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THE ECONOMY OF COMMUNION• A NEW CULTUREYear XIII • n.1 • September2007 • Four-monthly cul-tural periodical • 4 europer copy • Authorisationfrom the Civil Tribunal ofRome n.83 dated 18-2 •45% postal subscriptiondespatch, art.2 paragraph20/b law 662/96 - PadovaEditor: Città NuovaPublishing house forP.A.M.OM.Managing Director:Alberto FerrucciManagement andAdministration:via degli Scipioni, 256 •00192 RomaPrinter:Grafiche Fassicomo Coop. Sociale a.r.l.via Imperiale, 4116143 Genova

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The Economy of Communiona n e w c u l t u r e

Table of Contents

The Economy of Communiona new cultureYear XII • n.26 • September 2007 Four-monthly cultural periodical4 euro per copy

Editor:Città Nuova Publishing house for P.A.M.OM.

Managing Director:Alberto Ferruccifax: 010/581451

Management and Administration:via degli Scipioni, 256 00192 Romatel. 06/3216212

Editorial Office:Umanità Nuovavia Valle della Noce, 16/600046 Grottaferrata (Roma)

Printer:Grafiche Fassicomo Coop. Sociale a r.l.via Imperiale, 4116143 Genovae-mail: [email protected]

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Authorisation from the Civil Tribunal ofRome n.83 dated 18-245% postal subscription despatch, art.2paragraph 20/b law 662/96 - Padova

A Human Cathedral Alberto Ferrucci

The message from Chiara to theGinetta Industrial Park

Chiara Lubich

The Inauguration of the IndustrialPark Ginetta

Ana Lucia BandeiraIvanaldo Ferreira de Araujo

The Civic and Economic meaning of Charisms

Luigino Bruni

Messages from and to Latouche Benedetto Gui

New Humanity at the UN Agnes Bernard

Statement of accounts of EoC business profits

Luigino Bruni

From poverty to entrepreneurship Ana Lucia Bandeira

2007 Convention and Exposition of the EoC in Brazil

Angela Pelizzon Garcia

The workers share Darlene Bonfin

The birth of the Amazon Industrial Park Doris Vidal e Mario Feio

The mystic of the EoC Industrial Parks Rodolfo Leibholtz

Health: a failure of the marketLuca Crivelli

The 12 new dissertations Antonella Ferrucci

The new EoC Video Margaret Coen

Letters to the editor Alberto Ferrucci

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Visiting Strasburg, one of the most ancientcities of Europe, one is surprised to see theimposing bell towers of the Cathedral rise outfrom the narrow streets of the historical citycenter. Engineers today look with admirationupon the spires which have existed for centu-ries though built only from stone blocks andwood bonded by mortar.After many centuries the spires still reach onhigh, built on a foundation in which each stonehas been laid in a perfect arrangement basedon its size and weight. In this way each stonesupports and completes the others so that theyrise together into the sky.

The history of the cathedrals built by our ance-stors frequently spans many generations andeach of which may have encountered collapsesand fires. Every time new master masons weresought who had demonstrated their ability tobuild lasting cathedrals and the constructionwould resume.Looking further into the history of Cathedrals itis apparent that our ancestors willingly spentlarge amounts of their available budget toobtain suitable construction material such asstone from far away quarries. They consideredmore important to use their time and money toacquire superior building materials and expertcraftsmen, rather then seeking comforts forthemselves and their families. The soaring spi-res witnessed their desire to sublimate the suf-fering of this world offering it on high to God.

In this issue we introduce the beginning of theIndustrial Park Francois Neveux near the littlecity of Mariapolis Gloria of Belen serving theAmazon and North Brazil and the inaugurationof the Ginetta Calliari Industrial Park near thelittle city of Santa Maria serving the North-Eastof Brazil.Twelve years ago Ginetta initiated constructionof the first EoC Brazilian Industrial Park nearSan Paolo. She affirmed, with the surety of thesaints, that it would have a place in the newheaven and new earth because it was built outof love.While the flags of Brazil, the State of Parana`and the Focolare Movement were being raised,Ginetta’s same words were on our lips at theinauguration of the new Industrial Park namedafter her.Thus an additional cornerstone was laid in thefoundation of a new type of Cathedral that isbeing built throughout the world.This Cathedral expresses that beyond the aspi-rations of human beings towards the divine,there is the desire that the divine may operateon earth amongst the people, among the least,

so that they will not be the least and they willnot be alone.It is a human Cathedral whose people are notcapable of performing miracles, but who madethe decision to put into practice the newCommandment of Jesus of mutual love. In thisway His plan for creation of universal brother-hood is brought back to earth.Together they were able to do miracles. Manywere able to do so as did those who welcomed,recognized and placed into action the gifts ofGod, the Charisms sent into the world to makethe human family more human.

It is a cathedral made, instead of stone, withpositive and open relationships, also in the eco-nomic field. This is so that not everything in theeconomy is left to the exchange of goods andservices, as is typical of the market. This leavesspace and opportunity for gratuitousness andreciprocity, to prove to the world that a frater-nal economy, where there is respect for othersand commitment to grow together, is possible.This is an economy that can show that a futureecologically and socially sustainable is not anutopia. It is possible thanks also to the gift ofGod for the third millennium.Becoming man and dying on the cross Jesusalready made healthy all the wounds inflictedby us on his plan for humanity. He made us bro-thers and sisters and today He invites us con-cretely to act, with our humanity, as He wouldact if He were here visible in the flesh with us.

It is our task as entrepreneurs and workers toshow with facts how to structure our busines-ses to create goods and services that are lovefor others. Moreover we give our profits toshare and jobs for those who have none. In thisway we will give back to our brothers andsisters in misery the possibility to overcometheir situation and regain their dignity andworth in their community.The outcomes of these Industrial Parks won’tbe limited to the enterprises’ invoices, theirnew jobs or their shared profits. The mostimportant result will be to be able to offer toinstitutions and private, public and politicalentities examples of viable avenues to developthe new laws for harmonious communities.

My wish to all those who are dedicated to theseIndustrial Parks, is to aim high. Always remem-ber that beyond both the successes and diffi-culties that the economic science manages tomeasure with its tools, they are building theCathedral of the Divine in the midst of men.

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Alberto Ferrucci

A human Cathedral The Economy of Communion a new culture

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Messaggio al Polo Ginetta

Dear Entrepreneurs,

in this day when we are cele-brating the beginning of the Business Park Ginetta, I sharewith you your joy and I thank God with you. He provided Hisprovidence, even in the midst of difficulties, so that this pro-ject could be initiated. It is one of the concrete expressions ofthe EoC which was born in Brazil, from that Ideal of unity, ofsharing, of universal brotherhood, typical of the FocolareMovement.

God, who is Love, helps us to carry forward anEconomy of Communion based on a culture of giving, diffe-rently from the consumerist economy based on a culture ofhaving. Our Economy of Communion works for the commongood, especially for the most indigent.

Keep going forward dearest, in your precious effort,setting in motion all the creative abilities God has given you.Remember however that they will be constructive and effi-cient if they will conform to His design. Jesus, present in yourmidst, thanks to your mutual love, will show you the way.I ask for Mary’s protection and also Ginetta’s so that yourBusiness Park may be a luminous sign for many and I assureyou of my spiritual presence.

Chiara Lubich

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Inauguration of the Productive Park“Ginetta Calliari”

On the 18th of August 2007,after five years of intense work,on the occasion of the RegionalConvention of the Economy ofCommunion, we inaugurated,in the City Hall of Igarassu, a cityof the metropolitan area ofRecife in the State of Pernam-buco, the Productive Park of theEoC named after Ginetta Calliari.It is located three kilometersfrom the little city of theFocolare Movement called San-ta Maria. It is built on a piece ofland eight hectares in size,where there is room for 10 busi-nesses with three hundred directjobs. It offers a real hope for thesurrounding area that suffersfrom widespread indigence.

The EoC Regional Convention The EoC Convention was heldover two days and had 300attendees among whom wereentrepreneurs from theSpartaco Industrial Park of SanPaulo and scholars fromvarious parts of Brazil. AlbertoFerrucci delivered the keynoteaddress titled: the Civil andeconomic meaning of theProductive Parks of the EoCwhile Rodolfo Leibholz delive-red a talk on “Walking theEconomic Path with Courage”Several entrepreneurs gavetheir testimonials, amongwhich there was the very mea-ningful experience of Arman-do and Roselì Tortelli. They hadpreviously shared their EoCexperience with their two sonsin their native town of Curitibain the South of Brazil and at

the Spartaco Industrial Park.They also announced theirdecision to start together withthe local entrepreneur MarcosGugel, in one of the buildingsjust finished in the GinettaProductive Park, a branch ofthe “Licitar Farmaceutica”, abusiness in their sector ofpharmaceutical distribution.From their words it wasobvious that, as when they

had started a new business inthe Spartaco Industrial Park,their decision was not comingfrom an economic base butfrom their desire to contributeto the expansion of theEconomy of Communion.Armando was also highli-ghting how that decision wasnot contrary to economic para-meters as the performance oftheir business in the Spartaco

Industrial Park demonstrates.Their enterprise is making 50% of the total sales of thewhole Business Park.

The Inauguration of the Ginetta Productive ParkIn the presence of the mayor ofIgarassu, an officer of the Stateof Pernambuco, Doctor AmaroLins, chancellor of the FederalUniversity and Senator Marcos

Maciel, former vice-president ofBrazil, two Bishops blessed thefirst productive structures in thePark. Also in attendance wereover five hundred persons whohad come there even from thefarthest areas of Brazil.Two weeks of continuous rainhad successfully tested the drai-nage and road structures of thePark. At the moment of theinauguration, behind the indu-

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strial buildings, a rainbow wasshining in the sky and the sunbegan to shine: many saw inthis a visible sign of the Love ofGod for this project. The atmo-sphere was of supernatural joy,hope and certainty in the tran-sforming power of the Charism.The ceremony began with thesolemn raising of the three flagsrepresenting Brazil, the State ofPernambuco and the Maria-polis. The Brazilian NationalAnthem was played by the stu-dents of the Santa MariaSchool. This school trains andforms young people in the spiritof communion and universalbrotherhood within the Maria-polis. It was a true civil and poli-tical moment, on the waytowards a new economy, basedon freedom, communion andequality.It was also an historical moment.

Every body was moved by thegreat importance of the event. Adream was coming true!

