“I am here not on official business, but urged by a need of the heart. I am here to extend to all of you a heartfelt thanks, in the name of the Church, for what you are: a great hope of the Church of today and tomorrow.” Cardinal Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, addressed these affectionate words to the 1,200 men and women focolarini who were attending the fourth and last annual retreat for focolarini. They were there from Europe and the continents.

Cardinal Rylko underscored that “the charism which the Holy Spirit gave to Chiara is for the Church, and it is a treasure that must be guarded and protected, but especially lived,” which is precisely the best way, said the prelate, of protecting it, “living it all the way to the bottom, with passion, enthusiasm, and gratitude,” he reiterated. Recalling, then, the Apostolic Letter “Novo Millennio Ineuente,” in which John Paul II proposes the “spirituality of communion” to everyone, he added: “Whenever you speak of communion you touch the central nerve of the charism of unity.”

He therefore invited the focolarini who had gathered together for those few days to “live again in our day the gift of communion, which is your very strength.” He highlighted the particular task that is awaiting the Movement today: to freely offer this gift which was freely given, to this world that is broken and divided by hatred. Hence the importance of cultivating “a profound communion with the universal Church and, in particular, with the person of the successor of Peter, the Pope.” He recalled the words spoken by Benedict XVI, in 2006 to the Movements: “. . . I ask you to be even more collaborators in universal apostolic ministry of the Pope, opening the doors to Christ.”

Aware that “you take these words as the programme of your life with a missionary zeal that touches the ends of the earth,” Cardinal Rylko concluded by underscoring that the communion with the universal Church is a concrete fact. It means “being participants in the major challenges facing the Church at the present time,” particularly mentioning the intolerance and persecution of Christians in various countries of the world.

After lunch, which took place in a peaceful family atmosphere, the Cardinal – who was celebrating 15 years of his episcopal ordination – wanted to go to the chapel of the Movement’s Centre in Rocca di Papa to visit Chiara Lubich’s tomb. He also visited the house where she lived for over 40 years, and then went to the Chiara Lubich Centre, which houses the founder’s archival legacy. They were solemn moments imbued with vivid memories