Testimonies

Testimonial · Projects

Friends of Simone

A community of Christian volunteers honoring Simone's legacy—supporting young people with disabilities in daily life, building a culture of welcome, friendship, and shared joy

Testimonial · Projects

Paola Came to Live With Us — Comunità Nicodemo

The everyday life of a family working hard to find its own way each day, but choosing to open itself to dialogue with other families—and discovering that from sharing and nearness come new energy and possibilities for everyone, young and old alike.

Testimonial · Spirituality

The Wisdom Tooth and Voluntary Service

Three seasons have passed since my discharge, and I understand now what the deepest value of that work truly was—not in the moment, but in what has endured since, in what has grown, in the people and bonds that became part of my life.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Were We Good Parents?

Testimonial · Family

Caught Off Guard—But Who Isn't?

Testimonial · Family

Light as a Butterfly: On Anorexia, Hunger for Love, and Recovery

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Me in Pompei

Testimonial · Leisure

Singing My Way

Testimonial · Spirituality

The Magnificat and Our Fragility

Testimonial · Family

A Father’s Camino: Walking Side by Side with My Autistic Son

From Salerno to Santiago, a journey of love, faith, and resilience through the eyes of a father and his teenage son

Testimonial · Spirituality

Two Ways of Pilgrimage, One Heart of Faith

A personal reflection on how Unitalsi and Faith and Light, born in Lourdes from stories of rejection, became paths of love and spiritual transformation

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Here and Now

The story of the Little Pilgrimage to Assisi, an inclusive journey born to welcome young people with disabilities, where the path becomes an experience of brotherhood, faith, and reconciliation.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Stories Entrusted to Us

A priest's personal account of pilgrimages with Faith and Light between Lourdes and Loreto, where the journey becomes an experience of friendship, prayer, and inner transformation.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Among My Father's Last Gifts

A worn prayer booklet, a rediscovered smile, a friendship that changes everything—this is how Faith and Light was born, and a pilgrimage became shared hope.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Toward a Lasting Peace

When a design becomes a journey

Testimonial · Family

More Than a Label

The personal and professional life of a woman with disability

Testimonial · Family

Welcome to the South

Can young people with disabilities have holidays without their parents?

Testimonial · Family

Two Weeks in Salento

A summer stay in Gallipoli with the Giuliaparla Association

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Doing and Being There

My Journey from Scouting to Fede e Luce

Testimonial · Health

When Patients Cannot Speak for Themselves: A Mother's Proposal

A mother who lost her son with severe disabilities makes a concrete proposal to Italian healthcare

Testimonial · Health

My Pregnancy: A Different Journey

I carried a pregnancy unlike any documented in medical literature—as a woman with cerebral palsy and spasticity, there were no guidelines, no research, nothing to prepare me for what lay ahead.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Why Shouldn't Gabriele Have a Place?

How a boy with Down syndrome became the lead altar server at two parishes in Trento

Testimonial · Faith and Light

What Thirteen-Year-Old Giorgia Would Find Now

Reflections on an Unlikely Concert

Testimonial · Family

Brooke, My Special Friend

Every time I visit my brother, she's waiting for me behind the door

Testimonial · Family

All Briciola Needs Is Words

If my dog could talk, we'd have the longest conversations!

Testimonial · Family

Wherever I Am, He Is Too

My dog Aci gives me the strength to keep going

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Breaking the Silence

Nanni Bertolini on the founding of *Ombre e Luci*: from our dining room table to the digital age

Testimonial · Faith and Light

The Real Bill to Pay

It is right and beautiful to celebrate, but it is also good to look back and see the story of these forty years, the first steps, our forebears

Testimonial · Family

Finding the Other Within Me

At 34, living with cerebral palsy and an identical twin who is utterly different

Testimonial · Spirituality

Alberta and the Revolution

When Wheelchair Barbie Comes Off the Shelf

Testimonial · Health

Picking Up the Thread

Testimonial · Family

A Path of Transformation

Testimonial · Family

"Dad, Where Are You?"

Silvia's father falls suddenly ill one night. Everyone is in shock. Silvia watches him leave in an ambulance, the siren's wail still ringing in her ears.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Does Prayer for Peace Actually Work?

Testimonial · Family

Ask Zampetta and Romeo

Testimonial · Family

The Art of Getting Back Up

Testimonial · Education

Fanny, who sees a future for herself

Me, my sister and the augmentative writing

Testimonial · Faith and Light

On the Cross, Like Jesus

Testimonial · Family

The Evil of Indifference

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Something Nobody Saw Coming

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Valle Aurelia Boulevard

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Loïc's Blessing, Then and Now

Testimonial · Spirituality

Mirtilla and the Captain

Testimonial · Faith and Light

How Do We Hold On to What We've Lived?

Testimonial · Family

The People Behind the Scenes

Testimonial · Spirituality

Transforming Lives: A Journey of Hope and Healing in the Heart of the Congo

Emanuela Posa's Interview on Dedication to Children with Disabilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo – From Overcoming Taboos to Building Dreams

Testimonial · Family

Dear Roberto

Testimonial · Family

The Immense Gift Called Vaccine

Testimonial · Family

My Son Did Not Want to See Me Cry

Testimonial · Family

After Passion Comes Resurrection

Testimonial · Family

Already Our Son

Testimonial · School

What the Single-Desk Classroom Might Teach Us

Testimonial · Family

Eva's Crime

The life of a Black woman, poor and disabled, who refused to be a victim

Testimonial · Family

Letter to Gennarino

Testimonial · Spirituality

A Mission, to the End

Testimonial · Family

One Morning I Watched You Wake

Testimonial · Family

The Day I Became a Doctor

Testimonial · Family

Gospel, Imagination, and Intelligence

Testimonial · Faith and Light

A Time to Speak and a Time to Be Silent

Testimonial · Family

Maybe There's a Reason

Testimonial · Family

Theater Is Play—and in Play, We Never Stop Growing

Testimonial · Family

The Year I Was Cast as the Nativity Cave

Testimonial · Family

A Small Mountain Refuge

Testimonial · Family

"Mom, We're Not Alone"

