Father Silvano Cola (1928–2007), a priest with a background in psychology and education, spent the early days of his ministry working with children in situations of neglect and hardship at the “Città dei Ragazzi” in Turin. There, he developed an educational method based on personalised learning programmes, which was groundbreaking at the time. In 1954, at the age of 26, he met the Focolare Movement, founded by Chiara Lubich, and the charism of unity, which had a profound influence on his priestly ministry. Over the years, he focused particularly on the formation of the clergy and on spreading the charism of unity, contributing to the establishment and development of the Movement’s branch for priests. Chiara Lubich regarded him as a co-founder of this reality.
“I will never forget what happened on the day of my ordination,” recalls Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-Sik,, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, who had known Father Silvano since he was a seminarian. “When we returned to the sacristy, Father Silvano came up to me and placed a chain with a gold cross round my neck. ‘This is your Spouse,’ he said. As if to say: this is your faithful travelling companion, the one with whom to share everything and in whom, in every painful circumstance, you are to recognise the key to making your life and your ministry fruitful. ‘Live your life with him!’ A charge that has shaped my life’s journey and still guides me to this day.”
The ceremony will be presided over by Monsignor Stefano Russo, Bishop of Velletri-Segni and Frascati, and marks the official opening of the ecclesiastical process aimed at gathering testimonies and documentation on the life, virtues and reputation for holiness of Father Silvano Cola.
The following will be present: Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-Sik, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy; Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi, Archbishop Emeritus of L’Aquila and President of the Commission of Cardinals for the Supervision of the IOR; Monsignor Tommaso Caputo, Archbishop-Prelate of Pompeii; Monsignor Vincenzo Zani, Archbishop, Archivist and Librarian Emeritus of the Holy Roman Church; Monsignor Sandro Salvucci, Archbishop of Pesaro and Urbino-Urbania-Sant’Angelo in Vado; Monsignor Michele Fusco, Bishop of Sulmona-Valva; Monsignor Gianfranco De Luca, Bishop Emeritus of Termoli-Larino; Margaret Karram and Roberto Almada, President and Co-President of the Focolare Movement… family members…
To mark the occasion, the book “Rendere luminosa la notte. Biografia di Silvano Cola. Seconda parte (1967–2007)” [Lighting Up the Night: A Biography of Silvano Cola. Part Two (1967–2007)] by Fernando Muraca (Città Nuova publishing house) will be released.
Programme
3.30 pm: Eucharistic Celebration. 4.30 pm: Presentation of the Servant of God Father Silvano Cola. This will be followed by the opening of the Diocesan Inquiry – First session.
Biography of Father Silvano Cola
Father Silvano Cola was born in Camerino, in the Marche region of Italy, on the 22nd of January 1928. A few months later, his family moved to Lanzo Torinese in Piedmont, at the foot of the Graian Alps. The faith instilled in him by his mother, and with the support of the parish priest, led him to enter the minor seminary in Giaveno (TO) in October 1937, at just nine years of age.
His formative years leading up to his ordination as a priest were marked by the difficult period of the Second World War. At the age of 22, he was ordained a priest on the 27th of June 1950, thanks to a special dispensation, as he had not yet reached the minimum age required by church regulations to become a priest.
His desire to remain true to the Gospel led him to choose to devote himself to the Città dei Ragazzi, founded by Father Giovanni Battista Arbinolo, and there, amidst the uncertainties of a project still in its early stages, he devised a groundbreaking educational system for children who had been abandoned or were facing hardship.
This experience caused a stir both in ecclesiastical circles and in secular society, and the Piedmontese Education Authority asked him to give lectures to teachers in training.
Despite the fruits of his educational efforts – which led him to be presented to the parishioners of the parish where he became an assistant parish priest as a “new Don Bosco” – he was put to the test by a profound crisis of faith, during which he even considered leaving the priesthood.
It was during this same period that he met some of the first focolarine in Turin – consecrated laywomen belonging to the Focolare Movement, founded by Chiara Lubich. Their witness to a life lived according to the Gospel helped him to rediscover his faith and the meaning of his priestly vocation.
