Communion and Liberation

Communion and Liberation (CL) is a lay ecclesial movement within the Catholic Church.

CL grew out of the educational and catechetical methods of Don Luigi Giussani, who founded the movement. Giussani developed these methods through his work within the Catholic youth association Gioventù Studentesca (GS, literally "Student Youth") born in 1954 at Berchet High School in Milan, where Giussani was a teacher. In its official literature, CL emphasizes its continuity with Gioventú Studentesca, to the extent that CL traces its founding to 1954 and celebrated 2004 as its fiftieth anniversary. However, the name "Communion and Liberation" was first used in 1969 among a group who were a minority of the former "giessini", or GS members. Although it remains primarily an Italian phenomenon, CL established an international presence during the pontificate of John Paul II and is present today in approximately eighty countries around the world, including the United States, with a particularly strong presence in Spain and Brazil. The current leader of CL is the Spanish priest Julián Carrón (successor to Giussani, who guided the movement until his death in 2005). Communion and Liberation is occasionally confused with the similarly titled, but unrelated liberation theology.

Today CL has an international presence beyond Italy and has shifted its energy away from partisan politics and towards cultural, charitable and educational works.

CL's adherents are predominantly lay Catholics. However, there are also priests and religious who belong to the movement, as well as consecrated lay men and women who are committed to lifelong celibacy, known as the Memores Domini. Several bishops (Luigi Negri, prelate of San Marino-Montefeltro; Gianni Danzi, prelate of Loreto; Giancarlo Vecèrrica, prelate of Fabriano-Matelica—in Italy; Filippo Santoro, prelate of Petrópolis; Giuliano Frigeni, prelate of Parintins; Giancarlo Petrini, auxiliary prelate of Sao Salvador de Bahia; and Guido Zendron, prelate of Paulo Afonso—in Brazil; Javier Martinez, archbishop of Granada, Spain; Paolo Pezzi, archbishop-designate of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God, Moscow, Russia); and one cardinal, (Angelo Scola, Cardinal of Milan) are former members: all of them have officially withdrawn from activity in CL immediately upon elevation to the episcopacy. The leaders of the movement include both lay persons (including non-celibate laity) and priests.

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