To symbolize the future, theyoungest child of one of thetwo entrepreneurs of the firstbusiness was chosen to cut theribbon officially opening theIndustrial Park. A video in honorof Ginetta Calliari, who for 42years spread the ideal of Unityall over Brazil, was then shown.She was also the first to takeconcrete action on behalf of theEoC project. The Church nowproposes her beatification.Several speeches traced thehistory of the Park highlightingthe continuous presence of theDivine Providence. They spokeabout the purchase of the land,the incorporation in 2002 of themanaging company, the coura-ge of the early stock brokers

who contributed their moneymany times with great sacrifice.One example was that of an 8year old girl who sent a brief let-ter with some money which shehad saved from not having herafternoon snack in order “to buyone stock of the Park”.In her speech, Socorro Sobral,director of the Park’s company,said: “This is a special momentthat became true because webelieved in this project whichhas its roots in Heaven. Everybrick placed in this location has ahistory of dedication and faith.”Alberto Ferrucci in his Keynoteaddress said that this Producti-ve Park could be compared to acathedral built as a sign of aneternity that we are living here.He went on to explain that onlyfor people who live the mutuallove of the Gospel is it possible“to build cathedrals, not made of

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stones, but of open and positiverelationships even in the econo-mic field. Not everything shouldbe treated as an exchange ofgoods and of services in the mar-ketplace, but there should alsobe room for gratuitousness andreciprocity”.Then the two Directors of thelittle city Santa Maria read themessage from Chiara to theaudience who listened to everyword in profound silence. Hermessage was addressed to theentrepreneurs who are buildingthe Ginetta Productive Park (seepage…). Her prophetic words,with her invitation to live com-munion and universal fraterni-ty, raised the souls of the entre-preneurs, scholars, politiciansand everyone else present up toheaven and enabled them toenvision broader possibilitiesfor humanity. Finally, before

starting the celebrations, theyuncovered a memorial tablet(plaque) with some of Chiara’swords from her message.Doctor Amaro Lins commented:“One of the most remarkableaspects of the birth of thisProductive Park is that it canoffer entrepreneurs an exampleof respect both for the environ-ment and also for the integrityof the person, giving the samevalue to everyone. Everyone is anactor in this project that is chan-ging the current vision of theemployer and of the employee inwhich the profit goes to theemployer and the burden of car-rying the business forwardbelongs to the employee”.According to Senator MarcosMaciel, ”the Park is important,first, because it creates jobs and itimproves the economy. As a con-sequence it helps to expand the


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processes for social change andto create a more just society. It isa new experience not only basedon profits but also on the pursuitof the common good. It is anexperience that operates accor-ding to evangelical principles toseek not only material goods, butto create as well the conditionsfor a more human, more integra-ted society and above all onewith less inequalities”.One of the people who wasthere said: “I felt the responsibili-ty and the desire to be a stone inthe construction of this greatproject of God”.We entrust in the hands of ourLady of the Aparecida the futureof this project, asking her forhelp to carry it forward withlove and trust, for the glory ofgod and so that the Ginettapark “may be a luminous signfor many”.

The Civic and Economic meaning of Charisms1

1. Different eyesThe moment has arrived toamend the economic and civichistory of nations taking intoaccount the civic and econo-mic role of the Charisms. It isnot possible in fact to under-stand in depth the history andtoday’s reality of the economyof Europe and beyond, withouttaking Charisms seriously.The manifestation of the Cha-risms is vast and powerful, itcovers and permeates the world.It is like the blood that flows inour veins: we do not see it but itgives life. Religions are privile-ged places in which Charismsbloom because they find there aparticularly fertile ground. Theirmanifestation, however, goeswell beyond the visible bordersof religions: it is the most secularthing you can imagine.Looking only at the recentEconomic realm let us thinkhow much effort it would taketo write even a small piece ofthe Charismatic history of hu-manity. Just consider all themen and women who devotedthemselves to give life to theUnion Movement, to the coops,to Savings and Loans, to CreditUnions, that even today conti-nue to transform problems intoresources and opportunitiesthanks to the different eyesthrough which they view theworld.The history of humanity, inclu-ding our economic and socialhistory, is also the fruit ofthese Charisms. The charisma-tic economy is therefore a co-essential dimension of civiclife without which we are una-ble to understand much ofreality.If the founders of orders andsocial congregations, between1500 and 1800, for example,had not been governed bytheir Charisms, the history ofthe European Welfare statewould have been very diffe-rent. The hospitals and thehealth care system, schoolsand education, the treatment

of the disadvantaged, werewithout doubt the fruits ofpublic policies and institu-tions. Of no less importance intheir creation was the manife-station of the Charisms thatlead the way and openedthese frontiers.Who can deny for example theinfluence that Vincent de Paulin the 1500s had on Europeansocial culture? He started inFrance an extensive system tohelp many marginalized people.Poverty is the realm in whichthe Charisms have always ope-rated to find new solutions.But a premise is needed here.We have to be careful whenwe speak about poverty. Thereis in fact poverty and poverty.Not all forms of poverty areinhumane: it is a wound but, itbecomes a beatitude when itis chosen out of love forothers. The word poverty con-jures up a spectrum of reac-tions: from the tragedy of thehave-nots (because of othersor events), to the beatitude ofthose who freely choosepoverty in order to liberateothers from the misery theyhave not chosen. What elsewould drive this profoundsense of action by tens ofthousands of missionarieswho work in disadvantagedcountries?My personal experience hasconvinced me that no form ofpoverty can be resolved with-out loving it: only those whocan see beauty in poverty arecapable of setting the poorfree. Without Charisms onecan never escape from thetraps of poverty: institutionsare not sufficient, even if theyare co-essential.Let’s examine the followingexamples.The city of Assisi saw the pooronly as the refuse of society.Francis saw in them the “Ma-donna of Poverty”, somethingso beautiful, that it broughthim to choose it as his Ideal.Those who followed and still

follow him also chose thissame Ideal. Portuguese andSpanish royalty saw the nati-ves of Paraguay as the animalsof the jungle, without a soul.The Charism of Ignatius ofLoyola was able to see in thesepopulations something ”moreand different”. He was able tointroduce this prophetic expe-rience of civilization and en-culturation known as the“reductiones” in the 17th and18th centuries, a form of socialeconomy never seen before.Luisa de Marillac, St. Francesde Sales, St.Joan of Chantaland then St. Bosco, Scalabrini,Cottolengo, Fr. Calabria, Fr. Mi-lani were given the vision tosee something great and beau-tiful in the poor, the shameful,the derelicts, the street children,the immigrants, the sick, eventhe deformed. Attracted andinspired by these Charisms, theyalong with hundreds of thou-sands of followers were willingto dedicate their lives to thesepeople.Today we can find, if we are wil-ling to see it, multitudes of peo-ple, carriers of Charisms, whoare still forming social coops,NGOs, schools, hospitals, banks,unions and who fight for thedenied rights of others, of chil-dren, of animals, of the environ-ment, because they see “some-thing more and different” thatothers do not see.If it is true that in the presenttime, some fronts show a radi-cal tendency to individualismand to both spiritual and idealimpoverishment, it is equallytrue that never before have weseen a flowering of Charismsfor the thousands of battlesfor liberty and civilization.These are people of all kinds,but all possessing the capacityto confront a problem, remai-ning attracted to it, loving it,and transforming it from awound to a blessing.In the 18th century the chari-smatic dimension expresseditself in a special way in

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women who have been prota-gonists and founders of impor-tant movements.Frances Cabrini, Edith Stein,Simone Veil, Teresa of Calcutta,Chiara Lubich, to cite just someof the major ones who werewomen, who are today thecharismatic face of our timefor many. There is a strongbond between Charisms andfemininity, between “the cha-rismatic profile and theMarian profile” in the words ofVon Balthasar.Chiara Lubich, for example,because of her Charism bornout of the cry of the forsaken-ness of Jesus on the cross, hassought out and loved the newpoverties of today that are thepoverties with regard to rela-tionships, God, sense of lifeand happiness which lead herto find the disunities of the pre-sent time and care about thempassionately as an answer tothat cry2.

That’s why even if it remainstrue that the typical form ofcharismatic love is agape, wehave to keep in mind that it isalso true that love-agape is fer-tile – humanly and fully mature–, when it encompasses in itselfboth the other forms of lovethat is philia and eros.The recipient of a Charism isnot essentially an altruist or aphilanthropist, but rather abuilder of communities (phi-lia) and a person in love (eros).Whoever therefore is anima-ted (or we could say posses-sed) by a Charism, goes insearch of the derelicts, thelepers, the lonely and this ismotivated also by a love that iseros, by desire.All this is eminently true forreligious Charisms but it is notless true for Charisms notexplicitly or primarily religious.Only persons in love and pas-sionate are able to lead andattract many others to followthem, and passion is part ofthe repertoire of eros. Without

eros no problem is resolvedbecause those who are helpedmust feel attractive, beautifuland lovable.Those who are charismatic,those who receive or participa-te in a Charism, are able torescue poverties because theysee them as richness. MotherTeresa used to often say: “donot call them problems, callthem gifts”.Art is another realm within thehuman sphere where Charismsare evident. In fact the chari-smatic person is very similar toan artist. The artist is surely arecipient of a Charism and it isnot by chance that, yesterday astoday, many artists flourisharound great charismatic figu-res. An artist working withwood told me: “Every once in awhile I find a piece of wood inthe forest or in the woodpile bymy shed and within it I see asculpture. The “non-artist“ onlysees something to burn in thestove in a piece of wood. Theartist has different eyes and seein it a fawn, an eagle, arose, acrucifix. That’s how charismaticpeople are: they see the master-piece in people and situationsthat everyone else discards.They can see the rose with thethorn, the risen Lord with theCrucified one. The artist then,certainly the great ones, arethemselves “transformers” of“wounds” into “blessings”. Awork of art is normally born outof a suffering, loved, in the artisthimself, in others or in natureand transformed from uglinessinto beauty.Whoever does not believe inthe presence of Charisms inhumanity should explain thepresence and action of artists.

2. Charisms and innovationNo fully human developmentnor social innovation are possi-ble without Charisms. Thereexists in society a mechanismvery similar to one hypothesi-zed by Schumpeter for entre-preneurial innovation. In his

Theory of Economic Develop-ment the great Austrian Eco-nomist proposed one of themost intriguing and relevanteconomic theories of the1800s, distinguishing between“innovative” and “imitative”entrepreneurs. The Innovatoris that person who breaks thestatus quo, where there is nei-ther profit not loss, and thanksto a new idea, creates addedvalue and development, advan-cing the economy.Then the imitator entrepre-neurs arrive, like a swarm ofbees, attracted to the newopportunity for profit. Fromthe moment they adopt thisinnovation it becomes an inte-gral part of the market and ofsociety. Thus the system isreturned to a new equilibriumand status quo until otherinnovators come to advancethe frontiers of economic de-velopment. This circular pro-cess of innovation and imita-tion is the actual creator ofrichness and development.

