Stories

In these difficult times, we thank you for your support and for the prayers you accompany us with, a true support and encouragement to continue building relationships and actions for peace.

We share with you the link to the interview with Margaret Karram, president of the Focolare Movement, in which she says the Middle East cries out “Enough war.”

https://www.avvenire.it/chiesa/io-araba-israeliana-e-cristiana-dico-il-medio-oriente-grida-basta-guerra_106542

With the hope that days of peace will come, we wish you a Happy Holy Week and a Holy Easter.

Dear everyone,

We thank you for your closeness to us in these challenging times, which urge us to live our ideal of unity with greater commitment.

For this reason, we want to share with you the 2024 Communion Report, which you can find at the following link: https://www.focolare.org/un-bilancio-che-parla-di-pace-formazione-salute-e-inclusione/, which highlights many concrete initiatives to build a united world at peace.

On page 90, you will find a chapter on the Mediterranean of Peace and Fraternity, and at this link: https://www.focolare-hl.org/it/storie/together-we-connect-bridges-of-hope-and-peace/ you can find some information on the “Together We Connect” project we are promoting here in the Holy Land.

Small steps of hope towards a single goal: Peace and Fraternity.

With this desire in our hearts, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Sept. 2022 – In Hebrew, Nes Ammim means the ‘miracle of the peoples’. This place was created to foster dialogue and understanding between Christians, Jews and Muslims. From 16 to 18 September, “Dare to Care for a Better Future” was held here, a meeting organised by the Focolare Movement in the Holy Land and open to people of every generation, nationality, religious faith or non-religious beliefs. It was an opportunity to share a few days together and discover each other as partners, through mutual understanding, in building a better future together. For testimonies of friendship between believers of different religions, see also Holy Land: stories of dialogue ( https://youtu.be/Cp9MOx5xKvA ).

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Sept. 2022 – Its name means “miracle of the peoples” or “sign for the peoples” as we read in the prophet Isaiah (Is 11:10). In Nes Ammim, a village of Christian origin in northern Israel, dialogue and coexistence among people of different peoples, faiths, religions and cultures is the norm.

An ideal location to host the Focolare Movement’s initiative that brought together around 150 people of different faiths and cultures from September 16 to 18 last year to reflect and experience “caring.”

CLAUDIO MAINA Focolare Movement

“With the pandemic and after the pandemic, the theme of caring is present in the Focolare Movement. A real awareness campaign on this issue is emerging.”

The guiding theme these days is “Dare to care”. Not just a title:

CLAUDIO MAINA Focolare Movement

“We are deeply convinced that it is a way of life to care for others. It takes courage! It takes daring, because it’s about stepping out of one’s box, stepping out of one’s comfort zone, to look beyond.”

Moments of reflection, but also spaces for conviviality and sharing, workshops, games, activities for children, time for a little relaxation, a chance to learn about and participate in different religious traditions. The beginning of Shabbat was experienced with particular intensity.

Sister DELPHINE SEEGOOLAM Chemin Neuf

“It is important to get to know each other: what others believe, who they are, what their culture is. That way all our barriers can crumble down and we can live as brothers and sisters.”

Among the most anticipated moments was a panel discussion with three speakers from different religions-Christians, Jews and Muslims-on building authentic relationships, with oneself, with others, but also in the society in which we live and towards the environment.

The need for every human being to be in relationship with the other, the importance of knowing one’s own identity, education for dialogue, starting with religious leaders, the push to get out of one’s own schemes: these are all topics addressed by the speakers and explored in the assembly and in the various workshops.

Prof KHALED FURANI Tel Aviv University

“Why am I here? What am I living for? If we keep asking ourselves these questions, perhaps we can challenge what makes us feel comfortable and go out and explore new ways in which we can enrich our lives and the lives of those around us.”

SHIRA LEVINE Rabbi – Kibbutz Hanaton

“Many of my friends chose not to be religious at all. It’s ok, everyone believes in whatever they believe – in the mankind and in themselves, ok. But I believe, I believe in God and I believe in people, and I found that I have a lot in common with people who believe. Sometimes we understand each other’s better than people who choose not to believe”.

