Focolare Movement

Giorgio Marchetti has left us

May 29, 2016

One of the first focolarini, Giorgio Fede Marchetti, passed away peacefully at the age of 86. He had accompanied hundreds of young men along the path of the focolare.

DSC_0133“Here in Africa we got the news at one o’clock this morning, May 20th, the feast day of Corpus Domini. He had more than once expressed his desire to join Chiara Lubich in Heaven. We rejoice with him and pray for him.” Maria Voce wrote these words to all the members of the Focolare Movement, while on a visit to Kenya where she has been since May 14th. Giorgio Fede Marchetti was born in Padua, Italy, on October 16, 1929 where he was amongst the first people to become involved in the adventure of unity, as Chiara Lubich called it. But he also continued to accompany the growth and development of the Focolare around the world. The director of Città Nuova, Michele Zanzucchi, writes: “Many of us will remember his staunch loyalty to Chiara Lubich as he followed the path traced out by the charism of unity during the first months of the Focolare town of Loppiano in Tuscany, Italy, surrounded by mud but also genuine enthusiasm. He’ll be remembered in Brazil where he came face to face with the hard reality of the shanty towns. We’ll remember how he supported the Movement, always on the frontlines, always looking forward.” Ángel Bartol, who was with him in his last moments: “Fede continued to give of himself, body and soul, to the very end. He was a doctor, psychologist and theologian who had trained and accompanied hundreds of young men on the path of the focolarini. Intelligence and generosity were his main traits. Much more could be written about him, and much more will be in the coming days. For now we simply say: Thank you, Fede, for your life that was centered on the unity of the human family! A funeral will be held at the Mariapolis Centre of Castelgandolfo on Tuesday, June 1st at 11:00 am.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Newsletter

Thought of the day

Related post

Living the Gospel: seeing our brothers and sisters

Living the Gospel: seeing our brothers and sisters

The Word of the Gospel proposed for this month is: “My soul magnifies the Lord”, the opening words of Mary’s song when she met Elizabeth.
The commentary on the Word of Life says, “The words of this hymn invite us to understand God’s salvific intervention in our personal and community life, leading towards the new heavens and the new earth that the social revolution of the Gospel inaugurates.”
These experiences show us that praising God means taking the side of the little ones and believing that the world can, and must, change.

Franco Fortuna, a Saint Next Door

Franco Fortuna, a Saint Next Door

Franco Fortuna, a religious education teacher and deacon, devoted himself to the service of the local Church and to the formation of many families linked to the Focolare Movement. He has sown a lot of love in those who knew him. He left this Earth on 12th August, 2025,

A friendship is truly worth a kidney

A friendship is truly worth a kidney

A thought that arose almost by chance, an invitation accepted in the silence of prayer, and a choice capable of changing two lives. The story of a friendship that became a gift of life.