His encounter with the charism of unity had a profound impact on his ministry. Over the years, he contributed to the establishment and development of the Priests Movement, of which he was a co-founder. He dedicated himself to the formation and accompaniment of priests, promoting a life of communion and exploring, in the light of the Second Vatican Council, the relationship between the priestly ministry and the spirituality of unity. He died on the 17th of February 2007 after a life of devoted service to the Church.
Father Silvano was a steadfast guide to many people – including priests, deacons, consecrated persons and laypeople – helping them to love the Church and the people of God with a Marian spirit and guiding them towards a sincere and radical choice of God, such as the one that had shaped his own life.
Assisi (Italy) is a city of peace.Eight hundred years after the death of St Francis, it still retains the charm of its narrow streets and its layout, so much so that you almost expect the “Poverello” to appear around the corner.His presence, his outpouring of love for the poor and for his neighbour, for those who are different, is so strong that it makes this Umbrian city a centre of vibrant spirituality.
Three days bathed in a gentle autumn sun transformed Assisi into the capital of interreligious dialogue, united in prayer for peace. As early as Sunday 25th, it was already possible to hear countless languages and see the diversity of colours and clothes worn by the representatives of the religions who had arrived for these days. 5,000 people attended the various thematic forums held in different venues around the city.
Margaret Karram and Roberto Almada, President and Co-President of the Focolare Movement, together with a delegation, took part in the days of this Meeting, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of Interreligious Prayer in the Spirit of Assisi, initiated by John Paul II.
On 26th October, Margaret spoke at the “Mediterranean: Sea of Dialogue” Forum. “St Francis did not accept the view that talking to those who were seen as enemies meant betraying one’s own side,” she commented. “Today, ‘dialogue’ may seem like a fragile term, but it is precisely when it seems impossible that it becomes even more necessary to communicate the good that already exists.”
On the morning of 27th October, in the Sala Cimabue at Colle del Paradiso, where the Franciscan Basilica complex is located, the Forum with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was the focus of the participants’ attention. “The Church that proclaims the Resurrection must at the same time proclaim peace,” said Bartholomew I. This reflection was also confirmed by the presence, of numerous representatives of the Christian Churches, in the audience, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church, Mar Awa III, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, Sahak II, the Bishop of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino and Foligno, Felice Accrocca, and the Metropolitan of Chalcedon, Emmanuel, together with the President of the Focolare Movement, Margaret Karram. It was a large, significant presence, which restored the very meaning of the encounter: different Churches and traditions coming together to recognise each other as brothers and sisters and to bear witness to the possibility of dialogue.
Then, in the afternoon, there were moving moments of prayer for peace in the presence of numerous leaders from various religions, and the closing ceremony held in the square of the Lower Basilica: “There is no holy war, only peace is holy”, said Pope Leo XIV in a video message sent for the occasion. As the sun set peacefully, the lighting of the torches gave everyone present the certainty that peace is indeed possible.
Different people, living and working together. Just like the human body, which is made up of different parts. And Chiara Lubich, in a Link-up in the year 2000 – 26 years ago – spoke precisely of this: of a “new unity”. Chiara tells us that a few days earlier she had met with many politicians from the Movement for Unity in Politics. In her address, she had explored the words of the Magnificat in depth, and the figure of Mary had emerged as the model of the politician par excellence. Chiara, in fact, saw in the Magnificat the first and most powerful chapter of Christian social teaching. Not merely a text of praise, but a programme for the realisation of a new society, based on justice and fraternity. A programme which, if lived out, leads us to bring about the revolution of love that draws its inspiration from the Gospel. So, also for us today, singing the Magnificat means a commitment to putting it into practice. And, as the Work of Mary, we are called to do this together: in a more conscious, more mature unity – in a ‘new unity’. Let’s listen.
… It is a new unity, which presents the Work of Mary to the world as being “one,” the Work of Mary as “one” not only in the sense that we normally intend, but – do you remember Saint Paul’s comparison? – the Work of Mary as “one” in the sense that the human body is one, even though it is made up of different parts, even though it has different internal organs. Although the Work of Mary is made up of many zones (in the way the human body has many parts – arms, legs, head, trunk, and so on) and although there are many internal structures (branches, centres, secretariats for the various dialogues, little towns, schools, etc.), it is not itself, in accordance with the plan of God, if it is not one, made one by the love poured out everywhere by the Holy Spirit, just as blood flows to every part of the human body. The Work of Mary is made one by keeping the presence of Jesus in our midst everywhere.
