"I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!”(Lk 12:49)
Celebrating Families
By living City
Celebrating Families
By Nedo Pozzi
A whirlwind tour—without the jet lag
Family Fest 2005: Rome, Italy
Thousands of families paid tribute to John Paul II—the “pope of the family”—with this year’s Familyfest. Within 24 hours, 193 events took place around the globe, delivering on the festival’s original promise of “not in any one location, but all over the world.” Pope Wojtyla had, in fact, christened the first Familyfest ever, held 24 years ago.
On April 16, 2005, live television was the medium linking everyone as they watched the smiling flag bearer leading families onto the magnificent Campidoglio Square in Rome. The broadcast reached its peak with a heartfelt message from Focolare founder Chiara Lubich to all the world’s families.
The initial idea for the event had come from Chiara: in September 2002, she urged those around her to give “the greatest visibility” to the family that is based on values drawn from the Christian tradition—values so basic and fundamental for society, yet largely overlooked by present-day culture.
The Familyfest went global thanks to the Italian state television, RAI, and 50 other broadcasting networks and 52 satellite channels. Key ideas, expressed by well-known actors, poets and singers, were interwoven with life stories of families from different countries, cultures and religions. These stories offered credible models of family life in all its stages.
Scores of children participated in the program, communicating their openness to the future and sharing examples of their youthful and concrete efforts to build up the family.
The launch of new solidarity projects to help families in need in the Philippines and tsunami-stricken areas added depth and purpose to the program.
The two-way videoconferencing between six of the 193 simultaneous festivals added a captivating feature. This technologically united world showed the human family coming together as one.
Beyond its identity crisis and alarming data on the progressive disarray of this basic cell of society—not to mention its apparent absence on today’s political scene—the family does exist. It’s enough to see it, and to show it.
On April 16, 2005, live television was the medium linking everyone as they watched the smiling flag bearer leading families onto the magnificent Campidoglio Square in Rome. The broadcast reached its peak with a heartfelt message from Focolare founder Chiara Lubich to all the world’s families.
The initial idea for the event had come from Chiara: in September 2002, she urged those around her to give “the greatest visibility” to the family that is based on values drawn from the Christian tradition—values so basic and fundamental for society, yet largely overlooked by present-day culture.
The Familyfest went global thanks to the Italian state television, RAI, and 50 other broadcasting networks and 52 satellite channels. Key ideas, expressed by well-known actors, poets and singers, were interwoven with life stories of families from different countries, cultures and religions. These stories offered credible models of family life in all its stages.
Scores of children participated in the program, communicating their openness to the future and sharing examples of their youthful and concrete efforts to build up the family.
The launch of new solidarity projects to help families in need in the Philippines and tsunami-stricken areas added depth and purpose to the program.
The two-way videoconferencing between six of the 193 simultaneous festivals added a captivating feature. This technologically united world showed the human family coming together as one.
Beyond its identity crisis and alarming data on the progressive disarray of this basic cell of society—not to mention its apparent absence on today’s political scene—the family does exist. It’s enough to see it, and to show it.
Reality Television
To continually begin anew thanks to the support of other families—this was a common thread through many of the personal stories shared during the worldwide videoconference.
A couple from the Basque region of Spain demonstrated how it is possible to reunite after a profound family crisis. Annamaria and Danilo Zanzucchi’s fifty years of experience with the New Families Movement, was coupled with the enthusiasm of two newlyweds from Italy who shared how they spent their honeymoon helping people in need.
Two mothers, one Israeli the other Palestinian, united by concern for their own children, spoke of their efforts at building peace.
Pietro and Kitty Cocco’s testimony was one of the event’s most touching moments. She is terminally ill, and both partners shared their discovery, amid such a terrible trial, of the presence of God and how, together with their children, they had experienced thousands of moments of unending beauty and joy.
The Familyfest spirit even touched the guest artists who performed. “I see a dream come true: the unity of the human family,” said actor Ettore De Caro, visibly moved after reciting a prose work on the family written by Focolare co-founder Igino Giordani.
Grand Tour
The Familyfest stage had universal appeal, linking the continents live. There were countless messages, letters and e-mails that reaffirmed this inclusiveness.
Over 1,400 participants in Toronto followed the worldwide two-way connection on a giant screen. “It was a worthy tribute to John Paul II,” they said. Many appreciated the strong family values underlined by the program: “This Familyfest will have an impact on society.”
In North America, Familyfests were also held in Texas, California, Illinois and New York. In Hyde Park, NY, a warm spring day welcomed over 600 people to Mariapolis Luminosa. Among those present were Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists, and the event was translated into six languages. “A great celebration of life and of the family,” they wrote from San Jose, Calif. In Chicago the Familyfest drew participants from eight Midwest states.
“We followed it all well via satellite,” wrote the 500 Familyfest participants in Bamenda, Cameroon. “Thanks to you we lived an extraordinary experience of universal brotherhood.”
“Switching from a local to an international dimension,” wrote a group from Paris, “gave us a strong sense of universality.” A young woman added, “The testimonials convinced me that all things are possible if we see each other as brothers and sisters.”
“A marvelous event,” they wrote in from Jamaica. “We felt part of this great family.” One woman affirmed, “I have lost my parents and my husband, but here I found my family.”
People followed Familyfest via Internet from a wide variety of locations. In Jos, Nigeria, the owner of a cyber café provided his connection for people to watch Familyfest, and in Onitsha, also in Nigeria, patients and doctors followed Familyfest live through hospital TV sets.
In Washington, D.C., the Italian Embassy welcomed viewers, and from northern Finland a family of seven wrote in via e-mail: “We were deeply impressed at the thought that we were together with people from around the world talking about such an essential theme.”
In Noumea, New Caledonia, a group of families met together at midnight to watch Familyfest live. “It gave us hope to keep the flame of love lit, and to start again,” they later wrote. “Here it is 2 a.m.” they e-mailed from New Zealand. “Your stories touched our hearts deeply.”
—with Gianni Bianco and Annalisa Innocenti from Citta Nuova
»
© 2012 by the Focolare Movement (New York) •