January 14, 2026 : We’re celebrating a birthday a little more special than the others! It’s exactly 40 years since the founding of AMU , when the 35 founding members met to formalize and continue their personal and community commitment to international cooperation aimed at universal brotherhood and reciprocity in relations between peoples and communities around the world.
Is what Action for a United World meant then still valid today? We are firmly convinced that it is. Right now, when conflicts are raging in the world like never before since World War II, we are convinced that only by (re)discovering ourselves as members of the one great human family , beyond all affiliations, beliefs, and statuses, will we be able to make our humble but necessary contribution to peace and justice for all .
For those who can attend, we will be happy to welcome you to the International Center at Via Frascati 306 in Rocca di Papa on January 14, 2026, at 12:00 noon for a mass for AMU members and friends who have already reached the finish line; and at 5:00 p.m. for a snack with AMU members and friends.
(Stefano Comazzi, President of the AMU)
A “round” birthday always marks a special milestone: for individuals, but also for the organizations that thrive thanks to those who animate them and make them instruments of social and moral progress for communities (as Article 2 of the Constitution recalls).
Since January 14, 1986, when the 35 founding members gathered at the Mariapolis Center in Rocca di Papa in the Castelli Romani area, not only forty years have passed: the world has changed. An era ends and a new one begins, amid challenges and uncertainties. The inevitable question arises: is what Action for a United World , inspired by the Focolare Movement’s ideal of unity, meant then still valid today?
We, who continue and actualize that dream, are convinced that it is. Today, especially, while conflicts are raging around the world like never before since the Second World War; while the Mediterranean (and beyond) is swallowing up thousands of people fleeing war, persecution, and poverty; while social inequality grows between the very few who possess immense wealth and an ever-growing mass of the dispossessed; while states fail to guarantee the basic needs of their citizens and international law is being trampled upon…we cannot resign ourselves. We cannot accept as inevitable the risk of a new global conflict that will weld together the many wars spread across the planet.
For these reasons, AMU, thanks to its members, friends, and supporters, aims to be a tangible sign of universal brotherhood and reciprocity between peoples and communities , contributing to integral and sustainable development, respectful of future generations. We are convinced that only by rediscovering ourselves as members of the one human family, beyond affiliations, beliefs, cultures, and status, can we offer our humble but necessary contribution to peace and justice for all.
The many projects completed over the years have confirmed that human development is a journey of integral growth, in which all aspects of the person find space: physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. The key is the reciprocity of giving: each person receives what they need and simultaneously gives what they have. Not benefactors and beneficiaries, but sisters and brothers within a circle of universal brotherhood.
Today, in the footsteps of the founders to whom we extend our gratitude – with a special thought for those who have already reached the final goal – we are ideally blowing out 40 candles , together with the 70 of Città Nuova, which has accompanied and shared our journey, and the 35 of Economy of Communion, our strategic partner.
With a leitmotif that will accompany our celebration events:
40 years of community in action.
Let’s build the next 40 together!
(Giampietro Parolin, member of the AMU Board of Directors)