I’m convinced that withinsocial dynamics there is a simi-lar mechanism that operatesbetween “charisms” and “insti-tutions”. (Here I’m using thelanguage of Max Weber whowas probably influenced bySchumpeter). The charismaticperson is the innovator, seeingunsatisfied needs, discerningnew areas of poverty, openingnew paths to solidarity, pushingforward the frontiers of huma-nity and civilization. Then arri-ves the institution, the Statefor example, that copies andabsorbs the innovation whichbecomes the norm.Let us think, for example, of thetotal impact that a business hason society and of its social re-sponsibility. In the 50s and 70sthere were some social innova-tors, whom I would call chari-smatic, who began to say that acomplete economic picturemust include not just economicand financial costs but also 9

environmental and social costs.Today, decades later, in certainsectors or countries, like Francefor example, it is becoming anobbligation to write out asocial budget. A bit later theState adopts and institutiona-lizes the innovation. Anotherexample of consumer ethics:the first people to innovateand propose higher ethicalstandards in the production ofgoods were some charismaticpersons like the founders offair trade. Nowadays also moretraditional businesses and mul-tinationals are imitating thesestandards, raising them per-haps, forced by market de-mands. In turn the State andthe International Institutionsare slowly making social andhuman innovations obligatory,as in the area of child labor forexample.We find a similar pro-cess in the field of humanrights and of the environment:those charismatics who inno-vate, push forward the boun-daries of humanity, and theInstitutions that then follow.These innovators therefore aresoon reached by the institu-tions and if they are not capa-ble of new innovation theywould then be indistinguisha-ble from the imitators. Andfortunately the civil climate ofhumanity is raised as well.

Civilization advances thanks tothe charismatic-institution dy-namic; to stop it or to fight itmeans to slow down the civicdevelopment. And when thereare these temptations we havethe first signals of a crisis inthe experience of the charism.The true innovator is neverafraid of the imitator.

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When the innovation is in cri-sis the imitator is looked uponas a rival as in a “game of zerosum” (as in poker) and all ofthe attention falls onto thedistribution aspects of theexchange. One takes the cakeas a given searching only tograb the biggest slice.

3. Kharis or “what given joy”Charism comes from the Greekword kharis, grace, which lite-rally means “that which givesjoy” which is the same root ofthe word gratuitousness.

When I say gratuitousness here,I intend to mean that innerattitude that takes us toapproach each person, eachbeing, ourselves, knowing thatthat person, that living being,that activity are not ‘things’ touse, but realities to respectand love in themselves becau-se they have value. I welcomeand respect them because Irecognize them as being good.This is why there is a very tightbond between gratuitousnessand the activities that we per-form because of intrinsic moti-vations (those activities that inthemselves have their ownreward). If when I approachyou I do not exploit the rela-tionship I’m generating withyou for my own gain, only thenwill I find a rewarding relation-ship. For example, when weplay a sport purely for thepleasure of playing it, we donot use our body for success ormoney (this is why the takingof drugs and the corruption ofofficials is a serious thing in allsports. It signals a lack of gra-tuitousness and without gra-tuitousness there is only spec-

tacle and business).For this reason, I think, a gra-tuitous action does not neces-sarily have to be altruistic (inother words the action doesnot have to benefit anotherperson). There exists a strongrelationship between gratui-tousness, charism and voca-tion.Those who have a vocation(from the missionary to theartist) can work in non exploi-tive manner, because eachactivity, from approaching apoor person to creating a pain-ting, has its own reward.Without the interaction of gra-tuitousness, charism and voca-tion, actions can be nothingbut exploitive.

In my vision of gratuitousness;even when I paint, practice asport, read a book, I can expe-rience gratuitousness if I amdriven by intrinsic motivations.And this, I believe, is the reasonwe find joy in seeing anotherperson pursue an activity withintrinsic motivation (like, forexample, the admiration for apoet, or for a genuine athlete).We appreciate it even if we donot receive anything in return.In fact, we are profoundlydisappointed and feel bitter-ness when we realize we havebeen deceived about the truemotivations behind the activi-ty; when the motivation isshown to be non-intrinsic anddisingenuous. Gratuitousnessis a kind of “meritorious good”that produces, unintentionally,“positive externalities” ontoothers. And also this, I believe,is the social value of an expe-rience like that of the EdC.

1 Article taken from Chapter 7 of mybook "The wound of the other" (thatis being published)

2 “Lord, give me all those who arealone” recites one of the most intenseand charismatic meditations byChiara Lubich (1960).10

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Messages from and to Latouche

Serge Latouche is one the mostcritical scholars of the currenteconomic system. He launcheda movement of ideas espousingslower economic growth, dece-leration, which is almost a slapin the face to the other 95% ofeconomists more or less con-vinced to have to support acce-leration, expansion, strengthe-ning, or a continuation of thismuch discussed economicgrowth.

From what I have known abouthim I was convinced to go tohear him at a conference in mycity. This event was attendedmostly by young people.He has been for many years aprofessor at the University ofParis and as a matter of fact heis also a prominent figure in theno global movement. He is talland slender, even though he isapproaching 70 year, somewhataustere in appearance and a bitpeculiar in dress. He speaksexcellent Italian with a pleasingFrench accent.I was of the opinion that he wasan adamant opponent not onlyof the inequalities of the freemarket system but of thesystem itself. I thought he wasready to preach the abolition ofthe market.However everything that Iheard him say at the lecture aswell as a few words that weexchanged at the end, convin-ced me that I was mistaken, atleast regarding his most recentpositions which in my opinionmerit a closer look.He said for example that theword deceleration is just a slo-gan meant to be provocativeand not a recipe to live by, dayby day and even less an imposi-tion by a minority on a reluctantmajority.

I will now try to give my inter-pretation of some of his ideas.Our economic system producesan enormous amount of pro-ducts that are hardly usefulwhile sacrificing the environ-

ment and a large part of ourenergies.To change these behaviorsremains certainly an importantobjective, but to do that weneed to create a cultural changeto reduce the obsessive atten-tion toward consumerism.

The market in itself is not a badthing, and also, we can’t dowithout it. It is however neces-sary to apply precise rules tocontrol some tendencies of thecapitalistic system. For examplethe appropriation of rights ofpeople on the part of capitalismwhere there is a vacuum.This is true in the case of thedistribution of drinking water inmany countries of the southernhemisphere. Today this hasbecome big business for themultinational companies espe-cially where the local authori-ties do not have the abilities toprotect their rights implemen-ting effective regulations.I would add that similar consi-derations can also made aboutother collective, invisible butnot less precious goods, like thepublic communication arenas.Here we see for example howthese goods serve private inte-rests of the most entrepreneu-rial and unscrupulous people.There is also the case of the elu-sive richness of a communitywhere there are norms of sharedcivil behaviors. This wealth iseroded every day by the com-munication messages that tryto capture the attention of theaudience by a variety of unac-ceptable media tricks.

Capitalism is not the onlysystem trying to exploit suchgoods. Also the Soviet systemdevastated in a quite heavymanner the natural environ-ment, as well as fascism, whichwas a pioneer in making use ofmass media propaganda.However today the system wehave to deal with is capitalism.It is a system with an enormousstrength, increased by the pla-

netary scale of competition andof the enormity of the possiblegain. All this must be addressed,channeled and even sloweddown.However it is not possiblesimply to limit ourselves to slo-wing down this process. In orderfor a system to bear fruit theremust be a motivating force dri-ving it. If our goal is not enri-chment on a global scale thenwe need an alternative model.

Up to this point, Latouche hasnot seen such a positive incen-tive in the Economy ofCommunion. Rather,he saw thedanger of a new paternalism bythe ruling class. This is a stimu-lus for us to expand our activeparticipation in decision-making and to broaden thegoals of the project.

If Latouche would look morecarefully at the foundation ofthe EoC, he could possibly findsomething precious. He wouldfind a transnational communitydriven by ideal motivationswhich can be as strong asmoney or success.This is exactlywhat he proposes and wishesfor in a transformation of thecurrent economic system. TheEoC community is ready to tran-slate its ideals into exacting eco-nomic initiatives that are inevi-tably risky. Also its choices ofwork, use of goods and savingsgo against the grain of the pre-vailing logic. The EoC has avision of life that takes intoaccount, from the beginning,failures, inconveniences, infide-lities, as inevitable economictraveling companions withoutbeing scandalized by them.Finally they choose to journeywith many people from diffe-rent walks of life. For them,what is important is not somuch to achieve prestige forone’s own project but rather toaim at the prospect of realizinga welcoming and just economy.Many dream for this prospect,but they have lost hope ofachieving this goal.