Testimonial · Health

Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride

Testimonial · Faith and Light

What a Mess! Coronavirus and People with Disabilities

How the spread of the virus has disrupted the lives of people with mental and physical disabilities—and their families

Testimonial · Family

Antonella's First Carnival

Testimonial · Family

How We Look at Disability

Testimonial · Family

The Kitchen Door Is Always Locked

Testimonial · Faith and Light

January 27 — International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Testimonial · Sport

Special Olympics: 30 Years of Winter Games

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Fano 2018 - The best of our youth

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Fano 2018: Our Best and Brightest

Testimonial · Family

When Play Is Hard or Impossible

Testimonial · Culture

The Hunger to Speak

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Faith and Light: One Great Family

Testimonial · Family

What I Know About Social Media—And What I Think

Testimonial · Family

Tell Me Who You Admire

Testimonial · Health

My Name Is Charlotte Fien, and I Have Down Syndrome

My speech to the United Nations on World Down Syndrome Day, March 20, 2017

Testimonial · Sport

Baskin Changed Our Lives

Testimonial · Spirituality

The Church Bending Down to My Son

Isabelle is the mother of Adrien, 28, and shares a deeply moving moment she witnessed at Lourdes in 2007

Testimonial · Spirituality

Philippine's First Confession

Forgiveness is far more than confession—it is the joy of being loved by God

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Come and See: The Youth Meeting in Alicante

Testimonial · Health

All Children Are Special

Testimonial · Family

Simona and Me

A mother's story of discovering her daughter's disability, learning to accept it, and finding strength in community through Faith and Light

Testimonial · Family

Teaching by Example

Laurence never made disability the focus of her daughter's education, never brought disabled children into her home—yet her quiet attention to difference bore fruit

Testimonial · Health

Bad Luck?

During a disability awareness event at a high school, a senior refused to sit in a wheelchair

Testimonial · Family

The Meaning of a Life and a Choice

Testimonial · Health

The Burning Bush of Sant'Ilario

Maria Grazia's testimony: thirty years ago, a young woman in a wheelchair asked to join the Secular Institute of the Little Apostles of Charity—and changed everything

Testimonial · Family

We Cannot Be Peter Pan Forever

Testimonial · Faith and Light

United in Prayer

I know that when we visit the Faith and Light communities in Cyprus, we will be treated like royalty—as always happens on that beautiful island

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Through a Child's Eyes

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Lift Your Eyes

Testimonial · Faith and Light

For Me, It Is Happiness

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Never Alone: Three Stories

Testimonial · Faith and Light

A Father's Calling

Testimonial · Faith and Light

A Sacred Trust

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Never Alone: Three Stories

"Together we can go out into the world, freed from our fears, freed from the oppression that wounds our fragile way of being"

Testimonial · Spirituality

A Miracle of Meeting at Lourdes

Testimonial · Family

The Hidden Side: What It's Really Like to Be the Father of a Disabled Child

Lorenzo's story of raising Simone, who has a rare genetic syndrome

Testimonial · Family

A View to Rediscover

Testimonial · Family

My Son Luciano

He is my firstborn and he is my life. Even now, eleven years after learning our child would be disabled, I find it hard to speak about him.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Starting Over

Every September brings a new school year, and every year it feels impossible. Here are a few suggestions to help you stay afloat.

Testimonial · School

My Life at Santa Palomba

Hello, my name is Pietro, Pietro Bigari. I was born in 1945, and now I'm going to tell you what my life is like at Santa Palomba—the good things and the bad things.

Testimonial · Family

My Mother

Testimonial · Spirituality

My Life at Santa Palomba

Testimonial · Family

What Grit!

An interview with Nunzia, mother of Emanuela, who has bilateral temporomandibular ankylosis. Emanuela cannot move her jaw, cannot speak, cannot chew, struggles to swallow, and has a significant cognitive disability.

Testimonial · Family

Between Fear and the Need to Know

Virginia and her husband have pursued every possible avenue in search of a diagnosis and answers for their ten-year-old son Simone. The hardest part: fighting an invisible enemy.

Testimonial · Family

Sisters and Brothers of People with Disabilities

The struggles families face are not the parents' burden alone. Siblings too have borne greater responsibility and awareness, often without choice.

Testimonial · Family

An Institution... My God!

Sophie Lutz on the wrenching decision to move her daughter Philippine to residential care

Testimonial · Spirituality

A Community Is Being Together

The Witness of Fr. Paolo Ricciardi, Pastor of Santa Silvia, Rome

Testimonial · Spirituality

Someone Is Waiting

Don Luigi D'Errico, pastor of Saints Martyrs of Uganda parish, reflects on the Church's relationship with disability

Testimonial · Family

Jean-Christophe Parisot: A Seeker of God

At 45, Jean-Christophe Parisot lives with quadriplegia. He serves as France's highest-ranking government official with a disability, heading the office on marginalization.

Testimonial · Family

Our Choice: Cristina

After 20 years of marriage and four children, Giacomo and Francesca opened their home to a girl with a disability

Testimonial · Family

I Can, I Must, I Want

Welcoming a child with disability has transformed our family completely. My husband Antonio and I, along with our other four children, would do it all over again—not once, but ten times, without hesitation.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Her Name Is Sara

How David and Helen's volunteer work in Madagascar led them to adopt Sara

Testimonial · Family

Voices from Mothers

Responses to our recent survey. We're grateful to share the thoughts, families, and experiences of our mothers readers—a glimpse into their lives, their hopes, and what sustains them.

Testimonial · Family

"Mom, I'm Glad I Was Born"

A mother's letter about her son—a testament to love, faith, and the quiet dignity of a life lived fully

Testimonial · Spirituality

Sandrino and Costello Syndrome

The day Alessandro was born was the most beautiful day of my life. But I knew at once that something was wrong.

