Lubich, Chiara

▪ 2009

Silvia Lubich 

      Italian Roman Catholic lay leader

born Jan. 22, 1920, Trento, Italy

died March 14, 2008, near Rome, Italy

founded (1943) the Focolare Movement, a lay organization dedicated to peace, spiritual renewal, and ecumenical dialogue. Lubich, who trained as a teacher, felt a religious calling and changed her name to Chiara in honour of St. Clare of Assisi but rejected joining a convent. She laid the foundations for the Focolare (“hearth”) Movement when she and other young women studied the Bible while gathered together in air-raid shelters during World War II. Lubich worked tirelessly to expand the movement's values of spiritual unity and devotion to the poor in war-ravaged Europe and, later, throughout the world. Pope John XXIII endorsed the Focolare Movement in 1962, and in 1990 the Vatican approved the group's formal constitution. By 2008 the movement claimed 18 branches in 182 countries and millions of followers, including several thousand living in religious communities. Lubich's many personal awards included the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion (1977), the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education (1996), and the Council of Europe's Human Rights Prize (1998).

▪ 1998

      More than 50 years ago, amid the rubble of an Italian town ravaged by heavy bombing during World War II, Chiara Lubich and a few close friends ministered to the needs of their homeless and devastated neighbours. From the ashes of destruction arose a group dedicated to healing the rifts that divide humans—the Focolare Movement. Since founding the organization in 1943, Lubich had worked tirelessly to promote religious dialogue between people of disparate faiths, and the Focolare Movement, which was rooted in Roman Catholicism but extended its ties to other religions, had spread throughout the world. For her contribution to the cause of peace and interreligious understanding, Lubich was awarded the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in December 1996. On a trip to the U.S. in 1997, she led an international convention in New York, visited and spoke at a Harlem mosque, and received an honorary doctorate from Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Conn., for her efforts to promote Christian-Jewish dialogue.

      Lubich was born on Jan. 22, 1920, in Trento, Italy. She was training to be a teacher when World War II broke out. Living in fear in war-torn Trento, she and her companions often gathered in underground shelters to read the Gospels. The stark contrast between the message of love they found in their readings and the hatred they saw in the war spurred them to action. Soon after the group began to offer assistance to the needy, 500 people from various walks of life joined their cause. The residents of Trento named the community Focolare ("fireplace") to indicate the warmth and closeness of home that the members of the group engendered. After the war numerous Focolare centres were formed, first throughout Italy and then across Europe and other continents. Eventually the movement expanded to include 2.2 million adherents in 198 countries worldwide.

      In 1962 the Focolare Movement was approved by Pope John XXIII as an association of the faithful. In the following years Lubich was heavily involved in both ecumenical and interfaith work, for which she was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1977.

      In her travels around the world, Lubich rarely let any opportunity to spread her message of "love and unity" escape. Invited to Tokyo to speak to Buddhists of the Rissho Kosei-kai movement in 1981, she became aware during her trip that members of Asian Focolare communities needed help in developing a better understanding of indigenous Eastern religions. To address this need, she founded the School for Oriental Religions in Tagaytay, Phil. The horrors of poverty Lubich witnessed on a trip to Brazil inspired her in 1991 to found the Economy of Communion project, through which businesses committed a share of profits to alleviating poverty and creating jobs.

      In 1994 Lubich was named honorary president of the World Conference on Religion and Peace. The recipient of many additional awards and honours, she was also the author of a number of books, including On the Holy Journey (1988).

MARY JANE FRIEDRICH

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