Stories - 2021

Stavropol , Caucasus (Photo: Serghey Ryumin/Getty Images)

The struggle for happiness

WorldAnna Kim

"God carried me in his arms like a whiny, unreasonable, and indifferent child. He gave me priceless riches and friends who have been guides on the path to Him.” The story of a woman from Kazakhstan living in North Caucasus. From November Tracce.

Pepe Rodelgo with the St. Brendan High School football team

From Miami to Madrid: A game that is always open

US, UK and MoreAnna Leonardi

A military career, the death of his brother, the desire to give his life for a great ideal. Pepe Rodelgo, a Memor Domini, speaks of how he discovered that 'irreducible point' of himself that keeps him alive today.

(Photo © Archivio Meeting)

Immersed in the world

EncountersPaola Bergamini

"Living Without Fear in the Age of Uncertainty". The exhibit from the Meeting on secularization was born from the story of a friendship, that looks at the world without censoring anything. From October Traces.

(Photo: Archivio Meeting)

Who am I?

Encounters

“Rose’s women” from Kampala, Uganda, were the protagonists at one of the most visited exhibits at the Meeting in Rimini, entitled You Are Worthy. Here is what they experienced in their days at Rimini. From October Traces.

Juan José Gómez Cadenas (Photo: ©Roberto Masi)

The miracle of existing

EncountersPaolo Perego

“Every city should be like this place.” Juan José Gómez Cadenas, a Spanish physicist, spoke at the Meeting of Rimini about himself and his questions. “Why are we here? What is all this that is never enough for me?” From October Traces.

A single gaze of gratuitousness

WorldMichela Young

The unexpected adventure of “The Tree of Tales” exhibition at the Rimini Meeting as described by those involved. This is what happened during the days of our exhibition, and what is still happening now…

Stefano Luca

The friar actor and the Isis children

EncountersAlberto Perrucchini

Acting school, the Franciscan vocation, the study of Islam and the theatre with child soldiers. Brother Stefano Luca recounts how he was led to encounter the stories of the children of foreign fighters.

Timoty Radcliffe (© Catholic Press Photo)

Radcliffe: Nothing human is alien to us

EncountersGiuseppe Pezzini

Do Christians need the world or must they defend themselves against secularisation? The Oxford Dominican proposes a surprising method: the imagination. This is what allows us to touch the person where they are most alive (from September Tracce).

The crack and the light

Encounters

Edith Bruck, Jesús Carrasco and Elisa Fuksas. Re-watch the three interviews produced by Traces for the 2021 Rimini Meeting.

Seoul (Photo: Unsplash/Sunyu Kim)

Korea: A friendship that is necessary to live

WorldDavide Perillo

Maria is from Seoul. Ana is Spanish, living in Korea for work. They met a few months ago, but their relationship goes a long way back. And today it flourishes amid meetings, chats, cooking classes and School of Community.

Here and below are some images from the documentary "Unguarded" (© Indee.tv-Camino NYC)

United States: Apac, unimaginable but possible

US, UK and MoreDavide Perillo

The presentation of a documentary on the method of detention “without guards" established in Brazil in the 1970s. The premiere in a Louisiana prison has opened a tour throughout America. This is how the idea arose and what it is generating.

The Benedictine monks of the Cascinazza in prayer (© Monastero Cascinazza)

Cascinazza: fifty years like the first day

WorldFather Sergio Massalongo

On June 29 1971, the Benedictine monastery on the outskirts of Milan was born. The prior describes the purpose and experience of this place. A story whose "origin is now".

Marcel Uwineza

Rwanda: inexplicable freedom

EncountersLuca Fiore

At 14, he lost his parents and siblings in the genocide. Fr. Marcel Uwineza found himself face to face with the man who killed them, who asked to be forgiven. "I stopped being a prisoner.” From the June issue of Tracce.

Margaret Karram © CSC Audiovisivi

Unconditional love

EncountersAlessandra Stoppa

It is not forgetfulness but “looking reality in the face”. Even pain for her homeland. A dialogue on forgiveness with Margaret Karram, of Palestinian origin and the new president of the Focolare Movement. From the June issue of Tracce.

Fraternity Exercises in Kampala

Belonging to a people

WorldDavide Perillo

Rose Busingye speaks of the impact of the Fraternity Exercises. “You felt like jumping on the chair and shouting to everyone that life has meaning. And you are no longer afraid." From the June issue of Tracce.

In a house in Gaza (© Mahmoud Issa/SIPA-USA/Mondadori Portfolio)

Holy Land: forgiveness on the other side of the wall

WorldAndrea Avveduto

Abu Omar, a Palestinian, had been able to forgive his brother’s murderers thanks to his classmates. Daniel, a former solider, describes an impossible coexistence. And Fr. Gabriel, a parish priest in Gaza… This is how peace can be reborn.

The Mina family

Grace in my house

WorldAnna Leonardi

The Mina family has flourished thanks to the presence of a daughter with a disability. Her gentleness has edified the family without her saying a word. “She was our permanent pass to get directly to what is essential." From May Traces.

Photo: Unsplash/Jorel Zapata

Brazil: among the stars and lasagna

WorldFilippo Matteo Cavaleri

Seven years of marriage, including the last year amid the difficulties of Covid. But it has also been an opportunity to discover what keeps you on your feet. Filippo recounts the story of his family.

Novella Scardovi

Novella. Life reborn in an encounter

WorldGiovanni Bucchi

A housewife, wife and mother, who allowed herself to be "welcomed" and thus welcomed and transformed the lives of others. 25 years after the death of Novella Scardovi, a celebration with the Bishop of Imola "to encounter the certainty that sustained her".

Lulù during an online workshop

Mexico: Among Lulù's books

WorldDavide Perillo

A retired teacher, with her illness and difficulties. Yet during the pandemic she has continued her reading workshop for children online, which started a few years ago and has distant roots made up of encounters, like that with Fr. Giussani…