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BenedettoGui


New Humanity at the NU in New York and in ViennaNew York:“A decent job for all”

“Social development is a necessi-ty” stated the president of thecommission for Social Develop-ment for the UN. The commissio-n’s 45th session which opened inMarch 2007 at the UN in NewYork, had as its theme “a full timejob and decent work for everyo-ne”. This critical issue, as docu-mented in 2006, showed that 195million men and women couldnot find work and 1 billion 400million, half of the entire worldwork force, earned a salary insuf-ficient to rise above the povertyline, 2 dollars a day.At this session 400 NGOs (NonGovernmental Organizations)participated, along with officialsof the countries involved, in gene-rating 26 collateral events. One ofthese events was organized byNew Humanity, an NGO withinthe UN, having general consulta-tive status for the social projectsborn of the spirituality of theFocolare Movement.This event, organized by NewHumanity, presented the expe-rience of the Roberto TassanoConsortium. This Consortiumemploys 1,300 workers whomanage 13 homes, housing 700elderly people and psychiatricpatients. It also runs cooperativesin the education sector and it pro-vides for the maintenance of cityservices. Finally, the Consortiummanages three cooperativeswhich are the heart of its socialsystem. The majority of the peo-ple working in these coops aredisabled and work in a marketeconomy, assembling electricaland nautical material for thirdparties, despite their disability.This would not be possiblewithout the solidarity of theConsortium.The objective of these three coo-peratives is to create a trade scho-ol, giving the opportunity forwork to people who otherwisewould not be able to becomeintegrated into the community.This private initiative relieves the

Health Department and thePublic administration of Liguria ofthe responsibility of providing forpeople with drug dependency.Because of the aid from theConsortium the public sector ishighly appreciative of not havingto carry the financial burden ofthe costly services involved inintegrating the disabled into thecommunity.Due to this appreciation, theadministrator of the ConsortiumMaurizio Cantamessa, and theHoly See Representative to theUN, Bishop Agostino Migliorespoke about the project in NewYork, together with the VicePresident of the Liguria region,Massimiliano Costa and the CityCommissioner for solidarity ofGenoa, Paolo Veardo.After the presentation by NewHumanity and on the activity ofthe consortium, everyone wasmoved and showed their appro-val with a great applause. After agreeting by Bishop Migliore, Mr.Costa highlighted the importanceof social policies based on private-public sector cooperation. He alsoemphasized the support of socialactions by volunteers willing,thanks to proximity, to give solu-tions to difficult public tasks. Thecommitment of the local publicadministration for the building ofthe new seat for the Consortiumis the realization of these ideas.On the same note Mr. Veardo pre-

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sented the long range plan for thecity of Genoa.The final dialogue revealed thewonder of those present for theexistence of social businesses andpublic administrations like this.They were also curious about thesecret of this dizzying growth ofthe Consortium at such an accele-rated pace (70% a year).The President of New Humanity,Alberto Ferrucci, connected thissecret to the values of theEconomy of Communion project,lived out by the Consortium, andto the benefits to society whenauthentic gratuitousness is prac-ticed.Following the events Dr. GuidoBertucci, Director of the Divisionfor Public Administration of theEconomic and Social Council ofthe UN, invited New Humanity topresent this experience at themajor international event of theUN, the 7th Global Forum ofVienna, July 28-30, 2007.

Vienna:“To re-invent how to govern”

The 7th Forum in Vienna followed,since 1999, those in Washington,Brasilia, Naples, Marrakech,Mexico City and Seoul.Its title was “To re-invent how togovern” and it collected, from allover the world, contributions andpositive experiences apt torebuild the trust of citizens inpolitics and public life.Attending this Forum were headsof States, parliamentarians,experts and representatives ofinternational organizations andof those of the civil society.New Humanity had been invitedto present its experience at theWorkshop addressing the theme“To create trust through the invol-vement of the civil society”, toge-ther with other prestigious expe-riences, such as that of theMinister Protais Musoni who sha-red the positive involvement ofthe civil society in the tragic situa-tion after the Rwandan conflict.However all those experienceswere coming from public officialsor experts in public administra-tions and the only voice of an NGOwas that of the Economy ofCommunion project. The EoC, inthe person of Alberto Ferrucci,brought the experience of theTassano Consortium. His theoreti-cal contribution, about how to re-invent how to govern, focused on

ve. However, a more personalizedhelp, channeled through andadded to the gratuitousness ofthe civil society may reverse suchnegative attitudes if the service ismanaged by persons ready totreat people in difficulties asequals and of equal dignity, astheir brothers and sisters.Much remains to be done: theabsence of the civil society on thelist of the speakers for the UNGlobal Forum is evidence of theneed for more committed fun-ctionaries but also for more com-mitment on the part of each oneof us.

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the studies conducted by econo-mist close to the EoC. Their thesisstates that public help is not capa-ble to eradicate poverty because itinduces opportunism and dimini-shes the personal desire to impro-

Report on the managing of the EoC profits In the 16th year after the laun-ching of the EoC, we are happyto publish also in our newslet-ter a report on the managingof the profits donated by ourbusinesses. They were utilizedto reach the purpose for whichthe EoC was born. We wantedto show, following the exam-ple of the early Christians, aportion of humanity wherethere are no needy persons.How should we read thesedata?In 1991 Chiara saw the projectin the heart of the FocolareMovement: the entrepreneurswho were the pioneers weremembers of the FocolareMovement, the poor we wan-ted to help were members ofour communities, especially inthe developing countries. TheEoC still now is growing withthe Focolare Movement; it fol-lows its developments and itsmaturation within the Churchand within humanity.Although this may appear alimit of the EoC if not even anobstacle for some people, weare convinced that it is a con-stitutive element of the pro-ject itself and it contributes todelineate its identity. Why?As we can see clearly from thedata, every year in addition tothe profits shared by the busi-nesses we add the contributioncoming from the communion ofthe personal goods of the mem-bers of the Focolare Movement.This element has a strong cultu-ral importance, because it sayswith facts, that the EoC is notonly a communion mainlyamong enterprises and amongentrepreneurs, that is some-thing belonging only to the eco-nomic sphere; the profits of thebusinesses are just the point ofan iceberg. This is formed by anentire international community,that is open and that chooses acommunion of life and of goodsas its life style. If this populardimension would lack, the EoCwould lose one of its specifictraits: i.e. fraternity, which is the

element that says the EoC is nota project where the rich entre-preneurs give their surplus tothe poor but rather a concreteexpression of a new way tointerpret the communion ofgoods. In the future this ele-ment may change form, but thepopular and fraternal dimen-sion of the EoC will remain a pil-lar of the entire project.In addition, the help sent tothe members of a certain com-munity, where everyone isknown and loved “by name”,creates the premise for a keycharacteristic of the project,probably its main characteri-stic. The reciprocity betweenthose who help and those whoare helped is a reciprocity thatunfolds on the equality level.We know from the successesand failures of many experien-ces, that in giving help tothose who live in situations ofpoverty, the most delicatemoment is not the collectionof the resources but the use ofthose resources so that theywill not generate paternalistichelp and dependence but trueand authentic development.Our experience, supported bythat of many others, is that theeconomic resources becomeinstruments of freedom frompoverty, when the develop-ment project is carried outwithin the community, inwhich there is proximity bet-ween those who give andthose who receive.For all these reasons, andmany more, we are very happyto offer to everyone in the EoCthese data, which are still fewand insufficient but that showthe direction toward which westarted walking 16 years ago.We hope that at this time itwill have an acceleration inquality and quantity. From2008 on we are planning to beable to publish in our web site(www.edc-online.org) an EoCreport with more and moredetailed news about the cur-rent projects, the realization of

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schools to teach the culture ofgiving, a report that will showour experience of communionbeing more and more alive,participated and mature.

Budget for the EoC for 2006-2007As far as the quantitative andgeographical profile is concer-ned we have a summary bud-get , the qualitative use offunds for our poor is as fol-lows:• 50% for food• 22% for schooling• 17% for medical care• 11% for living quartersFor the qualitative use offunds for formation is as fol-lows• 28% for the construction ofMariapolis Centers and our lit-tle Cities• 28% for conventions, mee-tings and other formative acti-vities• 19% for development pro-jects via AMU (Association fora united world)• 14% for printing and commu-nications• 10% for travel to conventions,meetings and other formativeactivities • 1% for office expenses

EdC Budget 2006 - 2007 in thousands of Euro

Nation Business Personal Totals Help to Help for Totalprofits contributions contributions needy formative help

activitiesAfricaChinaSouth-East AsiaKoreaPhilippinesJapanPakistanArgentinaCentral America North BrazilNorth-East BrazilCenter-Sud BrazilChile and UruguayItalySpainFrancePortugalGermany Austria Switzerland Belgium and LuxemburgPolandHollandEngland IrelandSouth-East EuropeHungaryLituania Middle EastUnited StatesOceaniaOther nationsTotals

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Renata was the youngest of sevenchildren in a family living inLuziapolis, a small town in the Stateof Alagoas,in that part of Brazil calledthe North-East. In this area unem-ployment was very prevalent andpeople survive on the monocultureof sugarcane. The wages she earnedworking in an accounting office werebarely enough to cover her mostbasic expenses. He future was bleak.Then she received a monthly stipendfrom the Project of the Economy ofCommunion that made it possiblefor her to leave her job and study inMaceiò. With this scholarship herescape from poverty and her spiritualdevelopment began.She adhered to a strict budget,some-time even giving up an ice-cream, inorder not to waste the Capital of God

which is how she thought of the aidshe was receiving.And so she graduated from HighSchool and also took a course in com-puter tech support. Returning toLuziapolis she went back to work in anaccounting office and she also enrol-led in a computer science course at aState School. She then began to offerprivate lessons in computer science.Her father helped her by construc-ting, next to their home, a small buil-ding which contained a receptionarea,an office space and a laboratory.There she was able to establish asmall business, of which she was theowner and instructor, called RMInformatica,which was the first com-puter school in her town.Her new business, with its twoemployees and its income, gave her

the freedom and opportunity to takea university level class in systemsanalysis. With her new and growingknowledge and skills,she was able toinspire many young people to starttheir own business.Although it was difficult, she was tokeep RM Informatica open whilecompetitors would open and closedtheir businesses. Renata’s school wasthe most sought after and wellknown in the area. Upon completingtheir courses her students received acertificate of successful achievement.After having begun her relationshipwith the EoC as a poor person in needof help, now Renata is able to conti-nue to participate in it, as an entre-preneur and by giving other youngpeople the opportunity of creating atruly dignified life for themselves.

