If you look closely, you can see little round frames that Jane painted carrying the pictures of people who visit their home. How nice is that.
I also love that shiny wreath to the side of the door on the vintage metal stand. I wonder if they made this...
This is a super cute ice skate wreath that Jane made from a frame and a skate that she and Leo found at a flea market. See the painting that Jane did on the skate? That makes it extra charming. She also added some cute snowflakes to it.
This sweet snowman tree sits on a table on Jane and Leo's porch. I have not seen a snowman tree this like before - he would bring a big smile to everyone who visits their home.
Speaking of smiles, last autumn they also shared their autumn scarecrow porch with us, too. It's super cute.
About Cottage at the CrossroadsPlease stop by Jane and Leo's blog, Cottage at the Crossroads, to see more of their Christmas porches. Jane and Leo are a husband and wife team who blog about their 100+ year old home and their journey in downsizing and enjoying their homestead.
Simple and Natural Christmas Porch ~ On Sutton PlaceNow for another treat: Ann's Christmas porch. Ann is the author of On Sutton Place, which Ann describes as classic - vintage- farmhouse. Her DIY tutorials are beautiful. I love the clean yet rich look of everything that she creates.
A while back we also featured her bittersweet autumn wreath. She is an amazing wreath designer so please take a look!
Ann decorated her porch this year with a fresh greenery garland and a gorgeous natural wreath on her front door. What a pretty burlap bow, too. Ann's front door is flanked by her signature ivy topiaries.
Ann creates these lighted topiaries on her porch every year and we love them. They are made from fresh ivy that actually lasts into December (even in northern Ohio where Ann lives). They look so fresh and sparkly.
Ann's Christmas porch is decorated simply with muted green tones and natural elements like the large pine cone and the fresh green plant in the galvanized bucket.
Do you see that pillow made from a shirt? Ann made that and it's a charmer for sure.


About On Sutton PlacePlease stop by Ann's blog, On Sutton Place, to see more of her Christmas porch and her wonderful tutorials on cooking, sewing and crafty projects.
If you are looking for wreath ideas, tutorials, and outside Christmas decor ideas, Ann's blog is an excellent resource.
Whimsical Christmas Porch ~ Debbie Doo'sWelcome to Debbie's Christmas porch! Debbie is the author of Debbie Doo's, a DIY and decorating blog that is light-hearted and fun.
Debbie's delightful front porch is all set for Christmas. She used what she had from prior years and just changes it up from year to year.
Debbie's decor is a mix of her own craftiness and dollar store treasures. Do you see the decals on the side windows?
In the corner of Debbie's porch is this adorable sled and a figure skate - courtesy of her Mom.
Next to the red lantern, there is a cute little reindeer that is made of bark from a palm tree. Debbie's porch is full of treasures here and there.
We know that Debbie enjoys porch decorating throughout the seasons. She shared her fall porch vignette and we had the opportunity to hear her thoughts on the fun of decorating a porch.
About Debbie Doo'sPlease stop by Debbie's blog, Debbie Doo's, to see lots more pictures of her festive outside Christmas decor.
Debbie's blog is a haven of decorating ideas to make your home the coziest ever.
Send us pictures of your outside Christmas decor or other craftiness for the holidays so we can share them here.
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OCTOBER 2020 – HAY FESTIVAL (CROATIA)
In October 2020, Monika Zgustova will participate at the Hay Festival in the Croatian town of Rijeka, after being part of it in September 2019 in Segovia.
SEPTEMBER 2020 – “DRESSED FOR A DANCE IN THE SNOW” BOOK LAUNCH
In September 2020, the prestigious Czech press Argo will publish "Dressed for a Dance in the Snow". The book will be launched at the Václav Havel Library, in Prague, Sept 23.
FEBRUARY 2020 – “DRESSED FOR A DANCE IN THE SNOW” BOOK LAUNCH
In February 2020, "Dressed for a Dance in the Snow" was published by Other Press, a well-known New York publishing house. The author launched her book in Washington DC and at Princeton Public Library. Due to Covid-19 she had to interrupt her book tour which she will hopefully complete in fall of 2021, after being a resident at Omi-Ledig House program for writers in the Hudson Valley, NY State.


A fast payday loan till payday is basically a brief term loan that you can use to hide expenses or an emergency before you get paid. This is a loan you want to take out when you need money and not simply when you want money. You have to make be certain to are getting a loan that will advantage you and you have to make sure it really is dealt with properly.
If you are totally overwhelmed with how to consolidate payday loans into one, attempt taking out a consolidation loan from the bank or credit partnership. This will allow you to pay off your own how to consolidate payday loans as one, and make reasonable monthly obligations. This requires good credit, guarantee or a credit-worthy cosigner.
Most important — perform they have an SSL certification on the application page? This means that data is being transmitted safely. Secure pages have websites that begin with “https:” rather than “https:” and in addition, you’ll see the lock symbol displayed within your browser. If a lender is definitely a non-secure page to gather information about you, find one more lender!
The particular best way to pay off payday loans way to pay off payday loans are proved to be quite assisting since you can never forecast when a situation can occur and push you into fiscal crises. You will find out there that by contacting in order to good loaners you can resolve your troubles and get cash instantly within minutes. These types of cash advance can save you from the clumsiness and hassle of heading again and again in banks plus filling out the verifications assessments. If you are having some items to take care about with payout checks then borrowing from the friend or bank is just not the last option only. Have the money you require from short-term lenders.
The truth is that once people combine their debt with a mortgage it leaves available credit score on the credit cards that were simply paid off. Within a short period of your time, many individuals begin to charge once again. They are then left using consolidate loans into one payment and more credit card debt. This particular just leads to more serious financial debt problems.
Meeting the particular demands of more than one loan companies, paying the installments upon various dates, receiving bothering phone calls – all could make your life miserable. You may also neglect to keep track of your money due to producing repayments to various creditors. Limping with all such burdens on the shoulder, you may not be able to deal with your personal finance successfully.


Ultimately, you may end up in bankruptcy.
Looking for consolidation companies is easy. They may be always advertising on the tv or on the news. You might also look into the yellow pages on your phone guide. If you still cannot discover any, try consulting various other loan companies. They are definitely touching consolidation companies and could very easily point you in the correct direction.


Prospective randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of needle acupuncture (with or without electrical stimulation) as a treatment for spinal cord injury (with or without operation) were eligible for inclusion. Trials comparing needle acupuncture with drugs or rehabilitation were also eligible for inclusion. Trials comparing two or more types of acupuncture, or including laser or injection acupuncture were excluded. Dissertations and abstracts were included if they provided sufficient detail.
The included trials considered the effects of electroacupuncture for the functional recovery of spinal cord injury, acute spinal cord injury, traumatic spinal cord injury and unspecified spinal cord injury. The comparators included physical therapy, drugs for urinary retention, and rehabilitation. Most studies compared electroacupuncture plus control treatment with control treatment alone.
The outcomes reported included functional independence measure, other functional measures, and total efficacy rate of bladder dysfunction.
Two authors independently performed study selection; disagreements were resolved through discussion and consultation with a third reviewer as necessary.


Marketing and Professional Sales
Evaluates MapWise version 2.03, a perceptual mapping software for correspondence analysis. Alternative offering for marketing researchers; Proprietary enhancements; Pick-any algorithm for correspondence analysis; Hardware and software capability; Vendor support; Cost considerations; Recommended program modifications.
Pelton, Lou E., R. K. Tudor, and Essam Mahmoud. "Software Review." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 19.4 (1991): 383. Print.


The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has downgraded projected water shortage for Rabi crops 2013-14 from 15 percent to 7 percent during the months of February and March as water availability in the dams and the rivers has improved considerably.
Punjab Canal Regulator and Consultant, M.H.Siddiqui, told Business Recorder here on Friday that in addition to the running water in the four live rivers of the country, 4.6 million acre ft water was still available in Tarbela and Mangla dams and Chashma reservoir for growing and maturing crops including wheat, grams, lentils, oilseeds, vegetables, fodder and orchards etc in February and March.
2.434 MAF water is available in Tarbela dam on river Indus, 2.094 MAF in Mangla dam on river Jhelum and 0.079 MAF in Chashma barrage, he added. Siddiqui said Punjab Irrigation department has been running canals in central Punjab by drawing 20,000 cusecs water from the Mangla dam and 7,300 cusecs run of the river Chenab water, yet it will open canals emanating from river Indus on 5th February 2014.
He said since the repairs work of the Qadirabad Barrage on the river Chenab and Balloki headwork on the river Ravi is still going on, the irrigation canals taking off from these water regulators would be opened on 5th February to supply water to the districts of Okara, Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Bahawalnagar to water the crops.
According to January 31 rivers flows and reservoirs level report of Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), IRSA is releasing about 70,000 cusecs water in the water ways across the country against the inflow of 36,000 cusecs at the rim stations of the river Indus 14,300 cusecs, river Kabul 8600 cusecs, Jhelum 7,000 and Chenab 7,300 cusecs.
Meanwhile Meteorological department has said that 3 to 4 spells of winter rain/ snowfall are expected during the month of February 2014.The first spell is likely to occur during the first week of February, barani areas of wheat crop may receive good rain during the period.