This new unity which is being asked of the Movement is possible if we base all our relationships on the life of the Trinity, from the Centre to the periphery. A life in conformity with that of the Holy Trinity in which, although there is an origin, the Father, and although the Son is completely turned towards him, the three divine Persons are nonetheless equal.
In this new unity no one will be the “object,” so to speak, of the others’ attention, almost as if each were able to go ahead only because they are supported by others. Instead, each one will be a responsible “subject,” capable of supporting all those entrusted to them. In this new unity, then, no one should allow themselves to be pulled along by others in the life of the Ideal, like a carriage in a train – as the Gen 4 would say – but rather each one should be pulling the others ahead, as an engine.
Also, in this unity, we will not be standing in front of those with particular responsibilities, waiting for them to tell us what to do; rather, we will stand alongside them so as to form together the presence of Mary in the Movement, and to set off – as a true army ready for battle – our revolution of love in the world.
What should we do so that this new unity may become a reality?
Only one thing: constantly generate the presence of Jesus among us everywhere in the Movement.
Not as an end in itself, but as a launching pad in order to love everyone and inflame the world with love, to sow true values in the world and make false ones fade away; to build up the kingdom of God; to enable Mary, through the Movement, to sing her Magnificat anew.
Take courage, then. Let’s not wait a single moment before giving life to Jesus among us, as Mary did within herself. We will see miracles! …
Chiara Lubich (da Convesazioni, Città Nuova, Roma 2019, pp 593/5)
“Here is a summary of the event (of the 16th of July) that Chiara offers us, restoring its enchanting Gospel-based inspiration. When Igino Giordani (Foco) suggested (to Chiara Lubich) that they ‘bind themselves closely’ to each other in order to follow Jesus more closely – as Saint Catherine did with her followers – Chiara felt prompted to respond by inviting him to make a ‘pact’, in faithfulness to the Gospel principles to which she had learned to conform her life [1]:
“You know my life: I am nothing. I want to live, indeed, like Jesus Forsaken, who annihilated himself completely. You too are nothing because you live in the same way. So then, we will go to church tomorrow and I will say to Jesus-Eucharist who will come into my heart, as into an empty chalice: ‘On the nothingness of me may you seal a pact of unity with Jesus-Eucharist in Foco’s heart. And, Jesus, bring about between us the bond which is known to you.’ … ‘And you, Foco, do the same.’” (Translation of the Italian – verses 24 and 25 of the text of Chiara Lubich published in “Paradise ‘49”, Città Nuova, Rome 2026).
The narrative is concise and extremely simple. The event that then came as a gift, once the pact had been made and had borne witness, exceeds all human expectations. And in this form, it is also unprecedented in the history of Christian experience.
We could try to discern its meaning from what Chiara first of all tells Foco, in order to “explain to him” – as she wrote – what had happened. “Do you know where we are?” She begins with this question, inviting him to join her in opening the eyes of his soul to the scene that has unfolded through the pact. It is clear from this that the pact prepared the conditions for God’s grace to be made manifest: the mystical perception of the presence of Jesus in Chiara and Foco (and immediately afterwards in those to whom the pact is extended) becoming “one” – brought about in Jesus and by Jesus, through the lived Word and through the Eucharist. And it is so in each of them. Certainly, the lived and perceived identification of Chiara with Jesus, expresses the extraordinary grace common to all authentic mystical experiences attested to throughout the history of the Church. But what comes to light in the experience described here, is that this takes place for Chiara in the unity in and through Jesus, that she lived with Foco, and then gradually with the other people to whom the experience is communicated. To such an extent that they too are drawn into it.
