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>"The Christian-Jewish dialogue, prospects of re-encounter between two faiths": a courageous title that drew Jews and Christians from various parts of the world for three days, in late November, to live together an experience of growth.</em></p> <p><strong>“It was not a conference, but an experience</strong> and, to be more precise and in-tune with the event, I would call it an experience of <em>tikkun</em>, reparation, as explained in the Jewish tradition,” writes Roberto Catalano, from the Focolare’s Centre for <a href="http://www.focolare.org/in-dialogo/grandi-religioni/ebraismo/">Interreligious Dialogue</a> on his return from Salerno.</p>
<p><em>"One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world." (Malala Yousafzai)</em></p> <p>Dear friends of the Living Peace Project, <br />Dear peacemakers,</p> <p>Time has come to prepare the Youth World Peace Forum (YWPF) to be held next year 2015, on May 4th – 6th in Cairo, Egypt. <br />This historical moment lived together, will give us new strength and conviction to build on and realize a more united and peaceful world.</p> <p>And for this we need the cooperation and support of all of you around in the world.</p>
<p><em><span id="result_box" lang="it">After the Sydney hostage crisis, acts of kindness to counteract the terrorism<br /></span></em></p> <p><span id="result_box" lang="it">From the horror that gripped the city of Sydney in the hostage crisis on December 16th that left two of the captives and the hostage-taker dead, seeds of compassion and solidarity have been sown with the Muslim community. To counter an escalation of anti-Muslim sentiments and fear of repercussions from the siege carried out by an Iranian immigrant brandishing a black flag with Arabic writing, Rachel Jacobs, a young Sydney resident, reached out to her Muslim neighbor.
<p><em>The largest global youth population in human history can create a better world for all</em></p> <p><em></em>Young people matter. They matter because an unprecedented 1.8 billion youth are alive today, and because they are the shapers and leaders of our global future. They matter because they have inherent human rights that must be fulfilled,’ according to the <strong>UN Population Fund</strong> (<a href="http://www.unfpa.org/">UNFPA</a>) report <a href="https://www.unitedworldproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/www.unfpa.org_sites_default_files_pub-pdf_EN-SWOP14-Report_FINAL-web.pdf">State of World Population 2014</a>.</p>
<p><em>From Argentina, the experience of a judicial official who tries to reconcile fraternity and justice by putting people first.</em></p> <p><strong>“I’ve been working in the criminal justice system</strong> of Santa Fe for twenty years. It’s not a good business card to be holding these days in Argentina, where officials and institutions are the subject of constant suspicion, whether justified or not.</p> <p>Ever since my first experience, the <a href="http://www.focolare.org/en/chiara-lubich/spiritualita-dellunita/">spirituality of unity</a> has given meaning to my presence in the environment where crime, violence and non-love are more evident than love, which is the fulfillment of the law, as St Paul says.</p>
<p><em>About 300 people - including Hindus, Muslims and some Christians - will celebrate the birth of Christ at Swarga Dwar, Mumbai, an ashram founded by PIME. The days leading up to the celebration are special for its children who play cricket, football and other games. "The kids wait for this festival with joy. They like to prepare the tree and put the star on the crèche," the facility's head said.</em></p> <p>Mumbai - "At Swarga Dwar, Christmas is an important day. We bear witness to Jesus before our guests and friends, who are mostly Hindus and Muslims. And his message becomes theirs," said Fr Vijay Rayala, regional superior of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) in India, as he talks about the Heaven's Gate ashram, a residence and rehabilitation centre in Mumbai for people with leprosy founded in 1983 by Fr Carlo Torriani, also a PIME missionary.</p>
<p><em>Obama, Raul Castro thank Pope Francis for mediation</em></p> <p> New York, December 17 - United States President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro on Wednesday announced an historic thaw in relations between the two countries.</p> <p>"We will start to normalise our relations with Cuba," Obama said in a television address.</p> <p>"We'll put an end to this outdated approach to Cuba... I have given Secretary of State John Kerry the mandate to launch immediate negotiations to revive the dialogue that stopped in 1961...
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.
EN
