Address
of welcome by Wilfried MARTENS
Chairman of the Group of the European People's Partyand speech by
Chiara LUBICH

STRASBOURG, 15 September 1998

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Address of welcome by Wilfried MARTENS

It is a rare honour to be able to welcome a lady who is a powerful influence in the worlds of faith and politics, and not only in Europe but in every continent. Such a person is CHIARA LUBICH.

Chiara Lubich was born in Trent, the region of Italy that gave Europe Alcide de Gasperi.

Chiara Lubich became a teacher. She knew at first hand the personal tragedies of the Second World War. Through suffering with others she discovered ways of harnessing Gospel teaching in comforting those who were injured, bereaved and destitute, and in satisfying their immediate material needs.

Her family lost its own support when her father was deprived of work by the fascist authorities.

From these experiences Chiara Lubich developed the Focolari Movement as an instrument for sharing spiritual and material goods as a straightforward act of human love.

The Focolari Movement has given effect to this new form of communion through practical initiatives, such as the building of ecumenical schools, medical centres, factories and collaborative farming projects. The philosophy behind each initiative is the same - to fight exclusion and poverty by raising the dignity of individuals, creating "an economy of communion" replacing an economy of consumption.

The Focolari Movement predated the review of practical Christianity by the Second Vatican Council. Indeed the Holy See recognised the Focolari Movement in 1962.

Chiara Lubich has taken initiatives for interreligious dialogue not only among Christians but also with Moslems, Buddhists and Jews. Chiara Lubich has thus given a new perspective to ecumenism.

I believe that the experience of Chiara Lubich in the practice of solidarity and community, basic principles of Christian Democracy, in their local, national and international contexts, can enrich the reflections of each of us as we prepare for the European elections in 1999.

On 22 September 1998 Chiara Lubich will receive the European Prize for Human Rights from the Council of Europe, a distinction for which I congratulate Chiara Lubich most warmly, as I introduce her now to the Group.

Chiara Lubich! It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the European People's Party Group of Christian Democrats.

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Speech by Chiara LUBICH

The Focolari Movement:
its Political and Social Aspects

Honorable Members of Parliament,

I would like to thank President Wilfried Martens and Mr Carlo Casini for giving me the opportunity to address a few words to you. I hope you will be pleased with this presentation. I will begin by speaking briefly about the vast religious and social reality I represent, the Focolari Movement.

Only on this basis, in fact, is it possible to present those aspects of the Movement which might be of greater interest to you.

This Movement can be viewed from different angles: from the spiritual to the apostolic, from the charitable and social to the cultural, from the ecumenical to the interreligious, and others as well.

Recently, two new areas began to develop in the Movement: the political and the social, especially in view of the so-called Economy of Sharing freely exercised.

The Focolari Movement was born in the Catholic Church, in Trent (Italy), more than fifty years ago. Its adherents now include Christians of 300 different Churches, faithful of the main world religions, and men and women of good will who have no specific religious belief. It numbers several million people of every race, language and nation spread throughout the world, in 182 countries.

Its lifestyle is decidedly evangelical. Its goal is to contribute towards the realization of Jesus Testament: May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you (John 17:21); in practice, to contribute towards making humanity one family. It seeks to reach this very high goal through various dialogues.

Its spirituality, the spirituality of unity, is modern and timely. Basically inspired by Christian principles - without overlooking, indeed, emphasizing parallel values in other faiths and cultures - it has brought into this world of ours love, unity and peace.

It is not something to be lived solely on one's own, but with others, together. It has a distinct community dimension. It is rooted in a number of words found in the Gospel, which are all interrelated.

First of all, the spirituality of unity is based on an understanding that God is a God of Love, a Father. In fact, how can we envision humanity as one family unless all have the same Father? To believe in his love is what this new spirituality requires of us; it is the departure point: to believe that we are personally and collectively loved by God.