[1] Here we have a specific description of the Christian experience brought about by the charism of unity: the “pact”. Whatever its origin in Chiara’s thought and practice, it is clear that the dynamic of “sealing a pact”, implies sharing with those involved in it, the fundamental focus of one’s existence in God and the decision to carry out his will together. In this way, the pact, among those who live it, becomes an expression of the pact with which God himself established a covenant with his people in the Old Testament, and as “once and for all” renewed it eschatologically in Jesus. Therefore, we see this as a “fundamental” aspect of the experience of Revelation. “Before then,” Chiara recalls in a footnote, “we had lived other pacts, such as the pact of mutual love. This had brought about a qualitative leap in our life, making us experience the presence of Jesus in our midst with the gifts of the Spirit he brings with him: peace, joy, light, strength. Then the pact of mercy (as we called the pact by which we focolarine took the commitment to see each other new every day, without remembering each other’s defects, as if we were meeting each other for the first time) helped us in perfecting our love for one another” (footnote 30). The pact of unity, inspired by Foco’s request and lived out according to the method described by Chiara, brings about a further and decisive “qualitative leap” – in keeping with the unfolding of the charism of unity as a gift from God – namely, that of the identification given and experienced with Jesus, and of finding oneself in the Bosom of the Father.
… Unity. What is unity? Is it possible to achieve unity?
Unity is what God wants from us.
Unity is the fulfilment of Jesus’ prayer: ‘That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us’ (Jn 17:21).
But unity cannot be achieved only through our own efforts. It can be accomplished only through a special grace which the Father grants if he finds us prepared, in accordance with a precise and necessary pre-requisite.
That is mutual love lived out as Jesus commanded.
We must love one another as he wants, which is not – as we know – simply a spiritual friendship, agreement or just understanding one another.
It means that we should love one another as he loved us, that is, to the point of the abandonment: to the point of complete material and spiritual detachment from things and persons, so that we can make ourselves one reciprocally and perfectly.
By doing so, we will have done our part and we will be in a position to receive the grace of unity, which will not be lacking, which should not be lacking.
How thankful we should be at the thought of being called to this; what an incentive to do all we can in order to obtain this gift which is lacking wherever this is not lived.
We must remember that there is an added grace in our communitarian spirituality; that heaven can be opened to us in every moment; and if we do what it asks of us, filled with this grace, we can do much, very much for the kingdom of God.
Undoubtedly, it is this grace that explains the great expansion of our Movement and many wonderful achievements linked to it.
This is why, in the beginning, conscious of this extraordinary privilege, we expressed ourselves in this way:
‘Keep one idea fixed in your head. Was alway It s one single idea that made great Saints. And our idea is this: Unity’.
‘Let everything else crumble – Unity, never! … Always have this Fire burning among you. And don’t be afraid if it means dying. You’ve already experienced that Unity demands the death of everyone, to give life to the One! … Do this as your sacred duty, even though it will bring you immense joy! Jesus promised the fullness of joy to those who live Unity! …’
During the next month, let us make every effort to obtain this gift always.
And let us not seek it solely for our own happiness, but in order to be prepared for our typical form of evangelisation. You know it: ‘That they may be one … so that the world may believe’ (Jn 17:21).
The world has a great need of faith, it needs to believe! And we are all called to evangelise. One day, St Francis said to one of the brothers: ‘Let’s go out to preach.’ Then, tucking their hands inside the sleeves of their cloaks and with their eyes cast down they walked through the city preaching through their very being, mortification and total poverty.
Let us also go out to the world and launch our way of preaching. If someone observes two or more of us united (in the focolares, in the nuclei, in the units, in our meetings, or because we happen to be together) may they be struck by a ray of our faith and believe.
May they believe in love because they have seen it. Let’s get down to work. This is what the Lord wants from us. He wants it through our charism which has been engraved in our Statutes: unity is the premise that comes before every other will of God. Then we can also speak in order to spread the Gospel… but afterwards.
Chiara Lubich (Convesazioni, Città Nuova, Roma 2019, pp 522/4
Alba Sgariglia has degrees in philosophy and theology. Since 1975, the year before she entered the focolare, she began working at the Study Centre of the Focolare Movement alongside the foundress, Chiara Lubich.
What did your work at the Study Centre consist of?
I used to go to the library in Florence to photocopy passages from the Greek Fathers, which we would then translate at home, searching through countless pages for those brief phrases that could serve Chiara Lubich to confirm her inspirations. At the time I was working with Marisa Cerini, who told me: for us, building unity means that we should enter into the thought of the Greek Fathers and from there try to understand the light of the charism that Chiara has received. In the following years I also taught religion in secondary schools in Rome. I then joined the governing body of the Movement to oversee the cultural aspect and subsequently I became part of the Abba School, which Chiara founded in 1991 to study the notes from the so-called period of Paradise ’49. Finally, in 2014, Maria Voce Emmaus, then President of the Focolare Movement, entrusted me with the Chiara Lubich Centre, which was established to preserve, study and promote the life and work of Chiara.
