Marian congress in Rome

Last Sunday you carried an article about a Marian congress being organised by the Focolare Movement on June 14 and 15 at St Agatha's, Rabat. I had the opportunity to attend the Marian congress organised by the Focolare Movement at Castelgandolfo in Rome from April 28 to 30. It was a memorable experience.

"I don't agree with suicide bombers."

"And I don't agree with the bombings over your cities"

This conversation, between a young Palestinian girl and an Israeli soldier, took place at a checkpoint in an occupied Palestinian territory.

Comments like these are the opposite of what we are used to hear elsewhere, but they reflect the type of experiences shared on stage at the Mariapolis Centre in Castelgandolfo, where the International Marian Congress was held to promote the Year of the Rosary designated by Pope John Paul II.

His intention was to relaunch this Marian prayer, which he defined as a "compendium of the Gospel", to encourage today's men and women to search for peace and a new dimension of the Spirit, to "contemplate Christ with the eyes of Mary" and to be, like him, "builders of peace and of a world more in accordance with the plan of God."

The experiences shared during the congress demonstrate the power of the Gospel, which is able to crush hatred through love for one's enemies. It is a way we are obliged to undertake "following September 11, which placed us at a crossroad. It's up to us to follow the right road", as Mgr Piero Coda said in his talk.

Dieudonné from Burundi shared his experience: 12 members of his family were massacred during the bombing of his city, but this did not make him change his way of life. He decided to put into practice the art of evangelical love even in his encounters with the military who were very often quite merciless. He recounted, for example, how he saved the life of a drunken soldier who was about to fall off a bridge. This was no easy task as the soldier was from a rival tribe - the same tribe that had massacred his family!

This is just a glimpse of the many testimonies inserted in the sections of the programme dedicated to the five "Mysteries of Light" which, together with theological reflections, penetrated in depth the various stages of the life of Jesus and Mary.

The culminating moment of the congress was the talk given by Chiara Lubich who communicated the gifts of light from the origins of the Focolare Movement, which is recognised by the Church as the "Work of Mary". At one point Chiara was close to dying and recounts that "I regretted never again being able to say the 'Hail Mary'." Later on she understood that this 'Hail Mary' had to be made up of living words, of people who, almost like other little Marys, would give love to the world.

Chiara spoke of her discovery of the new countenance of Mary who is of "an incomparable beauty. She is all Word of God, all clothed in the Word of God". She also spoke of "the call of every Christian to repeat, like Mary, Christ, the Truth, the Word, expressed in the personality that God has given to each one". This is a vision "rich in consequences, for example, in the ecumenical field". On April 30 there were testimonies shared by members of the Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Reformed Church, the Romanian Orthodox Church and Coptic Orthodox Church.

Besides the 1,500 participants in the hall from 70 countries, the proceedings were also followed by thousands of viewers through 11 satellite linkups generously donated by ESA, Telepace, EWTN and the CRC (Canada) which made it possible for local and national television channels to transmit the event live.

Another novelty which permeated the whole conference was the ample space given to artistic items: songs, music, dances from various cultures and literary works (Dante, Sartre), because, as the words of Chiara Lubich's meditation sung by Gen Verde say, "of Mary we cannot speak, but sing. Love flourishes in poetry."

The Focolare Movement in Malta is organising a similar Marian congress on June 14-15 at St Agatha's Auditorium, Rabat.

Further information can be obtained from the Focolare Centres on 2138-5801, e-mail: focolaremt@waldonet.net.mt or 2148-6112, e-mail: vitanuova@waldonet.net.mt