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The 2007 EoC Convention and Exposition in BrazilThe first 15 years of the EoC werecelebrated at the EoC BrazilianConvention in June 2006. All therepresentatives of the regionalEoC commissions committedthemselves to attend the 2007EoC Convention, thus ensuringthat all points of view within theEoC in Brazil would be presentand heard.To maintain this promise, the2007 National Convention hadits start, one could say, back onthe 3rd of February with themeeting of all the representati-ves of the Regional EoC commis-sions, the boards of directors ofthe National Association for anEconomy of Communion, ofEspri, the managing company ofthe Spartaco Industrial Park andof the EoC Study PhiladelphiaCenter. It was a time of profoundcommunion among everyone,directed toward understandingtogether how to respond to theneeds of people new to the EoCand desiring to take part in it.In the three months followingthe convention, at MariapolisGinetta from April 29th to May1st, many other meetings wereheld with all the regions of Brazil:the North, the North-East, theCenter-South, the South-East,the South, and the little cityGinetta. The difficulties of thegreat distances in our largenation were overcome withVideo-conferencing.The central theme of the conven-tion was given to us two daysbefore the meeting started. Itcame in a message from ChiaraLubich inviting us to “make ourcommunion among everyonegrow, aware of the fact that theCharism is the soul of all souls”.The title of the Convention was“The Economy of Communion: achoice for everyone”.It invited us to welcome withopen arms and with all ourhearts the record number of par-ticipants from all over Brazil. Theover 700 attendees includedrepresentatives from Argentina,Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, ElSalvador, France, Italy, Portugal

and the United States. Alsoattending were students, politi-cal leaders,economists,entrepre-neurs, professors, journalists,laborers, homemakers, unionleaders; and many of these wereparticipating for the first time.The youth’s presence was surpri-sing both in number and in theintensity of their participation.Various dimensions of the pro-ject were studied in the threedays of the Convention. In the 16years of the EoC’s history, the spi-rit of reciprocity and communionhas exceeded all expectation inall sectors of the businesses. Themain point of the congress wasto find new ways of establishingrelationships of reciprocity withthe poor which would facilitatetheir breaking from the cycle ofpoverty. Entrepreneurs, acade-mics, employees, managers andpeople who broke the cycle ofpoverty spoke of their experien-ces. With diverse expressionsthey all communicated onebasic idea: the EoC has broughtcommunion into economic rela-tionships.The number of companies exhi-biting products at the 7th EoCexpo had grown from the pre-vious year.As there was not suffi-cient space to accommodate themore than 100 businesses fromBrazil and other countries ofLatin America, a canvas structurehad to be set up on the first day.The businesses highly apprecia-ted the opportunity to market

their products during the threedays of the Congress. An addedbenefit was the opportunity forbusinesses to establish producti-ve relationships for future colla-boration and potential sales. Allparticipants appreciated thisExpo: it was crowded duringevery free moment.An attendee, Bruno Ribeiro, anemployee of the EoC businessPro-diet from Curitiba said: “Inmy life I was always interested insocialist ideas and I was critical ofthe capitalistic system thatmakes it impossible to have ajust world. For these and otherreasons I read revolutionarybooks including those written byMarx, Lenin and Che Guevara.The failed socialistic experiencesof Eastern Europe and China leftme without a solution. Howcould we have a just world, aworld built on Christian princi-ples? During the Congress I lear-ned a fantastic solution in theoryand an even more fantastic solu-tion in practice.The EoC can be the way for amore just and fraternal humani-ty. In the eyes of the entrepre-neurs who shared their expe-riences there was a light thatreflected their fulfillment notonly as entrepreneurs but also aspeople,and that happiness is notfound in having money.I understood that it is notenough to change the economicsystem but we also need tochange the culture, the minds ofthe people who comprise thissystem. The EoC accomplishesthis by its new way of admini-stration, the rapport among peo-ple, and the sharing of profitswith the needy.I’m remembering here the wordsof the French entrepreneur,François Neveux, “the more wegive, the more we receive” .Together with the other Prodietemployees who understand themeasure, the dimension andthe importance of the EoC, I amcommitted to keeping our busi-ness moving constantly in thisdirection”.

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The Brazilian EoC Conventionheld one of its meetings in awarehouse in the SpartacoIndustrial Park to hear a presen-tation by employees aboutwhat it means to them to workin a EOC business.The employees also announcedthe creation of the SpartacoAssociation which they formedto build relationships amongthemselves and to help oneanother.

The establishment of this asso-ciation was part of the originalvision of the ESPRIT 2010Project. The Spartaco workersasked the advice of employeesin other EoC businesses whoseassociations were already upand running such as the Femaqof Piracicaba and Cidade Nova.The Association was set up inDecember 2005 but for bureau-cratic reasons could not startimmediately. In September2006 it received startup fundsfrom several entrepreneurs andbegan operations.Today, still in its initial phase,the association already showsstrong evidence of the spirit ofmutual support without fallinginto paternalism. This perfor-mance demonstrates thestrength of everyone’s unityand points to a bright future.To date the association has 68members from these busines-ses of the Spartaco Park: AVN,Eco.ar, EKN, ESPRI, KNE, Pro-Diet,Uniben and Policlinica Agape.Each member contributes 8 dol-lars monthly with the matchingcontribution from the busines-ses. A representative from eachof these businesses is part ofthe association’s governingboard that meets every twoweeks.

One of the first programs was amicro credit loan fund for itsmembers. Members could takeout a no interest loan no largerthan their monthly salary. 23members have already drawn

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from the fund for a total of13,992 R$.The Association signed con-tracts with some pharmaciesand for a dental program. It alsotrains members and their fami-lies in the production and saleof handmade items.

In addition some social eventswere sponsored: a ChristmasParty in 2006 and in July 2007the traditional mid-year cele-bration.Recently the association held acompetition among graphicdesigners to choose its logo andits membership card. In the nearfuture they will provide a coursein house hold management andnutrition, with an emphasis onfamily budgeting.Thanks to these first initiativesin a few months it was possible

to help several people own theirhomes, take care of their health,buy kitchen appliances andother useful family items. Witheach of these new accompli-shments, the participating fami-lies raised their quality of lifeand increase their self esteem.

Here are some of their com-ments: “Sharing our problemsmakes it easier to solve them.”“The association was a terrificidea: for quite a while I neededsome home appliances andnow I’m able to buy them.”“With this loan I was able topurchase construction mate-rials.”“Mine was one of the first loansgranted by the Association. Iwas very happy because it ena-bled me to pay for the construc-tion of my son’s first home”.

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The Amazonian Business Park was born

Mariapolis Gloria, one of the 33little cities of the FocolareMovement throughout theworld, is located in the Northpart of Brazil, 20 miles fromBelèm, entrance to the AmazonBasin. The area where theMariapolis stands is 44,7 hecta-res in size. It has a MariapolisCenter with halls for 500 peo-ple and 276 beds. In the lastyear we hosted 6.284 persons.Sixteen families live on thegrounds along with another 111persons who are the soul of thevarious social activities.With the upcoming birth of thenearby EoC Industrial Park, ourlittle city, besides being a centerof training and formation, willbecome more and more a civil,religious and economic focalpoint for the members of theFocolare Movement of theAmazon Basin and near- byStates.One of the most importantsocial services present inMariapolis Gloria is the NEF(Educational Nucleus Fiore).The NEF takes care of 289 chil-dren from the poor surroun-ding areas, from kindergartenthrough third grade . The sup-port comes from the programAdoption At A Distance run bythe New Families Movement ofthe Focolare. The school tea-ches a pedagogy of unity basedon living universal brotherhoodand respecting the dignity ofeach person through an openand true relationship.At the NEF there is also aMultivalent Center providingcare and health education tothe children and their parents.The Center integrates educa-tion with health and the com-munity; it organizes sewingcourses for the students’ momsand offers computer courses toyoung people and teenagers ofthe surrounding areas. Thiseducation allows the youngpeople to find jobs that other-wise they would not be quali-fied for.In the little city, following the

EoC principle to create jobs sothat people can work, severaldifferent activities sprung upover time that now giveemployment to fifty to sixtypersons and offer a chance forprofessional training. Some ofthem are: the clothing store,“The Lilly”; the bakery/icecream parlor, “Joy”; and a clinicof phyto therapy.Once the EoC project wasannounced, the Directors of theMariapolis Gloria set aside anarea of 14.5 hectares adjacentto the little city for the futureEoC Productive Park. A good 13years before, they had started afactory of jams and jellies madewith tropical fruit, called “Donefor us”. This factory contributesto the development of thenearby town of Benevides-Parà,that had no industrial activitiesand a high rate of unemploy-ment when “Done for us” wasstarted .This business was initially a cot-tage industry with only threeemployees and a production of500 kilograms of jam a month.They now occupy a 412 squaremeter building, constructedwith their own hands, and have18 full-time employees plus 48part-time workers who aremostly farmers. Today “Donefor us” produces 110 tons a yearof various sweets sold to overtwo hundred national andinternational customers. Theirexcellent jams are very popularlocally and are also on displayat the international Airport ofBelem.

Within the future ProductivePark, a floriculture activity cal-led “Bud” occupies a separate170 square meter building.“Bud” started as a project tooffer professional training andjob opportunities in gardeningand flower arrangements toyoung people of the area. Thebusiness has 4 direct employe-es and 13 teachers. It was origi-nally supported by Action for aUnited World. Now it is almostself-sustaining with the sales oftropical flowers but it can’t yetcover the cost of its trainingprograms.Last May, after the Brazilian EoCconvention at Mariapolis Ginet-ta in San Paulo, Alberto Ferruccivisited us at Mariapolis Gloria.He is the president of the AIEC,the Economy of CommunionInternational Association crea-ted to help the development ofthe Business Parks. With thelocal entrepreneurs, tax andlaw experts supportive of theEoC project, Alberto and thedirectors of Mariapolis Gloriaevaluated the situation. Theylooked at both the existingbusinesses in the North ofBrazil and also at the futurebusiness growth that wouldlikely result from the new EoCProductive Park. They decidedit was time to inaugurate thepark.Seeing the Belem community’scommitment to make this EoCproject happen, Chiara respon-ded: “The time seems right foran industrial park because youalready have the land and some

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businesses! The name ECAMN(Economy of Communion of theAmazon Basin and of the HalfNorth) you proposed for the cor-poration that will manage thePark also seems appropriate tome. I would call the new Park“Francois Neveux” in honor ofthe volunteer entrepreneur, nowin heaven, who loved Brazil somuch”.François Neveux was a Frenchentrepreneur, a volunteer of theMovement, who finished hisearthly journey in 2006. Out ofhis love for the EoC he startedone of his businesses near SanPaulo in the first BrazilianIndustrial Park. He copyrightednew products for the ecologicaltreatment of waters with theintent to expand his productionto many parts of Brazil. To theBelem community, this namewas a concrete sign of the pro-phetic dimension of the EoC forthe Amazon Basin.As a follow up of Chiara’s mes-

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purchased ECAMN stocks, onthe 10 of August 2007.A meaningful fact during theseevents was in regard to the keybusiness, “Done for us”, of thedeveloping Productive Parkwhich shared a meaningful factduring these events. After aperiod of time with lots of suc-cess, lately, its entrepreneursfound a remarkable obstacle inmaintaining its productivitybecause, all of a sudden, a statelaw, allowing the exemption ofa large tax of 17% of the proce-eds of sales for all businesses inthe area was rescinded aheadof the schedule decided for2010. In order to be even withall their costs they would havehad to increase the prices oftheir products in an unaccepta-ble manner for their customers.Several other businesses hadobtained to be exempted fromsuch tax, but not our “Done forus”! Together they looked overand followed along the officeitinerary all the papers requiredfor the exemption, they disco-vered the problem. The processhad stopped because they weremissing one minor paper: oncethey obtained it and delivered itthe tax of exemption was gran-ted again and retroactivelywith a remarkable refund.In this event we saw the impor-tance of working together inthis new economy: the secret isour communion, a commoncommitment.

