Stories

The event took place on Saturday afternoon, beginning in the courtyard of Catholic Action in Bethlehem.
Music, activities, moments of prayer, and testimonies contributed to creating a wonderful atmosphere of faith — a manifestation of Christ, the giver of all charisms and gifts.

ANNE MARIE
Organizer – Regnum Christi
It was a moment to be together, to pray together, especially in this Jubilee Year.
At first, we thought of inviting only the movements and new communities, but then we decided to open it up so that everyone could take part in this Pilgrimage of Hope.
After all, we all need to live this time of joy, consolation, prayer, and unity, which brings benefit to each of us.

In procession with the Jubilee cross, the participants walked along Star Street, stopping at the Milk Grotto, always accompanied by the Bethlehem scout group.

Inside St. Catherine’s Church, a moment of adoration was held, and the sacrament of reconciliation was celebrated.

LORENA GADELHA
Shalom Community – Haifa
As a community of the Holy Land, we can testify that hope and unity are possible even in this land so wounded and marked, and that it is possible to celebrate together as Church.

FRANCESCO ZURLO
Focolare Movement – Nazareth
I think that in the Church we are like children who gradually learn to get to know one another.
And it is a great richness to be able to do that — and to do it together.

The Eucharist was presided over by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who expressed great joy in seeing so many representatives of movements and new communities gathered in Bethlehem.

The Franciscan community of Bethlehem, represented by the Guardian, Fr. Marcello Cicchinelli, welcomed the religious and civil authorities present.

In his homily, the Patriarch stated that, for him, this event is a fruit of the diocesan Synod and represents the sense of belonging to the Church that transcends borders, creating bridges of dialogue and mutual collaboration.

H.B. Card. PIERBATTISTA PIZZABALLA
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
ORIGINAL EN
You are a new movement, the new communities, new realities in the life of our Church. We have, in a way, a freedom, let’s say, from the past that the old institutions, maybe not always have. The institution tends to preserve. But the Holy spirit is saying, continuously in the church, new realities that help us to do what the saints are supposed to do, as I said, to look outside our borders, to help us see what we not always see immediately

For Lina, who lives in Bethlehem, this meeting of charisms within the context of the Jubilee demonstrates the power of prayer lived in unity of heart.
“We all came to pray for peace and to ask Jesus, born in this place, for a heart full of hope.”

LINA CANAVATI RAHIL
Communion and Liberation
Our mutual unity allows us to see that we are not alone in the world.
On the contrary, many people pray with us so that peace may reign over all the earth.

Original post published in cmc-terrasanta.org

July 27-August 3, 2025

A small group of young people from the Holy Land lived a truly extraordinary experience this summer. They write:

In this blessed and special year, despite the destruction and ongoing wars, we decided to participate in the Jubilee of Youth held in Rome, Italy, at the beginning of August. There were six of us from the Middle East: five from the Holy Land – from Jerusalem, Haifa and the village of Jish in Galilee – and a young woman from Egypt.

We left for our pilgrimage on July 27, filled with joy and with the desire to live a spiritual and human experience on a personal and also collective level with the whole Church. We asked for the blessing of peace for our countries and we included in our prayers all the young people who would have liked to come with us, but did not have the opportunity.

At the beginning of our trip, we visited the beautiful city of Assisi. It never stopped raining, but this did not prevent many young people, especially from different and distant countries such as Brazil, from visiting it. We entered the Church of St. Clare of Assisi and the Church of the Exile of St. Francis of Assisi, where the tomb of (now Saint) Carlo Acutis is located, convinced that holiness is not a distant dream, but a choice that each of us can live. We asked for many blessings for the young people of our countries, for our families and for the whole world.

We visited Loppiano, the permanent international little city of the Focolare. During our tour we discovered the symbolism of the Theotokos Church (= the Church of the Mother of God). It is a Jubilee Church, with a unique architecture that helps deepen the spirituality of the Focolare which is based on the charism of unity and Jesus forsaken. Renata Borlone, a focolarina who has been proclaimed “Servant of God” is buried in the church and we asked for her special intercession.

The only law of this city is the law of mutual love, which makes this Church a true Marian shrine because of Jesus in the midst of its citizens (cf. Mt. 18:20). He truly dwells in this city, which is the greatest miracle.

While in Loppiano, we also visited the Sophia University Institute and the “Centro Ave” Ceramics Art Center where we admired the professionalism, great care and harmony with which the works of art are made.

We were very impressed by the fact that those who visit the city of Loppiano, even for an hour, and make the commitment to live mutual love are considered citizens of the little city.

In Rome, from July 31 to August 3, we joined a larger group, an international group of Focolare youth from Italy, Eastern Europe, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, the Middle East and beyond. We visited various churches and heard about the life of Cardinal Van Tuan, a true martyr of Christian hope.

