“A surprising ecumenical and hope-filled witness of life offered today in Calvin’s city.” Geneva’s most important daily newspaper used these very headlines to introduce its article on the ecumenical celebration that took place in the solemn and austere atmosphere of the ancient cathedral of St. Peter’s in Geneva, the centre of the expansion of the Protestant Reform. And that’s what it was. One thousand five hundred people crowded into the cathedral to be part of this event. At the centre of the Holy Supper table, next to the president of the Protestant Church in Geneva stood a Catholic woman: Chiara Lubich. “Today,” said Protestant pastor Joel Stroudinsky to the bishops of various Churches coming from different countries and representing ecumenical organisations, including Roman Catholic Cardinal Miloslav Vlk of Prague, “we need to be witnesses of the passion of the Gospel, of the power of the Word that transforms the world in all its varied aspects: social, economic and political.” And here, introducing Chiara Lubich, he spoke of her vigorous witness of life, of the action of the Spirit of God in today’s world. “We welcome her today,” he continued, “in this particular communion that is born from our common passion for the Gospel.” Chiara’s address was part of the Sunday worship service and was given in an atmosphere of deep prayer. The ministry of love, the characteristic vocation of womanhood, came out dynamically. Chiara made reference to an important occasion marked by this Church which falls on November 3rd and celebrates the Reformation. “It is a reminder to all the Churches,” she said, “that there is urgent need for that continual reform called for by the Second Vatican Council.” She spoke of the action of the Spirit who, throughout history, and today too through the flowering of new charisms, has brought to life new spiritual currents intended to spark a radical, Gospel-based lifestyle. She touched on such burning current issues as the oppression of peoples, poverty, and terrorism, and she appealed for a return to the fundamentals of a love that is ready to lay down its life for the other and is capable of making this love mutual. “This alone is the witness among the Churches that makes us visible,” she said. “Only this makes us carriers of that love that the world needs. And this,” she concluded emphatically, “is the reform of all reforms that heaven asks of us. Heaven repeats it and it cries for it in the present circumstances that have been permitted.”