The Exceeding Riches of God's Grace (Ephesians 2:1-9)
1. From these verses we learn some valuable information about God. a. From vs.4a we learn that God "is rich in mercy." b. In vs.4b God's "great love" is mentioned. c. We read about God's "grace" in vs.7-8. 2. Today we are especially interested in "the exceeding riches" of God's grace mentioned in vs.7. 3. In our lesson we are concentrating on 3 of these exceeding riches.
I. FIRST, "SALVATION" IS ONE OF THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF GOD'S GRACE (Ephesians 2:1-9)
A. According to vs.1a, Christians have been "quickened" [made alive]. B. The spiritual condition of those who are outside of Christ is revealed in vs.1b-3. C. We learn from vs.4-9 that we are able to experience salvation because of God's mercy, His love, and His grace. D. Specifically, God's grace saves us when we are raised with Christ. E. The details of being raised with Christ are explained in Colossians 2:12-13; Romans 6:3-4; Titus 3:3-7. F. God's grace saves us when we comply with the conditions of salvation that are revealed in the Scriptures. G. The works that will not save us are the type mentioned in Luke 18:11-12.
II. SECOND, "INSTRUCTION" IS ANOTHER OF THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF GOD'S GRACE (Titus 2:11-14)
A. In addition to bringing salvation, God's grace teaches us how to live. B. God's grace teaches us to deny "ungodliness and worldly lusts" (vs.12a). 1. God's people are to be holy (1 Peter 1:13-16). 2. God's grace does not give His people freedom to sin (Romans 6:1-2).


C. We learn from Titus 2:12b-14 that God's grace teaches us to "live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" while we look for the Lord's return.
III. THIRD, "SUFFICIENCY" IS ANOTHER OF THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF GOD'S GRACE (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)
A. Paul talked about an experience in vs.1-6 that could have cause him to be filled with pride. B. To prevent this from happening, Paul was given "a thorn in the flesh" (vs.7). C. Paul asked the Lord in vs.8 to remove this thorn. D. The Lord responded in vs.9a by stating that His grace was "sufficient" to sustain Paul. E. Paul showed in vs.9b-10 that he had learned to trust in God's grace for strength.
1. We have examined 3 of the exceeding riches of God's grace, including "salvation," "instruction," and "sufficiency." 2. According to Ephesians 2:7, the best is yet to come. 3. Have you responded to God's grace through faith?


Overshoot Your Goals. Always.
According to the Norman Vincent Peale quote, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” The point is, if you have goals, you stand a chance of getting farther in life and reaching your dreams. Once you go farther than you ever dreamed, the smaller goals and dreams are so much easier.
Including the ones that had once seemed impossible.
Both strangers and neighborhood acquaintances often stop me in the grocery store and tell me how surprised and amazed they are when they see me on my daily walks and sprints. To me, eight or ten miles is nothing. Or, maybe I should say, ordinary. Because I accomplished my goal of walking about a hundred miles on the last leg of the Camino de Santiago, an eight to ten mile walk in nothing now. I’ve walked in scorching sun in Spain and in cold, hard rain. I’ve shivered and I’ve sweated. I’ve had altitude sickness climbing the path and painful knees and toenails coming down. We did duck into a little town and avoided the hail, so there is that, I suppose. But if an afternoon downpour catches me when I’m five miles from my house, it’s really not that big a deal.
This is just one of many lessons I’ve learned on the Camino. The Camino was one of those goals that changed everything.
A dozen or so years ago, I thought of a long walk as a loop around the neighborhood. Maybe two miles, if I looped back around the length of the subdivision, and something I would try to do several times a week with my partner, so that we could have some couple time while the kids did homework. Our marriage was breaking up then, so most of the time we walked in silence and, more often than not, I walked alone, dictating novels on my handheld recorder.
Five years ago, my idea of a long walk was a brisk 30-minute stroll around the lake in the evenings. Or maybe two miles on the trails through the woods next to my office building.
Four and a half years ago, I decided to walk the Camino de Santiago. I knew I had to train for it. I knew, more than anything, that I had to know if I could comfortably wear hiking or athletic shoes for more than two miles at a time.


I extended my walk a quarter mile here and there. Then a half mile. Then a mile. And, pretty soon, my two miles turned into five, eight, twelve miles a day. Sometimes fifteen.
I walked in 35-degree sleet, and I walked in 105-degree heat. I couldn’t have trained to that level overnight. It took a while to work up to more than eight miles a day. My current five miles in the morning before work is invigorating but not difficult at all.
Most big goals and dreams are like that, I think. You reach them incrementally, doing a little more each day, going a little farther, a little deeper. But once you’re there, anything you do is easier.


It was desperation and their own fiscal cliff that had one couple moving cross-country from Pennsylvania to California with five of their seven children in the unheated cargo area of a Budget rented moving van.
A relative of the family called Indiana State Police, saying children could be in the cargo area. Troopers spotted the moving van at a truck stop near New Carlisle, Indiana, Wednesday night.
The parents were each charged with one count of neglect of a dependent.
When they were stopped, the 41-year-old dad said he knew it was a bad idea. He said they didn't own a car, were down on their luck and were moving the family across the country for a possible job opportunity in San Bernadino, California.
In this case, I would call their actions "desperation." It makes me wonder if this saga should be required reading for all those in Congress who need to decide before December 31 if we are going over the "fiscal cliff."
How much real life experience are the legislators depending upon in thinking about how to make their decision?
And it isn't looking good for everyone else eitehr.
Optimism gave way to a partisan reality on Capitol Hill as congressional leaders acknowledged Thursday that little progress as been made with the White House to reach a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" coming at year's end.
That's when all of the Bush era tax cuts will expire and billions in automatic spending cuts are triggered.
And the Associated Press said "I've got to tell you that I'm disappointed in where we are and disappointed in what's happened over the last couple of weeks," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
He told reporters "no substantive progress has been made in the talks between the White House and the House over the last two weeks."
Obama has outlined his proposal to raise the individual rates on the top 2 percent of Americans in order to raise $1 trillion in revenue over the next decade.
Democrats counter that the onus is on Republicans to put forward a plan outlining spending cuts.
Meanwhile, the average family is no longer "average" and is becoming the "new" poor. As the old saying goes, "desperate times call for desperate measures."
I hate to see any family pressed to the limit. There has to be a reasonable way to resolve this. I mean, isn't that why we elected them to represent us?


The Choices Program has its origins in research begun in 1982 by the Center for Foreign Policy Development at Brown University in collaboration with the Public Agenda Foundation. The methodology at the core of all Choices curriculum units was used from 1985-1988 as a research tool to understand how the American public was thinking about U.S.-Soviet relations. This methodology has been adapted by the Choices Program for use in secondary education.
Alternative “Futures” as a Research Tool
Between 1985-88, Brown University’s Center for Foreign Policy Development, in collaboration with the Public Agenda Foundation, conducted extensive research designed to understand public attitudes toward the Soviet Union and nuclear arms. The objective of The Public, the Soviets, and Nuclear Arms was to understand how the American public was thinking about these twin concerns and then to communicate the findings to elected officials and policy makers so that they could better craft policies that would have long-term public support.
In order to study public thinking on these questions, the research team and its National Advisory Council developed a framework of four alternative “Futures” as a research tool designed to engage the American public in consideration of these issues in terms appropriate to the non-expert. The Futures presented contrasting policy directions along with their risks and trade-offs. They were carefully researched and developed to be valid from the point of view of experts and accessible and engaging from the point of view of the public. In four cities—Baltimore, Nashville, San Antonio, and Seattle—the Futures were presented to general audiences through the local newspapers and television stations. Under the title of Public Summit ‘88, the newspapers and television stations provided information and sponsored programs on the four Futures and the issues they raised over a four-week period. The campaigns culminated in a balloting process in which more than 76,000 people voted for the Future and accompanying policies they felt would best ensure U.S. security. In five cities (the above four plus Chicago) the research team also conducted “Citizen Review Panels”(1) in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of public opinion. Almost 1,000 citizens, chosen to be broadly representative of the population as a whole, participated in these review panels.(2)
The results of this research were presented in briefings to the National Security Council, to major committees in the U.S. Senate and the U.S.


House of Representatives, to the staffs of all major presidential candidates, to other governmental groups, and to the press and foreign policy groups.
Theoretical Foundation—Public Choices vs. Expert Choices
The research that formed the foundation of The Public, the Soviets, and Nuclear Arms, and subsequently the Choices Program’s methodology, is grounded in an understanding that, in a democracy, the public and the experts have interrelated roles to play in the framing of public policy. As Richard Smoke, former Research Director at Brown University’s Center for Foreign Policy Development explained, experts can clarify the goals and trade-offs the nation must consider and lay out specific policy choices along with their costs and risks. Experts, however, have no special insight into which goals should have priority and which risks are worth taking. These are decisions of national scope—public choices—that all Americans must make together. The experts’ attention to the consequences and feasibility of various policies acts as a counter to any wishful thinking on the part of the public. The public, on the other hand, can criticize policies that do not match the public’s priorities. Finally, the public and the experts are also interrelated in the implementation of policy. While the public can voice support for broad policy directions, it requires expertise to create policy to implement these preferences.(3)
Applying the Choices Approach to the Classroom
The results from the Citizen Review Panels taking place during The Public, the Soviets, and Nuclear Arms demonstrated that after people had the opportunity to consider alternative policy directions and share their views in a carefully constructed discussion format, their own opinions became more complete and their understandings of the issues increased. Following Public Summit ‘88, Brown University launched the Choices Program in order to bring the advantages of this approach to the classroom. The program focused initially on the development of curricular materials that engage high school students in consideration of current international policy issues. Adapting the research approach developed during The Public, the Soviets, and Nuclear Arms, all Choices units include a framework of policy alternatives that challenges students to consider multiple perspectives and to think critically about the issue. Students must understand the history leading up to the issue, identify the values that drive contrasting perspectives, weigh the risks and trade-offs of alternative policies, and come to their own judgments, reflecting their own values and priorities.
The Choices Program also applies this approach to historical turning points, putting students in the role of decision makers at critical moments in history.


