Provide for the needs of others
A precious legacy: Chiara Lubich’s ‘Paradise ’49’
The first presentation of Chiara Lubich’s book ‘Paradise ’49’ took place on the 22nd of May 2026 in the Paul VI Hall at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. The book is a collection of writings in which the Foundress of the Focolare Movement bears witness to and shares her mystical experience from the years 1949 to 1951.
Renewed commitment to mutual love
Renewed commitment to mutual love
Chiara Lubich: “Do you know where we are?”
It is the 16th of July 1949. Chiara Lubich is in Tonadico, in the Dolomite Mountains in northern Italy, for a period of rest together with some of her first companions. They are joined there by the Honourable Igino Giordani, whom Chiara called Foco. On that day, Chiara and Foco sealed a Pact of unity, a prelude to the spiritual and mystical experience that Chiara would live between 1949 and 1951. This period is known as “Paradise ’49”, the writings from which have recently been published in a book (for now in Italian). In the introduction to the book, the theologian Piero Coda offers some insights “For a theological reading” of the text. Here is an extract, relating specifically to the Pact of the 16th of July, together with a short video of Chiara Lubich from 20 December 1999, in which she shares this experience of light with the Gen, the young people of the Focolare Movement.
Simple gestures of love
Simple gestures of love
Serve without expecting anything in return
Serve without expecting anything in return
Living sharing
Living sharing
Serving our neighbour is serving God
Serving our neighbour is serving God
60th anniversary of the Focolare Movement in Asia and Oceania
In 1966, Chiara Lubich assigned the first group of focolarini and focolarine to the Philippines. This marked the beginning of the spread of the spirituality of unity across many Asian countries and in Oceania
Cultivate real fraternity
Cultivate real fraternity