Testimonial · Family

What They Say About Them

Testimonial · Spirituality

Rediscovering the Grace of Confession

A boy with a disability came to confession. He left making the V-sign for victory. Other people began rushing to confess after witnessing the joy that forgiveness brings.

Testimonial · Projects

The Chicco at Thirty: "They Gave Us the Answer Our Hearts Were Seeking"

How do you welcome young people with severe mental disabilities into your home and live with them for life?

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Faith and Light in Armenia and Iran

Carla Waked, international vice coordinator of Faith and Light, shares what Faith and Light means to the three communities in Armenia and the sole community—for now—in Iran

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Faith and Light in Iraq

Mirna Hayek, international vice coordinator of Faith and Light, reports on Iraq, where the movement does not officially exist—but a community lives by the same principles.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Which Side Are You On?

I may be a coward, but I cannot answer these questions with certainty: Is this life?

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Three Questions and a Pilgrimage

"Why do you come to Faith and Light if you say you don't believe in God? I don't think you should be here."

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Messengers of Joy

1971–2011: Fede e Luce at Forty. Voices from three pilgrimages, carrying in their hearts encounters, faces, small confidences shared in friendship.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

The Idea of Not Going

Silvia, 15, has been part of Faith and Light since before she was born—but that doesn't make her an expert, she says.

Testimonial · School

Standing with Her

Since her birth, Philippine has undergone nearly one surgery a year. The most significant came in 2010: three weeks hospitalized for two four-hour spinal operations.

Testimonial · School

How Recognition of the Other Restores Trust

You see... really, he doesn't need to speak. You just have to know how to listen.

Testimonial · School

Always Respect the Person

Testimonial · School

African girls are a celebration of braids

Testimonial · School

Taking Up the Burden of the Last

Don Virginio Colmegna's clear testimony about Casa della Carità, where countless situations are welcomed—including those who arrive "shattered" by devastating circumstances—and the weight of that hospitality

Testimonial · Family

Friendship Across Inequality

Can we speak of true friendship when disability creates such vast inequalities and differences between two people? Father Nicolas Buttet, founder of the Eucharistein community—which welcomes young people in difficult circumstances—offers his reflection.

Testimonial · Spirituality

A Handful of Joy

Priscilla left for Vietnam in 2008 with MEP (Missions Étrangères Praigi), where she worked primarily with children aged 2 to 9. Today she works at a child protection center on the outskirts of Paris.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Today I'm Free

Testimonial · Family

Volunteering: A Lever for Life

After three months of this experience, I can say that I now look at the people I meet on the street in a different way.

Testimonial · Spirituality

After-School in a Roma Camp

Flaminia reflects on her first volunteer experience teaching English and math to a 12-year-old girl in a Roma settlement at Spinaceto

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Emanuela and Alessia

"Faith gave my husband and me tremendous strength. Without it, we would have lived in despair."

Testimonial · Family

Worlds Apart

I was right not to trust them. Schools are made by people. And I found the competent and caring ones just seven kilometers to the west.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Tending Your Desires

Aging well is not improvised—it is prepared. The writer knows what she speaks of: at 96, she invests every ounce of energy in bringing life wherever she finds herself, in a residence for the elderly.

Testimonial · Health

Real Quality in the Care of Older Adults

An Interview with an Experienced Geriatrician

Testimonial · Projects

Words for Grown-Ups

Testimonial · Spirituality

"I Don't Want Strangers in My House"

My mother's response when I suggested hiring a caregiver as she approached her ninetieth birthday

Testimonial · Spirituality

My Africa

Lena discovered she had glaucoma and decided to travel to Africa to find her distant "son." She returns there every year, spending six months at a time.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Mom, What a Camp!

I thought a Faith and Light camp with small children would be exhausting, and that I might only get in the way. I was wrong.

Testimonial · Family

Charles Hid Under the Table

Charles was nine years old and autistic when his father died. His mother describes how he reacted to the news and in the weeks that followed.

Testimonial · Spirituality

You Are Both Lamb and Shepherd

Father Geffroy shows how fragility confirms the sacred nature of priesthood—and proves it through his work with homeless people in Paris

Testimonial · Family

He Stayed Behind for Me

Elena, living with cerebral palsy, remembers a priest she met during her studies—a man she deeply respects and loves as a father

Testimonial · Culture

All on the Road

We were asked to stage a theatrical performance to celebrate the ordination of a young man from our parish community in Conselve, Padova

Testimonial · Culture

Twenty Years of Il Carro

When Ivana asked me to help stage a theatrical production for Il Carro's twentieth anniversary, I thought it would be the usual end-of-workshop recital. I was wrong.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Two Callings

Olga Gammarelli's testimony on the twentieth anniversary of the Carro

Testimonial · Spirituality

Like a Poem You Love

The moment we arrived at Carro, one photo erased every year of distance: the community standing beside our family.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Vanessa's Courage

Every time she hears her classmates talk about their brothers and sisters, her face grows sad and out comes her small voice: "Mommy, I miss Gabriele so much!"

Testimonial · Spirituality

A Close Look

A New Testament from Pennablù

Testimonial · Education

Sexuality and Disability: A Garden of Desire

Testimonial · Education

Should Society Provide Sexual Assistance to Handicapped People?

Isn't the right to pleasure legitimate? Marie-Christine Marguet, a marriage and family counselor at CLER, responds to our questions.

Testimonial · Family

Silence

When faced with certain tragic news, the only honest response is to say nothing

Testimonial · Health

What Is the Point of Paolo's Life?

Testimonial · Spirituality

Raging with Blame: A Mother's Search for Guilt

My daughter is handicapped. Whose fault is it? I need to know who to blame, because I have a score to settle.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Being a Mother: What Meaning Does My Son Paolo's Life Have?