What does this newly published book represent?
Paradise ‘49 is a text published posthumously, since it was written, compiled and edited by Chiara Lubich during her lifetime. She wished to describe the mystical experience she had lived between 1949 and 1951, accompanying it with footnotes that would facilitate its comprehension, so as to provide the group of scholars at the Abba School with a text that was accessible and could be used for research. The text contains a mystical experience that Chiara always said she could not keep to herself. Then, urged on by many people, she realized that the text could be understood and used by others in the Movement as well.
For example, in the early 2000s, she herself explained the essence of this experience to the young people of the Movement. Then little by little, she realized that the experience recounted in the text could also be shared with people of other religions. Over the years we have held symposia with Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims, to whom Chiara offered some passages from Paradise ’49. We have also discussed the text with people with no religious affiliation, who have given reflections far deeper than we could ever have imagined, emphasizing that it is a text of great value. There are many founders of charisms who have received this possibility of understanding the work they were carrying out, through so-called “intellectual visions” in which one perceives with the intellect what God is allowing one to see.
But since it is a mystical language, isn’t it difficult for most people to understand?
Mystical language is a unique literary genre; it is neither poetry, nor theatre, nor literature, nor theology. For example, one sometimes encounters difficulties on a theological level, because the mystic seeks words they cannot find, trying to express the inexpressible: a difficult task, so much so that often Chiara herself, whilst we were re-reading these passages, would ask us: “But how could I have written these sentences? What do they mean? Why did I write this?”
This confirms that, in such situations, the founders seek to express what they “see” using the cultural categories and concepts at their disposal, which are sometimes inadequate. For example, in Paradise ’49 there are references to The Divine Comedy because Chiara was familiar with it, or to philosophers such as Kant, whom she had studied. The external setting can also have an influence: Chiara and her first companions began this experience in the mountains of Trent, in Tonadico: it is a natural setting that speaks for itself through its beauty. This, too, helped her to express things she was perceiving for the first time in her life.
Over these 18 years since Chiara’s death, you have published books that shed light on the context of the Paradise ’49 experience…
We have continued to examine the text in depth across various disciplines, using the method Chiara had left us, which is to study everything with “Jesus in our midst”. I believe that three key aspects can be identified in this volume: the first is an educational aspect, as it teaches how to live out the charism of unity and offers a vital key to understanding it; the second aspect can be described as artistic and literary, as the text encompasses many literary genres: diaries, letters, writings and notes; finally, there is the doctrinal aspect, as the text undoubtedly has a theological focus. It is, in fact, a mystical experience that helps us to understand, on the one hand, the truths of Heaven: God, the Trinity, the Word, Mary, creation, hell and paradise; and, on the other hand, the incarnation of the charism in a movement that would have been founded in the following years, that is, after 1949–51. Every time one reads these mystical texts, one understands new things. This is what happens to me too: every time I read these pages, I understand new things, both intellectually and spiritually.
When reading the text, doesn’t Chiara seem to be a bit presumptuous in certain passages?
We need to understand why Chiara says those things in that way. We could say that it is as if God, in order to express concepts that cannot be conveyed through a human being, identifies with that person, seeing things through their eyes. This is why Chiara finds herself writing: “Today I am universal fatherhood.” But she herself asks: “What does that mean?” In that moment, she identifies with that reality, so that she can express it. In the footnotes, she herself comments on and explains her amazement and her joy at seeing that other founders had experienced more or less the same thing.
What advice would you give to someone reading this text?
I would say: take this book and read it whenever and however you like, at any time. You can discuss passages that are unclear or more complex with others, or with an expert. But I suggest that you don’t let yourself be influenced by anyone, because this text speaks directly to the individual. Let’s open it at random and read whatever page we come across. We will understand what we need at that moment, because the text, despite a few difficulties, really touches us deeply. It’s a mystical experience, that can, in a certain way, be “shared”. This is the novelty, as Chiara herself explained to us. She always made sure that everyone could participate in her experience, and this book gives us that opportunity.
