“We have chosen to tell stories of closeness and fraternity that are the fruit of the commitment of many people and communities around the world who are striving to generate trust every day.” With these words, Margaret Karram, president of the Focolare Movement, opened the event presenting the 2024 Assessment of Communion in Action, held on the 6th of November 2025 at the Augustinian Patristic Pontifical Institute in Rome. This document goes beyond a financial report and describes the ongoing projects in various countries linked to the Focolare Movement and their specific impact on individuals, communities and geographical areas. “It does not merely measure numbers, but speaks of relationships,” emphasised Sister Alessandra Smerilli, secretary of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development. “Communion is a strategic asset. It is not simply the sharing of resources, but the building of bonds that generate trust, cohesion and resilience. In economic terms, it is relational capital: it reduces exclusion costs, encourages participation and enables processes of integral human development. Where there is communion, fragility becomes an opportunity, because those who are part of networks of reciprocity have a better chance of being able to escape marginalisation. In a time of great inequality, this assessment is both a prophetic statement and good news: every single act is important.”
Margaret KarramAlessandra Smerilli – Moira Monacelli
The figures
Ruperto Battiston, co-responsible for the Focolare Movement’s finances, explains the figures: “The 2024 Assessment of Communion in Action shows an income of €8.1 million from donations, from the communion of goods given freely by those belonging to the Movement and from contributions of external institutions for training projects. Expenditure amounted to €9.6 million and was allocated to initiatives that generate long-term value: local projects, little towns, social initiatives and educational and cultural programmes, as well as to support the International Centre.
Thanks to an extraordinary communion of goods of €208,568, it was possible to help people belonging to the Movement who are in situations of particular need and also the structures that help those who are poor.
In addition, the Economy of Communion distributed 394 individual grants and supported 14 projects in 13 countries, for a total of €669,566.
Among the many figures, this year we have chosen to highlight the sums allocated to structures involved in safeguarding and formation in safeguarding, as recommended in the recent report by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.”
Five projects were presented from among those illustrated in the Assessment: Fo.Co. ONLUS – Italya social cooperative that welcomes migrants and unaccompanied minors, promoting inclusion and employment. It has reopened an abandoned convent, transforming it into a reception centre; UNIRedes – Latin America: a network of 74 organisations active in 20 countries, which reaches thousands of people every year with educational, health and cultural projects. The Focolare Medical Centre –in Man, Ivory Coast: established during the civil war, today it is a 24-hour health centre offering telemedicine and hospitalisation services. Focolare Carpentry – Philippines: a vocational training centre that has restored dignity and work to over 300 young people excluded from the school system. TogetherWEconnect – Israel and Palestine: an educational project involving 500 students in courses on dialogue, self-esteem and active citizenship.
A methodology based on the Gospel
“Communion is not welfare, but protagonism and reciprocity,” explained Moira Monacelli of Caritas International. “Being present does not only mean doing for but walking with.” The activities described in the Assessment stem from a tangible love, which translates into listening, shared responsibility, education and trust in Providence. “Giving hope is not saying it with words,” concluded Monacelli, “but building communities where fraternity becomes a reality.”
60 years after Nostra Aetate, we share the story of a unique friendship: Silvina, Nancy and Cecilia. Three women. Silvina is a rabbi in a Jewish community in Buenos Aires, Nancy is a Muslim who runs a center for interfaith dialogue, and Cecilia is a Christian and member of the Focolare Movement. A relationship that is built upon concrete actions and a desire to go beyond any possible barrier.
The Focolare Movement and religious men and women share a bond that originated at the beginning of the Movement’s history: a thick web of relationships between Chiara Lubich, founder of Focolare and consecrated people of various religious families. An array of women and men dedicated to God through the most varied spiritualities that inspired and supported Chiara in the early years of the Movement. All this is revealed in the book entitled A Magnificent Garden. Chiara Lubich and the Religious (1943-1960) edited by Father Fabio Ciardi and Elena Del Nero.
Let’s start with the title: “A magnificent garden”. Can you explain it to us?
Elena Del Nero holds a PhD in History and Philosophical and Social Sciences from the “Tor Vergata” University of Rome. She works at the historical section of the Chiara Lubich Centre in Rocca di Papa (Italy). She is the author of essays and books on the history of the Focolare Movement.
Elena Del Nero: “The evocative image, used by Chiara Lubich as early as 1950, refers to the Church, in which, over the course of history, charisms have flourished. Each of them is precious in its own particular beauty, rooted in the Gospel word that inspired it and yet, together, they compose a harmony of shades, which enriches and illuminates the Church”.
The book consists of a historical reconstruction and a theological-ecclesial reflection. What do they cover?
Elena Del Nero: “The historical reconstruction focuses on only two decades, from the birth of the Focolare in 1943 to 1960. These years are particularly rich in documents and material relevant to the theme under study. The theological-ecclesial reading, on the other hand, ranges in a more extensive temporal dimension, extending its remit to the most recent magisterium reflections. In this way, we believe the panorama offered is wider and more complete “.
