Trent, 1944
While in the air-raid shelter,
we came upon that page of the Gospel which speaks of the Testament of Jesus:
"May they all be one, Father, as you and I are one".
These words seem to light up one by one.
That "everyone" expanded our horizon.
That project for unity was to be the goal of our life.
Chiara Lubich
From that first nucleus in Trent ...
The first inspiring spark, the "minblowing discovery" of the One whom "no bomb could destroy" - God - took place against the backdrop of hatred and violence of the Second World War. It was the experience of God as Love and he radically changed the life of Chiara Lubich, then barely twenty years old. She immeditaely shared her experience with her friends who were to become her first companions.
They took with them into the air-raid shelters only the Gospel . There they discovered the secret of how to respond to Love. At that time, Chiara herself wrote: "Each day there were new discoveries: the Gospel had become our only guide, the only light of our life.
By living the commandment of mutual love, they discovered the way for rebuilding fraternity in a disintegrated society "Let's share everything: our things, our houses, our money. This was to be a totally new life."
That first group of young women experienced, to their amazement, light, strength, courage, love, all fruits of the presence of Jesus which He promised when two or three are gathered in his name, meaning in his love. It was a light which illuminated the final prayer of Jesus to the Father: May they all be one. This divine plan for the human family was to became the program of their life: "Let's make unity the trampoline to take us to where unity is lacking and to help bring it about."
The effects: "Every day the number of people, of all ages and backgrounds, grew. Hatred and conflicts diminished. Many families were reunited". There was a growing certainty that the Gospel holds the key to every social problem and to the problems of each invidivual.
... a Movement
Soon afterwards that small group of people became a movement which brought about a spiritual and social renewal. In less than 60 years of life, the movement has spread worldwide to 182 countries counting more than two million adherents with an outreach, difficult to quantify, of a few million people.
A small people - Because of the variety of its composition, the Focolare Movement has taken on the dimensions of a small people, so described by Pope John Paul II. It embraces not only Catholics, but also Christians of different Churches and ecclesial communities, as well as the Jewish people. Little by little, many followers of the great world religions, as well as people with no religious affiliation, have become part of the Movement. This adhesion to the Movement is without syncretism and encourages all to maintain full faith in their own identity. What all these people have in common is the commitment to live, in one way or another, love and unity, which are written in the DNA of every human person.
The term Focolare Movement ("focolare" means fireplace) was applied to the Movement, since its beginnings, by the people of Trent because of the "fire" of Gospel love which animated Chiara Lubich and her first companions.
Founder: Chiara Lubich. She herself emphases that the Movement "was not thought up by a human mind, but that it is the fruit of a charism which comes from Above. We try to follow, through circumstances, the will of God day by day".
Offical endorsements - The Bishop of Trent, Msgr. Carlo de Ferrari, gave the first approval at the level of the local Church in 1947: He said, "Here there is the hand of God". A number of pontifical approvals followed, the first being in 1962; the most recent, which encompassed the latest developments, was given in 1990.
Ecclesial Movements - The Focolare is part of the present phenomenon of the flourishing of ecclesial movements which have originated over the years from "a precise charism given to the person of the Founder" (John Paul II), meaning that it is a "gift of the Spirit" which unceasingly gives rise to the "novelty of Christianity" (Cardinal Ratzinger). John Paul II denoted the charism of Chiara Lubich as "a radicalism of love" and saw in the Movement the lineaments of the Church of the Council, open to the various dialogues (19.8.1984).
Spirituality of Unity
"Initially we believed that we were simply living the Gospel," Chiara Lubich wrote, "but meanwhile the Holy Spirit was at work emphasising some words of the Gospel which were to become a new spiritual current: the spirituality of unity.
The Movement grew and developed through this spirituality which over time has become the lifestyle of people of all ages, backgrounds, vocations and cultures. At its heart are the Focolare Centres, small communities of men or women, single and married.
Goals
In this age of dramatic change, in sharing with humanity the painful birth of a new civilization that is globalised, interdependent, multicultural and multifaith, the Focolare Movement is committed, together with many other forces which are moving in this direction, to build the unity of the human family enriched by diversity.
