Letters - 2022

(Photo: Jordan McQueen/Unsplash)

The affection that my existence gives me

Letters

His great desire for a family, then marriage and two daughters. Until the drama of illness and death. "If the Lord had described this sequence of events to me, I would have rejected Him, missing out on the best.” Here is Attilio's testimony.

The gesture for peace in Times Square (Photo: Giuly Riboldi)

The prophecy of peace in Times Square

Letters

70 people gathered in Manhattan's famous square to respond to Pope Francis' invitation. Christmas carols and readings of excerpts by the Pope and Fr. Giussani amid the Saturday afternoon crowds. CBS News also covered the event.

Bethlehem (Photo: Unsplash/Jorge Fernández Salas)

Supreme affection

Letters

The nostalgia for distant relationships and her decision to follow online. From Bethlehem, Caterina recounts her experience of the Audience with Pope Francis. From the November issue of Tracce.

Photo: Unsplash/Piron Guillaume

An indelible point

Letters

The Audience on October 15 and a risky operation upon returning to the hospital. A surgeon recounts his new gaze on himself, his patient and colleagues after Rome.

The Kireka slum in Kampala (Photo: Paolo Perego)

Uganda: "Here I can pour out my heart”

Letters

Following her mother’s murder when she was just 11, Debora was left alone with her little brother. Today she speaks of an encounter that changed her life, "that day, in the school’s kitchen."

(Photo: Giovanni Dinatolo)

"Can there be a greater gift?"

Letters

Tommaso left the church at the age of 16. Then his encounter with Fr. Giussani's charism completely overturned his idea "of the Jesus I thought I knew." His emotion and gratitude for the Audience with Pope Francis.

The Shrine of Nobol (Guayaquil) in Ecuador

Asking for an entire people

Letters

A pilgrimage to the Nobol Shrine and then the live broadcast watched together via Zoom at 3 a.m. This is how the community in Ecuador experienced the Audience with Pope Francis.

Chicchi and Guly in St. Peter's Square (Photo: Leonora Giovanazzi)

"That 'more' that the Pope asks of us"

Letters

Guly and Chicchi got married in 2008. Shortly afterwards she was diagnosed with ALS. But in recent years "everything was and is possible through the grace of a people,” like the meeting in St. Peter's Square with Pope Francis.

Pope Francis at the Audience with CL (Photo: Giovanni Dinatolo)

The most beautiful gift in my life

Letters

Antonio, from Rome, grew up in religious circles, but "I thought I was on a path of my own." Then he met someone who invited him to the Pope's Audience with CL.

Fr. Giussani at a Student Week in 1964

"What happened to me keeps happening again"

Letters

Her first encounter with GS happened sixty years ago in Rimini. The surprise of the beginning, her friendship with Fr. Giancarlo Ugolini and Fr. Giussani’s fiery response. Emilia tells her story.

(Photo: Alez Perz/Unspash)

Florida: "A companionship that constitutes me"

Letters

Alberto has been visiting a convicted prisoner in Florida for several years. It is a story that dates back to a few years ago and that has changed his life. "The movement is not a ‘container’ where I go and take the things I know how to do…”

Astana (©Ansa/Igor Kovalenko)

Kazakhstan: "But who are you?"

Letters

A work trip to Astana and Almaty, meeting the CL community there. And the surprise of Bettina’s colleagues at her way of being and her friendships.

The Meeting via radio in Argentina

Argentina: "Our meeting on the radio"

Letters

The six-day Rimini Meeting was also experienced more than 11,000 kilometers away. For one reason: "I want to understand why they are so happy." Here is the story of a young woman from Buenos Aires...

The lighthouse on the island of Texel, The Netherlands (©Unsplash/Marieke Koenders)

"Here and now, on the beach in Texel”

Letters

Hikes, bicycle rides, dialogues and meetings. "A continuous crescendo of gratitude." An account of the summer vacation of the Dutch community, where "time was not even wasted at breakfast.”

The hike during the vacation in the mountains of Almaty

An open window to happiness

Letters

From different cities in Kazakhstan and Italy to the mountains of Almaty. To spend four days together. And learn to recognize Christ present, "who is mysteriously incarnated before our eyes."

The excursion to Lake Kaunas

"More at home than among our families"

Letters

The Lithuanian CL community's three-day vacation. In a time of fatigue for all, an experience of unity, charity and gladness, and the surprise of being "loved and loving before the Presence that brought us together."

Towards the Sanctuary of the Holy House (Photo: Beatrice Picotti)

Living that "stable fullness"

Letters

Sara participated in the pilgrimage to Loreto for high school graduates, university undergraduates and graduates. An opportunity to rediscover that "it is not a matter of where I go, what I choose or what job I will do, but Whose I am."