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sage, a group of experts, friendsof the EoC, put forth names ofpeople to serve on the commis-sion whose task was to form acompany to manage the Pro-ductive Park. The commissionmet with great joy and seriouscommitment and elected aboard of directors. The Presi-dent is Emanuel Matos, a uni-versity professor, an entrepre-neur in the training sector andex secretary of State for scienceand technology of the gover-nment of the State of Parà. Thevice-president is Vania Men-donca, entrepreneur of a busi-ness and administration com-pany and owner of a shoe fran-chise. The secretary is AnaMaria Bernardes, a ManagerialSecretary with a Doctorate inadministration.Last year the Board of Directorsdrafted the bylaws for theECAMN and submitted them tothe general assembly compo-sed of the first partners who

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The Mystic of the Industrial Parks of the EoCTo reflect upon the life of thebusiness Park I would like torecall a meeting that we hadwith the community where wehad a period of questions andanswers. Varied were the que-stions and comments; severalexamples follow.How and why are you buildingthe Parks? How much have youinvested so far? What is yourreturn on this investment? Aphilosopher asked why. Anengineer asked how. An econo-mist questioned the financing.The last question was asked bya mediator.One enchanted questionerdescribed the beauty in thisexperience. This person whohad understood how this pro-ject spreads fraternity andcommunion in the economicsystem was a mystic.It is through this mysticalaspect that I would like for usto observe the experience ofhow the realization of theBusiness Park Ginetta capturesthis essence.I imagined myself here, at theentrance of the Park, amongthose fruit trees and noticedmy mind passing from thearena of thought to the arenaof feelings.I started to hear of the marve-lous experiences that will betaking place here.Some will be very simple butvery meaningful; other pro-jects will remain stuck onpaper and will never proceed.Many ideas will arise but onlya few will come to fruition thatis only those that truly were inGod’s plan.Many politicians will come tovisit the Park searching fornew paradigms. Students andteachers will be looking fornew economic theory to givesense to their lives. Writers willsearch here for inspiration fortheir books. Religious men andwomen, priests and bishopswill come to visit the Park tosee for themselves that it is

possible to live in fraternityand communion in the econo-mic world. I also noticed, manyenthusiastic people will wantto participate but few willwithstand the struggle.At this point I remembered ourlives in the Spartaco IndustrialPark because everything I quo-ted above has happened or ishappening there.And even more: we have hadmuch joy, many moments ofglory. We have had many grati-fying moments when we wererewarded for all our efforts butwe have wasted many hours,hours of stress and fear. Wehave had many conversationsresulting in no conclusions.Health problems have kept usaway from our struggles atleast for the short term. Wesuffered over meaninglesscauses. We wasted energieson empty goals. Some inve-stments bore no fruits.Opportunities were lost.Talents were not cultivatedand were wasted. Some chal-lenges were never faced.Even so, the Industrial Parkprospers. I would say thatmaybe because of all thesethings, the Park prospers.Let us not look at this journeyand struggle with euphoriaover victories or with sadnessand guilt over what we did notaccomplish but with greatpatience and understanding.For the “New Life” to happen inthe Park we understand thatwe must love it in failure aswell as in success.We understood that IndustrialPark is similar to the parablethat the Lord has told aboutthe sower:The farmer went out to sow.Some seeds fell on the rockysoil, others fell in the middle ofthorns, others fell on pathswhere they were stepped on oreaten by birds. Some managedto fall on good soil where theyall bore fruit.One of the functions of the

Industrial Park is to play therole of the farmer, scatteringthe seeds of fraternity andcommunion everywhere.Like the farmer we must loveour entire plot of land with itsrocks, its thorns, its paths andwith its good and fertile soil.We must value and love everyexperience, especially the onesthat fail, so that they are notlost. With our love we canbless and redeem them.And now I would like to quote

Ginetta who said ”the EoCdemands the blood of thesoul”. She was referring to theabandonment Jesus felt onthe cross because it symboli-zes a worldly failure. Thosewho choose to struggle forthis Business Park will enduresimilar feelings of abandon-ment.We have to develop this abilityto see Him and embrace Himin the life of the Park. Becauseof this, in some form and insome way everything willmake sense and will be saved.If we live this reality, part ofour lives will be fulfilled andthe Ginetta Business Park willbecome sacred ground. A lightwill emanate from there to fillour minds and our sub con-science, purifying them fromall egoisms, ambitions andfears.It does not matter that tradi-tional economic theories areshrouded in darkness. Light isalready shining in our hearts.This light carries with it thefire that creates life. It willkeep our souls strong and itwill brighten the economicfuture in Recife, in the North-East, and in Brazil as a whole.

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The EoC is a fruit of a Charismwhich gives new eyes to those wholive this spirit. They give a new per-spective on the civil and economiclife.This paper on the health field ismoved by the desire to implementthe experience of fraternity withinthese realms as well.

In the last 50 years most of theWestern democracies have elec-ted to extend to the entire popu-lation access to basic health servi-ces, financed in part by the Staterevenues or by compulsory insu-rance, assigning to the State thetask to regulate this sector.More recently, however, thegrowth of health expenses out-weighed the income from the taxrevenue from the Gross NationalProduct (GNP) which resulted inthe inability to produce the expec-ted outcomes in public health. Allthis created the need for a majorreformation of the health system.Everywhere, the plans to limit thecosts were: to strengthen thecompetition, to liberalize servicesand to grant to the population thechoice between private and publicservices.Also the transfer of health servi-ces from the National Govern-ment to the Regions can be seenin this perspective. The devolutiondoes not only allow a closer rela-tionship between the decisionmakers and the citizens. It alsocreates the conditions for greatercompetition among local admini-strations giving life to a nationalmarket for public health. Citizens“vote with their feet” by going tothe region of their choice superce-ding their traditional relationshipswith their family doctor, their spe-cialists, hospitals and nationalhealth insurance.The ideas behind this change wasthat the market structure shouldhave oriented the institutionstoward the interests of the pa-tients but the results were not asexpected. Not only did the effi-ciency and quality of the privatesector worsen but e witness a pro-found crisis in the public sector.Meanwhile the insurance and the

pharmaceutical industries sawgreat growth in their profits, thiscrisis could compromise the finan-cial stability and the quality ofuniversal health services.The market works only in certainsettings. It works very well if theconsumer is interested in purcha-sing the maximum quantity of aproduct and the competition isregulated by price. It would,howe-ver, fail if applied to a sector likehealth. In this case the interest ofthe sick person determines thequality of the service (for thosewho do not work in the field it ishard to evaluate). It also dependson the trust relationships with thecaretakers.

Why is it that the market overallworsens public health?Because the user who first leavesthe system and turns somewhereelse is more capable than othersof evaluating the service, he is theone who, with his knowledgeableprotest (voice), could be a strongsignal for an improvement of thepublic health service, strongerthan a simple loss of a user.According to the economist,Hirshman, the protest of the userwho manifests his own dissenttoward the quality of service, fre-quently utilized in the politicalarena, is an undervalued alternati-ve in economics.The future challenge for thehealth care market is, in our opi-nion, to know how to make gooduse also of protest signals, whileavoiding a mass exit.Does there exist a way other thanthe liberalization of the healthcare market?Ten years ago Victor Fuchs, thegreatest of the American healthcare economists, was already wri-ting: “The public interest is not ser-ved to the best by insisting on thenecessity of promoting competi-tion at all costs among those invol-ved in the health care system.Patients could draw great benefitsfrom the cooperation betweenhospitals and doctors, both interms of lowers costs and betterservices”. 21

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He was affirming thus the need togo back to counting on “professio-nal ethics” in addition to competi-tion and regulations.Doctors and their code of ethicsmust continue to exercise animportant role in health care deci-sions. On the one hand it is right toguaranty the existence of a varie-ty of health professionals; and it isalso important to increase theefficiency of the regulatorysystems, making them more ableto inform the users about the realbenefits of technologies andmedicines and their respectivecosts. On the other hand, we needto promote, among citizens andprofessionals, a “culture of health”and of “responsible health careconsumption”. In his writingsHirshman calls all this “loyalty.”A competition based only onchanging the providers of healthservices encourages a culture ofhealth care consumerism andfavors choices that are opportuni-stic with ruinous consequencesfor the public health care system.There is a tremendous need to rein-force the sense of responsibility ofindividuals for the common good,which often is also their own.Those who convince heart pa-tients to undergo costly procedu-res advertised in glossy airlinemagazine, that promises to showin color their heart pulsing, do nottell them that during the treat-ment they will be subjected to adose of radiation equal to severalx-rays. Meanwhile there exist lessglamorous ultrasounds, equallyefficient, that do not put youunder any radiation.Instead we should be promotingparticipatory initiatives that anti-cipate for example the inclusionof citizens in the planning andmonitoring of services. Thesewould offer individuals the chan-ce to exercise their civic right togive voice to their needs. In thisway the patients’civic sense wouldbe reinforced and a positive processwould be generated favoring, intime, more responsible choices ofhealth care consumption.

There are twelve doctoral theseswhich we are presenting in thisissue, nine of which were writ-ten in Brazil, two in Italy and onein Argentina.Ten of the theses are compiledby students in economics: ofthese, five deal with themesrelative to the Administration ofEnterprise, three address humanresources, two talk about tou-rism and one discusses develop-mental economy. One thesisdeals with geography, describesthe spreading of the EoC inBrazil, and tries to evaluate theimpact on the area of influence.

Noticeable is the concentrationon the study of more immaterialaspects of economic relation-ships such as the atmosphere

Twelve New Doctoral Thesesan

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The Dissertations and thesesmade available by the authorscan be viewed on www.ecodi-com.net. Another site in 4 lan-guages, www.edc-online.org, canbe viewed in the sections “news”and “events” where you canalways be updated on all theappointments relating to the EoCand with all the other sections toobtain bibliography information,data, statistics and much more.

World Archive of EoC Dissertations:

Antonella Ferruccic/o Prometheus SrlPiazza Borgo Pila 4016129 Genovatel +39/010/5459820 – 5459821(Monday and Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.)e-mail:[email protected]

within the enterprise and workrelationships that seem to beperceived as the most innovati-ve aspect of the EoC project.