The presence of religious has always been part of the Work of Mary, from the very beginning. What is the meaning of the presence of religious in the Movement?
Father Fabio Ciardi: “To rekindle unity in the Church, in response to Jesus’ prayer ‘That all may be one’ (Jn 17:21), was the ideal to which Chiara Lubich felt called. Her Movement continues this great mission of fostering communion and unity among all. But what kind of unity would it be if religious were missing? They express the Church’s charismatic richness and keep alive the experience of the great saints. Chiara wanted to involve them in her ‘divine adventure,’ as she wanted to involve all people, of all vocations”.
What benefit did religious and their orders gain through dialogue with Chiara Lubich and the spirituality of unity of the Focolare?
Father Fabio Ciardi is an Oblate of Mary Immaculate, emeritus Professor at the Pontifical Institute of Theology of Consecrated Life (Claretianum) in Rome; he is the author of numerous publications; since 1995 he has served as a Consultant of the Vatican Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Society of Apostolic Life and since 2022 as Consultant to the Vatican Dicastery for the Clergy.
Father Fabio Ciardi: “From the beginning, religious of different orders were attracted by the evangelical freshness witnessed by Chiara and the first members of the nascent Movement, which brought them back to the radicality of their original choice: they felt a new love for their vocation, they understood it in a deeper way, they felt involved in a communion that reminded them of the first Christian community described in the Acts of the Apostles”.
What effect has the closeness of the religious had on Chiara Lubich from the beginning of the Movement?
Father Fabio Ciardi: “Their presence proved providential for Chiara, because it allowed her to engage with the great Christian spiritualities that emerged throughout history. This encounter helped her to understand her own vocation more profoundly, enriching it through the communion of the saints. Thinking of the saints of whom the religious are witnesses, she wrote, “It seems that they have approached our Work to encourage it, enlighten it and help it.” On the one hand, the relationship with the saints confirmed certain aspects of the life of the Work of Mary. On the other hand, the comparison with their lives and their works highlighted the full originality of this new and contemporary work of God”.
Is the presence of religious in ecclesial movements a source of mutual enrichment? Or does it risk bringing confusion and loss of identity?
Father Fabio Ciardi: “There is no interference in the life of religious families. Chiara Lubich wrote that she approached them ‘on tiptoe‘, in the awareness that they are ‘works of God’ and with that deep love that led her to discover in each of them ‘the beauty and that something ever new that they safeguard. At the same time, she was aware of the contribution she was called to make: ‘We must only help circulate Love among the different Orders. They must understand, know, and love each other as the Persons of the Trinity love one another. Among them there is a relationship like that of the Holy Spirit who binds them together, because each is an expression of God, of the Holy Spirit. It is in this circulation of charity that every religious deepens their identity and can make a specific contribution to unity”.
In conclusion, why read this book? Who would you recommend it to?
“Because it recounts a wonderful page of history that helps us to understand the beauty of the Church. It is not a book for religious only. It is a book for those who want to discover a Church that is completely charismatic”.
Who, at one point or another during their life time, has not felt that they simply could not cope?
These are times of confusion and great vulnerability when we become aware of our own limitations and it seems clear that we cannot face all of life’s challenges alone.
When we feel like this, we need to lift our gaze, shift our focus away from our difficulties and open up to a broader reality. By making this subtle yet decisive change from within, we become aware of an invisible “web”. This is like a delicate fabric of intertwining people, experiences, and circumstances that envelop, accompany, sustain and fill us with understanding.
This help does not always manifest explicitly; it comes from life itself with its mysterious ability to regenerate, heal, and set us on our way once again. This happens not through spectacular events but through discreet actions that are filled with human and symbolic meaning. They may be a silent presence in times of mourning, healing hands, an attentive gaze, a kind word, an unexpected phone call that breaks into our isolation or a gesture of trust when self-esteem falters.
How many people around us have believed in us before we ourselves had the courage to do so? And how often did we find the strength to resume our journey thanks to the faith and trust we have encountered?
Even our inner self that is so often worn down by doubt, despondency or fatigue can be renewed thanks to a meaningful encounter or a gratuitous gesture that makes us feel welcomed, recognized, and loved.
Then, driven by deep and sincere gratitude, we want to reciprocate and tell others about our transformative experience. And so, what we have received becomes a gift and, in a very humble way, we can become a gift for others.
THE IDEA OF THE MONTH is currently produced by the Focolare Movement’s “Centre for Dialogue with People of Non religious Beliefs”. It is an initiative that began in 2014 in Uruguay to share with non-believing friends the values of the Word of Life, i.e. the phrase from Scripture that members of the Movement strive to put into practice in their daily lives. Currently, THE IDEA OF THE MONTH is translated into 12 languages and distributed in more than 25 countries, with adaptations of the text according to different cultural sensitivities. www. dialogue4unity.focolare.org
The event will take place on Monday, 22 September 2025 at 7.30 p.m. (Italian time) in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome (Italy). A video link from Jerusalem with Cardinal Pizzaballa is also planned. Follow the live broadcast here.
