The 5-day immersion was enriched by lively interactions through sharing of experiences, taking meals together, a presentation of the life of Chiara Lubich by the youth inhabitants of the Centre de Rencontre, an interview with Dr. Shomali, lectures together and a symbolic planting of a tree to express this goal of universal fraternity and peace, and commitment to protect the earth. The visit of Dr. Shomali and his group indeed left an indelible mark on the inhabitants of this little town of the Focolare.

The co-directors of the Center expressed positive sentiments about the group’s visit. Markus Naef shared: “I felt deep gratitude throughout these days but especially now that we heard from you. I feel this gratitude for your courage, for the risk that you took. And I thought of Chiara, who wished that we become one family. That was her wish, and I think she is very happy about these meetings because the dream that was in her heart is slowly coming true. So I express my gratitude to you because you help us move forward, step by step together…”

Denise Roth also said: “In these days, I have often remembered your prayer with which we began these days. Before coming here, you had asked from God, the gift of humility so that we can disappear in God and God can appear in us. I have experienced this reality many times in these days… because I seemed to see an instrument of God in you, but also in each member of the group. It seemed to me that I could say, ‘Where there is so much wisdom, there is the presence of God.’”

Rebirth of the charism of unity

Last January 18, 2020, during the celebration of the birth centenary of Chiara Lubich, in Birmingham City in the United Kingdom, Dr. Shomali, talked about the rebirth of the charism of unity, so we asked him what he meant by this. He explained that, during that event, this idea came to his mind because of the very good atmosphere of unity: “I felt that if I want to describe what we are celebrating, I think it would not be right to say that we are celebrating something that had happened 100 years ago, and that it has been useful.

I think it is more than that. I think we are celebrating something that has started a new cycle of growth, a new stage of growth.” He said that this charism did not die with the demise of Chiara. “Not only has it continued, but with the things that have happened in the world, in the Movement and around, we can now be hopeful that we can takea further step toward unity, where this element of interreligious relations, this unity of humanity, will become a main focus for the next stage. So I am very hopeful that this charism will continue now with more courage, greater hope, and even more people who would appreciate it outside its traditional context.”

Measured risks

Struck by the courage of Dr. Shomali, and his openness to dialogue with other cultures and religions, we asked how he deals with people who have contrasting views or who even criticize him. Candidly, he said: “Thanks to God, so far I haven’t received severe criticisms all the time,” with a long laugh which infected the audience. He pointed out precisely, “I think there are different factors. One is that I am not a person who takes blind risks. I take measured risks. Also, my background and training are very conservative. But I think that has actually given me confidence, that when you strongly belong to your tradition and trust the ability of your theology to explain things, then you become more open.”

However, he added that his difficulty is with people who don’t have a strong foundation in their own traditions and who are harsh.

“There are people who are not very educated, who are not very experienced, yet they think they are very strong. They think that you are diluting, you are compromising. So with such people, you have to be careful.” He added, “ I also have to protect my work from unnecessary attacks so I don’t say to the problems “Come, here I am.” But I’m also not hiding myself from problems. So we have to be careful… just like we should with this virus (corona). We should not hide from this virus but we also have to protect ourselves. This is my strategy. But I always ask people to pray for me and I count very much on the prayers of people. Without prayers, I cannot continue…”

Opening one’s heart more

We asked Dr. Shomali for his impressions during his 5-day stay with us, and he said, “This is our third visit to your Center. Thanks to God, every time, it becomes better. I think it is partly because we know each other better, we trust each other more. But I think it is partly because we are growing in our unity. And I think if I open my heart more, and then the other party would also open up more. But I don’t expect them to open their heart more; I expect myself to do more. I think in relations, you should not wait for the other party. So if there is anything wrong in the relations, you should see why you have not been able to open up more. So every time I try to come here with a more open heart, and thanks to God, I am not disappointed, and especially this time, our Focolare brothers and sisters planned things in such a way that, very much from the beginning, they reflected our unity. And we have many more opportunities to interact with the whole community here.”

Hope in the youth

He thanked everyone present and expressed his admiration for people who dedicate themselves to God. Addressing the Focolare youths: “I am very amazed by all of you, especially the young people, because with the passage of time, giving this response to God becomes more difficult. But seeing tens of young people from different parts of the world, you have decided, either as Gen (Focolare youths) to try things out in the Focolare formation to prepare yourself (the focolarinos/as undergoing their formation), and I, as a small brother, appreciate very much and thank you for this and pray for your success, and having people like you give us more hope for a better future for humanity. So please know that what you do is very important, and not only your community, but all of us do appreciate it…

Not Goodbye but ‘See You Soon!’

In one of his remarks, he said, “So we are leaving here with sadness because it is difficult to say goodbye to family. But at the same time, we are leaving with joy, for we had a very good time here. And just as I said over one of our dinners, we have a way to overcome this sadness. Once, we had a retreat in Canada and on the last day, everyone was very sad because we don’t want to say goodbye. So I said, ‘Next time, we say goodbye at the beginning.’ So this is what we have to do next time.”

In a thank you message to Dr. Shomali’s and his group, Centre de Rencontre co-director Markus Naef added, “We already plan for the next time… so instead of saying goodbye, we want to say ‘See you soon!’ ”

Jose Aranas

Jose Aranas, New City Editor-in-Chief, presently resides at the Centre de Rencontre et de Formation in Montet (Fribourg), Switzerland, helping out in the school of formation for young focolarinos. He conducted this interview with Dr. Shomali last March 11, 2020.