Paolo is a nine-year-old boy with autism. After her husband's death, his mother has raised their children alone. She shares the anguish of some essential questions.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

The Silent Crucifix: An Image of Christian Revolution

Testimonial · Spirituality

Once Upon a Time in the City of the Mad

The RAI miniseries brought Franco Basaglia's story back to life—a psychiatrist who dared to dream

Testimonial · Spirituality

The Body's Privacy: "Maria Doesn't Know Shame"

A parent's account of raising a daughter with Down syndrome

Testimonial · Family

The Intimacy of the Body: Sharing Your Child's Intimate Care

Sylvie de Kermadec, gynecologist, reflects on why respect for the body and privacy matter in raising a child with disability

Testimonial · Family

The Intimacy of the Body: Standing Before Nudity

A volunteer caregiver reflects on the delicate responsibility of her mission

Testimonial · Family

Iron to the Magnet

Friends return from everywhere, drawn like iron to a magnet, toward the right pole—an attraction that cannot be resisted

Testimonial · Family

When Disability Goes Unmentioned

Reflections on a journalism seminar held in Turin last October

Testimonial · Spirituality

In Memory of Alda Merini

The poet Alda Merini died in her Milan home on November 1, 2009

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Scouting for Me

Alice shares her path within a scout group

Testimonial · Family

Scout Leaders Gather to Welcome a Child with Disabilities

How one group learned to include a twelve-year-old girl with intellectual disabilities

Testimonial · School

A Letter to Matteo's Classmates

One family's thoughtful introduction at the start of the school year

Testimonial · School

Learning Disabilities: Branded "Idiot"

At twenty-two, Arnaud remembers how dyslexia shaped his school years and his relationships with others

Testimonial · Family

Learning Disabilities: A "Clumsy" Child

Camilla is a "clumsy" child—a word that, until two years ago, I knew nothing about, like so many others

Testimonial · Family

Learning Disabilities: How I Discovered My Children's Suffering

Mother of six, including Arnaud and two others with dyslexia, Solange tells her story of fighting her children's school struggles

Testimonial · Family

Learning Disabilities: Who Is the Real Marco?

A Teacher's Account

Testimonial · Family

Enrico's Difficult Path

A mother's testimony—understanding the complexity of mental illness

Testimonial · Spirituality

Toward Evening

A few days ago I ran into Franco, and he looked exhausted and worried. He told me he'd been to the neighborhood health clinic, and after waiting in a long line, he couldn't get his mother a cardiology appointment.

Testimonial · Family

Small Steps, Safely

A community caring for children with severe medical conditions doesn't start out knowing what it's doing. Like any family, it learns through experience, practice, and the example of others.

Testimonial · Culture

Dimitri: Theater, Dreams, and Direction

From Lucca, he has been making theater for years. He is the first person with a disability to graduate in directing from the Silvio d'Amico Academy.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Living My Limitations in Truth

André, blind from birth, married, father of four, ordained deacon

Testimonial · Health

Cristina Acquistapace: When a Name Becomes a Calling

Down syndrome did not stop Cristina from charting an unexpected spiritual path

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Yet the Sun Still Shines

1982. Two hundred members of Faith and Light climb Monte Tranquillo together

Testimonial · Spirituality

Rosa

The day Gianni burst into the workshop to announce he had fallen in love and gotten engaged to a classmate named Rosa — I'll never forget it.

Testimonial · Health

Becoming a Mother

Testimonial · Health

Difficult Moments

Testimonial · Faith and Light

The Hidden Treasure

A young friend reflects on a meaningful vacation at a Faith and Light camp

Testimonial · Spirituality

Not a Saint

Sister Emmanuelle, a courageous and exemplary woman who waged an unrelenting fight against poverty in our time, died this past October

Testimonial · Education

Giovanni's Second Chance

A couple opens their hearts to an abandoned child with cerebral palsy—and discover that love changes everyone.

Testimonial · Family

Why Me?

Disabled from birth, Cécile came to understand during adolescence that her spasticity set her apart.

Testimonial · Projects

A City for the Boys

An urban complex with streets, plazas, residential apartments, and services nestled harmoniously in the countryside just outside Rome. We spoke with Porfirio Grazioli, President of the National Organization for the Cities of the Boys.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

The Great Family

To mark the hundredth issue of Ombre e Luci, we've gathered and now publish the testimony of the many friends who have helped carry this magazine forward over the years

Testimonial · Family

A Letter to Mothers and Fathers

Every Christmas I return to Emmanuel—"God with us"—the same name we chose for our disabled son an hour before he was born

Testimonial · Family

A Thunderbolt from Clear Skies

Our son has moved into a residential community. At last, the help we'd always hoped for has arrived—the solution we'd been counting on for when we're gone.

Testimonial · Family

Salvatore, Pediatrician with Achondroplasia

A doctor who transformed the challenges of short stature into deep sensitivity and empathy for his young patients

Testimonial · Spirituality

My Patience Has Limits

Twenty-five years directing specialized educators who work with troubled adolescents taught Father Petitclerc the surprising power of patience as a virtue.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Holy Patience!

A splendid virtue. But why holy? Because it works miracles like the saints, or because it makes holy those who practice it with labor and perseverance?

Testimonial · Spirituality

"These Children Are Sacred"

A mother writes about Lennox-Gastaut syndrome—and why she will never accept what Ashley's parents chose to do

Testimonial · Spirituality

Trapped: A Boy's Journey with Attention Deficit Disorder Without Hyperactivity

We knew our son was special when he was born. The kindergarten teachers were the first to suggest he was different from the other children.

Testimonial · Family

With All My Strength: Special Olympics Youth Games

"Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." This is the Special Olympics athlete's oath.

Testimonial · Spirituality

A Day in Milan: Francesca and the AIPD Calendar

When they told me Francesca had been chosen for a photo with Gianna Nannini, I couldn't stop crying

Testimonial · Faith and Light

What If I Had Listened to My Despair?