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Thesis:EoC: Theory and Practice. Case Study: Sibrasa Thesis Advisor: Dr. Genauto França Filho

This work has as its focus the experience of the business administration ofSibrasa of Recife which has been part of the EoC project since 1991. The point ofinterest of this case study is its analysis of an economic style which, while tradi-tionally oriented to industrial production, admits open and democratic discussionnot only of its regulation but also of the business values to which it conforms. Thestudy's approach is to assess the data obtained through questionnaires and inter-views by distinct qualitative vocations. The principle objective of the analysis is toverify and describe the effective subsistence of the multiple principle bases of theEoC, as well as to analyze relative congruence between theory and practice at theheart of day-to-day business.

Clemilda GonzagaSantos e-mail:[email protected]

Second-level Doctorate inStrategic Administration Bahia State University - UFBA(Brazil) August 24th, 2004Language:Portuguese

Thesis:The results of the allocation of profits in the EoC project: the building of a new society

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Rodrigo Faccin

The purpose of this study was to analyze the different possibilities and implica-tions inherent in the concept of profit. From that beginning we progressed to amore specific study focusing on the EoC’s practice of sharing their own busines-ses’profits with needy people in the communities around them. Next, we exami-ned and interpreted the different positions suggested by social and economicreflection on this concept through the lenses of Marxism, Socialism, and thesocial doctrine of the Church. The results of this study confirm the validity of theEoC product as an effective and economically sustainable financial model capa-ble of contributing significantly to the communities in which the EoC operates.

Suellen CristinaFerreira Farago e-mail: [email protected]

First Level Doctorate in Accounting Science Associazione Culturale Educativaof Vilhena (Brazil)2005Language:Portuguese

Thesis:EoC: A New Model for Enterprise Administration Thesis Advisor: Dr. Nélson Castanheira

The monograph’s objective is to analyze outcomes consequent to the Brazilianfirms’ joining the EoC Project. Based on Christian and universal principles, EoCdoes not consider profit as the cardinal objective of economic activity. Rather, itproposes integrating the economic sphere with values like solidarity, freedom,and the culture of giving. From this new perspective, wealth is not the goal, butonly a means by which to pursue genuine human happiness and a balanced anddiffuse sustainable development. The Economy of Communion is a new form ofunderstanding and business life. It promotes cultural progress as well, a progresswhich finds its fulfillment in joining brotherly principles to the center of more tra-ditional economic dynamics. The very successful spread of EoC businesses inBrazil shows the efficiency and social utility of the economic realities inspired byEoC’s principles.

Ruth Helena SoaresRosa Antonio e-mail: [email protected]

Second-level degree in Business Administration Brazilian Graduate Institute –International Department ofCuritiba (Brazil)February 28th, 2005Language:Portuguese

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Thesis: Forms of Reciprocity and Economy of Communion Thesis Advisor: Dr. Nicolò Bellanca

Beginning with an anthropological analysis which emphasizes how our com-panies break free of the paradigm postulated by the neoclassical economicapproach, we continued to deepen our study of the implications of the the-mes of giving and reciprocity within the economic arena. Through the use ofthe effective language of game theory, we demonstrated how normal econo-mic activity is in most cases reciprocal and breaks down only when the partiesbehave selfishly. In the end, our analysis confirms the existence of a pluralityof economic approaches that neoclassical economics may not consider, butwhich are nonetheless valid.

Caterina Gelsumini e-mail: [email protected]

First Level Doctorate In Developmental Economy University of Florence April 26th, 2006Language:Italian

Thesis: EdC: l’espansione del Movimento dei Focolari inBrasileThesis Advisor: Dr. Giovane Mota

This text has analyzed, with a strong geographical methodology, the outcomesrising from the spread of the EoC phenomenon alongside the Brazilian culturalgeography. Analyzing and interpreting the data that came out of the research,essentially biblical, it is possible to appreciate how the capillary extension of theEoC project has contributed in a substantial and incisive way to alleviating thecomplex critical situations within the economic and social inequality existing inthe different regions of Brazil.

Maria de Fátima daSilva Guimarães e-mail: [email protected]

First Level Doctorate inGeography University of Parà (Brazil) June 9th, 2006Language:Portuguese

Thesis: Ethical Climate and the EoC: a case study Thesis Advisor: Dr. Francisco Tarciso Leite

This thesis aims at analyzing the ethical climate of a business, with the helpof interviews and questionnaires. The collected data corroborates the validityof traditional indicators taken within the adopted theoretical model.However the inquiry about the perception of the real ethical climate recogni-zed some points of discontinuity and incongruence in relation to the model byArruda and Navran (2000) on eight out of the eleven reference indicators.The qualitative nature of our analysis will require obviously the use of a dee-per level of integrated analysis, able also to analyze the data in view of all theexternal variables impacting the business with various degrees of intensity.

Paulo Sérgio VianaChaves e-mail: [email protected]

Second Level Doctorate inBusiness Administration University of Fortaleza – UNIFOR(Brazil)July 31st, 2006Language:Portuguese

Thesis: Living the other: a proposal for the human fulfillment in the EoC businesses

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Marielza Barbosa Alves

This bibliographical study with a qualitative character has as its objective theanalysis of the positive effects that the participation in an EoC project cangenerate. It is also presented in terms of relationships among the differentpeople who take part in it: the workers, the entrepreneurs, the customers, thesuppliers and the local community.In the first part you find the history of the EoC. In the second part there is ananalysis of the interpersonal relationships within the EoC efforts both from apractical level and from a theoretical one. The main result reached was thefact the study underlines the priority regarding the value given to the humanbeing and his or her relative development within an economic and productivereality.

Aila Santos de Almeida e-mail: [email protected]

Second Level Doctorate inHuman Resources State University of Bahia – UNEB (Brazil) August 31st, 2006Language:Portuguese

Thesis: The EoC and organizational learning Thesis Advisor: Dr. Sergio Proença Leitão

This study is a comparative analysis between two rather important theoriesabout causes and future scenarios that call for a transformation of our organi-zations, in terms of rethinking our current ways of interacting. The first theoryrelates to a study by Peter Senge about the learning processes within our orga-nizations. The second one is proposed by the EoC project.The case-studies analyzed in this thesis relate to four Brazilian enterprises thathave adopted the EoC project. The results obtained through questionnaireshave been analyzed with standard statistical techniques. The study concludesthat all 14 characteristics of organizations addressing learning listed in Senge’stheory are also found within EoC organizations.

Marcelo Alves LopesSampaio e-mail: [email protected]

Second Level Doctorate inBusiness Adnimistration Catholic Pontifical University ofRio de Janeiro – (Brazil) November 1st, 2006 Language:Portuguese

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Thesis: The Economy of Communion in a tourist business Thesis Advisor: Dr. Francesca Simeoni

This thesis aims at describing the existence of a new economic model. Thismodel attempts to reconcile solidarity with effectiveness. Besides having pro-fits as one of its goals, the model also aims at giving value to each person,respecting the human dignity of each person and improving the context inwhich the business works.The analysis of a concrete example in the tourist realm was carried out to veri-fy the possible implementation of the EoC values within a concrete and dyna-mic economic setting. In addition to the bibliographical contribution I greatlybenefited from an interview with an EoC entrepreneur working in the hotelbusiness. My thesis demonstrated that putting the human person at the cen-ter of everything does not compromise the financial results. In fact exactly theopposite is true. Customers express their satisfaction for the service and alsofor the initiatives sponsored by the Hotel to support the goals of the EoC andto which both customers and personnel can freely contribute.

Claudia Passuello e-mail: [email protected]

Second level Doctorate inLanguages and Cultures forTourist ManagementUniversity of Verona 27th, November 2006Language:Italian

Thesis:A new style of economic action: the EoC experience in the tourist sector in Brazil

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Henrique Catai

The thesis concentrates on a particular declination of the EoC project in the sec-tor of sustainable tourism. It will evaluate the parallelisms and affinities foundamong the EoC, the CSR and the sustainable tourism movement.The student did bibliographic research, conducted interviews and administeredquestionnaires to all the EoC businesses working in the Brazilian tourist sector .Analyzing the results obtained, the student put forward two concrete proposalsto the participating Brazilian EoC businesses.One was the idea of an EoC logo to be adopted by the tourist agencies adheringto the EoC project along with putting into practice required operational and qua-litative standards.The aim would be to create a common commercial strategy forEoC tourist businesses. The second proposal is the development of a monitoringsystem with annual deadlines to ensure adherence to the EoC philosophy by thebusinesses adopting the logo.This is considered a precious opportunity to re-orient the interests of each busi-ness in favor of the entire community within which they operate.

Julia Dutra De Andrade e-mail: [email protected]

First level Doctorate inTourism and HotelManagementUniversity of Ribeirão Preto –(Brazil)December 7th, 2006Language:Portuguese

Thesis:The EoC and the generation of decent work Thesis Advisor: Dr. Mariana Buceta

Purpose of this thesis was the analysis of behaviors and of processes carried for-ward by entrepreneurs adhering to the EoC project. Particular attention wasgiven to the creation of new jobs and to their quality.The student tried to deepenher understanding of the research through the various experiences of the wor-kers who had come in contact with the EoC reality. Interviews were administeredto workers and entrepreneurs in the province of Buenos Aires. The theoreticalstructure of the research was reviewed by authors such as Chiara Lubich, Bruni,Ferrucci, Gui e Zamagni. At the same time, data from the World WorkOrganization was very helpful in defining the term “decent work”.With regard to the EoC experience in Argentina, the thesis describes in a very clearand univocal way the convergence between the values pursued by the EoC pro-ject and the practices required by the World Work Organization to guaranty a“decent job”.

Alicia Viviana Lorenzo e-mail: [email protected]

Second Level Doctorate inWorking relationships andEconomic Theory ofCommunion National University of LaMatanza (Argentina)December 19th, 2006Language:Spanish

Thesis:The Motivation of Personnel:The Study of a Company of the EdC Project

Thesis Advisor: Dr. José Romulo Travassos

The thesis consists of an empirical study apt to support the theoretical indica-tions provided from the EoC bibliography. The research was conducted via a seriesof prototype interviews within an EoC company. The results affirm that the EoCmanagerial style is very efficient in giving value to and motivating the personnel.As a result the personnel produce optimal performance as measured by incomefor the company. It is moreover verified that the application of this managerialstyle fits especially well with the studies by Hertzberg (theory of the two factors/ approach to needs) where the desire to be a protagonist of the human factorswithin some of the entrepreneurial dynamics addressing innovations, is highli-ghted. These results highlight the specific capacity of the EoC enterprises to beguarantors of a sustainable and harmonious economic development.

Luciana Gomes da Silva First Level Doctorate in Human Resources State University of Maranhão(Brazil)January 5th, 2007Language:Portuguese


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A new Video on the EoC

The Impressions of the directorsof the English corporation Cha-risma Productions about thedevelopments of the EoC projectin the world.

