."

In the Hippodrome of Caesarea, the children were engaged in a variety of games and competitions to test their skills… all this, before the last and more "artistic" part, a show in which the protagonists were again the children. It’s an event that the parents did not want to miss, as seen in the many adults present at Caesarea.

Man: “Penso che un importante lavoro per i genitori e i nonni sia di trasmettere alle prossime generazioni e nelle famiglie questi valori di apertura, accettazione, tolleranza, amicizia”.

The ideal goal was precisely to bring together people from the whole world to pass on these teachings… Values that this land specially awaits with urgency, and that Run4unity tried, once again this year, to witness with an international competition… Without the need to have winners and losers, but with the desire to be united with others.

_{Original post published in cmc-terrasanta.org}