In St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, we participated in a prayer vigil entitled “You are a rock”. (You are Peter)

In the Basilica of St. John Lateran we passed through the Holy Door, one of the “signs” of the Jubilee journey.

The journey ended with a pilgrimage with all the young people present in Rome for the Jubilee of the Youth. We walked to Tor Vergata to experience a special evening with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. It was a moment full of joy marked by life experiences, hymns, Q&A with the Pope and adoration of the Holy Eucharist. The pilgrimage ended on Sunday, August 3, 2025, with Holy Mass presided by Pope Leo XIV, in the presence of a million young people from all over the world.

Impression of one of the participants: Maria Nakhleh (from Galilee).

The prayer vigil at Tor Vergata, the hymns and silently prostrating myself in the presence of the living Son of God in the sacrament of the Eucharist, despite the large number of young people present, touched me deeply. My heart was filled with gratitude to all the young people who are part of the Church, my Mother.

I was happy not to come to the Jubilee alone, but to participate with other people who have become friends along the way, and here I quote the words of Pope Leo XIV, during the two days he spoke to us: “Friendship can truly change the world. Friendship is a path to peace (…) There we find happiness: when we learn to give ourselves, to give our lives for others. (…) Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Don’t settle for less. Then you will see the light of the Gospel grow every day, in you and around you.”

On this journey I learned that hope is the certainty that the Holy Spirit guides the Church and this revives hope in my heart.

By drawing closer to the mystery of the Father’s mercy, I become (I feel) a new creation.

And I realized that I can choose, despite the circumstances of my life with so many difficulties, darkness, uncertainty and pain… to continue to walk as Mary, the Mother of God, did, because our hope is alive: Jesus is risen. It was a journey full of many gifts and encounters.  Many assured us of their prayers for us and our country and offered their difficulties for us and for peace in our country. I was grateful for the opportunity to participate, near the stage, on the evening of prayers with Cardinal Zuppi, in the Vatican, and also grateful for the many people who opened their homes to us with so much love.

On Thursday, May 8^th, 350 people filled the Auditorium of the Terra Santa College to celebrate the conclusion of the first year of ‘togetherWEconnect,’ a project sponsored by the Focolare with the goal of forming young people capable of promoting a culture of fraternity, reconciliation and dialogue – a culture of encounter.

Each school shared some of the activities they had carried out and the impact of the experience they had lived since the beginning of the project. The main topics – self-knowledge and personal development, conflict management and intergenerational dialogue – were explored through moments of formation, activities, projects and games.

The international musical groups, Gen Verde and Gen Rosso, directed three days of workshops with more than 100 young people, underlining the same values that had characterized this first year, through music, dance and theatrical performances.

The final celebration was a mosaic of color, music and testimonials: proof that ‘together we really connect’. Together we can also be a sign of hope here and now, today.

Mariapolis: a small temporary ‘city’ where people of different ages, languages, and backgrounds try to practice together the only law of this city: Jesus’ new commandment, ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ The focus of everything is on being a ‘neighbour’ to the others, by listening well to them, serving in concrete ways, sharing joys, sorrows, and fears for the uncertain future of our planet…

A Mariapolis was held in Beit Jala from March 28-30, 2025, and included courageous talks on ‘hope’: not ‘I hope that things will change,’ but the hope that stems from the certainty of God’s Love and is expressed in loving every neighbour, working for justice and trying to build peaceful relationships everywhere.

In fact the main theme of those days was ‘Who are you for me?’ This idea of being close to others was the topic of the talks, the exchanges in six sharing groups, the common prayers among Christians from different Churches, the daily supplication to God for peace, the six workshops and even the festive final evening with many families, young people and children present, who also had programs of their own on this theme.

Some impressions:

“From the very first day, we felt like one family, even though we didn’t know each other. My impression was extremely positive.”

“We live in a world that promotes materialism and consumerism, teaching people to take instead of give. Here, we experience a culture of giving—a way of thinking and loving others.”

“Every moment that we experienced was filled with joy and the grace of being able to be together. The Mariapolis continues in our hearts and in our daily lives.”

Original video published in cmc-terrasanta.org

“We had only one reason for coming here, to be near to you, to be close to the community in this land.  We came with only one desire: to bring hope, to bring all the prayers and all the unity of all the members of the Focolare Movement throughout the world.”

This is how Margaret Karram, president of the Focolare Movement, in a brief video message, described the motive for her visit to the Focolare communities in the Holy Land in December 2024.

On several occasions, Patriarch Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, had encouraged her to made this trip, as he said: “to show the Christian community your closeness, your support.” This is particularly relevant because this year the theme that the whole Focolare family throughout the world is trying to live is “Proximity: being close to others.”

We publish here some news of this trip, recorded for Focolare communities around the world, which also includes some pictures of those days.

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