Chiara Lubich

Chiara Lubich (born Silvia Lubich; January 22, 1920, Trento – March 14, 2008, Rocca di Papa), was an Italian teacher and author who founded the Focolare Movement, which aims to bring unity among people and promote universal family.

She was a charismatic figure who broke with many female stereotypes as early as the 1940s, opening a previously unheard of role for women in society and the Roman Catholic Church.

Lubich is considered a notable figure in ecumenical, interreligious and intercultural dialogue, as recognized by UNESCO, which awarded her the Prize for Peace Education in 1996; and the Council of Europe, with the Human Rights Award in 1998; among others.

She took her place in the history of contemporary spirituality among teachers and mystics for the authentic Gospel-based inspiration, universal outlook, and cultural and social influence that distinguish her charism, spirituality, and work.

Early life

The second of four children, Lubich was baptised Silvia. Her mother Luigia Marinconz, was a fervent Catholic, while her father Luigi, was a socialist and convinced anti-fascist. She later took the religious name “Chiara” upon entering the Franciscan Third Order (1942-1949)."Chiara Lubich", ''The Sunday Times'', March 15, 2008
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Luigi Lubich worked as a typesetter for the socialist newspaper ''Il Popolo,'' directed by Cesare Battisti. After the suppression of the newspaper by the Italian fascist regime, he opened an export business of Italian wines into Germany, but due to the crisis of 1929, he was forced to close it. Having refused to become a member of the National Fascist Party, he found it impossible to get work and had to resort to doing odd jobs to support his family. Thus, the family lived in financial hardship for years.Gallagher, Jim. ''A woman's work: Chiara Lubich'', Harper Collins Publisher, Ltd., London 1997 Her mother and the local Sisters of the Child Mary provided her with a solid formation in the Christian faith. She developed a strong sense of social justice from her father; her brother Gino, who was also a socialist; and the family's life of poverty, becoming very sensitive to the needs of the poor. At the age of 15, she joined the ranks of Catholic Action in Trento and soon became a diocesan youth leader.

Education and teaching career

Chiara attended a teachers’ college and became a passionate student of philosophy. Her great desire was to attend the Catholic University of Milan, but she failed to win a scholarship. Initially deeply distressed, she suddenly felt consoled by an inner certainty from God: "I will be your teacher." As soon as she graduated, she took jobs teaching in elementary schools in the valley regions around Trento (1938–39), and then in Cognola (1940-1943), a town close to Trento, in a school for orphans run by the Capuchins. In the autumn of 1943, she left teaching and enrolled at the Ca'Foscari University of Venice, continuing to give private lessons. However, due to the circumstances of the war, at the end of 1944, she had to interrupt her studies.

Founding Focolare: 1942-1951

Focolare was founded against the backdrop of the horrors of World War II. In the midst of this, Chiara discovered the life-giving alternative: God, who is Love. It would become the inspiring spark for the movement for peace and unity that would later emerge.Roces, Marl. "Chiara Lubich: the woman behind the Focolare Movement", ''Home Life'', February 1997, p. 12 In autumn of 1942, in the wake of a simple conversation about the love of God with a Capuchin friar, Casimiro Bonetti, he proposed that Silvia enter the Franciscan Third Order. Attracted by Clare of Assisi's radical choice of God, she took the name “Chiara,” which is Italian for “Clare”. Her experience of God's love was the topic of conferences she gave to the young women of the Third Order. Among them was Natalia Dallapiccola, who, at the age of 18, was the first to follow Lubich.Cocchiaro, M., ''Natalia, la prima compagna di Chiara Lubich'', Città Nuova, Roma 2013, pp. 26-27.

Lessons from the war

On September 2, 1943, Anglo-American forces began bombing Trento, which took it by surprise. Following the armistice between Italy and the Allies, the territory around Trento was occupied by Nazi forces and annexed to the Third Reich. Her brother Gino joined the communist partisans and fought against the Nazi-fascist regime. In the summer of 1944, he was arrested and tortured. Amidst the uncertainty about the future and fear for life itself caused by the war, Chiara realized how everything passes, everything collapses, everything is “vanity of vanities” (Eccl 1:1) and “only God remains.” She became convinced that “the salvation of the twentieth century is love”. She shared this great news with “letters of fire” that she wrote to her relatives, to the young women of the Third Order, and to her colleagues. Soon other young women joined her in living what they called a “divine adventure”.

