From July 21 to 27, delegations from three Italian provinces (A River of Peace: Angela Grassi, Mario Ferrini, Roberto Bertin, Angelo Volpi; Kimata: Stefano Di Franco, Daniela Guglietta, Alessandra Ruggeri, Daniele Cogliandro; Seas and Volcanoes: Carlo Gazzano, Francesco Famiglietti, Ivana Malerba, Larysa Grygor'yeva) and our national president Paolo Tantaro represented Italy at the Faith and Light International Assembly in Leeds, England. Among them was international vice-coordinator Lucia Casella. The discernment process led to the reelection of Ghislain Du Chené as international coordinator, while the new Board of Directors is now chaired by Anne-Marie Pike of New Zealand and includes Hoda El Turk (Lebanon, vice-president), Artkin Muvishi (Zimbabwe), and Tim and Maria-Cecilia Buckley (USA-Brazil).
The three coordinators share what those days held—moments brimming with emotion.
I'm leaving with joy in my heart. Joy from the encounter itself—reconnecting with friends I'd met at Lourdes in 2011, and meeting new ones. Joy, too, in watching our own delegations: our young people, their happiness, their cleverness, their hunger to connect with the world. There's one image I'll never forget—Angelo with a ninety-seven-year-old English grandmother.
We had the gift of hearing Marie Hélène speak, of remembering how it all began and the vision she and Jean carried. What struck me most was seeing how these forty-two years are the work of the Holy Spirit—acting then and continuing to act through all of us now.
The beauty of meeting the English communities, and of that woman who came up to me proud to have been married to an Italian, the games, the countless faces, and then at the end, the whole community singing together—each in their own language, yet as if we were all singing in one tongue. It reminded me of the biblical moment when the Spirit descended and all people spoke the same language.
I carry away, too, the joyful face of a mother, bearing witness that joy and suffering can coexist.
I feel blessed. I want to thank our young people for giving me this chance. Without them, I would never have lived these encounters that transform me, that enrich me.
Carlo
Leeds. I'm the delegation leader for Kimata. We brought an Italian flag and our provincial banner with the symbols of Cyprus and Greece. A strong delegation—Alessandra and Daniela, and Daniele too—moved and aware of the weight of representing all our communities, each so different from the next.
From the first moment, you realize people are here from Faith and Light communities across the world, each with a clear role and a real responsibility. We're trying too, in our own way. We didn't say much, and we feel knowingly unprepared—and that's what's beautiful about it.
It's the General Assembly, holding all our history—past and present. Marie Hélène is here, Maureen is here, Ghislain is here. When we gather each morning, each of us carries everyone who stayed home. We carry their stories, their parents, their young people and their friends, their victories, their celebrations, their pilgrimages—both the ones marking forty years and the daily ones of ordinary life. Each of us holds the faces of our own communities, and it's for them and because of them that we're here. There are many mothers and fathers too—some with their children here, others at home with family or friends.
That's what Faith and Light is: each person has a role, and each role matters. Larysa, a mother from Naples with a Ukrainian heart and Italian spirit, is here for her son Igor, who's on vacation with Faith and Light friends. She's here to witness a miracle, to push other mothers and friends to believe in it. Mario is an affectionate father to all of us here, always mindful of his role as vice-coordinator; he left Matteo at home, his son, on vacation with his mother and heading out to scout camp. You see Mario and you see Matteo beside him—it's a beautiful feeling. Angelo and Daniele made our time here even more joyful, sharing the simplicity of every gesture, every smile, every song. Without them, without Matej, Philippe, Samuel, and all the others, this gathering would have been poorer and certainly less fun.
What I wanted to say about this Assembly is that Faith and Light is a splendid forty-year-old, and the adventure continues. Being part of it is an incredible gift.
The young people on the altar, invited to bless and send forth the delegates from around the world. Valerie asking me to explain to Angelo and Daniele what they need to do. And there I am, holding little Samuel in my arms. Sam is seven. He's small for his age, a tiny thing, and he tells me his foot hurts. He stops crying only when I hold him and support him as he makes that gesture so full of peace. Here it is—the most beautiful image I'm taking home from Leeds, and it comes wrapped in tears of joy. A small boy trusting me in that sacred moment. My heart swelling with happiness holding him. Tears again when thoroughly French Sam, his foot suddenly forgotten, stays in my arms singing at the top of his lungs in English: "Called to bear fruit, in every place, every day, from morning to evening, giving life to Faith and Light."
Yes. We are called. We are invited to be founders of this wonderful story, every single day. The Spirit asks it of us, and Jean and Marie-Hélène ask it still, forty-two years later. It's beautiful to hear their words, on video or in person. It's beautiful, too, to see them more fragile and worn than they once were, yet knowing that the strength that moved them then makes them capable of bearing great fruit even now, in their eighties.
The days in Leeds were demanding and wonderful. I keep asking myself how to share with everyone the beauty of discovering stories that are both similar and entirely different in every country; the awareness that among us are those struggling to stay committed and those who through responsibility have taken giant steps forward; Maureen's reflections on "accompaniment"—a shared journey, nourishing and being nourished; Ghislain's simple presence, Clara at his side because Julie isn't here; Angelo the polyglot with a Venetian accent and eyes bright at certain encounters; Roberto playing gondolier, Mario so loved in his bersagliere hat; Ivana's joy and Larysa's calm; spaghetti that Mario cooked and shared with Croatians and Lebanese; embraces with Daniele and Francesco. Every moment deserves remembering. There are faces, smiles, friends living on the other side of the world who know how to stand beside you in your hardest moments. There is the washing of feet and Tim's gaze turned toward the Father in total surrender. It's hard to put so many feelings into words. We'll try, giving thanks to every member of every community for trusting us with the unforgettable task of representing you all.