Chiara Badano

Blessed Chiara Badano
Chiara Badano in 1987
Blessed
Born	(1971-10-29)October 29, 1971 Sassello, Italy
Died	October 7, 1990(1990-10-07) (aged 18) Sassello, Italy
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	September 25, 2010, Our Lady of Divine Love in Rome by Pope Benedict XVI
Major shrine	Cimitero di Sassello Savona Liguria, Italy Plot: Family chapel
Feast	October 29

Blessed Chiara Badano (October 29, 1971 – October 7, 1990) was a young Italian teenager who is currently in the process of being pronounced a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. At age nine she joined the Focolare Movement and received the nickname "Luce" by the founder Chiara Lubich. When she was 16 she was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a painful bone cancer. Chiara succumbed to the cancer on October 7, 1990 after a two-year battle with the disease. She was beatified on September 25, 2010 at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love in Rome. Her feast day is celebrated on October 29.

Chiara Badano was born on October 29, 1971 to Ruggero and Maria Teresa Badano in the small village of Sassello, Italy. The couple waited and prayed eleven years to have Chiara. They considered her to be their greatest blessing. While Ruggero worked as a truck driver, Maria Theresa stayed at home to raise Chiara. Chiara grew up with a strong and healthy relationship with her parents, but she did not always obey them and would occasionally have fights with them.

One day, Chiara took an apple off a tree in a neighbor's orchard; her mother later recounted the event:

One afternoon, Chiara came home with a beautiful red apple. I asked her where it came from. She replied that she had taken it from our neighbor's orchard without asking her permission. I explained to her that she always had to ask before taking anything and that she had to take it back and apologize to our neighbor. She was reluctant to do this because she was too embarrassed. I told her that it was far more important to own up than to eat an apple. So Chiara took the apple back to our neighbor and explained everything to her. That evening, the woman brought her a whole box of apples saying that on that day Chiara had learnt something very important.

Chiara attended her first meeting of the Focolare Movement in September 1980; she was only 9 years old. This group, especially its founder's Chiara Lubich, had a profound impact on Chiara's life. The group focused on the image of the forsaken Christ as a way to make it through difficult times. Chiara later wrote that, "I discovered that Jesus Foresaken is the key to unity with God, and I want to choose him as my only spouse. I want to be ready to welcome him when he comes. To prefer him above all else."