On December 7, 1943, in the chapel of the Capuchin College, she pronounced her total “Yes, forever” with a vow of perpetual chastity.

A revolution born from the Gospel

As she and her first companions ran to the air-raid shelters, they took only a copy of the Gospel, which they read and tried to put it into practice. In 1948 she wrote: "We have understood that the world needs to be healed by the Gospel because only the Good News can give back to the world the life it lacks. This is why we live the Word of Life (…). We have no other book except the Gospel, no other science, no other art. That is where life is!"

Chiara and her early friends dedicated themselves to the people in the poorest sections of Trento, recognizing in them the presence of Jesus. Thanks to a growing number of people being involved, food, clothing and medicine arrived with unusual abundance. Chiara made a plan, with the goal of “solving the social problems of Trento”. In 1947, it took shape as “Fraternity in action". In February 1948, in an editorial signed by Silvia Lubich, which appeared in ''L'Amico Serafico'', the magazine of the Capuchin Fathers, she announced the communion of goods to all those around her, following the example of the first Christians. After only a few months, close to 500 people were involved in a widespread sharing of material and spiritual goods.

Living for the unity of the human family

In that dark time without much hope for the future, a universal project opened up for Chiara:

For Chiara, “that they may all be one” could mean nothing less than the unity of all humankind. Unity with God and among human beings could be achieved on one condition: by embracing the cross. Chiara focused on “Jesus Forsaken”.Lubich, Chiara. ''The Cry'', New City Press, New York, 2001, Gradually she and her companions realized that in that moment Jesus had transformed all forms of pain and suffering into “new life” and healed all the traumas of division. Years later,she would affirm: Jesus Forsaken won every battle in us, even the most terrible ones (…). But it is necessary to be madly in love with him, who is the synthesis of every physical or spiritual suffering, the remedy (…) for every pain of the soul."

"We experienced joy, new peace, the fullness of life, an unmistakable light. Jesus was fulfilling his promise: ‘Where two or more are gathered in my name, I am there among them’ (Matt 18:20). He is the one who binds us into unity with the Father, and into unity among us, the unity which had been impossible until now."

Chiara understood that the unity that she and her first companions were experiencing was destined for the whole world. In 1946 she already proposed that they aim at universal brotherhood, indicating the way that this can be done. "Look at all people as children of the one Father. Let our thoughts and the affection of our hearts go beyond the barriers imposed by our human vision of life, and develop the habit of constantly opening ourselves to the reality of being one human family in only one Father: God."

While Chiara and her first companions believed they were simply living the Gospel, the phrases that were coming into relief formed the basic principles of a spirituality of unity or “spirituality of communion”. This spirituality would be recognized by the Catholic Church and leaders of other Christian Churches as a gift of the Holy Spirit for our age. Chiara gradually deepened these principles in her spiritual writings. The spirituality of unity developed as a rich and solid synthesis of Christian experience, a remarkable patrimony of ideas and life experiences, with a distinctly communitarian character. Twenty years later, it proved to be in total harmony with the documents of the Second Vatican Council. It has also had a social, cultural, political and economic impact on society.

A decisive choice

On May 13, 1944, the city of Trento was subjected to heavy bombing. The Lubich home was also damaged to the point of being uninhabitable. The family decided to look for shelter in a mountain village, while Chiara made the difficult choice to stay in the city to support the increasingly numerous group of young women who were inspired by her actions and her words. While she was going through the streets, looking for her friends, a woman, distraught with grief, grabbed her by the shoulders, shouting at her that four of her family members had been killed. For Chiara, this was a call to set aside her own pain to take on the pain of humanity.