Reading the latest issue of Ombre e Luci, I find myself reliving my life's journey—and only now do I see its meaning and find answers to so many things that happened.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

What If I Had Listened to My Despair?

Reading the latest issue of Ombre e Luci, I find myself reliving my life's journey—and only now do I understand its meaning and find answers to so many things that happened along the way.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

My First Fede e Luce Camp

This past summer I attended a week-long camp in Penna in Teverina from August 12 to 20. Here's how it went.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Faith and Light in Madrid: "Hola Madrid"!

This summer brought together Faith and Light members from around the world. Here's what it was like to be there.

Testimonial · Family

When Prenatal Diagnosis Becomes a Crisis

Elena goes alone for her first ultrasound with her second child. The doctor hints at something wrong: her baby will probably be disabled.

Testimonial · Family

Every March That Passes

As a doctor, I was privileged in how my colleague conveyed the difficult news about my unborn daughter's health

Testimonial · Spirituality

I Didn't Know

A mother, pregnant with her fourth child, is summoned urgently by her doctor—who presents one option: therapeutic abortion.

Testimonial · Spirituality

God's Tenderness

In November 2005, a retreat on God's Tenderness led by Jean Vanier took place at L'Arche in Bologna. Nearly 200 people attended from across Italy, along with representatives from L'Arche communities around the world.

Testimonial · Family

I Love This Child

Isabelle de Mézerac and her husband are expecting their fifth child when, at three months into the pregnancy, doctors announce that the baby has trisomy 18, a fatal handicap. They decide to accompany Emmanuel through to the end of his life.

Testimonial · Family

Friends You Never See Coming

And so you discover, with surprise and genuine pleasure, countless people—far removed from any religious community, with no special training, medical or spiritual—yet possessed of such spontaneous, genuine, and affectionate openness.

Testimonial · Family

Every Child Is a Journey: A World to Discover, One Step at a Time

For the third time in as many days, I begin again to share the path that opened before me with the birth of my disabled son.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Bishops at the Opening of Faith and Light in Rome

I worried our guests would feel out of place, embarrassed, or bored. Instead, the day became a true celebration. They shared our picnic with complete ease and took part in every activity we had planned.

Testimonial · Family

And the Carro rolls on... and turns 15!

Why, after 15 years of history, are we talking about an inauguration? We let a volunteer, Costanza (who is also my wife), tell us about it

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Ivana's Choice: My Life at the Carro

Testimonial · Sport

The Magic of the Special Olympics Opening Night

I attended the inaugural ceremony of the annual Games for athletes with intellectual disabilities, held this year in Rome

Testimonial · Spirituality

John Paul II Didn't Seem Like a Priest or a Pope

The Tender Attention John Paul II Showed Our Disabled Children

Testimonial · Spirituality

Karol and Me

When his eyes met mine, I'm not sure I made clear to the Holy Father what I longed for—but his eyes told me to keep going, and to hope.

Testimonial · Spirituality

John Paul II Up Close

In 1986, the Pope came to our parish for a pastoral visit — and met our Fede e Luce community, S. Gioacchino, at St. Lucy's in Rome

Testimonial · Spirituality

John Paul II's Gift

We hung a beautiful photo of the Pope in our window: he has a bandage on his forehead and a gentle smile, like a child who's just gotten into mischief

Testimonial · Spirituality

Father Francesco, Our Gift

On May 5, Father Francesco Marchini went to Heaven. He taught us that our disabled children are real people.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Elena and the Mystery

Elena's mother, Luisa, left us last May. A friend remembers her, giving thanks for her testimony

Testimonial · Family

A Paradise Gone Wrong

A Fede e Luce volunteer reflects on eight years returning to a nursing home in Sighet, Romania—and what it taught her about dignity, disability, and the fragility of meaning.

Testimonial · Spirituality

To My Daughter

I want to remember your smile—the one that would break across your face whenever the illness gave you a moment's peace.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

When My Disabled Child Lights Up: Parents Speak

How awareness of struggle need not eclipse the joy. Which is real. Always.

Testimonial · Family

This Christmas, Alberto Will Be with Family—But Not with Us

Describing what we felt when we learned that Alberto had been accepted into a group home should have been simple. It wasn't.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

A Child to Know

I remember her story well: born too soon, months in an incubator, endless hospital visits, and eyes that cannot even see shadows.

Testimonial · Spirituality

Being Present to the Dying

Dr. Marie-Sylvie Richard, a Xaverian sister and director of a palliative care center, reflects on her lived experience alongside the dying

Testimonial · Spirituality

A Weakened Church in Its Head: Source and Sign of God's Presence

I returned with three scenes carved into my heart. The days I spent there will remain in my heart until my last moment on earth.

Testimonial · Family

Benedetta Changed Me

She came home after spending her first fifty days in the hospital. Not everything has been fixed, and not everything can be fixed. But that's more than fine.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

A Perfectly Terrible Faith and Light Camping Trip

Spring has arrived—and with it, the pressing question: Will there be a camp this year? Where? When do we leave?

Testimonial · Spirituality

A Mother's Letter to the Bishops

The faith community is called to welcome disability and offer a shared response to the mystery of suffering and exclusion

Testimonial · Spirituality

A Mass Without Dignity

From the altar, irritated, embarrassed, and pitying glances fell upon us—revealing how hard it is for people to welcome those who are different

Testimonial · Faith and Light

It Was Hard Because I Kept Thinking of Him

Giulio speaks about his father, shortly after his death

Testimonial · Faith and Light

A Nativity Scene at Fede e Luce

Someone has argued that non-believers have no place at Fede e Luce. I see it differently.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Marahba! Kiffak? — Hello! How Are You? Faith and Light in Beirut

Valentina recounts her experience at a Faith and Light training week in Beirut—amid fears, joys, and many surprises

Testimonial · Faith and Light

A Letter to Mariangela and So Many Others

I am trying, gathering the pieces, to discover God's design for my life. While you live from day to day, you dare not look at the whole picture. That is what I am doing now.