Through careful examination of the history leading up to a turning point, students gain a contextualized understanding of the values and culture of the period from the perspective of those who lived it. Students then explore the questions and choices that confronted the range of stakeholders at that historical moment. Finally, they analyze the decisions made and reflect on the relevance of those decisions for our world today.
Today, Choices has more than thirty-five units addressing topics such as Competing Visions of Human Rights: Questions for U.S. Policy, Indian Independence and the Question of Partition, Immigration and the U.S. Policy Debate, and The Middle East: Questions for U.S. Policy. Shorter lessons on current issues are posted in Teaching with the News. Choices’ Digital Editions were launched in 2018. Choices course materials are used annually in more than 8,000 secondary schools nationwide.
Drawing on the earlier research and the experience of Choices in the classroom, in 1992 Choices launched an initiative to bring consideration of contested international issues to local communities across the country. Applying the Choices methodology to public discussion, Choices public programs engaged general audiences in deliberation on our changing international role and the implications for domestic policy, and helped the public participate constructively in the policymaking process.(4) With support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, between 1993 and 2001, the Choices Library Program drop “has” conducted multi-session series in more than 500 libraries in 38 states.
Engaging Students Beyond the Classroom
In 1997, Choices launched the Capitol Forum on America’s Future, a program drawing on previous work with schools and community programs to engage high school students and teachers from a range of school districts in each participating state in consideration of the future direction of U.S. policy. The Capitol Forum is a collaboration among the Choices Program, the Secretary of State in participating states, and other statewide organizations whose missions support international education and youth civic engagement. New forum models are also emerging thanks to the innovation of teachers and community members nationwide.
- Citizen Review Panels were first used in 1987 by the Public Agenda Foundation to gauge public reactions to reforms of the social welfare system.
- Update, (Providence, RI: Center for Foreign Policy Development, Affiliated with the Institute for International Studies, Brown University, Vol 3, No 1, July, 1988), p. 2-4.


- Richard Smoke, The Public, The Soviets, and Nuclear Arms: Four Futures: Alternatives for Public Debate and Policy Development (Providence, RI: Center for Foreign Policy Development at Brown University & the Public Agenda Foundation, 1987), pp. 5-7. Daniel Yankelovich, former president of the Public Agenda Foundation and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Council of “The Public, The Soviets, and Nuclear Arms,” wrote about “public choice” in Coming to Public Judgment: Making Democracy Work in a Complex World (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1991). An earlier reference appeared in an article by Yankelovich in Kettering Review (Dayton, OH: Kettering Foundation, 1985).
- The Choices approach, as applied to public programming, is described in a working paper written by Susan Graseck and Marta Daniels. The Choices Approach to Community-Based Public Policy Discussion (Providence, RI: Choices for the 21st Century Education Program, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, 1995).


Authors: John Scalzi
Tags: #Science Fiction, #Fiction, #General
“I wouldn’t mind not having that talent,” Wilson said.
“I have a job for you,” Coloma said. “I’m prepping this ship to display and then sell to a group of representatives from Earth. I need someone to be their guide and liaison while they are here on the ship. I want you to do it.”
“Seems to me you have an entire diplomatic corps you can call on to do that job,” Wilson said. “I’m a CDF tech specialist.”
“You’re from Earth,” Coloma said. “All the diplomats I could use are from the Colonial Union. My job is to make these people comfortable with the ship and with us. I think it would be useful to have someone here who speaks their language.”
“I might not speak their language,” Wilson said. “There are a couple hundred of them in service on Earth.”
“It’s an expression,” Coloma said, testily, and pulled out her PDA. “I meant someone who has a shared history with them and who can cogently describe the advantages of the Colonial Union to them. Your technical background will come in handy because that means you can explain details of the ship to them, which no normal diplomat could do. Also, the files I have on these representatives says that they are all from either the United States or Canada. I think you will be able to speak their language just fine.” She played her fingers across the PDA. “There. I’ve sent you their information.”
“Thank you,” Wilson said. “If you want me, I’m happy to serve in this role for you. I’m just surprised you want me. I was pretty sure I was on your shit list, Captain.”
“You were,” Coloma said. “You are. But help me with this and you’ll get off of it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Wilson said.
“Good. Then we’re done here,” Coloma said. “You’re dismissed.”
“Of course,” Wilson said, and then saluted Coloma again.
“I already told you that wasn’t necessary,” Coloma said to Wilson.
“You put your ship in the path of a missile meant to kill members of an alien race, and kept the Colonial Union from having to fight a fight we’d have lost,” Wilson said. “That deserves a salute, ma’am.”
Coloma returned the salute.


Wilson left.
Basquez got his conduits a day before departure and was not in the least happy about it. “We’ve barely got time to install them, much less test them,” Basquez said, through the PDA. “And I haven’t had time to update the engineering systems down here. We’re still working off of fifty-year-old stations. You need to ask your Rigney for a delay.”
“I already did and he already said no,” Coloma said. She was in the shuttle bay’s control room with Balla and Wilson, waiting for the arrival of the Earth diplomats. “They’ve got these people on a tight schedule.”
“His precious schedule will be disrupted if we blow the hell up,” Basquez said.
“Is that really going to be a problem?” Coloma said.
There was a pause on the other end of the PDA. “No,” Basquez admitted. “I did a preliminary test of their throughput when I unpacked them. They should hold up.”
“It will take us three days to get to skip distance,” Coloma said. “That should be more than enough time to do your tests.”
“It would be better to do the tests here in the dock,” Basquez said.
“I’m not disagreeing with you, Marcos,” Coloma said. “But it’s not up to us.”
“Right,” Basquez said. “I’ll have these bastards installed in about six hours, and I’ll run a few more tests off the engineering stations. If I can, I’ll update the stations with new software tomorrow. It might give us more accurate readings.”
“Fine,” Coloma said. “Let me know.” She ended the discussion.
“Problems?” Balla asked her.
“Other than Basquez being paranoid, no,” Coloma said.
“It’s not a bad thing for an engineer to be paranoid,” Balla said.
“I prefer them that way,” Coloma said. “Just not when I’m busy with other things.”
“The shuttle is twenty klicks out and slowing,” Wilson said. “I’m going to purge atmosphere and open the doors.”
“Do it,” Coloma said. Wilson nodded and communicated directly with the shuttle bay systems with the BrainPal computer in his head. There was a chugging sound as the bay reclaimers sucked in the air and stored it for rerelease. When the bay was sufficiently airless, Wilson cracked up the bay doors.


The shuttle hovered silently outside.
“Here come the Earthlings,” Wilson said.
The shuttle landed. Wilson closed the doors and reintroduced the atmosphere; when it was back, the three of them filed out to wait for the shuttle door to open and disgorge its passengers.
To Coloma’s eye they did not seem especially impressive: three men and two women, all middle-aged and homogeneous in appearance and attitude. She introduced herself, Balla and Wilson; the leader of the Earth contingent introduced himself as Marlon Tiege and likewise announced his team, fumbling over the names of two of them. “Sorry,” he said. “We’ve had a long journey.”
“Of course,” Coloma said. “Lieutenant Wilson will be your liaison while you are here; he’ll be more than happy to show you your quarters. We’re on standard universal time on this ship, and we’re scheduled to depart from Phoenix Station at 0530 tomorrow morning; until then, please rest and relax. If you need anything, Wilson will make it happen.”
“I am at your service,” Wilson said, and then smiled. “My files tell me you’re from Chicago, Mr. Tiege.”
“That’s right,” Tiege said.
“Cubs or White Sox?” Wilson asked.
“You have to ask?” Tiege said. “Cubs.”
“Then I feel honor-bound to inform you I’m a Cards fan,” Wilson said. “I hope that won’t cause a diplomatic incident.”
Tiege smiled. “I think in this one case I’ll be willing to let it pass.”
“We’re talking baseball,” Wilson said to Coloma, noting her look, which was positioned between puzzlement and irritation. “It’s a popular team sport in the United States. His favorite team and my favorite team are in the same division, which means they are rivals and frequently play against each other.”
“Ah,” Coloma said.
“They don’t have baseball up here?” Tiege asked Wilson.
“Mostly not,” Wilson said. “Colonists are from different parts of the world. The closest most colonies come is cricket.”
“That’s crazy talk,” Tiege said.
“Tell me about it,” Wilson said, and then motioned with his hand, leading the Earth mission from the shuttle bay while Tiege nattered on about the Cubs.
“What just happened?” Coloma asked Balla, after a minute.


“You said you wanted someone who would speak their language,” Balla reminded her.
“I expected to be able to speak their language a little,” Coloma said.
“Better learn more about baby bears,” suggested Balla.
The first day of the trip consisted of Wilson giving the visitors a tour of the ship. Coloma wasn’t thrilled when the contingent from Earth showed up on her bridge, but the entire point of the trip was to sell them on the ship, so she did her best impression of a polite, engaged captain who had nothing better to do than answer inane questions about her ship. While she was doing this, she would occasionally glance over at Wilson, who seemed preoccupied.
“What is it?” Coloma asked him, when Balla had led the Earth contingent over to the life support and energy management displays.
“What is what?” Wilson said.
“Something is bothering you,” Coloma said.
“It’s nothing,” Wilson said. Then, “I’ll tell you about it later, ma’am.”
Coloma considered pressing him on the subject, but then Tiege and his cohort returned to Wilson, who took them elsewhere. Coloma made a note to follow up with Wilson and then got lost in the day-to-day management of the ship.
It was as Rigney had advertised to her: old but serviceable. Its systems ran well, with the occasional bump occasioned by the fact that she and every other crew member had to learn archaic systems. Some of the systems, like those in the engine room, had never been updated because the systems they were tied to had never been updated, either. Other systems were revamped when the ship made the transition from military to civilian use, and others—like the weapons systems—were removed almost entirely. Regardless, none of the systems were newer than fifteen years old, a period of time two years longer than Coloma herself had been in the Department of State’s fleet service. Fortunately, neither the CDF nor the Department of State was the sort of organization to radically change the interface of its command systems. Even engineering’s fifty-year-old consoles were simple enough to navigate through once you made a few concessions to antiquity.
It’s not a bad ship,
Coloma said to herself. The people of Earth weren’t getting something new, but they weren’t getting a lemon, either. She’d hesitate to go so far as to call it a classic, however.


