Chiara Lubich… from yesterday to today (1920 - 2020)

Chiara, how could we summarize the story of your life on the 100th anniversary of your birth?

Let’s go to meet you to discover the main stages of the story of your life which was profoundly rooted in the Gospel.

You were born in Trent, Italy on January 22, 1920, the second child in a family of four children. You were baptized with the name Silvia. Your mother was Roman Catholic, your father was a socialist and your brother a communist.

When you were 18 you graduated with a diploma to teach elementary school. You wanted to continue your studies, but your family lacked the resources to pay for tuition and board. So you began working as a teacher in Trent. At the age of 19, in 1939, you attended a convention of Catholic students held in Loreto, Italy. While visiting the shrine of Loreto you discerned a calling from God. As a third-order Franciscan you were fascinated by the radical choice of God by Chiara of Assisi and you took the name Chiara.

When you were 23 years old in 1943, while doing an errand for your mother, you felt within that God was calling you: “Give yourself completely to me.” Returning home to Trent you spoke with a Franciscan priest and obtained permission to consecrate yourself to God on December 7, 1943. On that day you did not have a plan in mind. The plans for the movement were in God. Later that date came to be considered the symbolic beginning of the Focolare Movement.

The horrors of the 2nd World War were terrible and you, Chiara, questioned if there was an ideal that no bomb could destroy. In your heart you understood that it is God. God manifested himself to you as Love. You shared this discovery with other young girls. All together you put into practice the words of the Gospel, the small book you carried with you even when rushing into the air-raid shelter.

On May 13. 1944, a violent aerial bombardment damaged the Lubich’s house. Your family sought refuge in the mountains but you decided to stay in Trent to support the small community that was growing up around you. What emerged was a new current of thought and a people who shared a lifestyle based on the Gospel.

The Movement’s entry into dialogue with various Christian churches came in 1961 which was a further sign that yours was a work of God and not of human planning. Later in 1977 when you received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in London, England, the Focolare began its efforts to include people of all the world’s great religions.

The dialogue with people of non-religious convictions, our “friends” you called them always had a special place in the Movement. You once explained to them: “Our Movement’s vocation is universal. Our Motto is ‘that all may be one.’ ‘All’ includes you. We are united in the values that we uphold and in the concrete effort to work for justice in the world.”

The charism that was given to you, Chiara, developed into a spirituality of unity that has affected the lives of millions of people across 182 countries forming the large Focolare family.

After this fruitful life, you died at home in Rocca de Papa at the age of 88, on March 14, 2008. You were surrounded by your family and your spiritual family. Your funeral took place in the papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. Thousands of people of all ages were present including political figures, representatives of various religions, churches and Catholic movements. Memorial services were held all over the world.

The diocesan phase of the cause for your beatification was concluded on November 10, 2019. The process is now continued by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican.

Chiara, you leave us a very great legacy for which we are grateful. Where there is suffering, difficulties, discord, death you have shown us that light and grace abound. In the Gospel you found words of life and love. Today your ideal of life remains very much alive and allows us to continue your legacy.

Thank you Chiara!