In fact, he reads the heart of each person and cares for each one of us personally. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted (Luke 12:7). He does not leave the progress of society to us alone, but takes an active role. Believe in the love of God! And from the thousands of choices that life offers us, look to him as the Ideal of our lives.

But it is not enough to believe in the love of God. The Father's presence and loving care calls each person to be a true daughter or son, living day by day according to his loving plan; in other words, doing his will. And we know that a father s first desire is for his children to treat each other as brothers and sisters, to love one another. They practise what we could refer to as "the art of loving" which emerges from the New Testament.

It requires us to love everyone, making no distinctions; to be first in loving, not waiting for the other person to love us first; to love each person as ourselves. It asks us to identify with the thoughts, worries, sufferings and joys of others. It even wants us to love our enemies. Wherever this love is lived in a radical way, people are surprised, they ask to know more about it and feel prompted to love in their turn. The revolution of love is born. But if this love for others is lived together, it becomes mutual.

Christ left a norm for humanity to live: Love one another as I have loved you (John 15:12). He knew how necessary this love was for all the world to be a universal human family which goes beyond the concept of an international society, because within this universal family, the relationships among individuals, groups, and nations are designed to break down whatever divisions and barriers exist in any age.

Certainly whoever wants to move the mountains of indifference, if not hate and violence, in today's world faces a huge and heavy task. But what is beyond the strength of millions of separate, isolated individuals begins to appear possible when people have made reciprocal love, mutual understanding and unity the motivating force of their lives.

There is a reason for this. Let me explain. There is a precious element in this new spirituality. It is linked to mutual love, and it is announced in the Gospel. It says: For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them'' (Matthew 18:20). Christ himself is present among them and therefore in each one of them. And what greater opportunity can there be than this for those who want to be instruments of brotherhood and unity? Those who practise this mutual love and unity derive great joy therefrom. However, it calls for commitment, daily application and sacrifice.

And for Christians, this is where one particular word appears in all its brilliance and power. It s one that the world does not want to hear, a word it considers foolish, absurd, futile. This word is the Cross. Meeting and accepting the Cross is essential for this spirituality. Nothing fruitful for the world can be achieved without carrying the Cross.

Currently, men and women of almost every nationality, wherever they may be, are slowly but surely seeking to be the expression of a new people, of a more united world, a world at peace, one committed especially to those who are the weakest, the poorest.

This spirituality is the humus in which all the people of the Movement are formed, including those actively involved in political and social activities. Without this humus it is difficult to reach our objectives. Pope John Paul II said: There is no renewal, even social, which does not start with contemplation. The meeting with God (...) imbues the course of history with a mysterious force which touches hearts and leads them to (...) renewal and (..) becomes a powerful historical force in the transformation of social structures.

And now we come to the more political aspect of this Movement. From the beginning, our Movement has given special attention to the political world. It offered us the opportunity to love our neighbour, in a crescendo of charity: from interpersonal love to an ever greater dimension of love toward the polis. Back in 1959, this message resounded in one of our meetings: The moment has come in which every people must love another s country as its own. Today, in fact, humanity s highest dignity would be that which lies in being not a collection of peoples living side by side and frequently in conflict with one another, but rather, through mutual love, in being a single people, enriched by one another's diversity and safeguarding each one s identity. Such a political view guided by love could, of course, appear to us as a dream and to others as a utopia. But our experience is proving otherwise. In May 1996 in Naples (Italy), people of the Movement who are actively involved in various political parties asked themselves a question: how is it possible to aim at unity considering that we come from different or even opposite positions? They found an answer.

Place mutual love as the basis of everything, as Peter recommended to the first Christian communities: Above all, let your love for one another be intense (1 Peter 4:8). Then be active in the political party of your choice. The aim is not to come together in another single party, but rather, fully loyal to each one s political membership, to be willing to understand each other s opinions in a spirit of unity; a spirit of unity which must be present not only in exceptional moments, but always, as the constant, basic norm for the political activities of each people and for international relations; a spirit of unity that helps take common stands in safeguarding human values.

