Ten new saints were canonized in Rome on Sunday. "Our fellow travellers canonized today discovered an incomparable joy and they became brilliant reflections of the Lord of history." Pope Francis' homily.
His life was marked by the movement from emptiness to presence. His work on Tuareg language and poetry was permeated by wonder. What did the soon-to-be-canonized French missionary find in the "desert”?
Fall 1911. Charles de Foucauld writes slowly by lamplight. The nights in the Sahara are cold and, were it not for his hand moving across the paper, the man might look like a ghost, wrapped up under a pile of blankets. The refuge of Assekr, where Foucauld ...
In some cities across the country, the year began with street protests, explosions and casualties. Now the conflict in Ukraine has also come close. From the May issue of Tracce, Lyubov, head of a Center for the Disabled in Karaganda, speaks of her hope.
"When I listened to Putin's speech, one word resounded within me: 'Impossible! It cannot be...." But I realized that all of this is possible because war often passes through our own loves, through mine. It starts there." Lyubov Khon, 64 years-old, is one ...
A problematic pregnancy, and other difficulties that “make everything gray.” Then she received an invitation to meet the women of the Meeting Point. Francesca speaks of "the greatest novelty that happens in me by simply looking at them."
I live in Uganda and my husband and I are expecting a baby girl but, due to health issues, we do not know if the pregnancy is progressing well. Other problems have also come up recently that are not serious but that weigh down the day and make everything ...
CL communities around the world gathered on Good Friday to walk the Way of the Cross. Here are some of the many letters received from the U.S.
This year was my second Way of the Cross with the CL community here in Atlanta. One thing that struck me, in particular, was how beautiful a day it was. It was sunny and 75 with a slight breeze. Students were throwing a frisbee and playing spike ball on T...
Antonio, a detainee, is serving an alternative sentence in a facility near Rimini. He recounts how meeting new friends broke down the walls that "I had built around myself since I was a child."
Antonio is a detainee who is serving an alternative sentence at Casa Betania, near Rimini, a shelter belonging to the Pope John XXIII Community, part of the Cec (Comunità Educante con Carcerati) program, born in Italy a few years ago on the model of the B...
War, the home and the self. This is a good time to re-read "Life and Fate" by Vasilij Grossman, who spent his youth in Berdyčiv, a Ukrainian city then part of the Russian Empire. Translated from the April issue of Tracce.
I too am a character of Vasilij Grossman. I discovered him many years ago when I was home from school with a fever. I remember reading Life and Fate in succession, only stopping to eat and sleep. At a certain point, as was inevitable, I was totally immers...
Rossella experiences a newness in opening her home to friends, and thanks to this experience is learning that "how I can discover my own heart and that my life is important for what happens in the world."
One day Sara Katherine sends me a text: “Fr. Stefano wants to come to visit with 4 CL University friends, can they stay at your house?” My husband and I said yes, and a few weeks later they came. Sara Katherine was the only CLU (CL University) student in ...
A new book brings together Pope Francis’ thoughts on peace, weapons and conflict in the world. We have translated an excerpt from his introduction.
A year ago, on my pilgrimage to tormented Iraq, I was able to touch the disaster cause by war, fratricidal violence and terrorism with my own hands; I saw the rubble of homes and the wounds of hearts, but also seeds of hope for rebirth. Never would I have...
Although the scenario is different, we re-propose the words of Fr. Giussani on the war in Iraq (Corriere della sera, April 8, 2003), as a contribution to the judgment on the current situation in Ukraine.
Dear Editor,
In the bursting of bombs and the burning of cities, what brings back the truth of things to my eyes is the thought of Jesus’ death. I am not able to explain it to myself except by saying this: following Christ who goes to His death on the ...
The statement released by the movement regarding the conflict. "We are with all those who are working to stop the horror of this war. But how fragile is the desire for peace if it does not become a task, a daily responsibility."