Sometime later, Coloma’s PDA pinged; it was Basquez. “I think we may have a problem,” he said.
“What kind of problem?” Coloma asked.
“The sort where I think you might want to come down and have me explain it to you in person,” Basquez said.
“I tried updating the engineering software on the consoles, but that didn’t work because the consoles are fifty years old and the hardware can’t keep up with the new software,” Basquez said, handing his PDA to Coloma. “So I went in the opposite direction. I took the software from the consoles, ported it into my PDA and created a virtual environment to run it. Then I updated it inside that environment to boost its sensitivity. And that’s where I saw this.” He pointed to a section of the PDA, which was displaying a picture of what looked like a glowing tube.
Coloma squinted. “Saw what?” asked. “What am I looking at?”
“You’re looking at the energy flow through a section of the conduit we just installed,” Basquez said. “And this”—he pointed again at a section of the PDA, tapping it for emphasis—“is a kink in the flow.”
“What does that mean?” Coloma said.
“Right now it doesn’t mean anything,” Basquez said. “We’re only passing ten percent of capacity through the conduit to prep and test the skip drive. It’s a disruption of maybe one ten-thousandth of the total flow. Small enough that if I hadn’t updated the software, I would have missed it. The thing is, there’s a reason we keep power flows as smooth as possible—disruptions introduce chaos, and chaos can mean ruptures. If we push more capacity through the conduit, there’s no guarantee that the disruption won’t scale at a geometric or logarithmic rate, and then—”
“And then we would have a rupture and then we’d be screwed,” Coloma said.
“It’s a very small risk, but you’re the one the Colonial Union is telling to make this thing go off without a hitch,” Basquez said. “So this is a hitch. A potential hitch.”
“What do you want to do about it?” Coloma said.
“I want to take down that chunk of tube and run some scanners through it,” Basquez said. “Find out what’s causing the problem.


If it’s an imperfection in the physical conduit or the sheathing inside, that’s something we can fix here. If it’s something else…well, I have no clue what else it could be except a physical imperfection, but if it’s something else, we should figure out what it is and what we can do about it.”
“Does this set us back on our itinerary?” Coloma asked.
“It might, but it shouldn’t,” Basquez said. “I’m about 99.99 percent sure it’s something we can deal with here. My people will need about ninety minutes to take down that section, another sixty to scan it the way it should be scanned, about ten minutes to buff out any imperfections we find, and another ninety minutes to reinstall the section and run some tests. If everything checks out, we can push more power through on schedule. You won’t miss your skip.”


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Over $1 trillion worth of retail sales in 2011 were influenced directly by the Internet, according to Media Post. It is apparently clear that having an effective web design to market your products and services is essential in order to take full advantage of the thriving eCommerce market. There are several tips you can follow to make sure your website design reaches its peak potential.
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There’s just no way to get enough of Gabe! This young man is too hot, and, without a doubt, is one of those studs that CF fans will constantly be hungry for more of – and I don’t blame you! I also can’t get enough of Gabe, with that ripped chest armed with those great pecs, those dark and handsome features, captivating eyes, and awesome cock! That awesome cock!
You look at Gabe and you see those striking features and it’s clear he’s as hot as can be… but then he whips out that massive dick and you find out he only gets hotter! It’s almost not fair! :)
It’s not lost on young Julie what a stud Gabe is, and I think she was just about to pass out during and after this video! I was about to pass out while watching it!…


Jul 21, 2012, 8:14 PM EDT
Associated Press photo
Edwin Jackson allowed only one run over seven strong innings.
Game in a nutshell: Only 13 1/2 hours removed from a crushing, 11-10 loss, the Nationals took the field for the first half of their day-night doubleheader with the Braves needing a strong performance from starter Edwin Jackson. They got it, with Jackson tossing seven innings of one-run ball, Brian McCann's solo homer in the second the only blemish. But Ben Sheets was even better for Atlanta, tossing six scoreless innings in his second big-league start since 2010. Another Henry Rodriguez meltdown resulted in an insurance run in the eighth. And then Chipper Jones' towering, pinch-hit blast in the ninth put the Nationals in a 4-0 hole they could not escape. Just like that, their lead in the NL East is down to 1 1/2 games, with John Lannan now asked to reverse the trend in the upcoming nightcap. Oh, and Bryce Harper had to leave this game after fouling a bunt attempt off his left ankle in the first inning. Suffice it to say, this wasn't a good afternoon.
Hitting lowlight: It's not that the Nationals didn't have chances against Sheets or the Braves bullpen. It's that they couldn't comeRead more »
ON THE RADIO
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THU: 2:30 p.m.
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SAT: 10:30 a.m.
*All times Eastern. You can also listen to the station on 94.3 FM, 92.7 FM and online at ESPN980.com.
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- Roark gives up 3 runs in Nats loss
- Nationals split up to face Astros, Braves
- Prospects Cole, Rivero cut from big-league camp
- Desperate Braves sign Santana for $14 million
- The good, the bad and the ugly of Nats camp
- Zimmermann perfect against Sabathia, Yankees


Before the bride and groom head down the aisle to say "I do" they'll need a wedding rehearsal to iron out all of the kinks and calm any last minute nerves about the wedding day. After your wedding rehearsal, celebrate your last night as a single couple with a rehearsal dinner. Invite your close friends, relatives, wedding party and possibly your out-of-town guests to attend for light dinner, conversation, cocktails and relaxation before the big day. This collection of rehearsal dinner invitations will help you set the scene with a variety of designs and themes featuring patterned borders, floral prints, alter designs, place settings, silverware drawings, table settings and bride and groom scenes. We also have themed rehearsal dinner invitations featuring Italian dinners, fiesta themes, seafood boils, outdoor picnics, western barbecues or sushi. Celebrate tomorrow's nuptials and the end of your wedding planning and set the tone for your entire evening with a chic rehearsal dinner invitation.


Jessica Alba relies on an unconventional shoe trick to avoid embarrassing herself when she wears high heels - she tapes them to her feet.
The Fantastic Four beauty admits she has tripped up too many times while walking in her fashionable footwear, so she has taken to using double-sided tape to keep her skyscraper stilettos in place.
She tells New York Magazine, "I stick every shoe to the bottom of my foot with double-stick tape.
"Shoes have fallen off, I've fallen to the ground. It's all happened."
This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network
Photo Credits: Janet Mayer / PRPhotos.com


JANUARY 2010/JANUARY 1, 2013
“The Work of Mary”
The compilation of information here is not intended to be a criticism of Chiara Lubich, the foundress, or of the Catholic movement, ‘The Work of Mary’, popularly known as Focolare, which has the approval of Rome. However, its avowed mission — not envisioned in Focolare’s early days — to promote ecumenism and interreligious dialogue in its passion for the “unity of the human family”, and its eager embrace of the concept of inculturation which is not without its pitfalls has got Catholic conservatives and Traditionalists very concerned.
Chiara Lubich’s 1977 Templeton Prize was for “progress in religion”.
Though the majority is Catholic, Focolare counts Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims as also “people with no religious affiliation” [“agnostics, atheists, and people indifferent to religion”] as its members, and Catholics wonder whether such a union is possible without compromise of traditional Catholic and Christian beliefs.
For the above and other reasons, many Christian web sites – and ex-members* — have listed Focolare as a “cult” or “sect” [*see ‘testimonies’, pages 8 ff].
While Focolare insists that this communion is “without syncretism and encourages all to maintain full faith in their own identity”, there are those who maintain that Focolare’s ecumenical and inter-faith efforts with non-Christian religions limit its capability to witness without reserve to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of all. The goal of a loose “unity“** [what is the binding factor? someone asks] of believers — and non-believers – of every persuasion appears to have replaced the “fire of gospel love” that ignited its founders and that fuels the Christian mission of making Jesus Christ known to those who are not blessed to know Him.
Has Focolare-initiated dialogue — which they admit is “at the level of spirituality” — led to proclamation?
One can be a “practical witness to the love found in the Gospel” and still avoid explicit mention of Jesus and observing the Great Commission [Matthew 28: 19, 20] ***.
Did Jesus not say that He would be a cause of division, Luke 12: 49-53, between those who would listen to His Word, believe Him and accept Him, and those who would reject him?