That day in Naples marked the birth of the Movement of Unity . It is beginning to develop across Italy. More than 200 people have been elected (either as town counsellors or Members of Parliament), both in the majority party and in the opposition; and about a thousand people are actively engaged in the various parties.

But it did not stop in Italy. The Movement of Unity is spreading in the rest of Europe, in the Philippines, as well as in Argentina and Brazil, and there are already promising results. In fact, during my recent trip in May to South America, in Brazil, we spoke of the Movement of Unity for the first time to a group of non-Italian politicians. With that meeting unity among politicians of different parties was extended to politicians of different nations. At the same time, the whole Movement seeks to develop at the grass-roots level seeds of a new people who are journeying toward a more united world, which is increasingly demanded by the signs of our times.

And now we come to the social aspect. Following the lines of the above-mentioned evangelical life, from the beginning of the Movement we sought to carry out the communion of goods, as it was practised by the first community of Jerusalem. There are people who live out the communion of goods in a complete way: these are persons who are totally dedicated to the Movement, who give their entire income and who make a will in which they give any future goods to the poor. The others give their surplus. The Movement s social aspect is expressed also in concrete, substantial projects (approximately 750 in the world), which testify to a love of one's neighbour so that unity may be achieved among many.

But typical of our Movement is the so-called Economy of Sharing , freely exercised, of course, which began in Brazil in 1991. The Movement, present in that nation since 1958, has spread to all its States, attracting people of every social category. However, some years ago - because of the rapid growth of the Movement (we have approximately 250,000 members there) - I realized that we were unable to cover even the most urgent needs of our members, notwithstanding the intense communion of goods. It seemed to me, then, that God was calling our Movement to something new.

Although I am not an expert in economic problems, I thought that in order to raise money our people could set up industries, business enterprises. They would have to be managed by competent persons who would be capable of making them function efficiently and derive profits from them. These profits, and this is what is new, would then be shared with others. One part, certainly, would be used to see that the industry grows. Another part, to help those in need, to give them something to live on until they could maintain themselves. And finally, a third part to develop structures to form new men (as the Apostle Paul calls them), that is to form people animated by love, fit for what we call the culture of giving. Also, an entrepreneurial sector would rise up in our little showpiece towns (we have twenty throughout the world).

The idea was welcomed enthusiastically not only in Brazil and Latin America, but also in Europe and other parts of the world. Many businesses came to life; many existing ones were transformed, and began to operate according to this system. This whole system of economic activity - although operating within the current economic system - is in contrast with the fundamental criteria of economics as they are understood today.

A new way of operating a business is being proposed to entrepreneurs, in which one s activities and attitudes are inspired by our spirituality. It requires focusing once again on people and interpersonal relationships, avoiding practices that are contrary to evangelical love; it requires showing appreciation for employees by involving them in management. Legality, that is, ethical principles, must be respected in relations with clients and suppliers in public administration. Attention should be given to the workplace and respect for nature. Collaboration with other companies and social realities should be fostered. Nor should we forget to leave room for the intervention of God, to his Providence, also in concrete economic activities: an unexpected income, a brilliant technical solution, an idea for a new leading product, and so forth. 622 businesses and 125 activities of various kinds have already adhered to the project. Economists, sociologists, and philosophers are examining this new idea which is proving to be a new philosophy of economics. This is something of the Economy of Sharing.

Honorable Members of Parliament, I have presented something of the Movement of Unity and of the Economy of Sharing, two aspects of our Movement which have developed recently. The Focolari Movement, which has come about with the help of God, includes - as I said - other aspects which are far more extensive and consolidated. One day perhaps, I think it would be a joy for you to know them in all their reality.

For now, I thank you for your attention and give you all my good wishes.

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Research and Documentation Service
Group of the PPE
European Parliament