In the autumn of 1944, Chiara was offered a small apartment in Piazza Cappuccini, where she went to live with some of her companions. This would be the seed of a small and rather unique community. The warmth of their love earned them the nickname, “focolare”, the Italian word for “hearth". Even though they had no intention of starting anything, this small household marked the first basic structure of the newly born Movement. It would constitute its heart, its backbone. In the autumn of 1948, a young electrician, Marco Tecilla, and a merchant, Livio Fauri, decided to follow Chiara's new communitarian way and formed the first men's focolare community. In 1953, the focolare household would acquire its definitive form when also married people became full members of the community while remaining faithful to the obligations of their married life. The first to follow this path was Igino Giordani, the pioneer for a vocation that would be followed by numerous married people who are eager for spiritual perfection.

Years of difficult trials

The terrible reality of the war was not the only difficulty they would have. Starting in 1945, criticisms, misunderstandings and accusations began to spread against this “new community” in Trento. Living the Gospel, communicating experiences, sharing their few possessions and making unity their ideal, aroused suspicions of Protestantism or a new form of communism. Their radical way of living the Gospel that Chiara proposed attracted the accusation of “fanaticism”, and the word “love”, not customarily used in the Catholic sphere at that time, was likewise misunderstood.

“Whoever listens to you listens to Me” (Luke 10:16). This sentence from the Gospel of Luke motivated Chiara to go with her companions to see the bishop of Trento, Carlo De Ferrari. He listened to them, got more information about their life and then reassured them. He also confirmed that this was something new that was developing and should be separate from the Franciscan Third Order. In fact, on May 1, 1947, Archbishop De Ferrari approved the Statute of the “Focolare of Charity - Apostles of Unity.” In March 1949, a decree of the Vatican department for religious ratified the distinction of the “Focolare of Charity” from the Franciscan Third Order.
The charges against them, however, did not cease. During the 1950s, when movements were a new phenomenon in the Church, certain Vatican offices regarded the Focolare Movement with suspicion. In 1951, the Holy Office (now known as the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith) began a long study and a series of interviews to test the young founder. During this time, it was uncertain whether the movement would be disbanded or approved.

Papal approvals

The trial came to an end gradually, starting with the first pontifical approval ''ad experimentum'' in 1962, during the pontificate of Pope John XXIII, at about the same time that he opened the Second Vatican Council. Further approval was given by Pope Paul VI in 1964. In 1990, Pope John Paul II approved the Statutes that outline the composite physiognomy of the Focolare Movement as it developed over the years. As early as 1984, John Paul II recognized in the charism of Chiara a “radicalism of love”, juxtaposing it with that of Ignatius of Loyola and other founders. The following year, in answer to a question posed to him by Chiara, he gave his support to the idea that in the future the head of the Movement would always be a woman, even though Focolare includes priests, men and women religious, and bishops. His answer was: “Indeed! I see you he Focolareas an expression of the Church’s Marian profile”. In that same year, John Paul II named her as a consultant for the Pontifical Council for the Laity. Chiara addressed the synods of the bishops in 1985, 1987 and 1999.

The meeting with Igino Giordani

Various circumstances led Chiara to move from Trento to Rome. Looking for help to find an apartment in postwar Rome, she asked for an appointment with Igino Giordani (1884-1980), a prominent figure in Parliament. The meeting took place on September 17, 1948. Giordani, who was married and father of four children, was a prolific author, journalist, pioneer of ecumenism, scholar and expert in the history of the Church, and therefore able to understand the novelty that the spirituality offered. At the age of 56, he decided there and then to follow her, while remaining with his family, but becoming a spiritual member of the community of consecrated virgins. He was the first in this vocation of “married Focolarini”, an original way of consecration open to married people, as individuals or as a couple. Giordani would also contribute greatly to the development of ecumenism within the Movement, as well as to the civic and social dimension of the spirituality, so much so that he was considered by Chiara co-founder of the Movement. The process of his beatification is currently underway.

A special period of light

After years of intense activity, in the summer of 1949, Chiara went with her companions for a period of rest to a town near Trento called Tonadico. It was a mystical experience and has since been referred to simply as “Paradise ’49”. She understood more about God’s plans for the Focolare Movement and its future developments. During those few months, Chiara constantly communicated with Igino Giordani, who had returned to Rome for his work. She would immediately share whatever she understood with the young women who were with her, in such a vital way that they had the impression of participating with her in the same experience. It was the founding experience of the new communitarian spirituality and the ecclesial reality that it would generate.