Our first documentary video onthe EoC,“In favor of an Economyof Communion” was producedin November 1991. It portrayedthe novelty of the project, theenthusiasm with which Chiara’schallenge had been welcomedby Brazilian entrepreneurs andthe fast spreading of it all overthe world within the Focolaremovement.The true director was Chiara her-self. She had intervened withsuggestions during the editingand she wrote by hand its con-clusion. She used those wordsthat became the Magna Chartafor the EoC that start with“Differently from a consumeristeconomy based on a culture ofhaving, the economy of commu-nion is the economy of giving…”In 1993 we completed “AnEconomy of Communion: a stepforward”. In 1995 we did oneother video, called “The EoCtakes off”. In them we documen-ted the inauguration of the firstIndustrial park in Brazil, near SanPaulo, named after SpartacoLucarini, and the one in theArgentine pampa called Solida-ridad.We offered a panorama ofthe businesses born for the EoCand those renewed by the cultu-re of giving of the project.After 16 years of growth, a newdocumentary DVD came out inOctober 2007, fruit of the coo-peration between CharismaProduction and the Internatio-nal Commission of the EoC. Bymeans of meaningful events,concretizations, businesses andinterviews, it documents thedevelopments of the EoC pro-ject in all these years and at thepresent time.Looking for the documentationwe needed, we had the oppor-tunity to view the inaugurationof the Lionello Bonfanti Bu-siness Park near Florence in

Italy. We were also able to mixwith the crowds of visitors atthe Expo of the EoC in Brazil.The101 Brazilian businesses offereda marvelous show of professio-nalism, a sign of the securityand depth of the project’s rootsin that country and of theimpact of the culture of givingin their society.Following our visits to variousbusinesses and industries pre-sent in the Spartaco IndustrialPark, we can witness that thenew vision of the enterprise issilently and irreversibly penetra-ting all work relationships. Weunderstood it not from thewords of the managers butfrom the palpable serenity, hap-piness and satisfaction of theemployees themselves on theirjob. Those who will watch ourDVD will judge if our shootingsdo justice to the fraternity thatin these enterprises has becomesynonym with their way ofgoverning.

We were profoundly touched byour quick visit in the mud andunder an incessant rain to therising Ginetta Industrial Park inRecife, in the North-East ofBrazil. Our meeting with theorganizational secretariat of theBusiness Park on the veranda ofthe office took place in a cloud ofvapor. It was almost a sign of thecommitment and of the energyspent for the construction in theadjacent building yard of thefirst buildings that soon will bepopulated by businesses andworkers. It will be a true beaconof hope, a way to get out ofpoverty and the promise formany of a more dignified life.We also had a chance to see themarvelous fruits born of the“third” of the enterprises’ sha-red profits for the indigents:fathers with a new self esteemthanks to their new job and aregular income, young peoplewithout means now looking ata possible University degree,

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young men already professio-nals, moms who can takeadvantage of a gynecologistduring their pregnancies.But it was under the scorchingsun, in the arid lands of theState of Cèara, while we weredreaming of a bottle of mineralwater, that we met with thecrushing urgency of an econo-my oriented towards a societywhere there are no indigents.Here, in the project called “AliveCertainty”, together with theShalom Movement and thelocal government, the EoC isworking with the farmers toensure a survival agriculturealso through raising cattle sui-table to that climate.Going to Italy we met nearGenoa with the TassanoConsortium, who is part of theEoC since 1991. Many call it “theTassano miracle” because itgrew to the point of having 52coops, three of which are sup-ported with the profits of all theothers, where those who arehired are marginalized peopleand there they find a full inclu-sion in the civil society.The prac-

tice of the Consortium, genera-ted and practiced as a gift tobrothers and sisters, is able toconvince everyone that the cul-ture of giving lends itself to allkinds of business experience,clarifying it and giving it maxi-mum potential.But the realization of the EoCthat struck us in the most per-turbing manner were the enter-prises of the Productive Park inCroatia in our little city Faro(lighthouse), connected withother businesses also in Serbia.How shall we describe thePhoenix resurrecting from itsashes? We saw the reconstruc-tion, from nothing, of people, oflife, of businesses. Everythingwas born only to respond tohunger, to indigence, to the lackof housing for many familiesbecause of the war. In thoselands the EoC caused a river ofcreativity, of entrepreneurshipand of mutual love.All the material we collected inthese trips of ours tells us, in ouropinion, that only a Charismunderlying that every person iscreated as a gift to the others,

could bring to businesses and tothe attention of economists ,the vision of the EoC.In the work we did to collect allthe material we were also hel-ped by the Argentinean moviedirector Jorge Gonzales and thePhilippine movie director MaryFrances Colayco.We hope the DVD will bring atestimonial of the potential ofthe EoC when it is translatedinto the life of the enterprise, ofthe results obtained throughthe third of the profits for thepoor and of the economic theo-ry that is developing from it.

A group in the PhiladelphiaCenter studies the theoreticalbases of the EoC

During the meeting of Brazilianscholars and students withLuigino Bruni at the conclusion ofthe EoC conference of May 1st2007, it was decided to create acontinuing network via theInternet, an E-group.On July 24th a meeting of thePhiladelphia Center was held atMariapolis Ginetta to form aBrazilian study group on the theo-retical bases of the EoC. ProfessorRobert Cintra Martins of theFederal University of Rio deJaneiro, who had participated inthe international meeting of EoCscholars in Italy in 2006, stayedseveral days in the PhiladelphiaCenter, consulting the bibliogra-phy on the EoC in various langua-ges available there.He worked out a proposal withsome students to research thetheoretical framework of the EoC.It was then shared with everyonein the E-group.

The research project envisions asystematic and cooperative ana-lysis produced by a number ofscholars studying a variety ofissues. The first to sign up wasAlexandre Arangao.A draft of corporate by-laws wasalso developed for thePhiladelphia Center. As a corpora-tion the Center could then seekfunds for its activities.An application form for peopleinterested in the various lines ofresearch was also prepared.We are confident that from nowon we are entering a new anddynamic venture, with the parti-cipation of various professors,researchers and Brazilians stu-dents. We plan to ask LuiginoBruni to join our E-group so thathe can interact directly with allthe participants, receiving messa-ges and making suggestions.

Andréa Diges (San Paolo, Brasile)

About gratuitousness

An old maxim, both bitter andoversimplified, says that Banksexist only to buy and sell money.Every morning, at the bank: it ismy job. At times it is a strangejob. In order to grow its customerbase the Bank is always creatingnew initiatives under the bannerof “free!”. It offers free creditcards and free services; next itmay even offer its loans free.

Often I have felt the discomfortof having to look at a person onlyas a client rather than as a fellowhuman being. I was chastisedbecause I had supported vehe-mently that clients should betreated as people.I have always been convincedthat also in business transactionsthe relationship has to be on apersonal level.A couple of days ago I approa-ched an elderly client of modestfinancial means to give himinformation on one of our new“free” services. Instead he endedup telling me about his 40 yearold son with cerebral palsy. I feltthe need to give myself “freely”to him while continuing doingthe work for which I’m paid.Observing how I treated myelderly client, another man cameto me to ask about some finan-cial matters. Although I was notable to answer his question nor

was I able to offer him betterterms than he had at his ownbank, he chose to transfer hisaccount to my bank.Was my gratuitousness not alsoan economic activity?

One day I was walking throughthe olive grove near my house. AsI was savoring the spring-like airand marveling at the beauty ofnature, I thought of the One whofreely put all this at my disposal:this fertile and fragrant soil, thecentury-old and reassuring trees,the clear and fatherly sun.What motivated this ineffableand supreme gratuitousness?That everything is free is a cer-tainty because he never asks foranything in return, he neverdeprives us of our freedom. Infact we are free to do, to be, tonot be, to not thank him andeven never to think of him.But he is always “gratuitously”faithful to his plan for each of usand so he waits, knowing that hemay never see an act of gratui-tousness from us. Whateverpaths our lives take may be at acertain point, perhaps at the end,at the very last moment, freelywe may recognize ourselves sim-ply as the children of His cosmiclove.

Gratuitously we have receivedand so let us give gratuitously, letus give what we are, withoutreservation. In our dusty streets,often dark and paved with mise-ry, let us always reach out totouch the soul even of the leastor most hurried among us.

Gabriele Perrucci (Taranto)

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Letters to the Editoral

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“Moviment for an Economy of Communion”3rd International Convention

Work in CommunionMany challenges, one proposal


Castelgandolfo30 November2 December 2007

saturday 1 december sunday 2 decemberfriday 30 november

Organising secretariat EoCCarla Bozzani tel. 06/947989 tel. 06/945407fax 06/9479 9320e-mail: [email protected]

Entrance in the hallIntroduction and presentationof the Congress Luigino Bruni

Musical interlude

Introduction of the intervention of Chiara Lubich at the firstinternational congress on WorkPino and Mariele Quartana

Economy and work(Video of Chiara Lubich 1984)

Interval

The spiritual and antropologicaldimension of workVera Araujo

Lunch

Experiences

Interval

Round Table onWork, Conflicts and rightsModerator: Lorna Gold• Cristina Calvo • Vincenzo Bonuomo• Antonio Marquez• Anna Marenchino • Stefano Zamagni

Inauguration Show Room 2007:The enterprises introduce themselvesMonica Holl

Dinner

hours 9.15

9.30

10.15

10.30

10.40

11.10

11.40

13.00

15.30

16.30

17.00

19.00

19.30

hours 9.00

9.40

9.50

10.30

11.00

13.00

15.30

16.10

16.40

16.50

17.10

17.40

19.30

New Horizonsvideo of Chiara Lubich introduced by Alberto Ferrucci

Musical interlude

Work and beyond: between suffering and human flourishingLuigino Bruni

Interval

Experiences

Lunch

Work in Communionnew video EoCLeo Andringa, Margharet Coen

When the communion changesthe work: the proposal of EoCLuca Crivelli

Musical interlude

Stories of life and best practices• Elisa Golin• Giampietro Parolin• Teresa Ganzon

Interval

Round TableThe times of life between work and gratuity Moderator: Benedetto Gui• Helen Alford• Giuliana Martirani• Johan Verstraeten • Alexandre Aragaõ

Dinner

The work in the reflexion of Igino Giordani Tommaso Sorgi

Musical interlude

Dialogue and experiences

Conclusions and perspectives

hours9.15

9.40

9.50

10.50

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