Instruments of unity
Initially the Focolare centres, grouped in "zones", converged into one international centre. Little by little, from the one trunk, numerous branches grew. Amongst these were large scale movements which spread the seeds of renewal in the various ambits of society and in the Church, opening up oases of fraternity and unity:
New Families
New Humanity
Youth for Unity
Teens for Unity
Parish and Diocesan Movements
Priests' Movement
Movement for Men and Women Religious belonging to different congregations
Pathways to unity: the dialogues
Dialogue, at the level of individuals, leaders and movements, communities and groups, emerges as the pre-eminent way for promoting unity:
within one's own Church, to deepen comunion among ecclesial movements, new communities and lay associations, as well as among religious congregations with new and old charisms;
amongst Churches, by weaving relationships based on fraternal communion and shared witness in which age-old prejudices fall and the various Churches open up to a dialogue of life and of people thus accelerating the way towards the visible unity of Christians;
with the Jewish people, in order to heal past wounds and to rediscover the patrimony of our common roots
amongst the world faiths, in order to build universal brotherhood based on the values of the spirit;
with people of no religious affiliation in order to collaborate on the basis of shared values, respect for human rights in the fields of solidarity and peace.
In society
The living out of mutual love to the point of building unity has eventuated a code for transforming society through communion and solidarity in the various ambits of society namely: politics, economy, relationships among people, public morals and social ethics, health, education and culture, social communications. In this regard, the following are of particular importance:
Movement for unity in politics which is open to people with varying degrees of political commitment, belonging to different political parties. This movement proposes fraternity as a political agenda to be lived with the common good in mind. www.mppu.org
Economy of Communion. In the economic field, the Economy of Communion project has developed. 750 businesses have been inspired by this project and these businesses have an impact at the cultural level. www.edc-online.org
International Cooperation. There are over 1000 social projects of various dimensions in all 5 continents. Particularly developed are those in the field of social health and education in the most depressed areas of the world. The value of this reciprocal help encourages self-help and the means to better the social standing of the needy; this action is supported by an NGO of the Movement called AUW (Action for a United World). www.azionemondounito.org.
Models of a new society: the little towns
There are 35 little towns in the world in various stages of development with the characteristic of the culture in which they have arisen. They are miniature towns with houses, schools, businesses and places of worship. Because of the style of life they promote they can offer a model to big cities on the way to live together.
Formation to unity. There are 63 Mariapolis centres in the world dedicated to the spiritual and cultural formation of members. These Mariapolis centres are in 46 nations - 9 of them are located in Italy, not counting the international centre which has its seat in Castelgandolfo in Rome. Permanent schools of formation for the branches of the Movement are present in the various little towns. These Mariapolis centres are permanent schools of formation for different branches of the Movement.
A culture of unity
A centre for interdisciplinary studies, the Abba School, has an academic staff which works to develop the initial principles of a new culture enlightened by the charism of unity. A more recent development, at a cultural level, is indicated in the consitution of an international network of scholars, professionals and students who go into depth in each individual discipline, promoting conventions, courses of formation and publications.
Media
To spread this culture:
Città Nuova publishing houses in 31 countries;
Città Nuova news magazine: 43 editions in so many nations and in 22 languages: www.cittanuova.it
New Humanity, bi-monthly cultural journal produced in various languages;
Unity and Charisms and Gen’s, bi-monthly magazines of culture and ecclesial commentary published in various languages;
Centro Santa Chiara and Charisma, audio-visual production centres.
Ackowledgements
For her work in favour of dialogue, of unity and of peace, the Focolare Movement has received various acknowledgements in the person of Chiara Lubich from:
leaders of different churches: Orthodox, Anglican and Evangelical-Lutherans;
representatives of different faiths: Jewish and Hindu;
National and international civic organisms among which UNESCO, the European Council of Europe, Universities and other cultural entities, as well as local government.
Work of Mary
The Movement was officially approved within the Catholic Church under the name "Work of Mary". It carries this name because "of its characteristic spirituality, modeled upon Mary, gives Christ spiritually to the world in the diversity of its composition, its worldwide spreading, its relationship with Christians of other Churches and ecclesial Communities, with people of various religious faiths and with persons with no particular religious affiliation, and for the fact that its President is a lay woman". (General Statutes, art.2)