Development

In September 1949, Chiara returned to Rome from the mountains and a new stage began. Before the year end, she met a young man from Pistoia (central Italy), Pasquale Foresi (1929-2015). He was destined to become one of Chiara's closest collaborators, whom she considered a co-founder, alongside Igino Giordani.

The Movement had spread rapidly throughout Italy in the post-war period. In 1958, members of the Movement began to travel to other continents at the request of people who wanted to know more about it. In 1958, it reached various countries in South America, in 1961 North America, in 1963 Africa, in 1966 Asia and 1967 Australia.

Mariapolis

Every summer between 1950 and 1959, in the mountain villages near Trento, people from all walks of life joined Chiara and the members of the movement to live this new lifestyle, while enjoying a holiday atmosphere together. They came from Italy, France and Germany, from other countries of Europe and other continents. The first multicultural scale model of a society renewed by the Gospel took shape spontaneously and was given the name “Mariapolis” (“city of Mary”). In 1953, among other politicians, Alcide De Gasperi, then Prime Minister of Italy, attended the Mariapolis. In 1959, over 10,000 people came to the Valley of Primiero from 27 nations,including Czechoslovakia, Brazil, and Taiwan.
The following year, at the Mariapolis in Fribourg, Switzerland, Chiara spoke to a group of politicians of the day when all nations would live in unity, foreseeing “a new era”: "The time has come when the homeland of others has to be loved as one’s own. Today the times require us to have the social responsibility to build up, not only our own country but that of others, too."

The Focolare magazine, entitled ''Città Nuova'' (“New City”), began at the 1956 Mariapolis from the desire of people to stay connected to the spirituality and the movement as a whole. In one of its first editorials, Chiara expressed her vision for it: "We would like to collect all the various experiences of people who are bringing unity all over the world (…) so that the good that one person does will become the common good and the common good will belong to each individual."

A Work “under construction”

Chiara often described herself as a simple instrument in the hands of the artist. After the pontifical approval in 1962, the movement began to develop at a surprisingly rapid rate, resulting in the formation of various branches for more committed members and of movements for wider outreach. Chiara repeated several times that she never had a plan or an agenda:

1956: “The Volunteers of God” for a New Humanity

In November 1956, an uprising of the Hungarian people was brutally suppressed. Chiara responded by calling for an army of volunteers for the cause of God, “volunteers of God”: "A certain society has attempted to erase the name of God, the reality of God, the providence of God and the love of God from people’s hearts. There has to be a society that can put God back in his rightful place (…). A society that witnesses to only one name: God."

Thus, the“volunteers of God” came to life, the first of 18 branches within the Focolare Movement.
Groups met according to their area of engagement and, with Chiara's inspiration, began centers for politics, economy, medicine, and art. These later developed into a wider movement that Chiara launched in 1968 with the name “For a New Society” and later changed to “New Humanity.

Youth and the Gospel revolution

In 1967, Chiara proposed to young people a revolution of love, based on the Gospel. She issued a strong appeal for young people of the world to unite. She pointed to a new model of person needed for this era, the “Global Person” with the whole world in their heart. In 1985, an even broader youth movement began, called “Youth for a United World” for young adults, while a year before, in 1984, Chiara had started “Teens for Unity,” for teens and children to build peace everywhere and to spread a culture of giving.Torno, Armando. ''Chiara Lubich, a Biography'', New City Press, NY, 2012

New Families Movement

On July 19, 1967, Chiara announced the beginning of a movement for families. She asked couples who were living the spirituality of unity to reach out to all couples, but especially to focus on those who most reflected the suffering of Jesus abandoned on the cross. Groups formed all over the world, and hundreds of social projects to support family life, providing concrete help for those in need and sponsoring children with their “Adoptions-at-a-Distance” project, and International Adoptions.