The various proposals and free moments were an opportunity to touch upon this possibility of taking an interest in others and being enriched by their presence.

TALAT SHATROUBI Fureidis

“The theme of these days gives me energy to be a person who can help and do something good for their community.”

CHIARA PEZZULICH Haifa

“It was a good experience, of living together, of friendship, of meeting: meaningful for life!”

Spaces and moments like this Focolare Movement event are a testimony that the desired unity is possible if everyone takes the risk of “daring to care.”

SHIRA LEVINE Rabbi – Kibbutz Hanaton

“I am very happy. It’s really a miracle that all these people come together, it’s a miracle that all the ‘ammim’ (peoples) come together.”

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

Mar. 2020 – “Together for Jerusalem” was a seminar sponsored by the Focolare in the Holy Land together with the Sophia University Institute (Italy).The seminar gathered Jewish and Christian biblical experts to focus on the vocation of Jerusalem as seen in the Bible, thus setting a biblical foundation to the goals of the Focolare’s future International Center for Unity and Peace in Jerusalem.

From different countries in Europe, from USA and Israel, scholars in biblical and related studies participated in the seminar held this past March 12, 2020 at Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem. Professor Yair Zakovitch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem delivered the keynote speech entitled: “’In the Days to Come, the Mount of the Lord’s House Shall Stand Firm above the  Mountains and Tower above the Hills’ (Isaiah 2:2): The Peace of Jerusalem in Prophetic Literature”, with responses moderated by Dr. Marcie Lenk,  a Jewish scholar of Jewish and Christian texts.

Amidst the global health crisis, several scholars from other countries presented their contributions through teleconferencing. Dr. Giovanna Porrino (Italy): “God Gathers His people and the Peoples of Every Tongue” (Isaiah 2 and 66); Prof. Franz Sedlmeier (Germany): “Psalm 87: Jerusalem, Mother of the Peoples”; Dr. Giovana Czander (USA): “The Witness of Two or More in the Old Testament/ Hebrew Bible”; Dr. Margareta Gruber (Germany): “Urban Living Spaces for all Peoples. The Vision of the New Jerusalem in the New Testament Book of Revelation” (Rev. 21:1-22:5).

There were also two presenters from Israel: Rabbi David Goodman who presented his contribution entitled: “The Ancient History of Jerusalem in Jewish Oral Tradition”; and Rabbi Dr. Ron Kronish: “How Do We Bring the Heavenly Jerusalem Closer to the Earthly Jerusalem?”

Rabbi Ron Kronish:
“We did a little bit of dreaming… (about) the Jerusalem that we would like to see, the Jerusalem of the future, the Jerusalem of our hopes and dreams. We also talked towards the end of the day about how we must share and work together in bringing the heavenly Jerusalem closer to the earthly Jerusalem. It was a day of dialogue, of inspiration, and it gave all of us a hope for the future in a very real and tangible sense.”

László Berényi, Hungary’s cultural attaché in Israel:
“… Jerusalem, specifically in Dormito, where we are now, became a small world-wide workshop searching to find the vocation of Jerusalem. And if Jerusalem has a vocation, it is exactly this one: to gather people of different nationalities, of different religions with different perspectives and visions but all searching the way of unity.…”

The event falls on the centennial celebration of the Focolare’s foundress, Chiara Lubich. An exhibit on her life and contribution to the Church and to humanity was simultaneously on display at the Franciscan’s Curia in Jerusalem. One of Chiara’s dream was to have, in Jerusalem, a Center which would focus on four areas:  spirituality, study, dialogue and formation. Among the goals of the planned International Center for Unity and Peace is the gathering and hosting of events on inter-religious studies and research.

All the presentations are now freely accessible in the online journal: Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture, Vol. 9, No. 2 (2020) Together for Jerusalem . Some contributions in the form of videos can be found on Youtube.

The seminar, also part of the academic outreach of Sophia University Institute, heralds the launch of a shared journey in scriptural research, cause of hope for fruitful exchange well into the future.