I first met Maria Voce, whom we fondly call Emmaus, when I was attending the school of formation as a young focolarino in Montet, Switzerland, in 2005. She was the head of a Summer Ethical School which I attended in Loppiano (Italy). Knowing Emmaus to be an expert in law, I asked her a tricky question on how we should react when a corrupt official or a member of a syndicate donates money to our charitable work? She answered me unequivocally, saying not to accept the donation. It was my first encounter with her. Then, as a young adult, who had many dreams and wished to contribute something to society, I was inspired by the motherly way Emmaus treated us young, aspiring focolarinos and focolarinas. I sensed that she, in the future, could succeed Chiara Lubich, whose shoes were hard to fill.

I shared this intuition of mine with some of my colleagues. Some just smiled at me. Another commented, “A lawyer? There could be a tendency to be legalistic.” I reasoned out, “Look at the successor of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Sister Nirmala. She is a lawyer. Perhaps, the Holy Spirit wants the same,” with my naive and simplistic profiling.

Almost a year after the Maria Theotokos Shrine in Loppiano was inaugurated, during that summer school of 2005, after Mass, I invited three of my companions to have our picture taken with Emmaus in front of the Theotokos church as I saw her coming out. I told them that, in the future, Emmaus would be very busy because she might become the Focolare president, succeeding Chiara Lubich. Fast forward to 2008. A few months after Chiara died, Emmaus was elected as the new president of the Focolare Movement. My hunch that Emmaus could succeed Chiara turned out to be correct!

Becoming the president of the Focolare after Chiara was a tremendous task and challenge for her. She immediately exhorted everyone in the Movement to prioritize relationships. It was not an easy task as some who have studied the history of religious movements have seen that after the death of a charismatic leader, the movement or group they started undergoes a certain death or “dark night” experience. St. Francis of Assisi warned his brothers: “Paris, Paris, do not destroy Assisi” in reference to Paris as the seat of intellectual and academic prowess, and Assisi, home to his charism of poverty. Often, intellectuals or those in the academe tend to form an elitist group, avoiding the “lowly jobs” in an organization. The priority of relationships was a stroke of genius of Emmaus’ leadership because it focused on the very heart of the charism of Chiara, the same heart of Christianity – Jesus’ new commandment of love which leads to unity – the norm of norms of the Focolare’s Statutes and Regulations which she helped draft as a lawyer when Chiara Lubich was still alive. It values every human person in his or her dignity and diversity.

When Chiara was still with us, she intuited that the Movement’s future leadership would be a body – not only directed by one president but directed by one soul, one body. Emmaus was deeply aware of this, and she was able to bring ahead the Focolare, already spread all over the world with millions of members and sympathizers, with the co-president, Giancarlo Falletti (2008-2014) and then with Jesús Morán (2014-2020), as well as with a general council based in Rome, Italy.

There were many challenges, from the decrease of intern members, consecrated members leaving, the closing and opening of new focolare centers, authority and sexual abuse cases by some members, and other issues which even mainstream media noticed. But Emmaus was able to lead and deliver. Her term coincided with the rise of Francis, the “Pope of the Peripheries,” and in close collaboration with him, it has borne fruit in some events such as the Pope’s visit to the little town of the Focolare in Loppiano in 2018, and recently, the Economy of Francesco event in Assisi which Focolare members helped organized. The Sophia University Institute in Loppiano bloomed during her term. The ecumenical dialogue with other Christian Churches also continued and this was capped by the visit of Patriarch Bartholomew I to the International Center of the Focolare in Rocca di Papa (Rome) where he expressed his esteem for Emmaus. Other dialogues carried out by the Movement also went ahead and flourished.

On a personal note, I have always felt Emmaus to be a mother and a leader, recognizing my humble work in New City Philippines. I was happy to update her when some New City magazine articles received an international journalism award for interreligious dialogue first in 2010 (Burkina Faso), then also in 2013 (Panama). Years later, I shared with her my experience of organizing a World Media Congress in 2016 (Tagaytay, Philippines), and the story behind my Christmas children’s book that won the Cardinal Sin Book Award for the Children category in 2019 (Manila). Like a child, I wrote to her about my efforts and successes, and I always received much encouragement from her.

So what else can I say to Emmaus but “Thank you!” for leading us to where we are now as a Movement, especially in these trying times. Indeed, “Paris” has not destroyed “Assisi.” On the contrary, it has even blossomed in another emblematic city, “Hollywood,” manifesting God’s beauty in all forms of human knowledge. As Emmaus ends her term, we see the recently produced biopic on Chiara Lubich, which is now reaching millions of people, not only in Italy but also in different parts of the world.

The challenge now after “Assisi” (which for us is Trent, the birthplace of the Focolare Movement), “Paris,” and “Hollywood,” is “Silicon Valley,” which, at this moment, influences much of the world’s information highway. The next leadership of the Movement will now have to deal with today’s real-world issues: life in pandemic times, the social dilemma, information management, migration, extreme poverty, social and climate injustice, etc. Giving priority to relationships, the Focolare, under Emmaus’ leadership, has come to a new understanding and praxis of Chiara’s charism of unity.

We believe that it will continue to do so, for as Christ Himself promised, He is present where people are gathered in His name, always with us, until the end of time. Moreover, Jesus said that “if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us” (1 John 4:12) ). This is the norm of norms that Maria “Emmaus” Voce lived with the whole Movement, and so, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we can also say how our hearts were burning because Christ was there all the while accompanying us on our journey…

Thank you, Emmaus!

Jose Aranas