Feb. 2019 – Hearing from those who live there gives hope for the most contested city on earth; a different vision from the one in the news.
Feb. 2019 – Anna Maria, Jessica and Talat: testimony to friendship among people from the three monotheistic religions. When the walls of distrust and prejudice fall down, you experience that it’s possible to look to the future with courage and hope.
Feb. 2019 – Peace can be built in a thousand different ways. Sometimes you also need places in which to meet – a place for dialogue, spirituality, study and formation. The Focolare’s project for Jerusalem.
May 2015 – ANGELINA BANDAK – Run4unity participant
“I came here to participate in the race because I believe in unity. We are all here so that there may be unity among brothers and so that we get to know each other.”
Angelina is one of 300 young girls and boys, between the ages of 10 and 16, who participated in a race that took place on May 3 in the Palestinian Territories. The race was six kilometers long, and it began in Manger Square in Bethlehem, in front of the Basilica of the Nativity.
EDY SCHOPPING – Run4unity race organization, Bethlehem
“Bethlehem is a place that speaks about peace. It is the place of the birth of Jesus, who brought a message of love and peace that is still valid today. Bethlehem too, along with many cities around the world, wants to send out a message of peace to the world and to the Middle East in the name of all countries where there is suffering and war.”
The event in Bethlehem was attended not only by young people from throughout the Holy Land, but also by many foreigners. Run4unity, in fact, is a worldwide initiative, sponsored by the Focolare Movement. Inspired by the golden rule—that can be found in the philosophies and religions of the world—that states “Do not do to others what you do not want to be done to you,” the organization put on a race that from the Fiji islands, through 140 countries on all five continents, brings a message of peace and solidarity, and brings together young people of different races, cultures and religions.
MAURICE ROCK – Logistics manager, Run4unity race
“The race is organized by the Focolare Movement, an international Marian movement that is focused on peace and brotherhood among peoples. The race takes place every three or four years. In 2005, we had it in Jerusalem. In 2008, we brought it to Haifa. In 2012, it was held in Caesarea. And this year, for the first time, it is taking place in Bethlehem, up to Cremisan, through Beit Jala.”
Another significant place was where the end of the race took place this year: the Salesian monastery in the Cremisan valley. Here, the non-violent struggle of the local people prevented the construction of a section of the separation wall between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
MAURICE ROCK – Logistics manager, Run4unity race
“Let us search for the peace for which Jesus Christ came. He is peace. We want to help children who walk with us to feel that they have a role and responsibility. This place explains to young people that they play an important role in their [own] future.”
Original post published in cmc-terrasanta.org
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
