The fact that the Genfest—to which we dedicate this newsletter—is a feast can be guessed from the name. To understand how this may be, first for the youth, we must translate the three alphabets of “Gen” with “New Generation.” It is a feast for the youth, thus the Genfest: a large gathering for the youth all around the world who, from inside, live, or are curious, close to the Focolare Movement, but moreover close to the lifestyle this suggests, that has at “heart” universal fraternity.

Every five years since 1973, from an idea of Chiara Lubich, first in Rome and then each time in a different place in the world—but with parallel feasts in the other cities worldwide—numerous activities, of which art, testimonies, happiness, exchange, and dialogue take place.

There’s a theme for each edition, explored with an attentive approach towards multiculturality, ethnicity, and religious differences, the cure of the planet and each persona, with the first being the most fragile and needy.

The titles vary, but not the goal: to build a more united and fraternal world with more dialogue and support. More welcoming and the ability to listen to others.

The first edition of the Genfest was held in Loppiano, near Florence, Tuscany, entitled “Mankind beyond every barrier.” The success of the manifestation was so great that only two years later, it was replicated in Rome at the Palazzo dello Sport with the title “Unity is Possible.” It was a holy year in 1975, and the 20,000 youth the day after were welcomed in St. Peter’s Basilica by Pope Paul VI.

In 2012, for the first time, the Genfest crossed the Italian borders and was held in Hungary, in Budapest, where the United World Project was launched. In 2018, in Manila, in the Philippines, while this year, from the 12th to the 24th of July 2024, the great feast will be held in Aparecida, in Brazil, for the first time in the south American continent.

The title of this edition will be “Together to Care,” and 6,000 youth are expected from all over the planet. The event will be broadcasted live in 120 countries worldwide and will be developed in three phases: there will be a volunteering experience in various social organizations from the 12th to the 18th of July, in Brazil and other Latin American countries. The main event will be held from the 19th to the 21st of July at Aparecida, after which the youth will be invited to participate in the third phase (21st–24th of July) organized to create networks and communities that concretely live towards a more united world.

It will be a great feast, a global handshake, and an immense and smiling embrace amongst those youth that carry the future of humanity in their hands, in their thoughts, and especially in their hearts.