Towards the Church as communion

Ever since the early years of the movement in Trento, Chiara had frequent contacts with men and women religious of various congregations as well as diocesan priests. She encouraged them to implement in their communities and parishes the last desire of Jesus, “Father, that they may all be one.” This led to a widespread movement among religious and priests at large, while branches developed for those who wanted to commit to living the spirituality according to their vocation and their founder's spirit.

“Operation Africa”

In 1964, during the Second Vatican Council, Bishop Julius Peeters from Cameroon asked Chiara about the possibility of sending medical help to a region of his country where the people were at risk of disease. She requested some of the Focolare members who were doctors or nurses to go to the village of Fontem. They discovered that vaccinating the population helped immensely to improve their situation. Seeing their great need, Chiara launched “Operation Africa” among the youth of the movement, who raised money to build a hospital and then schools for the village. She went in person to visit the Bangwa people in Fontem in 1966, 1969 and 2000. Fontem is the site of Mary Health of Africa mission hospital. a 120-bed hospital that also has an extensive outpatient service and runs a dispensary in nearby Fonjumetaw.

Eastern Europe

Starting in 1955, with the encouragement of Pope Pius XII and the German bishops, some men and women members of the Focolare moved to Czecho-Slovakia and then into East Germany and other neighboring countries. Chiara gave them precise directions - be perfect workers; live mutual love and love each neighbor without speaking about it; respect the laws of the country. She traveled to Berlin nine times, both before and after the wall had been constructed. In 1990, when travel outside their countries was permitted, several hundred youths from eastern Europe were able to participate in the GenFest in Rome. In August 1991, in Katowice, Poland, 6,500 members of the Focolare Movement, coming from Eastern European countries belonging to the communist bloc, met for the first time with Chiara and with one another.

For an Economy of Communion

In May 1991, Chiara arrived in São Paulo, Brazil, to meet with the members of the Movement there. The idea emerged for a project called the “Economy of Communion” (EOC) in which businesses would, first of all, live the spirit of unity among their employees, competitors, and customers, and then share part of their profits to raise people out of poverty and form a “culture of giving” rather than of “having”. It stimulated. the interest of academics who have studied the praxis being used and are presenting a new economic theory in universities worldwide. Chiara was awarded several honorary doctorates in economics and, in 1999, presented the Economy of Communion at the 50th anniversary of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. In October 1998, Fernando Cardoso, president of the Federal Republic of Brazil presented Chiara with the highest award of his country, the “National Order of the Southern Cross, ”recognizing the EOC as “an innovative and effective weapon in the struggle against poverty and exclusion”

Politics for unity

Chiara was invited to speak to a meeting of Italian politicians of various parties. It was May 2, 1996, in Naples. Her proposal to them was that, first of all, they should live fraternity among themselves and then bring this spirit to all their relationships with other politicians of different parties, with the goal that together they might achieve the common good. This gave shape to the Movement of Politics and Policy for Unity (MppU). Chiara outlined its fundamental features on several occasions when she met members of the government in Slovenia, Spain, France, the Czech Republic, Brazil (1998) and Italy (2000).

During her visit to Ireland in 2004, she met President Mary McAleese. Visiting the focolare center near Dublin in 2008, McAleese spoke of Lubich's “simple and beautiful idea of love as a lived reality leading to unity. Ideas such as hers” she added, “provide an antidote to the negative ideas that spread so easily, causing damage, breaking hearts and lives”.
That same year (2004) Chiara visited England and spoke in the House of Commons in Westminster on the topic “Liberty and equality...What happened to fraternity” She also addressed a symposium at the United Nations in New York, sponsored by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See in conjunction with the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) with the title “A Unity of Nations and a Unity of Peoples”. In November 2001, she was invited to a major conference held in Vienna, Austria, entitled “1,000 cities for Europe,” where she proposed “the spirit of universal brotherhood in politics as a key to the unity of Europe and the world.” On September 12, 2004, she gave was to be her last public address, in Rome, on the occasion of the second international Interdependence Day.

An interdisciplinary culture

At the beginning of the 1990s, at the urging of Bishop Klaus Hemmerle

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