*****
If the unitive work of Focolare can be done equally effectively by a non-Christian organization or an NGO [non-governmental organization], what then is so special about Focolare today? If Focolare has been secularised [if not syncretised], what is its future role as an ecclesial movement?
“Work of Mary” that does not lead people to her son Jesus? Focolare speaks nothing about evangelization. ****
**See “Interesting perspective“ on page 18, the point on “unity”
***See “Interesting perspective“ on page 18, the point on “conversion”
****See “Interesting perspective“ on page 18, the point on “evangelization”
“The aim and the fruit of this unity is that the world may believe”
I had written the comments and asked the questions above completely independently of and BEFORE reading the ex-member Tracy’s comments [on page 16] or the opinion [page 35] of the Greek Catholic Basilian Fathers.
The charges leveled against Focolare by the three priests are so lucid that any comments are superfluous.
They describe Focolare as a sect and a heretical movement in the Church.
On August 16, 2009, the Bishops of the orthodox Catholic Synod of the UGCC [Ukraine] pronounced
“the latae sententiae penalty of excommunication by reason of heresy”
on seven senior most leaders of Focolare.
Some, including priests, even see Focolare as New Age.
This ministry received questions about Focolare from friends and from visitors to this web site, some of whom included information that disturbed them, and which is presented to the reader in this report. 1.
FROM THE FOCOLARE WEBSITE (2-8)
FROM THE WEB SITE OF EX-MEMBERS OF FOCOLARE
FROM TRADITIONALIST WEB SITES (21-22)
FROM A GREEK-CATHOLIC WEB SITE (22-44)
OTHER INFORMATION ON FOCOLARE
INFORMATION ON FOCOLARE, INDIA (49-50)
GENERAL INFORMATION RELATED TO FOCOLARE (50-56)
«That all may be one» (John 17, 21)
We were born for these words, for unity, to give a contribution to its realization in the world.


I understood that we had to address ourselves to people of other religions, letting the Holy Spirit show us what to do and how to do it”.
Since 1994 Chiara Lubich has been an honorary president of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP). The movement has been represented since 1979 at the world assemblies of the WCRP and at regional meetings and activities.
*[Zenit, July 18, 2008] Philanthropist Sir John Templeton, 96, founder of the Templeton Foundation, a Presbyterian, died of pneumonia in July 2008 at a hospital in the Bahamas. The Foundation supports progress toward research or discoveries about spiritual realities. The Templeton Prize honors a living person considered to have made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery or practical works. Its monetary value always exceeds that of the Nobel Prizes — Templeton’s way of underscoring his belief that advances in the spiritual domain are no less important than those in other areas of human endeavor.
The first person to be awarded the Templeton Prize was Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1973. A year later the foundation awarded the prize to Brother Roger, founder of the Ecumenical Community of Taizé, France. Cardinal Leo Jozef Suenens, archbishop of Malines-Brussels, received the prize in 1976 for being a “pioneer” Charismatic Renewal Movement.
Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare movement, received the prize in 1977 for fostering lay commitment and dialogue among Christians of various confessions. In 2008, the Templeton Prize was awarded to Monsignor Michael Heller, a professor of theoretical physics, cosmology and philosophy of science at the Pontifical Academy of Theology.
Formation for dialogue
A permanent school for interfaith dialogue is based in the little town of Tagaytay (near Manila in the Philippines), a meeting place which helps to spread the Focolare spirituality in Asia. Another school for dialogue is based in the little town of Luminosa in the USA. As a means for getting to know one another better, the “Luminosa Prize” is awarded every year to people from different religions who are involved in dialogue for peace.
Due to the universal expansion of the Movement, there is a dialogue with all the main religions of the world.


A. Konečný, a Focolarine. Košice and Spiš make unity with the spirit of Prague liberalism and with the New Age spirit of Prof. T. Halík. 39.
Hypnosis in CR
Bishop L. Hučko (Focolare) has established a bureau of social and legal advice for the hypnotizer M. Kašparů, so that he may “profitably develop the new pastoral service in the Church” under this label. This is another abuse of our Eastern Church. The Orthodox Church radically forbids hypnosis because it is tied with occultism.
A reform in the Czech Republic
We propose the following solution for recovery of the ČBK and of the spiritual life in the Czech Republic:
A rightful step in relation to the Czech Catholics would be the withdrawal of Cardinal M. Vlk for retirement. Archbishop in his place may be e.g. his Vicar General M. Slavík ThD.
Archbishop J. Graubner may be transferred e.g. to the vacant see in Litoměřice. In his place in Olomouc the orthodox-minded priest V. Wolf Prof. ThD. may be installed, who can at the same time be appointed cardinal.
Bishop L. Hučko should be sent to a monastery where he could repent as he is doing harm to the Church. In his place there can be a true Catholic Ukrainian appointed and the exarchate of the UGCC established.
It would be good to assign Fr. Petr Dokládal and Fr. Pavel Uhřík to the Apostolic Nunciature as bishops who along with the Apostolic Nuncio will be responsible for the orthodoxy of faith and morals in CR.
Heresies of the Focolare bishops
Question: In the Czech Republic there are several Focolare bishops – and where the bishop is there is the Church, too, isn’t there?
Answer: Yes, where the bishop is there is the Church too, even if this bishop is weak and sinful. However, if this bishop is a heretic, he has automatically excluded himself from the Church (a heretic denies the very substance of salvation and of the Church)!


The view of the Eastern Church is: The bishop-heretic was stripped of God’s grace, and therefore the people of God must no longer obey him, otherwise they participate in his heresy and apostasy and are in danger of eternal damnation. Therefore the Focolare bishops have to repent in public, i.e. they have to separate themselves:
from the heresy of syncretism of Chiara Lubich and from the heretical opinion that Christianity and pagan religions are parallel or even equal ways to salvation;
from the heresy of historic-critical theology (HCT) which, in essence, denies the Divinity of Christ and the inspiration of the Scripture.
Until they do so, the faithful must not obey them as bishops-heretics!
The Focolare makes unity with the lie, with other people’s property, with the Rotary Club, with hindus, with buddhists, with the apostate T. Halík, with HCT, with the spirit of pharisaism, with the spirit of New Age…
The Focolare has love for sin, syncretism, occultism, hypnosis, feminism, ordination of women, homosexuality, pseudoart, Church rule…
The fruit: Within 10 years 1 million Catholics have fallen away in CR.
The dangerous influence of the Focolare consists mainly in leading away from the most essential thing, without which no one will be saved, and that is the saving faith and true repentance. The Focolare is really a sect inside the Church!
the bishops of the UGCC
+ Metoděj, OSBM
+ Markian, OSBM
+ Eliáš, OSBM
Pidhirtsi, 1st June 2008
Copies to: His Holiness Benedict XVI, Cardinals and Bishops of the Catholic Church, Bishops of the Orthodox Churches in Ukraine, President of CR Václav Klaus, Ministry of Culture, CR
10. A letter concerning the Focolare
At last after a longer pause You’ve again launched into an attack on the Focolare. Yet it was mere repetition of that which had been said before. It would need proving that on a worldwide scale their organization is in fact secretly directed by Freemasons. The Focolare movement has very strong links with state apparatus. The Focolarines have their people everywhere, in different offices, in science, education, government, business etc.


Moreover, the chief bosses certainly are the former StB agents (note: State Security Committee). Exactly as You write. They do not need the property for the sake of the Church, but for their own. They want to tunnel under the Church and then to bury her bit by bit so that she will no more motivate anyone to choose to live a God-consecrated life. The Church will be disintegrated and secularized… She will employ more laymen than God-consecrated celibates; and this is the project of Jewish Freemasons, that eventually the clergy and religious should try to admit different people, non-celibates, to ordain women etc. This is the project of a new Church without Christ.
13th June 2008 X.Y.
Dear brother in Christ,
We understand that You do not want Your name published if You have such a sharp view of the Focolare, and obviously You also have some painful experience with this Church organization. You write that it would need proving that the Focolare is in fact secretly directed by Freemasons. We respond – if it is true, we believe that somebody else will prove it in due time. Our service to the Church was to clearly express that the Focolare is not founded on truth but that this movement avoids the spirit of truth and repentance. Therefore one cannot speak here about true conversion or following of Christ. That the Focolare is covertly directed by Freemasons we neither deny nor claim. But what we do claim publicly is that the Focolare is a sect inside the Catholic Church.
You used a formulation that the Focolare wants to tunnel under the Church and that our notice regarding Church property is topical! We reacted to Archbishop Graubner’s statement from the last month, wherein he uncompromisingly claimed the Church property and made thieves of the Czech government. That was why we pointed out again the property which the Focolare had stolen from the widow K.Š. from Prague. We also reminded of our own experience with the theft of our small house in Sázava and of the covert efforts of the Focolare to steal the Benedictine property in Emmaus.
As for Your hint about ordination of women, secularization of the Church and finally a Church without Christ (cf. syncretism of the founder), this is, unfortunately, a realistic description.


We are really grateful to the Focolare leadership, especially to Bishop L. Hučko that he actually forced us to think over the substance of the Focolare and over how great danger it represents to the Church!
the bishops of the UGCC
+ Metoděj, OSBM., + Eliáš, OSBM., + Markian, OSBM., + Samuel
Pidhirtsi, 19th June 2008
10. Bishop Frederick about Focolare
Bishop Frederick about Focolare
I am sorry, dear Bishops, that in the letter N. 8 Focolare seems a sect to you.
Perhaps there is a mistake in the understanding of Focolare spirituality. It is love and unity.
It is better understood in our country which is multireligious. We have to love all. People of other faiths also are to be loved and take their deep desire for love. Deus Caritas est, et qui manet in Caritate manet in Deo et Deus in Eo. (“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”)
Bishop Frederick, Jhansi [INDIA]
Dear Brother Bishop,
Thank You for sincere expression of Your attitude. We quote: “I am sorry, dear Bishops, that Focolare seems a sect to you.”
We understand Your pain, but for us too it was painful to state this truth hidden for many people, that Focolare is a sect inside the Church.
We quote next: “… Focolare spirituality … is love and unity.”
Reply: This spirituality is not in Spirit and truth and therefore even the so-called “words of life” of the founder have nothing in common with true life of repentance and conversion. If first and foremost we do not witness to our Lord Jesus Christ in whom only is salvation and remission of sins, it is no true love. Martyrs and missionaries were true witnesses to Christ. This, unfortunately, cannot be said about Focolare.
The bishops of the UGCC
+ Samuel, + Markian, OSBM., + Metoděj, OSBM., + Eliáš, OSBM
Pidhirtsi, 21st June 2008
11.


