Pope Leo spoke this week to bishops who are associated with a Catholic group dedicated to unity, which is, as seen through his motto, one of Leo's greatest commitments.
In 1943, an Italian laywoman named Chiara Lubich founded a group that is known today worldwide as the "Focolare Movement." One of many ecclesial movements, the particular aim of Focolare is to foster unity -- across religions or in other areas of culture.
Individuals affiliated with Focolare "engage in various forms of dialogue and are committed to building bridges of fraternal relationships among individuals, between cultural groups and in every area of society."
On Wednesday, the Holy Father met with 83 cardinals and bishops, who are Friends of the Focolare Movement." They came from 40 countries, and thus face a wide range of challenges in building fraternity, as the Pope noted.
But "giving witness to unity," is "one of the essential elements of the movement founded by Chiara Lubich, and one that is close to my heart," he said. "If that was Chiara’s task 40 years ago, it is ours even more urgently today."
He noted that some of the bishops face "situations such as prejudice, racism, religious intolerance, even violence." Those in the West, he said, face a culture "all too marked by the effects of individualism, where the once-stable networks of family, friendship, and community are giving way to greater fragmentation, and where freedom is increasingly presented as absolute autonomy – the ability to pursue happiness without any moral, natural, or even human limits."
And yet we observe a paradox. For all the emphasis on individual freedom, people today frequently feel less free to be their genuine selves or follow their highest ideals, out of a hidden fear of being judged or of not fitting in. Moreover, this loss of openness to others, which exacerbates a sense of disunity, ultimately deprives us of the happiness for which we were created, since we are made in the image of the Triune God, who is himself a communion of persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Become contemplatives!
The Pope encouraged the bishops to go back "to the source of our unity in the Holy Trinity. Indeed, we must become contemplatives!"
He invited them to live their days together as a time of spiritual renewal, and offered three concrete suggestions to nourish the interior life:
-- generous and sustained prayer before our Lord in the Tabernacle
-- a calm and attentive celebration of the Office and Holy Mass
-- frequent contemplation of the indwelling of the Persons of the Trinity in the depth of our being
Chiara Lubich's cause for canonization is open. It was begun at the diocesan level in 2013 and concluded at the end of 2019. The co-founder of the movement is also being considered for canonization. One Focolare member, the young Chiara Badano, has already been beatified; some two dozen other causes of members are underway.
