Focolare Movement

Like the Sunshine

Nov 22, 2013

Lieta Betoño at the dawn of Focolare in Ireland. By Susan Gately.
Lieta (Blanca) Betoño (1951 -2002) is considered a pioneer of the Focolare Movement in Ireland. As a twenty year old, she wrote “I only want to give joy to others” – a quality confirmed by the name by which she then became known – Lieta – meaning happy or joyful. “I live so as to be a cause of joy for the people I meet,” she wrote years later, just weeks before her death.
Lieta said a radical, definitive ‘yes’ to God as a teenager which never wavered even in the face of great suffering. A divine adventure brought her from Argentina to Ireland, where she lived for thirty years, sowing love, peace and joy among the people she met. This is her story.
Author: Susan Gately

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Newsletter

Thought of the day

Related post

USA: NextNow, dialogue between the Muslim and the Focolare communities

USA: NextNow, dialogue between the Muslim and the Focolare communities

‘NextNow’ promotes the Muslim-Christian dialogue which starts from the communities, with a focus on the legacy of the spiritual friendship between Imam W.D. Mohammed and Chiara Lubich. On the 10th of May 2025, Margaret Karram participated in one of the regular meetings. She gave a special online greeting.

Seeds of Peace and Hope for the Care of Creation

Seeds of Peace and Hope for the Care of Creation

On 2nd July, 2025, the Holy Father Leo XIV’s Message for the 10th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation which is celebrated on 1st September, was published. Maria De Gregorio, expert for sustainable development at the Ecosystems Foundation, expert in strategies and actions to reduce environmental risks and impacts, offered us this reflection.