Letter to Cardinal M. Vlk
Cardinal M. Vlk, Archbishopric of Prague
We were informed about Your reaction directed against the Holy Father Benedict XVI for his remission of the excommunication of the bishops consecrated by Archbishop M. Lefebvre.
You are all talk about tolerance and focolare love; however, it is in fact only and only tolerance for heresies, especially for the ones of the apostate Prof. T. Halík. On the other hand You pin a deterrent label of fundamentalists on the orthodox Catholic faithful. And You put the orthodox Catholic Pope Benedict XVI into the same category. Two years ago he met You halfway and prolonged the term of Your office up to 17th May 2009. We hope that You will not have the impudence to hypocritically ask His Holiness to prolong Your office even further, and thus to make him as if remit Your anathema!
We remind You that before God You are a dead member of the Church because You have separated from her by uniting with a heretic and apostate T. Halík. You cover his heresies and thus participate in them. 41.
God’s anathema, which we made public on 29th June 2008, cannot be withdrawn from You even by the Holy Father unless You Yourself renounce the heresies. If You should die in this state of apostasy and not repent, You would be eternally condemned! Stop laughing at God at last. God will not let You ridicule Him!
Bishops of the standing Synod of the UGCC
+ Metoděj OSBM., + Samuel, + Markian OSBM., + Eliáš OSBM
Pidhirtsi, 18th February 2009
His Holiness Benedict XVI, Cardinals and Bishops of the Catholic Church, Msgr. Diego Causero, Apostolic Nuncio to the Czech Republic
12. Letter to Msgr. L. Hučko, Exarch of the Greek-Catholic Church in CR 11.6.2009
Msgr. L. Hučko
Exarch of the Greek-Catholic Church in CR
At the beginning of this month You wrote a letter to Fr.


Cyril Špiřík OSBM, in which You demand that by 1st July 2009 he should hand over to You the keys from our monastery in Sázava, whereby You would definitively seize it for Yourself. Fr. Cyril and Fr. František were exposed to great pressures in CR and finally capitulated. We quite understand them. The small monastery in Sázava was re-built with our own hands out of a barn and financed mostly by money-gifts from our parents and relatives. Many times we worked there till midnight so that we could have a roof over our heads. You did not help us with a single penny! You simply stole this property of ours.
Even the former Apostolic Nuncio E.J. Ender had to tell You openly that You had committed a mean robbery and also to challenge You to return the property! You promised to do so, but did not. When the Apostolic Nuncio was assigned to another country, You laughed at Your promise!
Moreover, You have stolen a small house in Prague which was donated to us by Mrs Kalina Šutková Dr. When she demanded that You should return it to her, You seized the house for Yourself – You had the locks picked and put Yours instead. For safety’s sake You took in a lodger. Now You are waiting for the death of this old lady so that You may thereafter seize even her flat in Prague which You, likewise illegally, have transferred to Yourself. It is a scandal that a person like You is a bishop of our Greek-Catholic Church in CR.
It is a scandal that for about 20 years You were a representative of the Focolare movement in the former Czechoslovakia. This case is a testimony that besides unity with heresies and love for lie this movement has one more typical sign – it is a brigandish organization!
We hereby call You to return the stolen house (35 Přímá St.) and flat to Mrs Šutková.
We hereby call You to return to us the stolen house in Sázava which You illegally transferred to Yourself, too. We did not appeal to ecclesiastical courts. These, unfortunately, do not act in accordance with the law but shelter the apostate structure in the Church, including You and Cardinal M. Vlk along with the whole apostate Focolare movement.


Your Excellency, we would like to remind You, too, that by 14th September 2009 You as bishop are obliged to confess the true faith and to renounce heresies. We are attaching the formula. We have to warn You that not to confess the faith is a far graver transgression than to steal a house. Unless You publicly announce Your confession, similarly to Cardinal Vlk and Prof. Halík You will be excluded from the Catholic Church and the Greek-Catholic believers must not obey You – as an apostate bishop – any longer!
Bishops of the Standing orthodox Catholic Synod of the UGCC
+ Eliáš OSBM., + Metoděj OSBM., + Markian OSBM., + Samuel OSBM.,
Pidhirtsi, 11th June 2009
The Holy Father Benedict XVI, Bishops of the Roman-Catholic Church in CR, Bishops of the Roman-Catholic Church in SR
Attachment: Formula of the confession of faith and renouncement of heresies
13. An appeal to the Pope 2.7.2009
His Holiness Benedict XVI, Città del Vaticano
There is no reason – with regard to Your responsibility – why You should make another apostolic visit to the Czech Republic (CR) in the span of 19 years after the fall of Communism. John Paul II visited the CR twice, in 1990 and 1996.
Your visit is scheduled for 26th-28th September 2009.
How will Your visit be abused?
Remember that those who liquidate the Church abuse gestures. Your visit will be a gesture by which:
you will approve of the heresies of Prof. T. Halík and CardINAL M. Vlk. In compliance with the canon law both of them are under an anathema! 42.
By Your gesture You will confirm an erroneous opinion that the papacy is more than God’s laws, whereby this gesture will actually become a means of liquidation of the papacy. The meaning of the papacy is to protect the faith and morals and by no means to do the contrary! You represent Christ, His true teaching, His Church. Only the very fact that You will come to the CR means that You will have to meet with Cardinal M. Vlk and directly or indirectly with Prof. T. Halík.


Thus You will help to accomplish the covert aim of the apostates who want to create a public opinion that You do not condemn their heretical teaching and that, de facto, You remit their anathema or acknowledge that heresies which they uphold are no heresies. Thereby, however, You Yourself would deal a fatal blow to God’s institution of the papacy and full responsibility would fall upon You; You would thus condemn You Yourself!
We understand Your powerlessness in the Vatican since the rule there has been covertly usurped by the antipapal structure which systematically carries out self-destruction of the Church.
In this structure there is also Cardinal M. Vlk along with some other cardinals. These exert a moral pressure upon You to make You visit the CR and thus de facto confirm public heresies and heretics who were excluded from the Church by God owing to their heresies!
Another intention of the apostates is to use your visit to boost the Focolare movement. We repeat: In the beginning this movement was built upon genuine Christian trust in God (Turin, 1945). Later on, however, it became a covert means towards disintegration of Christianity in its essence. The Focolare adherents have never said a clear word against heresies. Cardinal Vlk as a Focolare liberal and protector of heresies (of Prof. T. Halík) has on his conscience that the CR was one of the first countries in Europe which passed the laws of homosexual marriages! This movement is a cancer of the Church. It is a scandal that there is a woman in its forefront again! It is a scandal that 200 bishops are marching after Chiara. Their spirituality lacks conversion and repentance as well as the Spirit of truth. The catchphrases about love lead to demoralization and pharisaism! Unity, which they emphasize so much, is not unity with the suffering and abandoned Jesus but with heresies and with the spirit of the world! It is true that a lot of genuine Focolare members became victims of deceit and manipulation. The Focolare movement has many signs of a sect. It does not bring a blessing to the Church but hampers a genuine and true spiritual awakening! Unfortunately, the structure which has been built up by it influences not only the Church but even the secular institutions.


In the CR it even affects the political sphere! (example: the statement of the ex-minister Kalousek – see Letters from UA 8/09)
Another intention in abusing Your visit is to pull strings to get the post of CardINAL M. Vlk for a bishop with the same focolare spirit of apostasy. The journalists write that on the occasion of Your visit – allegedly – You are going to express Your thanks to Cardinal Vlk. What for? For apostasy of one million believers? For liquidation of orthodox professors at the theological faculty in Prague? For enforcement of homosexual laws? Vlk is strongly opposed to You; nevertheless, he wants to use You for the promotion of his man in his place so that the liquidation of the Church may continue!
Your Holiness, we beseech You before God and before the bleeding Church not to visit the Czech Republic!
Bishops of the orthodox Catholic Synod of the UGCC
+ Samuel OSBM + Metoděj OSBM + Markian OSBM + Eliáš OSBM
Pidhirtsi, 2nd July 2009
P.S.: The CR suffers from great floods these days. Every believing person knows that as Prague was flooded after an intense propagation of homosexual marriages in 2002, so is it this year too, after the ratification of the immoral Lisbon Treaty. These floods are a clear sign of God’s punishment. Naturally, Cardinal Vlk commented on it in exactly the opposite way. Nevertheless, the responsibility for this punishment falls fully upon the apostatical leadership of the Church in the CR, which does not repent nor leads others to do so!
14.


An appeal for the confession of faith and renouncement of heresies 25.7.2009
Maria Voce – president
Giancarlo Faletti – co-president
Alberto Ferrucci, President of New Humanity movement
Pier Giorgio Colonnetti, Vice President of New Humanity movement
Luigino Bruni, Coordinator di Economia di Comunione
Marcella Ferrari, President of Azione per il mondo unito
Salvatrice Infantino, Vice President of Azione per il mondo unito
Dear representatives of the Focolare movement,
Our orthodox Catholic Synod of the UGCC has turned to the Superiors General of some of the religious orders and institutes, appealing to them to confess the true Catholic faith and to renounce heresies. This appeal is adequate for the situation the Church finds herself in. We send You the formula of the confession of faith and renouncement of heresies. Please, send this formula to the Holy Father by 15th August 2009. We would like to ask You, too, to let us know after You have done so. On 16th August 2009 we will make Your attitude public before the whole Church. Either a positive or a negative one. We want to warn of the fact that this is no non-committal questionnaire. 43.
By this letter, as successors of the apostles and prophets, we oblige You in conscience in the authority and name of God. If You do not confess the faith and manifest clear dissociation from concrete heresies, You will thus promulgate Your unity with them. This being the case, You will incur God’s anathema (Gal 1:8-9) and the latae sententiae penalty of excommunication by reason of heresy.
May the Mother of God obtain for You the courage to clearly confess the true Catholic doctrine and to dissociate Yourself from the spirit of the contemporary heresies.
Please, send Your reply to our e-mail address.


