Many challenges, one response

It’s the 14th September 2006 in Budapest and an invasion is underway. Men and women of all ages and social stations have descended on the city from every continent and 98 countries, to celebrate an anniversary: the launch by Chiara Lubich of the Volunteers for God – this was a ‘Volunteerfest’, a huge and spectacularly rich celebration of a branch of the Focolare Movement which has existed now for 50 years.

Jane Broderick reports from Budapest.

A party of 110 travelled to Budapest from the UK to participate in the three day event, joining more than10,000 others in the colossal Sports Arena. A welcome from the Papal Nuncio in Hungary was followed by the story of the birth of the ‘Volunteers of God’. Footage from 1956 was shown, when tired of Soviet Communist rule, the Hungarian people rebelled and installed their own government which was to last for just a few short days. The Hungarian Revolution, as it became known, was brutally crushed by tanks and soldiers despatched by Moscow. This act spelt the curtailment of religious as well as person freedom and provoked anguish throughout the free world. It prompted the Pope of the day, Pius XII, in a radio broadcast, to plead for a return of God to a society from which he was increasingly banished.

An army of volunteers

The Volunteerfest heard how Chiara Lubich and the developing Focolare Movement had responded with the idea of assembling a lay army, volunteers for God, working in every aspect of human life and bringing the divine light of Christ to all spheres of human endeavour. Extracts from speeches from the time and interviews with key figures illustrated the birth and maturation of the Volunteers, linking back to the genesis of the Focolare Movement at the time of the Second World War, in Trent.

This was excellently summarised in a message from Chiara in which she also explained that, if those living in a Focolare centre are like a ‘soul’, nurturing the ideal of unity, the Volunteers are the ‘body’, fully engaged with the world, in every aspect of life, yet committed to bringing the divine wherever they are. In her words, this was the hour of the laity, committed people in the midst of the world, wherever God has placed them and tasked with lighting a fire beneath each element of human reality.

The influence of Igino Giordani, co-founder of the Focolare Movement, a layman, politician and prolific writer and thinker was explored, together with his vision for a society transformed by those living for God, linked by the strongest bonds of fraternity, in every field of humanity.

Freedom and commitment

The first day’s programme went on to look at the life of the Volunteers today, on the themes of total commitment and freedom. There were powerful testimonies to the truth of the Gospel and the often heroic choices people had made. A couple from Lebanon, for example, had gone to the USA to develop their skills and expertise, but had made a positive choice to return to their country to work for unity between Christians and Muslims; a man from Brazil told how he was rebuilding his life after his wife had left him and their children; a young woman recounted how she said her ‘Yes’ to God and transformed those around her while suffering constant pain because of her adverse reaction to medication.

The interlinking of commitment to God and experiencing freedom were explored through the many experiences. There were graphic illustrations of how, the greater our commitment to God, the freer we become. The final message of the first day was that the Volunteers draw strength to live in this way through the presence of Jesus they experience when they meet together in their local groups or ‘nuclei’.

Just as striking as the spoken input were the many and various musical and artistic contributions throughout the three days. The Volunteerfest had its own multinational band, orchestra and dance troupe, providing intervals that were colourful and rousing, and which reflected a whole rainbow of moods as well as representing the artistic traditions of virtually the whole world.

New Humanity

The second day offered another powerful mixture of song, dance, video, presentations and personal experiences. The theme of the day was the New Humanity Movement, launched in 1983 at a congress in Rome, attended by 15,000 people, with the aim of renewing all aspects of society from within. New Humanity is made up of men and women from all spheres of life engaging in actions defined in different ‘worlds’: economy and work, health, justice, education and teaching, communication, social harmony and art and politics.

The day continued with numerous personal experiences, giving substance to the message that ‘where two or more are gathered together’ in Jesus’ name, he can bring about remarkable changes. One example was given by an orchestral leader in Argentina who, together with other Volunteer musicians, had offered free concerts during the dark days of economic collapse, thus giving encouragement and hope to those who found themselves drastically impoverished and working on the streets. Other experiences included input to education reforms in Hong Kong, by means of constructive dialogue, and sharing the Gospel principles through New Humanity’s NGO which is working with the UN.

Unity: Sign of our times

The final day, which was open to many others, including an additional 1,000 from around Hungary, focussed on the challenges of today’s world. An ex-Minister in the Hungarian Parliament spoke and there were short interventions from leaders in various fields, including Hungarian Church leaders who were appreciative of the objectives and commitment of the Volunteers and had given practical support to the event.

There followed a video, ‘Unity: Sign of our times’ which presented an ideal which does not crumble – God, as love – and outlined the growth of the Focolare Movement’s links with all Christian denominations and the other major religions in a ‘dialogue of life’.

In the absence of Chiara Lubich, one of her first companions, Valeria Ronchetti, delivered the keynote speech prepared by her. She spoke of the darkness of our times – a ‘collective and cultural night’, especially in the West, where ‘Christian values are losing their hold on society’. However, ‘the Spirit’, she said, was ‘generous, forcefully penetrating the human family with many charisms which then gave birth to movements, spiritual currents, new communities and works’.

She quoted how saints of the past and many modern theologians had proposed that the star to follow was Jesus, crucified and forsaken. Chiara, referring to a writing of John Paul II, said, ‘We shall never exhaust the depths of this mystery: Jesus who had taken upon himself the separation which kept human beings far from the Father – and far from each other – and bridge that separation.’ She continued, ‘Isn’t every painful division among individuals, among Churches, among sections of humanity with contrasting ideologies, the very image of him?’

It was through embracing him in every suffering person and painful situation that ‘we find the reason and strength not to flee from these evils and divisions.’ The rest of the programme for the day vividly illustrated how this had been translated into life, introduced by Vera Araujo, a sociologist and professor at the Sophia Institute of the Focolare Movement.

Fields of action

Vera introduced four areas where people have been collaborating for many years and of the new movements which have grown out of the spirituality of unity: in the field of law, the group Communion and Law, followed by economics, the Economy of Communion; communication sciences, NETONE and finally politics, the Movement for Unity in Politics. The origins and work of these four groups were then presented through experiences, all linked by a golden thread. In Vera Araujo’s words: ‘This thread is the awareness that the paradigm of brotherhood, precisely because it is the effect and fruit of the unfathomable suffering of Christ, when lived out in social, economic, cultural and political life, is the bearer of surprising outcomes and possibilities.’

A special appeal was also launched called ‘Fraternity with Africa’. This is an initiative to provide scholarships for adults and young Africans who do not themselves have the means to undertake university or professional courses. Details of how to participate can be found at: http://www.azionemondounito.org There can be no doubt that the activities of these movements and the experiences shared revealed truly surprising outcomes and possibilities that few present had ever imagined.

Do not be afraid

A final message taken away by all was the encouragement to go ahead, in a seemingly dark world but which is enlightened by God’s love, without fear, with all the imagination we have so that Jesus present among us can bring about the new Heaven and New Earth that he promised.

Everything over the three day period had supported that message - from the faultless practical arrangements, put in train from as long ago as eighteen months by more than 1,000 Hungarian volunteers and friends, to the inspired choreography, musical presentations and international art exhibition on the theme of universal fraternity. No fear in tackling such a huge undertaking was in evidence but imagination and love on a worldwide scale that no-one present – in person or through the satellite link – will ever forget.