“The Church – through the various charisms given her by the Spirit – appeared to us as the Gospel incarnate. Every religious family is a particular incarnation of a feature of Jesus, of a fact that occurred in his life, of one of his sufferings or one of his words … Because of all these charisms that have blossomed over the centuries, the Church is the image of the Gospel unfolded over time and space.” These were some of the words of Chiara Lubich’s lectio, read during the conferment of the honorary doctorate in Theology of Consecrated Life by the “Claretianum” Institute of the Lateran Pontifical University in Rome, which particularly specializes on that branch of theological studies.

Prof. Santiago M. González Silva, president of the Institute, opened the ceremony by presenting the Focolare Movement’s spirituality of unity to over 400 students, from 57 nations and 177 religious institutes. After listening to a novel rendition of Veni Creator, the president spoke about the foundress of the Focolare, saying: “In Chiara Lubich we can contemplate a clear reflection of a ‘word’ of the Gospel which has gone beyond the limits of the Church, reaching all regions of this planet: the new commandment o Jesus, ‘Love one another as I loved you’ (Jn 13,34).”

Prof. Fabio Ciardi, O.M.I. of Claretianum, in offering the laudatio, recalled his meeting with the Focolare spirituality during his youth, and his surprise at seeing that Chiara felt the need to share in the charism of all the saints”. He then illustrated the basic motivations for the award: � for having elaborated a doctrine on the charisms of the consecrated life, with her singular intuition that they are Christ, the living Gospel, unfolded over the centuries; � for having opened the spirituality of communion – characteristic of the Focolare – to the various forms of consecrated life (tens of thousands of men and women religious are in contact with this spirituality); � for having created an original form of consecrated life: the Focolare. The doctorate degree is also a sign of recognition for the work founded by Chiara Lubich, in which not only the different vocations of the Christian community, but also members of other Christian denominations, as well as of other religions, are involved.