This is not only with individual members or leaders of those faiths, but with the leaders and followers of large movements, such as the Buddhist lay movement, Rissho Kosei-kai, with 6 million adherents; the Muslim American Society (USA) with more than 2 million, and the Swadhyaya Family (India) that has 8 million adherents, mostly Hindu.
There are about 30,000 members of other religions who live in their own measure the spirit of the Movement and are committed to the same aims.
Ways to dialogue with people of no formal faith
“Can a movement, born out of a choice of God as an ideal for life, be of interest to men and women with no formal faith? The fact that the son of God took human flesh is something great; it establishes a deep bond with you, committed as you are to respect for, and development of, humanity, of each person, and the growth and safeguarding of human values. That is what we too must do, and what we want to do with you.” Chiara Lubich
The aim of dialogue between believers and people with no formal faith is that of working together for the unity of the human family.
During the forties, there were people of many social and cultural backgrounds linked to the community of the Movement in Trento, including those with no formal beliefs. They were attracted by the communion of goods practiced in the movement in favour of the poor. 6.
Towards the end of the seventies, these contacts, with agnostics, atheists, and people indifferent to religion, developed into a dialogue with its own characteristics. An international centre for dialogue with people of no formal faith began in 1978. In 1992 the first of a series of international conventions took place at the Centro Mariapoli at Castelgandolfo (Roma).


Bishops of the orthodox Catholic Synod of the UGCC
+ Eliáš OSBM., + Metoděj OSBM., + Markian OSBM., + Samuel OSBM.,
Pidhirtsi, 25th July 2009
Copies of the promulgation to:
The Holy Father Benedict XVI, Cardinals and Bishops of the Catholic Church, Patriarchs and Bishops of the Orthodox Churches
15. An anathema on leading representatives of the Focolare movement 16.8.2009
On 25th July 2009 the leading representatives of the Focolare movement were appealed to confess the true Catholic doctrine and to renounce the contemporary heresies. They were warned of the fact that if they do not do so publicly and do not send their confession of faith to the Holy Father by 15th August 2009, they will fall under God’s anathema and under the latae sententiae penalty of excommunication by reason of obstinate persistence in heresy. Unfortunately, they did not confess the faith.
As from 16th August 2009, the below-named Focolare representatives incur God’s punishment of anathema. Through them a curse has been made manifest which lies on the whole Focolare movement up until these heretics are removed from the highest offices.
It concerns the following persons:
1) Maria Voce – President
2) Giancarlo Faletti – Co-President
3) Alberto Ferrucci, President of New Humanity movement
4) Pier Giorgio Colonnetti, Vice President of New Humanity movement
5) Luigino Bruni, Coordinator of Economia di Comunione
6) Marcella Ferrari, President of Azione per il mondo unito
7) Salvatrice Infantino, Vice President of Azione per il mondo unito
We have to point out that in case the persons concerned are priests, as from now they administer all sacraments, except for holy Baptism, invalidly. The Word of God says about these: “He who greets them shares in their heresies.” (cf. 2Jn 11)
(Announcement: The 14 Superiors General who incur the punishment of anathema also include Fr. B. Koubetch OSBM (the Basilians). He fell under excommunication on 7th July 2009.)


OTHER INFORMATION ON FOCOLARE
INTERRELIGIOUS CONCERT PROMOTES PEACE AND UNITY
Hong Kong (UCAN) October 20, 1998 An interreligious concert gathered 200 people of various religions here for a message of peace and unity. Those present ate an Indian vegetarian dinner and took part in the Light of Unity Interfaith Concert, the first organized by the Hong Kong Network on Religion and Peace (HKNRP), Oct. 17.
Performances were staged by the Catholic Focolare Movement, Buddhist Youth Centre, Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of Hong Kong, the Hindu group International Society for Krishna Consciousness and the Raja Yoga Centre, a worldwide spiritual movement.
The concert included Chinese, Indian, African and Filipino dances, Indian chanting, and songs in English, African and Chinese languages. Stressing HKNRP’s mission to promote peace through spiritual cooperation and common service, moderator Maureen Chen noted that the word “religion” is not always accepted and that religions sometimes spark war instead of peace.
HKNRP, a local network of religious and spiritual followers set up in 1995, comprises members of 15 religious organizations and other individuals. It organizes interreligious visits and dialogues on values.
Visiting Cardinal Sees Dialogue as ‘Only Way’ to Peace
http://www.cardinalrating.com/cardinal_6__article_4523.htm July 25, 2006
Cardinal Ennio Antonelli of Florence, Italy, expressed hope during a recent visit to the Philippines that the Church will foster dialogue among peoples because there is “no other way” to peace.
TAGAYTAY CITY, Philippines (UCAN, July 21, 2006) Cardinal Antonelli came to attend a gathering of about 30 Asian bishops sponsored by Focolare, an Italy-based Catholic movement that aims to build a spirituality of communion. 44.
The meeting was held June 30-July 2 at Focolare’s Mariapolis Center in Tagaytay City, 55 kilometers south of Manila.
On July 1, the cardinal told UCA News how the Asian bishops had impressed him through their sharing on the theme of the gathering: “Jesus Crucified and Forsaken: The Countenance of God, Love, A Way for Humanity.”
Bishops attending the meeting came from various countries and territories, including India, Japan, Korea, Macau, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.


Cardinal Antonelli, 69, served from 2000 to 2005 as secretary general of the Italian bishops’ conference. Besides his pastoral work, he has taught literature, art history and dogmatic theology at the Theological Institute of Assisi in Rome. He also served for a time as chaplain of the Catholic Teachers’ Association and various Catholic action groups in his homeland.
Through an interpreter, the cardinal shared stories that were being told at the gathering, and reported his own experiences of dialogue. He also explained why he regards dialogue as a way for Catholics to bear witness to Christ.
The interview with the Italian cardinal follows:
UCA NEWS: What is the gathering all about?
CARDINAL ENNIO ANTONELLI: In the meetings, we are speaking especially of the spirituality of communion. We also discuss the dialogues that Focolare is promoting, and how Focolare helps bring about renewal in parish life. We also reflect on Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical “Deus Caritas Est” (God is Love).
Which bishops were present?
These bishops of Asia are friends of Focolare. The event is not so much a public and institutional event, but rather a spontaneous meeting of bishops who are friends and who wish to experience brotherhood among prelates that share the same spirituality and interest.
There are 30 bishops from 10 Asian countries. It may be hard to get a list of their names because not all countries represented at the meeting have the same religious freedom as exists here in the Philippines.
What is Focolare’s role in the Church of Asia?
Focolare is an institutional type of work. Its secretariat is at the Roca de Papa in Rome. Its official title means “the work of Mary.” Focolare has many branches, including one composed of bishop friends of the movement.
The head of that group is Czech Cardinal Miloslav Vlk of Praha (Prague). He was to come here but could not, so he asked me to replace him.
Focolare contributes to the whole Church through its spirituality of communion. Pope John Paul II said in his apostolic letter “Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the beginning of the new millennium)” that bringing the Church and the world into communion should be the primary concern of everyone. It should be a concern at all levels — Christian families, the parish, the diocese, and at national and even international levels.


The Churches in Asia should also come together to build communion.
Asian bishops should be building such communion in their own dioceses and in the universal Church. They should support the pope because the episcopal college is co-responsible for the whole Church. So, in the work for sanctity, it is very important that communion becomes a way of life, a relationship with Christ and among us. It is a communion of love, of charity.
How does Focolare promote dialogue?
Focolare has taken initiatives in four ways: dialogue within the Catholic Church, ecumenical dialogue among Christian Churches, interreligious dialogue and dialogue with people with no religious affiliation.
The objective of dialogue, first of all, is to get to know one another better so as to overcome prejudices and allow common values to emerge, as well as to respect differences that may exist among the different religions. Dialogue can help us collaborate on the social and cultural planes, and live together in peace — peace among countries and religions.
How did the Asian bishops impress you?
We spoke about cultural dialogue with people who are not believers, to emphasize the value of human rights, the fundamental right of humans to collaborate for peace, integrity, justice and freedom.
There were updates and video documentaries showing dialogue initiatives — for example, by Buddhists in Japan. It was beautiful to see the Buddhists dialoguing not only with Catholics and other Christians but also among themselves, with different Buddhist denominations. The Buddhist leaders said the Christians helped their internal dialogue by creating an atmosphere of brotherly love and joy, and maintaining it.
Something similar was reported in a documentary about the head of Focolare in Thailand. She met with Buddhist monks at the highest level, and there was a beautiful atmosphere.
How does that compare with dialogue in Europe?
In Europe, there was a meeting two years ago in Stuttgart, Germany, to give a soul to Europe. There were Catholics, other Christians and people of many other religions from various nations of the continent. Dialogue is important for Europe to be not just a common market, but a community founded on human values and a common civilization.
There is dialogue in Europe, especially among Christian Churches. Muslims, Buddhists and even Jehovah’s Witnesses are all in Europe, so there also are initiatives to dialogue with Muslims and Buddhists, and they are all positive.