Testimonial · Family

Love and Disability: Veronica and Alessandro Get Married

Parents and friends speak about accompanying them and supporting them in this difficult choice

Testimonial · Education

Love and Disability: Don't I Have the Right to Love?

Anna talks often about marriage. She watches her brothers and sisters. A mother's struggles

Testimonial · Education

Love and Disability: Prey

Cristiano struggles with mental illness and is vulnerable in matters of intimacy and sexuality. His difficult path to recovery.

Testimonial · Family

Marriage Between Dream and Reality

In a sheltered workshop, Alain witnesses the growing love between Pascal and Nathalie. Here he tells their hopes for the future.

Testimonial · Education

Love and Loneliness: The Price of Independence

Girolamo's mild disability hasn't stopped him from living on his own and holding down a job. He has plenty of friends, yet he comes home to an empty apartment. His daily struggle.

Testimonial · Family

We Celebrate the Birth of a Child — Parents of Children with Disabilities

Christmas Every Day

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Siblings of Children with Disabilities: What Do They Think? What Do They Feel?

The brothers and sisters of children with disabilities don't have an easy life. They don't experience a carefree childhood—and that shapes every phase of their lives.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

The Santa Silvia Bus

Filippo has led the Santa Silvia community for over a year. His testimony

Testimonial · Faith and Light

How Can I Answer You, Alberto?

The hard things we live and struggle to say

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Everyone Gets a Medal

Building Bonds and Responsibility

Testimonial · Faith and Light

We Picked the Olives

A working holiday in a human and humanizing place

Testimonial · Faith and Light

I Get Along with Everyone

I've been part of a Faith and Light community since 1996

Testimonial · Faith and Light

I'll Come After Mass

At Faith and Light, even just for the light

Testimonial · Faith and Light

A Path Toward the Person

Antonella shares her experience leading a Faith and Light community

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Irene, Laura, Gabriele—A Growing Experience

Bringing my three children to Faith and Light felt natural, a way to share with them the peaceful and joyful moments of community life.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Why I Bring My Children to Fede e Luce

But Different Needs Must Remain Clear

Testimonial · Faith and Light

What Six-Year-Old Dario Understands About Faith and Light

He shrugs the way he does when he means yes but doesn't want to show too much eagerness—or let on that he's a little scared. Ready? Let's go.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

What Enchants Me When I Bring My Children to Fede e Luce

They belong in the world, and when they come, I find myself spellbound by how they observe some of the young people there—as if standing before a mystery.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

A School of Life — Not Always Easy

My marriage began in Fede e Luce, and it was natural for our children to grow up in our community

Testimonial · Family

A Letter from a Mother in Molise

To mothers of nonverbal disabled children: this is where my rage and pain meet

Testimonial · Spirituality

Just a Line

For months now, I have carried a particular concern for parents. For the parents in Fede e Luce, but also for all parents who suddenly realize their child will not grow up like other children.

Testimonial · Family

How Does a Mother Do It?

Fatima is two years old, perfectly intelligent, and alive because of a respirator, an oxygen tank, and a feeding tube that delivers food directly to her stomach.

Testimonial · Family

What to "Do" With Them? — Casa del Sole and the Solidarity Center

Two accounts from Casa del Sole, a special school for disabled youth, and the Solidarity Center, which serves the most severely impaired children—those with cerebral palsy and often multiple handicaps

Testimonial · Family

Friends. Always.

Cristina reflects on her friendship with Andrea and Silvia's family—two siblings with profound disabilities—and the bond that endured across a decade.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Encounters

We rarely notice it, but often what transforms our lives is not events—it's the people we meet.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Christmas in My Heart

Written years ago by Camille Proffit, mother of two severely disabled children, who together with her husband Gerard, supported by Jean Vanier and Marie Hélène Mathieu, founded the international movement Faith and Light.

Testimonial · Family

My Life Is Finding Its Shape and Color Again

To understand depression more deeply—what it feels like, how to support someone who suffers from it, and to offer what help we can—we share the testimony of a friend.

Testimonial · Family

Children Behind Bars: The Work of "A Roma insieme"

A day spent with the children of incarcerated mothers at a Roman prison

Testimonial · Family

And Then What? A Question About Life After Parents

I wrestle with a question that darkens my heart and I cannot answer: what becomes of these young people when both their parents are gone?

Testimonial · Family

My Parents Were Right

Maria Agnese, the oldest of five siblings, is 36 years old and has Down syndrome. For the past 11 years, she has lived in a group home and works in a nursing facility, where she handles errands and takes photographs.

Testimonial · Family

Understanding Williams Syndrome

You've asked us about Williams syndrome. Here's a brief explanation, along with a mother's account of her family's experience.

Testimonial · Family

Four of Us: The "Il Roveto" Community

Maria Grazia, Maria Francesca, Laura, and Nunzia tell the story of their long and difficult journey toward a small miracle

Testimonial · Family

My Little Princes

"That summer camp was the beginning of a new path of growth," Claudia writes, reflecting on her experience as a volunteer

Testimonial · Family

My Friend Carlo

Carlo is a dear friend to me. The greatest gift he's taught me is loyalty—which at Fede e Luce is truly everything. Thank you, Carlo.

Testimonial · Family

That Precious Third Age

Reading Arturo Paoli's letter stirred in us a desire to reflect, for once, on growing old. We do so using texts sent by our readers or published in journals close to our mission.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Uncle Giorgio

Uncle Giorgio came in August to spend a few days with us, in the family house where he grew up.

Testimonial · Family

Keeping Youth Alive in My Heart

For years, the limits and suffering that came with my disability pushed me forward.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

How to Separate a Wave from the Sea

My friendship with people who are disabled, and my life as an adult

Testimonial · Family

The Weapon That Won Me Over

It feels like yesterday when my husband and I first realized our daughter, barely two months old, had something terribly wrong...

