Stories from around the globe show how a united world is already in motion. This platform highlights experiences, initiatives, and projects from people and communities working for unity and peace. Explore what’s happening and get inspired.
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>The 16th of April , a very strong shock of earthquake (magnitude 7.8 on the Richter Scale) struck the north central of Ecuador.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Coming closer to the 20th edition of United world week that will take place from 1st to 10th May, millions of people to give a testimony that it is a time of fraternity”. A connective thread of the whole united world week will be interculturality: to enter in dialogue with the different cultures and know more, in all that must enjoy dignity which makes us equal.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Action of reception, solidarity, education to legality, civil economy and political participation enacted in Italy and in the world, at the centre of a festival for youth in Loppiano, promoted by the youth for a united world of the Focolare.</em><br /><strong><em>With the extraordinary participation of the Gen Verde and Gen Rosso.
<div><em>A small citron tree, it is the sacred symbol of Yary Mirì, the Avà Guaranì community with which a group of the Focolare Movement in Paraguay came in contact. The story of a friendship which resulted in concrete and important actions.</em></div> <p><strong></strong><strong>“Scholars estimate that from 3000 BC, </strong>populations from the Southeast Asian continent arrived here.<strong> Among them were also the Guaranì</strong> people, composed of many ethnic groups that through the centuries spread to the Caribbean up to the southernmost tip of the continent,” <strong>explained Diana Durán</strong>, a Paraguayan sociologist and scholar of the aborigines of America. The meeting with a small community of the Avà Guaranì and Mbya ethnic groups came about two years ago, when a big flood of the Paraguay river forced the indigenous group of 33 families (115 members) to abandon the unsteady settlement on the banks of the river where they used to live by gathering wastes from the dumpsite nearby<strong>.</strong></p>
<p><em>Pope Francis visited the Earth Village and the Roman Mariapoli of Focolari. The simplicity, the warmth, the commitment... He leaves aside the official message and speaks off the cuff, asking not to fear conflicts but to grasp together with risks also opportunities to change the world</em></p> <p>The news of the arrival of the Pope - a "method" that appeals to Bergoglio - came to the event Earth Village - Rome in Mariapoli like a bolt from the blue, although the sky was not very blue in this Roman spring. A few phone calls to friends, the route search of the Pope's arrival, the thrill of being able to see the most popular and the most authoritative of the world leaders. "I am happy that Pope Francis would come to this village that wants to be a small outpost of the Gospel in Rome," says Francesca, 22, a future in ONGs.</p>
<p><strong></strong></p> <p><strong>Athens, Greece. </strong>Of the 53 thousand refugees living in the Greek islands, <strong>4,500 are in the camp at Piraeus. </strong>It is an “informal” camp totally supported by volunteers. Twenty three year-old Elena Fanciulli is amongst the volunteers who visit the place regularly. She belongs to <a href="http://www.apg23.org/" target="_blank">Pope John XXIII Association</a> and has been living in Athens since December after she finished her studies in Sciences for Peace. The young Italian has been watching the situation as it rapidly evolves. <strong> <br /></strong></p>
<p>The United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen has welcomed the start of the cessation of hostilities that began at midnight, 10 April, urging all parties to work to ensure that the terms are fully respected and create a conducive environment for the peace talks scheduled to resume next week.</p>
<p><em>The Focolare Movement around the world expresses its closeness to the populations that have been hit by earthquakes in Ecuador and in Japan. Our special thoughts go to the victims and their families. A coordinated effort has already been launched in Ecuador while the local solidarity has been overwhelming.</em></p> <p><strong></strong>“<strong>Our country’s coastal region was hit by</strong> a <a href="http://cnt.rm.ingv.it/event/6608411" target="_blank">severe earthquake </a>with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale. It was felt throughout Ecuador, and also in several regions of Colombia and northern Peru,” write Fabian and Ardita from the Focolare community in Quito. “The situation is critical especially in several devastated cities.”</p>
<p>April 22 marks the official signature of the Paris Agreement. It is an occasion to remind governments of their responsibilities, and the importance of raising commitments in order to tackle the climate crisis. It is also an occasion to highlight the need to move forward, building on Paris’ mobilizations and the momentum we observe for a profound change in our societies</p>
Economy & Work
Thirty-five years ago a dream was born: the Economy of Communion. In late May Argentina will host an extraordinary celebration where people of all ages will come together to breathe new life into this project and write the future for a different kind of economy.
Lorna Gold, Executive Director of Laudato Si’ Movement, reflects on ten years of the encyclical, analysing how integral ecology is an essential path to global unity and tackling the climate crisis.
Operation Mato Grosso is working on over 100 missions across Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, all rooted in education, hard work, and solidarity. Jacopo Manara, who has been a volunteer for years, tells us their story.
An interview on communication with Michele Zanzucchi, journalist and writer, former director of Città Nuova, professor of communication at Sophia University Institute and at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and author of around forty books.
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