But dialogue in Europe is more limited because non-Christians are the minority there, while in Asia the Muslims are the majority in some countries and Buddhists in others. Still, it is significant that they recognize and very much appreciate the Catholic Church, even though the Catholic Church is a small minority in Asia. We must cultivate hope.
Can the Vatican foster interreligious dialogue?
It is already doing much. The big meetings in Assisi*
were called by John Paul II. [Pope John Paul II invited leaders of major world religions for a day of “prayer for peace” in Assisi, Italy, in 1986, and again in 1993 and 2002.] They were just the tip of the iceberg. There have been many more initiatives in different parts of the world. 45.
It is not only the Vatican, but also bishops carrying out initiatives in interreligious as well as ecumenical dialogue. In Florence, I have taken part many times in Ramadan (the Islamic holy month) activities, praying in silence with Muslims.
What about war and fundamentalism?
There are many big risks but we must work for peace. It has to be through dialogue. There is no other way, whether it is religious dialogue, social dialogue, cultural dialogue, in the socio-economic or even political level.
How do you deal with relativism?
Every year, I send a letter to families of my diocese, and the theme this year is “Christians in a Pluralistic Society.”
In that letter, I first remind the people to be aware of our faith in Jesus Christ, and to put Jesus at the center of our lives and love him.
The second thing is to dialogue with people of other religions because Jesus is the Savior of all. He loves all and draws all to himself. He helps them to know the truth, to do good and find everything that is good and true. A person may be a non-believer, but he may have many human values that are beautiful. He may possess that which is true. We must be happy to find this truth in him.
The third part of my letter encourages Christians to offer their faith, to propose it to someone who does not believe, but with the utmost respect toward that person. It is like saying, “I am happy to be Christian but I would be happier if you were Christian with me.”
There is no chance of religious relativism, that all religions are the same.


All religions present good things and good values. But Jesus Christ is the presence of God Himself among us. This is totally unique, without comparison.
That differs from proselytizing?
Proselytizing is when someone of a particular faith tries to “conquer” another by using force and psychological and economic pressure, or offering some sort of advantage. But if I offer my faith with joy, I tell the other, “I am happy to be your friend and I see you possess many values, and you can be happy if you share my faith.” This is not proselytizing. It is professing my own faith, giving witness to my own faith.
Whoever has met Jesus Christ cannot remain silent. We cannot be silent about what we have seen and heard. We must proclaim it. *Assisi: see Sandro Magister’s article on page 52
Work of Mary (Focolare Movement) Founded Amid World War II
Vatican City, September 4, 2006 (Zenit.org)
Official name: Work of Mary Also known as: Focolare Movement Established: 1943
History: At the beginning of the 1940s, in the climate of hatred and violence of the Second World War, Chiara Lubich — a young elementary schoolteacher in Trent, her native city, whose thirst for truth had led her to enroll at the Philosophy Faculty of Venice University — discovered God is the only ideal which endures when everything else is falling down. With her first companions, in the shelters during air raids, she only took the Gospels with her. She was to write later that “those words seemed to be enlightened with a new light.”
God is love. In the commandment to love one another, they discovered the heart of the Gospel; in the testament of Jesus “that they all may be one,” they found the divine plan for universal unity and the purpose of their life; in the crucified Jesus who called out that his Father had abandoned him, they found the secret for the building of unity everywhere.
From their experience of the Gospel lived in daily life, a specific communitarian spirituality emerged, which gave rise to the Focolare Movement. In 1948, Lubich met Igino Giordani, member of Parliament, a writer, journalist and pioneer of ecumenism.


Recognized as the co-founder thanks to the contribution that he made to the embodiment of the spirituality of unity in the social environment, he was to be the first married Focolarino. Father Pasquale Foresi is also recognized as co-founder, and is the first Focolarino priest, who made a major contribution to the introduction of theological studies into the movement, founding the Città Nuova publishing house and the Cittadella at Loppiano.
On June 29, 1990, the Pontifical Council for the Laity decreed recognition of the Work of Mary (the Focolare Movement) as an international association of the faithful of pontifical right.
Identity: The Work of Mary was given this name because of its particular link with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ and of all men and women, of whom it wishes to be a reflection on earth, as far as possible.
The Marian nature of the movement is institutionally expressed in terms of its presidency, which is lay and female. The variety of people that belong to it, its worldwide spread, its purposes and the works that it undertakes, all to a certain extent reflect the universality of the Church. Its specific feature is the pursuit of the ideal of unity which gives it its spirit, its aims, its structure and its government. This is why it is committed to working for ever greater unity between the faithful of the Catholic Church; to establish communion and a common testimony with other Christian brothers and sisters in order to restore full unity; to achieve, through dialogue and common activities together with people of other religions, union in God among all believers, as the way of enabling them to come to know Christ; to engage in dialogue with people of good will and to work together with them for common purposes, to strengthen universal brotherhood throughout the whole world and to open up their hearts to Christ.
Organization: The movement is governed by the General Assembly, and the Centro dell’Opera, comprising the president, co-president and vicar, and the general councilors. The movement is divided into zones, with their own management bodies which answer to the Centro dell’Opera. At the heart of the Focolare Movement are “focolare centers” for men and women who live life in common or married life. 46.


An integral part of the Movement are the branches for diocesan priests and deacons, volunteers, and gens (children and young people), and gen’s (young men with a vocation to the priesthood), religious, and bishops who are friends of the movement, and also the following movements (branches working in many different ecclesial and civil fields): New Families, New Humanity, Young People for a United World, Youths for Unity, the Parish Movement.
Membership: The Work of Mary has 140,440 members worldwide. The centers of common life (“Focolare”) are present in 89 countries as follows: Africa (17), Asia (14), Europe (31), Middle East (6), North America (8), Oceania (3) and South America (10). There are about 4.5 million other people who are involved more broadly in the movement, including 47,000 from other churches; 30,000 co-workers and sympathizers belonging to other faiths, and 70,000 co-workers and sympathizers without religious convictions.
Works: The Work of Mary has established a large number of Mariapolis Centers, which are places for spiritual and social formation and ecumenical and interfaith meetings; Cittadelle, which are places where members of the movement can stay and socialize, with training schools, craft activities and farms; and nongovernmental organizations for international cooperation, such as AMU and New Humanity.
There are also publishing houses; audiovisual centers; international musical groups; artistic production centers; the “Economy of Communion” project implemented in the management of 761 companies; a residential middle school and higher secondary school in Cameroon; social schools for education in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue; courses for family mediators; and vocational training schools.


Publications: Città Nuova, published fortnightly (in 25 languages, 40 editions)
Nuova Umanità, a cultural journal published every two months, with synopsis translated into five languages
Gen’s, a journal for priests and seminarians published every two months in five languages
Unità e Carismi, published every two months for religious in seven languages
Gen2, a monthly magazine for young people in six languages
Gen3, a magazine published every two months for teen-agers in eight languages
Gen4, a magazine published every two months for children in seven languages
Parola di Vita (commentary on words of Scripture), published monthly in 80 languages and 16 local dialects
Economia di Comunione, published twice a year in six editions and six languages
Web site: www.focolare.org Headquarters: Movimento dei Focolari Centro Internazionale, Via di Frascati, 306
00040 Rocca di Papa (Roma) Italy Telephone (39) 06-947-989 — Fax 06-9474-9320 E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org ZE06090410
Prelate Warns of a Global Cooling
Prague, Czech Republic, October 2, 2007 (Zenit.org) A “cooling off” of love and solidarity is even more dangerous than global warming, said the archbishop of Prague. Cardinal Miroslav Vlk made that comment at an annual ecumenical meeting, which brought together 43 religious leaders from 18 Churches and ecclesial communities, at the invitation of the prelate.
The leaders — all friends of the Catholic lay Focolare movement — focused on a spirituality of communion, something they said is necessary if the cause of ecumenism is to advance in the 21st century.
The bishops listened to testimonies of priests and laypeople who, nourished by the Focolare spirituality, supported the persecuted Church in what was then Czechoslovakia.
The meeting also served to analyze the 3rd Ecumenical European Assembly, recently concluded in Sibiu, Romania.
Cardinal Vlk said: “There is a worldwide warming of the planet that worries us.


But there is a cooling off of love and solidarity that is ever more dangerous.”
He spoke about the experience lived in the meeting: “We are creating a ‘dialogue of life.’ We place an accent on what we have in common, beginning with baptism. We do not ignore the problems that exist […] but we are convinced that, with evangelical love, with love above all for Jesus crucified and abandoned, they can be transformed.”
1st Focolare Cofounder Dies. Pontiff Mourns Death of Focolare Founder.
Chiara Lubich Dies at 88
Vatican City, March 14, 2008 (Zenit.org) Benedict XVI expressed his condolences at the death of the founder of the Focolare Movement, Chiara Lubich, who died today at age 88. The Pope sent a telegram to Father Oreste Basso, co-president of the movement, saying that it was “with deep emotion” that he learned of the news of the “pious death” of Lubich, “which came at the end of a long and fruitful life marked by her tireless love for the abandoned Jesus.”
“At this moment of painful separation I remain affectionately and spiritually close to her relatives and to the entire Work of Mary — the Focolare Movement that began with her — and to those who appreciated her constant commitment for communion in the Church, for ecumenical dialogue and for fraternity among all peoples,” the Holy Father added.
“I thank the Lord for the witness of her life, spent in listening to the needs of modern man in complete faithfulness to the Church and to the Pope,” he said. “And, as I commend her soul to divine goodness that she may be welcomed in the bosom of the Father, I hope that those who knew and met her, admiring the wonders that God achieved through her missionary ardor, may follow her footsteps and keep her charism alive.
“With such sentiments, I invoke the maternal intercession of Mary and willingly impart my apostolic blessing to everyone.”
According to the Focolare Web site, the Pope’s secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, will preside over a funeral Mass on Tuesday at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
Lubich founded the Focolare Movement in the 1940s, discovering her call to foster unity amid the horrors of World War II.