Almost 60 years have passed since the beginning of the Focolare Movement in Asia. In this vast region, like the mustard seed in Jesus’ parable, the spirituality of unity has grown into a tree “where birds make their nests among its branches” (Lk 13:18). What is remarkable about the Focolare’s presence in Asia is its evangelizing mission through interreligious dialogue. Focolare foundress Chiara Lubich made several breakthroughs in this field through her contact and friendship with renowned Asian religious leaders like Nikkyo Niwano of the Japanese lay Buddhist movement Rissho Kosei-kai, the Grand Master Ajahn Thong and other top figures of Buddhist monasticism in Thailand, Dr. M. Aram, a Hindu, founder of Shanti Ashram, a community development organization founded on Gandhian principles in Coimbatore (India). Focolare members also had contact with Muslims in Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the southern Philippines. Since the early 1980s, the Movement’s School of Dialogue with Oriental Religions (SOR), located in Tagaytay (Philippines), has been offering various courses of formation for members to help them dialogue with the followers of the major religions in Asia.
The Focolare’s spirit of unity has reached countless people, especially through the efforts of its pioneers in the Asian continent such as Fr. Josef Taschner, an SVD priest, and the focolarinos and focolarinas sent by Chiara Lubich during the 1960s among which were Guido “Cengia” Mirti, Giovanna Vernuccio, Silvio Daneo, Marilen Holzhauser and many others.
Another dialogue that has been of vital importance since the start of the Movement in Asia is the dialogue with the poor which make up the majority of the peoples of Asia. Scattered throughout the continent are the Focolare’s various social projects in India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In different parts of our country, Bukas Palad and Pag-asa are the social projects that are serving and empowering thousands of disadvantaged families.
The Focolare spirit of dialogue has also started to penetrate contemporary culture: in the field of Economics through the Movement’s Economy of Communion in Freedom project; in Education through Education for Unity which explores pathways towards a “pedagogy of unity”; in Media and Communication through the NetOne network which has involved eminent national and international journalists. Especially in recent decades, the Movement’s spirituality has made inroads in other disciplines such as politics, education, law, psychology, social sciences, sports, health, and the arts.
Last but not the least is its impact on today’s youth. The young people of the Focolare are at the forefront of various initiatives that respond concretely to the needs of society.
Chiara Lubich’s charism of unity has made possible a 360-degree dialogue that includes people of different Christian churches and religions, and even those of the modern culture, fostering fraternity among the diverse peoples of Asia and the world in general. This dialogue based on life can offer much and contribute to building a new global culture that respects the culture of every people, realizing more and more the prayer of Jesus “that all may be one.”
Jose Aranas
