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><em>That was the theme of this year’s “Regenerate,” an annual event of the young people of the Focolare Movement from Ireland and Great Britain. Following recent events in Paris, dialogue has become a pressing challenge.</em></p> <p><strong></strong><strong>The group </strong>of 80 young Christians and Muslims. <strong>The topic: </strong>multiculturalism, religious diversity and dialogue. <strong>The question: </strong>Do you care? The format: to “Regenerate,” with two days at Hertfordshire, in a relaxed atmosphere where even burning issues were able to be discussed. The protagonists were young people from the Focolare Movement in Great Britain and Ireland and, this year, a group from the Islamic Unity Society with whom there has been growing friendship and mutual esteem, several projects, study sessions and planting peace trees.</p>
<p><em>A young couple took their plans for a traditional wedding and honeymoon and turned it in to a beautiful opportunity to give.</em></p> <p>"Shocked and frozen." Those are two words that Mark and Ismini Svensson say perfectly describe their families' reaction to their unique wedding plans.</p> <p>Instead of having a typical ceremony, complete with cake and family photos, the couple chose a different path: To celebrate their love by sharing good deeds across the country with people they'd never met.</p>
<p><em>"If a woman who wears a miniskirt is sending an invitation about what will happen to her, then we are also sending an invitation!”</em></p> <p>Men in Turkey and neighbouring Azerbaijan are spearheading a protest meme in honour of a woman who was murdered after an attempted rape.</p> <p>Twenty-year-old Ozgecan Aslan's burned body was found on Friday in a riverbed. She was last seen two days earlier on a minibus in Mersin.</p>
<p><em>A project that assists adoptive families, organised by the New Families Association, is implemented with support from the Banco di Napoli Foundation. The importance of supporting families during and after the adoption process.</em></p> <p><strong></strong><strong>All the documents are stamped and now the child is a son or a daughter in every respect,</strong> a child upon whom to to pour all that love, which adoptive parents always have plenty of. Years of waiting and ocean-crossings did not stop them. After a first fleeting encounter in which child and parent became acquainted and some brief stays at hotels abroad, they are finally home. It is a unique and exhilarating experience to witness the completion of an adoption, however, more than a completion, it is also the beginning of an uphill journey.</p>
<p><em>Fr Gariguez, executive secretary of CBCP-NASSA, said that 80 per cent of the work is done. The rest will be ready by the end of March. In all, 3,753 houses will be built. In addition to a roof, the Church will provide beneficiaries with the means to support themselves and their families. The aim is "integrated human development".</em></p> <p>Manila - The housing project planned by the Filipino Church for typhoon Yolanda survivors is "80 per cent completed," said Fr Edu Gariguez.</p> <p>Speaking to <em>Radio</em><em> Veritas</em>, the executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)'s National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice, and Peace (NASSA)/Caritas Philippines, added that he was confident the project would be completed by the end of March.</p>
<p><em>"There are names no one cares to remember, that no one cheers for: the 805 million people suffering from hunger in the world today"</em></p> <p>He may be one of the biggest names in world football, but it was the names of the 50 people mysteriously tattooed to Zlatan Ibrahimović's body that gained all the attention after his goal celebration yesterday. The Sweden and Paris St Germain (PSG) striker was booked for removing his shirt after netting with just two minutes played in the match against Caen, but almost 800 million people were responsible for Ibrahimović's yellow card.</p>
<p><em>Freedom from violence remains critical to achieving a sustainable future in which every child can grow up healthy, resilient, well-educated, culturally sensitive and effectively protected.</em></p> <p>African girls and boys continue to be subjected to distressing levels of physical, sexual and emotional violence despite the significant legal and policy measures adopted throughout the region, according to a new United Nations-backed report.</p> <p>Launched today (11th February) at UN Headquarters in New York, <em>The African Report on Violence against Children</em> is the first comprehensive report of its kind in the region and builds upon the commitment put forward by African Union Member States to promote a so-called “Africa Fit for Children.”</p>
<p><em>As the world watches the tragic events that are unfolding in Ukraine, the Pope invokes peace. The small Focolare community joins with other Christians to “protest” with their prayers.</em></p> <p><strong></strong>During the <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2015/documents/papa-francesco_20150204_udienza-generale.html" target="_blank">General Audience of February 4</a>, 2015 Pope Francis stated: “Brothers and sisters, when I hear the words “victory” or “defeat” I feel great sorrow, great sadness in my heart. They are not just words; the only just word is “peace”. This is the only just word. I am thinking of you, Ukrainian brothers and sisters …. Think, this is a war among Christians! You all share one baptism! You are fighting with Christians. Think about this scandal. And let us all pray, for prayer is our protest before God in times of war.”</p> <p><strong></strong><strong>While world diplomacy is mobilised, </strong>the facts seem to belie any prospects of peace. Yet there are people and institutions who work with courage to safeguard it, even at the risk of their own lives.</p>
<p><em>The first International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking celebrated on February 8, 2015 was strongly supported by Pope Francis, and was promoted by the varied world of Religious congregations and institutes with the patronage of two major departments of the Roman Curia.</em></p> <p><strong>Sister Tina Ventimiglia, a Franciscan Sister of the Poor, and Resi and Alessandra, </strong>volunteers of the<a href="http://associazionerandi.org/" target="_blank"> Randi Association</a>, find unimagined ways to contact and accompany victims of human trafficking, and to rescue them. Prevention plays an important role, through the creation of opportunity for development in the southern hemisphere of the world.</p> <p>Yesterday, February 8, 2015, coincided with the liturgical feast of Saint Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese woman who, as a child, had a dramatic experience of slavery. This was the day chosen as the day for <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2015/02/03/0088/00187.html" target="_blank">the first International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking</a>.
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.
Art & Social Commitment
Art is not just memory, but a living force. Art historian Giulia Spoltore guides us through the great works of war-defying art, illustrating how beauty can transform society and create a universal culture of peace.
Health, Sport & Ecology
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.
Education & Research
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.
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