“This initiative truly touches my heart.” Margaret Karram returns to the Holy City, where she lived for 24 years, to take part in the inauguration of the ‘Within Your Gates’ Forum, organised by Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa and the University of Notre Dame. The forum aims to be an open space for religious leaders, academics, and civic actors across different communities, to meet and work together. The objective is ambitious and necessary: to restore Jerusalem’s universal mission as a city of reconciliation and peace for all humanity.
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To watch the full recording of the inauguration of the ‘Within Your Gates’ Forum, organised by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and developed in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame’s academic centre in Jerusalem, click here
Margaret Karram and Roberto Almada met with the community in Trent (Italy) on the 25th of May 2026. They emphasised the importance of living unity together in a new way, through a genuine conversion. It was an opportunity to remain rooted in the present and look to the future.
“Young people of the world, unite”: this is the invitation that Chiara Lubich extended to the younger generations 60 years ago, so that each one could answer God’s call to live for unity in a practical way. Today, this mission remains as relevant as ever and, in these extremely troubled times, continues to be a way ahead that often goes against the current. It refuses to let hatred and division have the last word. It means to journey as a family with hope and action, with a constant desire to live for a united world.
A true source of pastoral encouragement, the fruit of a profound understanding of the times we are living in: this is how we perceived the words spoken by Pope Leo XIV at our meeting with him on the 21st of March. It was a moment of special grace and deep joy that left an indelible mark on the hearts of the 300 participants at the audience in the Vatican. We had just concluded the General Assembly, which is convened every five years to elect the President, Co-President and governing body of the Work of Mary – Focolare Movement, and we have taken the Pope’s words to heart as a source of wisdom for the future and for the service we are called to offer today to the Church and to the world.
The Pope began by acknowledging the gift that the charism of Chiara Lubich represents for the Church: a gift that has shaped the lives of so many people, families, consecrated persons and priests, and which continues to bear fruits of communion, of dialogue and of peace in the most diverse contexts. At the same time, he has located this gift within the living dynamics of history, reminding us that every charism is entrusted to the responsibility of those who receive it and are called to live it out in ever-new ways.
Pope Leo XIV has reaffirmed for us the essence of our charism: unity. A unity that does not stem from organisation or strategic planning, but which is “the fruit and reflection of Christ’s unity with the Father”. For this reason — he reminded us — it must not be confused with uniformity of thought, of sensitivity or of lifestyle. On the contrary, authentic Gospel-based unity values differences, respects the freedom and conscience of each person, and is built on mutual listening and the shared search for the will of God.
In this time, marked by deep polarisation, social tensions and armed conflicts, the Pope has pointed to unity as a true prophetic strength. A simple yet powerful seed, capable of combating “the poison of division” that pollutes hearts and relationships, through the Gospel-based witness of dialogue, forgiveness and peace. This is a call that we deeply feel as our own and which challenges every member of our Movement to be a force for reconciliation in everyday life.
With particular clarity, the Pope then outlined a specific responsibility for this post-foundational phase, that is, the period following the death of our foundress, Chiara Lubich. This is not a season that has now come to an end, but a time that is continuing and which calls for constant, mature and, above all, shared discernment. He urged us to distinguish what is essential to our charism from what, even if it was part of our history, is no longer necessary, or has shown over time its limits, ambiguities and shortcomings. This discernment — he emphasised — cannot be entrusted to a few people but involves the entire body of the Movement. The charism, in fact, is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and everyone has the right and the duty to feel jointly responsible for the Movement to which they have committed themselves with dedication.
I would also like to quote the words spoken by the new co-president, Fr Roberto Almada, as he commented on this part of the Pope’s address, recognising its great significance: he noted how the Pope had spoken to us “like a father”. He then added that the Pope has encouraged us on the path we have in fact been following for some years now – listening to those who have suffered and reviewing our procedures – but at the same time he has called us to a deeper conversion.
The conversion to which the Pope calls us begins with a personal change of mindset; it is therefore not merely a matter of reforming structures or institutions. At the heart of it all lies the way we live out our relationships, respect for the dignity of the person, and the correct exercise of roles of responsibility, lived as a service. In this sense, the Pope has reminded us that only a Gospel-based approach can allow the “beauty” of the Gospel to shine out in our relationships and structures.
I was particularly struck by Pope Leo XIV’s emphasis on charity as the essential nourishment of unity. Referring to the First Letter to the Corinthians, he recalled that charity is patient, generous and respectful, and that without it, unity risks becoming meaningless. In these words, I recognised the heart of the intuition of Chiara Lubich, who saw in unity not merely a spiritual ideal, but the “rock” upon which the whole life of the Movement is based.
A new mandate is now beginning for the Focolare Movement; five years in which we feel that looking to the future means to embrace and to bring about a real turning point. A turning point that calls for personal and communitarian conversion, a renewed awareness of the cry of humanity today, and a commitment to bear witness to unity not so much through words as through our lives. Our General Assembly, which was made up of people representing all vocations, a variety of cultures, languages and nations, allowed us to experience the richness of a widespread shared responsibility and a new enthusiasm: signs that the Spirit is continuing to accompany us even during this delicate transition.
With deep gratitude, we therefore take to heart the Pope’s encouragement and his invitation to continue on this journey. We do so with humility and trust, confident that, if we live unity as a free gift and as a daily task, it will be able to contribute to the Church’s mission and increasingly become a force for peace for the world.
Margaret Karram President of the Focolare Movement
Following on from the confirmation of their election, Margaret Karram and Roberto Almada have relaunched a joint commitment: to revitalise relationships, overcome indifference and walk together for peace.
Greetings to everyone on behalf of the Focolare Movement worldwide, as we join in prayer for this digital pilgrimage. Together with all of you, we want to raise our voices to God to ask for an end to human trafficking and to affirm the dignity of every human being:
O Lord, our God,
You love every one of your people. You have given us the gifts of the earth so that we may all live in peace as your children.
Today, a cry is rising up to you from those who have been violated, those who have been exploited in degrading ways, those who are victims of human trafficking.
Help us, Lord, to stand by these sisters and brothers of ours. Multiply the forces of good to encourage their hope in the possibility of a new life.
Make the hearts of the indifferent sensitive. Grant that every citizen, even those who hold the fate of peoples in their hands, may grow in awareness of the need to fight this serious social scourge.
Lord, we ask you that we may be able to spread the global appeal that is being launched today, so that Your will may be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
United, let us continue to pray and act for justice. Thank you to each and every one of you for being part of this chain of hope and of love that is stretching across the world.
Margaret Karram
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