Over 40 participants took part, between late March and early April, in an immersive experience at the little town to explore, across different cultures and generations, how peace is lived, built and spread, starting with one’s own environment.
By Paolo Lòriga
“How do you experience peace in your everyday life?”, they asked everyone they met in Loppiano. “Many answers were similar, but there was always something original. However, no answer was immediate, because people wanted to reflect a little. This struck us deeply.” They will probably become journalists when they grow up. They have a passion for understanding and a desire to communicate. Beatrice is 12 and from Graz, Felicitas is 10 and from Salzburg; it was their first time in Loppiano. They speak Italian very well because one of each girl’s parents comes from Italy.
Their specific task was to write a Peace Diary for each day spent in Loppiano, which they embellished with colourful drawings. They were part of a group of 42 people, comprising 20 Gen 3, 12 Gen 2 and 10 accompanying adults. They set off from Austria and, to a lesser extent, from southern Germany. They arrived on Saturday 28 March and left on Wednesday 1 April, making the most of the Palm Sunday weekend. Peace was the theme of their trip. They wanted to explore such a topical theme with the aim of becoming ambassadors for it, all the more so as two members of the group were from Ukraine.
“Even your landscape and the beautiful shrine helped us to grasp the harmony on which peace is based,” explained Beatrice and Felicitas. They also appreciated the workshop on fraternity and the one on peace, which kept the group, divided into four groups, engaged throughout their stay in Loppiano. The Gospel motto on the Golden Rule guided them at the start of the day and during the evening review. “We really enjoyed the meetings with the Gen Schools and the Youth Project, the dinner in the Focolares with the excellent food, the exhibition of musical instruments and the meetings with the artists, including Gen Verde.” The two of them are really enthusiastic. And in their diary they have recorded every lesson learnt. The title of the diary, “Leben für den Frieden” (Living for Peace) leaves no room for doubt, as they explain: “This is our little treasure to share with the whole group, and we want to share its contents with those who stayed at home so that we can build peace together.”
Valentina, 23, from Vienna, is a Gen 2 member of the group. She designs and makes furniture for a specialist firm. She attended the Gen School during the difficult Covid period of 2020–2021. “It’s lovely to be back in Loppiano,” she said, “I very quickly felt at home. I was struck by so many moments and encounters, which sparked deep questions in me about living with trust, faith and hope.” And she takes away a telling detail: “I saw a special light in the eyes of the Gen 3 as they discovered life in Loppiano.”
The young people also visited Sophia to learn how the university educates students on the themes of peace and dialogue among peoples, cultures, and religious faiths. Martin, 23, is a manager at a transportation company. He participated in the Youth Project in 2023, and returning there “made him feel a little nostalgic, because it feels like home.”
He explains: “I met new generations of young people; I noticed that the premises had moved, but the spiritual and cultural context remains profound, and the whole programme—from the meetings to the visits—helped me deepen my awareness of living for unity and building peace every day.” So a small group of Gen 2 wants to return to experience the May Day event in Loppiano.
At the end of their stay in Loppiano, the teenagers and young people found themselves in agreement both in their state of mind – “We’re sorry to leave” – and in their resolve – “We’ll be back again next year”. In the meantime, they will have sown the seeds of peace with their disarming conviction.
