Focolare Movement
Prevention of Abuse
Media Area
Contacts
Non categorizzato

Happy birthday, Pope Benedict!

Apr 16, 2017

The Focolare Movement expresses its gratitude to Pope Benedict XVI for his life that has been totally dedicated to the Church and humanity, with a special edition of the New Humanity Journal.

NU_225Joseph Ratzinger was born 90 years ago, on April 16, in Marktl am Inn, a country town of Bavaria. The 1927 calendar marks Holy Saturday as the day of his birth but, in 2017, his birthday is celebrate on Easter Sunday. The Focolare extends its best wishes to Benedict XVI for all that he has meant to it, to the Church and to humankind. As an expression of our affection and gratitude, the New Humanity Journal has already dedicated the Focus of its 25th edition to him. Compiled by Declan O’Byrne, the Focus section includes scholars such as Piero Coda, Stefano Zamagni and Antonio Bergamo who explore the theological, anthropological and social ethical dimensions of Benedict’s thinking. In a Church where often artificial conflicts arise between supporters of one or another ecclesial view, the New Humanity Journal dedicated to Benedict XVI presents a contribution by Brendan Leahy, Bishop of Limerick Ireland, on the need for a single synodal approach. The artuckes are in the process of being translated and will soon appear in other Focolare publications.

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Your email address will not be published.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

35 years of the EoC: a path of regeneration

35 years of the EoC: a path of regeneration

Jul 21, 2026

A gathering, a celebration and a commitment: this is how the 35th anniversary of the Economy of Communion was lived. We celebrated the journey we have undertaken to renew together our commitment to continuing to build a more humanitarian and regenerative economy.

A precious legacy: Chiara Lubich’s ‘Paradise ’49’

A precious legacy: Chiara Lubich’s ‘Paradise ’49’

Jul 16, 2026

The first presentation of Chiara Lubich’s book ‘Paradise ’49’ took place on the 22nd of May 2026 in the Paul VI Hall at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. The book is a collection of writings in which the Foundress of the Focolare Movement bears witness to and shares her mystical experience from the years 1949 to 1951.

Chiara Lubich: “Do you know where we are?”

Chiara Lubich: “Do you know where we are?”

Jul 15, 2026

It is the 16th of July 1949. Chiara Lubich is in Tonadico, in the Dolomite Mountains in northern Italy, for a period of rest together with some of her first companions. They are joined there by the Honourable Igino Giordani, whom Chiara called Foco. On that day, Chiara and Foco sealed a Pact of unity, a prelude to the spiritual and mystical experience that Chiara would live between 1949 and 1951. This period is known as “Paradise ’49”, the writings from which have recently been published in a book (for now in Italian). In the introduction to the book, the theologian Piero Coda offers some insights “For a theological reading” of the text. Here is an extract, relating specifically to the Pact of the 16th of July, together with a short video of Chiara Lubich from 20 December 1999, in which she shares this experience of light with the Gen, the young people of the Focolare Movement.