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Those Hours Changed Me

My time with Faith and Light was truly a season of living—of faces, of joy—held carefully in the heart and visited often by memory, a place to greet friends who shaped me.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

They Opened My Eyes

A friend invited me to spend a different kind of vacation with disabled children and their families. It was an experience that changed everything.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Silent Vigils in the Night

Yvette's encounter with Faith and Light: "I continue my journey transformed by that priceless gift"

Testimonial · Family

Two Callings

Some have only one wing, battered and scarred, yet with that single broken wing they reach out to their brothers and sisters — often more capably than those blessed with two. They know how to work their damaged wing among the rocks of life.

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Scouts at Lourdes

Hospital service taught me that the most important thing in the world is helping others who need us.

Testimonial · Family

They Welcomed Us with Joy—One Family's Adoption Story

What I discovered on a journey to India

Testimonial · Family

Healers or Magicians?

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Everything Is Possible — A Letter from Chiara

Dear brothers and sisters of Fede e Luce, I am Chiara, writing to you from my hospital room, looking out a window onto a world I will have to face, with courage, sooner or later.

Testimonial · Family

Emergency in a Bottle

A mother shares her experience with this homeopathic remedy—a blend of five flowers with calming effects. It doesn't replace the therapies children need, but it's strong support.

Testimonial · Family

"We Are Grateful for This" — The Story of Gianni's Parents

He never called them Mom and Dad, never spoke a tender word to them. Yet Valeria and Giulio gave him their entire lives.

Testimonial · Family

Just Like Any Other Family

Testimonial · Family

A Serious Accident

Testimonial · Family

My Father Is Blind

Testimonial · School

Out of the Corner

Testimonial · Culture

Each in Our Own Way

Testimonial · Family

Benedetta: A Sister's Portrait

Testimonial · Culture

Alessandra's Choice

Testimonial · Family

Dear Sisters and Brothers

Testimonial · Family

Swinging Between Love and Hate

Testimonial · Family

When Love Was Missing

Testimonial · Spirituality

The Gaze of Others

Testimonial · Family

Alone in Suffering

Testimonial · Spirituality

You're Finally Here

Testimonial · Family

Why Don't You Understand Me?

Testimonial · Family

She Taught Me to Love

Testimonial · Family

What My Sister's Disability Asks of Our Friendship

Testimonial · Spirituality

Our Journey

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Godparent to Mario

Testimonial · Projects

A Year Gained at the Carro

Testimonial · Family

Emotional Distress Demands Understanding

Testimonial · Family

A Family Conversation Worth Reading

Pablo’s Family Shares Their Story

Testimonial · Spirituality

Faith Is an Encounter

Testimonial · Faith and Light

We Did It

Testimonial · Family

"Do Not Be Afraid—It Is I Who Guide You"

Testimonial · Family

Alessia

Testimonial · Spirituality

I Feared No One Would Accept Me as a Catechist

Testimonial · Spirituality

Flaminia's First Communion Changed Us All

Testimonial · Spirituality

Maria, My Goddaughter

Testimonial · Spirituality

Being a Godfather Changed His Life

Testimonial · Faith and Light

"I Couldn't Become a Sister Because I Couldn't Read"

Testimonial · Spirituality

A Window Opens in Our Lives

Testimonial · Faith and Light

How to Be a Friend

Testimonial · Family

Giacomo

Testimonial · Family

Viviana

Testimonial · Family

Now Manuela Can

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Mary of Solitude

Testimonial · Spirituality

Hope in Everyday Life: Raising Our Son with Myopathy

Testimonial · Family

What Kind of Life Is This? Six Mothers Speak Out

Testimonial · Work

Better Tired Than Bored

Testimonial · Work

Sergio Is a Good Gardener

Testimonial · Work

Always There

Testimonial · Faith and Light

What Our Children Needed

Testimonial · Family

I Am a Mother Like You

Testimonial · Family

I Am Not Alone

Testimonial · Family

Surrender or Act?

Antonio's story, told by his father Giuseppe: spasticity following a fever, commitment to AIAS, and the steps toward rebirth

Testimonial · Family

"And Here I Am..."

Paolo, living with spastic athetosis, describes his everyday life—introduced by Patrizia, one of his home care assistants

Testimonial · Family

A Letter of Hope to Parents

Marco's invitation to optimism for mothers and fathers of children with disabilities

Testimonial · Faith and Light

My Life: What Fulfills Me, What I Want

Francesco has had spasticity since birth, a condition that worsened over the years. Now approaching forty, he shares what has given him satisfaction—and what he still desires.

Testimonial · Family

I Felt My Responsibility Growing

Love and duty toward a sister with disability: beyond obligation, a free choice—in the words of Paola

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Eating Together

Testimonial · Spirituality

The Child Who Won't Eat

Testimonial · Family

Francesca at the Table: Ritual and Adventure

Testimonial · Spirituality

Where Else but in the Church?

Testimonial · Family

One Child, One Year, One Family

Testimonial · Health

It's Not Always Easy Being a Sister

Testimonial · Culture

The Story of Angelica

Testimonial · School

From Silence to Speech

Testimonial · Family

Dining with a Deaf Person

Testimonial · Family

My Brother and Sister Are Deaf

Testimonial · Health

Helping Him Become a Man

Testimonial · Faith and Light

In the Warmth of Simple Love

Testimonial · Family

So Are We Going?

Testimonial · Faith and Light

So Many Beautiful Things

Testimonial · Faith and Light

I Want to Show You a Path

Testimonial · Faith and Light

They Kept Staring

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Fede e Luce: A Journey Together

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Fede e Luce, Issue 23

Testimonial · Family

Saverio, Our Brother

Testimonial · Family

She Was My Mother—and Someone Else Entirely

Testimonial · Family

Small Acts, a Whole Life

Testimonial · Family

I Cannot See God's Wonders, but I Sing Them

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Why I Helped

Testimonial · Family

A Celebration at Home, With Him

These are his happiest days—and ours too, really, because we're all together.

