Italian head of State, Sergio Mattarella, present at a commemoration of the birth centenary of Chiara Lubich at the Mariapolis Center “Chiara Lubich” in Cadine in the province of Trent, recalled with enthusiasm the founder of the Focolare Movement. He was welcomed by Maria Voce, president of the Movement, and by the local authorities and population: more than 400 people were present in the hall, about 500 connected in other rooms in Cadine and Trent and more than 20,000 following the live streaming.

The artistic dimension, directed by Fernando Muraca, was the background to the narration, retracing the most significant moments of Chiara’s life as a woman in relationship.

The voices of civil and ecclesiastical authorities were interwoven by sounds and images. The president of the Autonomous Province of Trent, Maurizio Fugatti, underlined how Chiara represents, together with people like De Gasperi, “the excellence of this land.” Chiara highlighted three characteristics of this region of Trent: will power, the Cooperative Movement, and being a frontier land. He said, “Chiara was able to interpret this belonging which is a distinctive feature of our autonomy, of our specificity.”

The Archbishop of Trent, Msgr. Lauro Tisi, thanking his predecessor Carlo de Ferrari who at the time grasped “the hand of God” in Chiara Lubich’s spirituality, recalled how “if today the charism embraces the whole of humanity, we owe it to this bishop who protected it”; and he highlighted the anguish of “Christ abandoned” as that which makes it so relevant today.

Alessandro Andreatta, mayor of Trent, expressed his joy in remembering “the girl who almost eighty years ago put herself at the service of the poor” and who “continues today to invite us to openness, to acceptance, to commitment for others and with others. From the beginning, Chiara’s experience was not a personal, isolated, solitary experience but a commitment that can only be understood if seen in the light of the paradigm of relationship.

There followed numerous testimonies, which tell of the tenacity in daily life of people who have been, and are, inspired by Chiara and her charism in their actions: such as Amy Uelman, professor of ethics and law at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., who trains her students to deal with divisive issues while avoiding clashes; entrepreneurs Lawrence Chong and Stanislaw Lencz, who with their companies contribute to a supportive and sustainable economy; Arthur Ngoy and Florance Mwanabute, Congolese doctors who dedicate themselves to the care of the weakest and to health care training; and the story of Yacine, an Algerian migrant, welcomed as a brother by some young Italians after the difficult journey through the Balkan countries.

There was also the story of the former mayor of Trent, Alberto Pacher who, together with teachers and students, has welcomed the invitation – through the phone call of a child – from which emerged the projects Tuttopace[1] and Trento, una città per educare.[2]

“The light given to Chiara goes beyond the boundaries of the Focolare Movement and reaches out to encourage and inspire many, women and men of goodwill in every part of the world, as this anniversary is showing,” said Focolare President Maria Voce.

“Like each one of you, I feel Chiara is alive, present, active, close by every day. She pushes us to go out with courage.” And she spurred everyone on: “We must respond with radicalness, with the ‘extremism of dialogue,’ nourished by a culture of trust, to this society that seems to be without roots and without a goal.

The evening concluded with a long and passionate speech by the President of the Republic, who identified particularly fraternity, applied to civil and political action, as the distinctive feature of Chiara Lubich’s spirituality – also recalling with fondness Igino Giordani, whom Mattarella knew, and who was a first-rate interpreter of this spirituality.

A fraternity that is “the foundation of civilization and a motor of well-being,” because without this “we risk not having the strength to overcome inequalities and heal social fractures.” Chiara Lubich, vigorously proposing the culture of giving and dialogue, especially interreligious dialogue which “in this historic season is decisive for peace,” had intuited “with a spirit of prophecy” what was the way to follow.

It is a teaching that proves how “one can be very strong while being meek and open to others’ good reasons. In fact, to be sincere, only in this way can one be truly strong as Chiara Lubich’s life shows.”

focolare.org

[1] Tuttopace (literally, “All Peace”) was born after the events of September 11, 2001, among the children of some schools in the city of Trent who felt the need to promote concrete peace actions.

[2] Trento, una città per educare (Trent, a city to educate) stems from the reality of Project Tuttopace, which took off in 2001 in the city’s schools, thanks to a group of teachers who began to meet and share courses on education for peace and its values.