Chiara Lubich
| Servant of God Chiara Lubich | |
|---|---|
Lubich in 2005
|
|
| Born |
Silvia Lubich 22 January 1920 Trento, Italy |
| Died | 14 March 2008 (aged 88) Rocca di Papa, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Title | Servant of God within the Roman Catholic Church |
| Successor | Maria Emmaus Voce |
Servant of God Chiara Lubich (22 January 1920 – 14 March 2008) was an Italian Catholic activist and leader and founder of the Focolare Movement.
Chiara Lubich was born as Silvia Lubich in Trent. Her father lost his job because of the socialist ideas that he held during Italy's period of Fascism. Consequently, the Lubichs lived for years in extreme poverty. To pay for her university studies in philosophy, Lubich tutored other students in Venice and during the 1940s began teaching at an elementary school in Trent.
During World War II, while bombs were destroying Trent, Lubich had a powerful religious experience, 'stronger than the bombs that were falling on Trent' which Lubich immediately communicated to her closest friends. After convincing her friends they declared that, should they be killed, they wished to have only one inscription carved on their tomb: "And we have believed in love".
Her experience led her on 7 December 1943 to change her name to Chiara, in honour of Clare of Assisi. This date is considered the beginning of the Focolare movement.
These Focolare (small communities of lay volunteers) seek to contribute to peace and to achieve the evangelical unity of all people in every social environment. The goal became a world living in unity. Today amongst its members are many people who profess no particular religion.
In her life the day of 13 May 1944 remains the night of one of the most violent bombings of Trent. Lubich's house was among the many buildings destroyed. She decided to stay in Trent to help the new lives being born. She encountered a woman who had lost her senses through the suffering caused by the death of her four children. It was among the poor of Trent that which Lubich often calls the "divine adventure" began.
In 1948 Lubich met the Italian member of Parliament Igino Giordani, writer, journalist, pioneer in the field of ecumenism. He was the co-founder, with Lubich, of the movement, they also gave rise to the New Families Movement and the New Humanity Movement.
1949 marked the first encounter between Lubich and Pasquale Foresi. He was the first Focolarino to become a priest. He helped to progress the Movement's theological studies, and started the Città Nuova Publishing House and also helped to build the small town of Loppiano. Throughout the Movement's development, he has given a contribution to its ecclesiastical and lay expressions. Along with Lubich and Igino Giordani, he is considered a co-founder of the Movement.
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Wikipedia