Testimonial · Family

Uncle Jurgens

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Now That I Am Alone... I Am No Longer Alone

Testimonial · Family

The Gift of Daniela

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Holding the Smallest Ones Closer

Testimonial · Health

Epilepsy's Invisible Mark

Testimonial · Family

Epilepsy in the Family and at School

Testimonial · Family

Voices of Sisters and Brothers

Testimonial · Family

Slowly, I Realized Sergio Was Different

Testimonial · Family

Not Just All Year, But All These Years

Testimonial · Family

But Then He Gives Me His Precious Smile

Testimonial · Family

Why I Stayed

Testimonial · Family

My Brother Was Handicapped

Testimonial · Family

I Chose My Brother

Testimonial · Family

But After We Meet, They Disappear

Testimonial · Family

She Was Our Consolation

Testimonial · Family

He Was Always Turned Away

Testimonial · Family

My Son, I Don't Think I Can Take You to Church Like This

Testimonial · Health

The Law on Integration

Testimonial · Health

"Rehabilitation Should Happen in Schools"—But the Girl Isn't Allowed in Class

Testimonial · Family

"She Doesn't Come In"

Testimonial · Projects

Climbing Mount Méta With Them

Testimonial · Culture

Stop and Listen to Us

Testimonial · Faith and Light

And I Stayed

Testimonial · Family

The Loneliness of Parents

Testimonial · Faith and Light

The Clear Sky Returns

Testimonial · Family

A Problem I Don't Know How to Solve

Testimonial · Family

Will You Be My Friend?

On the hunger for true friendship beyond care work: self-sufficient young people at Fede e Luce seek authentic relationships that transcend group meetings

Testimonial · Education

Say Hello to Your Teacher

A young trainee's delicate path through nursery school: the story of Agnese and her parents, navigating difficulty and small joys on the road to social belonging

Testimonial · Education

What Comes Next?

A mother's worries about her adult son's future work and independence. One family's testimony on the dignity of labor and the power of inclusion.

Testimonial · Family

Uncomfortable Conversations, Real Friendships

From a chance meeting on the bus to the harder questions about life: two stories of friendship across difference

Testimonial · Projects

I Found Work at a Pharmaceutical Company

One woman's journey from special school to employment—a testimony to the power of love and belonging in the Fede e Luce community.

Testimonial · Family

Teresa: Twenty Years of Changing Attitudes Toward Disability

A young woman with Down syndrome traces two decades of progress in education, community life, and social inclusion

Testimonial · Spirituality

A Birthday at a Friend's Bedside

A touching reflection on life and faith told through an extraordinary birthday: an encounter with Aldo, bedridden for a decade, reveals the mystery of divine love and the worth of every human existence.

Testimonial · Projects

Brick by Brick

A meditation on friendship and community in L'Arche: from summer camps to the dream of welcoming homes, a shared journey shaped by love for the most vulnerable

Testimonial · Family

Caring for Profoundly Disabled Adults: Voices and Testimonies

We have gathered various accounts from those who face the challenges and difficulties of caring for an adult with a disability

Testimonial · Family

My Brother Marco

Andrea, 14, shares what it means to grow up with a severely disabled brother—and how daily struggles become lessons in unconditional love

Testimonial · Family

An Antidote to Despair

The story of Massimo, a seventeen-year-old with severe disabilities, whose profound attraction to the Church reveals a spirituality pure and authentic, teaching his parents a new path toward serenity and hope

Testimonial · Family

We Live an Ordinary Life

Testimonial · Family

It Is Not So Simple: Being the Mother of a Child with Mild Disability

I am deeply convinced that my daughter has given me far more than I will ever be able to give her

Testimonial · Spirituality

He Left Home for the First Time

Testimonial · Faith and Light

She Has a World of Her Own Now

Testimonial · Projects

On Holiday, Everything Became a Game

Testimonial · Spirituality

She's in Fourth Grade Now — and She's Still One of Us

Testimonial · Family

He Welcomed Me in the Tent

Testimonial · Faith and Light

How to Fit a Dozen Years Into Four Lines?

Testimonial · Family

Seven Voices: Parents and Friends of Profoundly Handicapped Children

Testimonial · Faith and Light

The Forestière: Living in Community with the Most Profoundly Disabled

Testimonial · Faith and Light

A Lesson in Love: The Llanelli-South Wales Gathering of Faith and Light

Olga Gammarelli recounts her experience at the latest international meeting of Faith and Light

Testimonial · Leisure

A Month at L'Arche, 1978

Testimonial · Leisure

I Volunteered in Brussels

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Katimavik: A Meeting Place

Testimonial · Family

Two Stories About Cristina

Testimonial · Faith and Light

A Mother's Joy: Massimo's First Communion

Testimonial · Family

A Handicapped Woman's Song of Life

Marisa's Testimony, Parma, May 4, 1977, at the Church of the Steccata, a celebration of life

Testimonial · Spirituality

Where Do I Find Such Love?

Angela's testimony: a mother's struggle to speak her grief

Testimonial · Health

Xavier: Mine, Ours, a New Friend!

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Experiences: An Extraordinary Weekend

Three days of Faith and Light at Marzocca: friendship, joy and simplicity

Testimonial · Spirituality

I Feel in Crisis

This is what I feel, sometimes, during our Faith and Light meetings

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Friday Gatherings

Two accounts from a mother and a friend of Fede e Luce

Testimonial · Faith and Light

Me and My Brother

Patrizia, 13, tells us about her twin, school, and her first time at a Faith and Light gathering

Testimonial · Family

I Believe in Friendship

Pina tells her story, and what the love of her closest friends has meant to her