United World Week, an expression of the life of the Y4UW
21 April 2018“A slow but unstoppable journey towards universal fraternity ” is Chiara Lubich’s imaginative view of the history of the world as she understood the importance of highlighting the positive signs of the times in the path to a United World.
This highlights, called “Fragments of Fraterity”, go from daily experiences to macro initiatives in the spirit of universal brotherhood, and are shown on a every-year event called the United World Week (UWW).
The Youth for a United World decided since 1995 to show all this Fragments of Fraternity done on every continent as an expression of the United World that not only do they work for, but also they live.
This idea came also from the need to show the world its kindness, besides every difficulty that you can see and hear in all the mass media. Create public opinion all over the world with an impact in different areas, such as politics, sports, culture and religion, is also an aim of the UWW.
On the past 5 years the UWW has begun a symbolic journey through the 5 continents to rediscover the heritage of various cultures, religions and civilizations. In 2013, the main event was done in Gerusalem, where a gathering of 120 young people from 25 nations turned out as an unforgettable experience of knowledge and bridge construction. In 2014, in Nairobi the event “Sharing with Africa” was an opportunity to get to know the African culture. In 2015 the gathering was in Mumbai with the tittle “Fabric, Flavour, Festival – discovering fraternity”: an opportunity to to celebrate the UWW with the youth of the Hindu movement Shanti Ashram. The next stage was seen in 2016 in Quito, Ecuador with an event called “Half the world” that had days of dialogue between young people of different cultures, through social activities and community tourism.
The last meeting point was in Loppiano, Italy in 2017 where over 3,000 young people participated on the “Pulse” (beat) as a symbol of interreligious dialogue and social construction through the commitment and presence of different imams and young people of Muslims communities Also, as a visible sign of welcome and integration, the youth did a a flash mob symbol of PEACE for all migrant peoples.
This year, the showing of Fragments of Fraternity from all over the world will be happening on our next United World Week, starting May 1.
Join the Youth for a United World on the activities and be a witness of a new world that is happening!!
