EUROPE/ITALY - Loppiano, first Focolari Little Town is forty years old: a thousand people from 70 countries live a utopia of peace come true

Wednesday, 27 October 2004

Rome (Fides Service) - The Little Town of Loppiano, the first of 33 Focolari Centres, is marking its 40th anniversary. Situated on the hills of Tuscany not far from Florence it has schools, industries and craft centres and a population of about 1,000 people from 70 different countries, from Russia to Portugal, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Burundi, Congo, South Africa, United States, Mexico, Japan, China, Korea, Philippines and Australia and New Zealand, students, teachers, craftsmen, farmers, artists, families religious and priests, other Christians and non Christians form a new society based on the Gospel law of love. More than 40,000 visitors go to Loppiano every year and with the residents they help compose the unity on which the Little Town is based.
On the occasion of the anniversary the centre’s church dedicated to the Mother of God will be consecrated and opened on Saturday 30 October. The Mass will be presided by Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, Archbishop of Florence. “We felt the church in stone should come after we had built the community of living stones”, Chiara Lubich said when the foundation stone was laid on 15 may 2003. It is no surprise then that the church comes when there are already houses, schools and work places: “it comes last to seal the Town, to be the summit, the symbol of the people who live here”. On the first floor there is an Ecumenical Chapel. Here Mary is honoured not only by Christians. A picture of Virgin and Child painted by a Hindu artist and embellished with precious stones and gold was brought here from India. A Buddhist monk from Thailand, Pra Maha Thongrattana, who was in Loppiano in 1992 after fruitful dialogue between Thai Buddhist monks and members of the Focolari movement, will be present for the opening of the church.
Work on the industrial pole also started to mark the 40th anniversary. Poles are operating or starting in Brazil, Argentina, USA, Portugal, France and Belgium, as part of an economy of communion, which inspires the management of 270 industries in Italy and a total of 800 in the world.
The Focolari Movement promotes spiritual and social renewal. It was founded by Chiara Lubich in Trent, in 1943, based on the spirituality of unity rooted in the Gospel. It spread to 182 countries and has more than two million members and friends of different age, race, creed, vocation and culture all involved in a project to heal division, trauma and conflict at various levels of society and help recompose the human family in unity and brotherhood. Four privileged paths of dialogue: within the Church Chiesa, among Churches, religions and people of goodwill. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 27/10/2004 - Righe 35; Parole 496)


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