The beatification of Pope John Paul II is by now imminent and together with the whole Church we feel enveloped by an immense joy and profound gratitude. Joy and gratitude for the gift She is giving to us in recognizing the holiness of this great Pope, expressed in his well-spent and consumed life, up to the last moment, for God and for us human beings.

The extraordinary richness of his teachings continues to amaze, as well as his witness of love which has aroused gratitude worldwide both in Christians and faithful of other religions, and in people with no religious faith.

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See also: Living City article

Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti offer the lively young Dominicans of the Focolare Movement “something more”. They invite them to “do great things” and to “share with everyone the joy of living “with Jesus” and “for Jesus.”

It was a special Saturday for the large Focolare family in the Dominican Republic. Seven-hundred people met in the Church’s Casa San Paolo, a small country with a dozen provinces, two-hundred by three-hundred kilometers, but rich in local beauty and “campanalism” with both its positive and negative implications.

Chiara Lubich’s spirituality and her Trinitarian theology were discussed by Maria Voce and other scholars gathered for World Catholicism Week, held at DePaul University.

“I will show you the way of wisdom” is DePaul University’s motto and it shows up here and there on its campus. The university was founded at the end of the 19^th century by the Congregation of the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul, with the goal of providing proper education to the children of Catholic immigrants to Chicago. Today it has 25 thousand students and it has been ranked among the “top tier” universities in the United States.

“Fear has gone. Now we must continue on this path.” These are the words Maria Voce addressed to the 200 faithful of various religions gathered in the Kehilath Anshe Maarav Temple on April 10.

The Kehilath Anshe Maarav (KAM) synagogue of Chicago, built in 1847, was the ideal place for the gathering of 200 faithful of different religions. Located in Hyde Park on 50^th Avenue, it was the first synagogue ever built in the Midwest. Its very architecture seems inspired by a desire for dialogue. Lutherans, Armenians, Presbyterians, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians were present to the meeting.

The Chicago leg of Maria Voce’s US tour, April 9: A visit to Mariapolis Centre in the Hyde Park neighborhood and a meeting with about 300 young people. The youth who organised the event dedicated it to sainthood: a possible goal even in today’s society.

When you arrive in Chicago from the East Coast you immediately realise that you’re in another world.

The city runs along Lake Michigan for 50 km. Despite our night-time arrival at Midway Airport, the urban skyline of modern, lit-up skyscrapers was truly striking.

On 7 April, Maria Voce launched a challenge at the conclusion of her meeting with the Focolare Community in Washington DC: unity in diversity.

“Americans always see a new frontier to be crossed. This is how they reached the moon. Wouldn’t you like to reach unity?” Maria Voce said wrapping up her informal address at a meeting with Washington’s Focolare Community on the evening of 7^th April.

300 local members of the Movement had come to spend two days together in the nation’s capital. Their meeting held at the Catholic University of America was enriched by an encounter with the country’s history.

Marigen and Antonio, Focolare delegates in New York, with Dr William Vendley, Secretary General of WCRP

On April 3 leaders from the world’s main faiths met together at the UN’s Church Centre, to celebrate 50 years of the Focolare movement in the USA.

At the UN Church Center, where religions meet together, leaders from the world’s main faiths met on April 3rd to celebrate to 50 years of work of the Focolare Movement in the United States. The meeting was set up by “Religions for Peace”, and was hosted by its secretary general, William Vendley.