 For the unity of peoples
Chiara Lubich’s work in defence of individual and social rights was recognised by
the Council of Europe
which, together with
two other humanitarian organisations, awarded her the 1998
Human Rights Prize (Strasbourg, September 1998).
The Brazilian Government, in the person of the President of the Republic of
Brazil,
awarded her the “Southern Cross”
in October 1998, for what she has done for their country, especially for having promoted
the “Economy of Communion”.
In June 2000, the president of the German Federal Republic awarded her the
"Cross for Merit" for the
Movement’s work in East Germany, during the time of the Berlin Wall, and for her
contribution to Ecumenism and to fostering of peaceful relations between the German people
and immigrants.
"In
an age when ethnic and religious differences too often lead to violent conflict, the
spread of the Focolare Movement has also contributed to a constructive dialogue between
persons, generations, social classes and peoples". This was the motivation of the
1996 UNESCO Prize for Education to
Peace,
conferred on Chiara Lubich in Paris.
At the United Nations Headquarters (New
York), she addressed a Symposium in May 1997 on the Unity of Peoples.
In March 1998 she was invited to speak in Berne
(Switzerland) on the occasion of the 150th anniversary celebration of the Swiss
Constitution.
Several cities in Italy and in other countries, including Buenos Aires, Palermo, Bologna,
Rome, Florence and Trent awarded Chiara with honorary citizenship and various other
acknowledgements.
Culture
Due to the impact of the spirituality of unity in various cultural
spheres, from June 1996 onwards, a number of universities have awarded Chiara Lubich honorary
degrees: in Social
Sciences (Poland), in Theology (Philippines and Taiwan), in Social Communications
(Thailand), in Humane Letters (USA), in Philosophy (Mexico), from the 13 faculties of the
University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), in Humanities and Science of Religion
(Brazil), in
Economics (Brazil & Italy) and in Literature and Psychology (Malta)
and in Pedagogy (USA). In a time
marked by the collapse of human values, these awards have given rise to new cultural
developments.
Interreligious
dialogue
Chiara Lubich was the first Christian woman and lay person invited to recount her
spiritual experience to more than 800 Buddhist monks, nuns and students in Thailand (Jan.
1997).
In May 1997 Chiara
addressed 3,000 Black Muslims in the historical Malcolm X
Mosque in Harlem (New York).
In Buenos Aires, in April 1998, upon invitation by B’nai B’rith and other Jewish
organisations, Chiara met and addressed members of the Jewish communities of Argentina and
Uruguay.
The Movement's dialogue with Hinduism began in January 2001, when Chiara met with hundreds
of Hindus in Bombay and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), India. On this occasion, Chiara was also
awarded the Defender of Peace Prize by two prestigious Hindu-Gandhian
institutions:
the Shanti Ashram and the Sarvodaya Movement, during an official ceremony in
Coimbatore.
Each of these events has opened up promising new prospects for interreligious
dialogue.
For two consecutive years (1998-1999), more than 200 Muslim friends of the Focolare
Movement, from all continents, have gathered at the International Centre of the
Movement, Rome, Italy, in order to deepen the Focolare spirituality of
unity. In Washington D.C. (November 2000) Chiara Lubich shared her spiritual experience during a remarkable
Convention, with more than 5,000 people, promoted by Imam W.D. Mohammed, leader of the
moderate Afro-American Muslims. It was an example of the fraternity existing between
Christians and Muslims.
The Focolare Movement is actively involved in interreligious events at an international
level.
At the end of 1999, the role of religions in the new millennium was widely discussed and
actions for joint collaboration were planned at such events as: the Interreligious
Assembly with representatives from 25 different religions which was held in the Vatican
and which culminated on 25 October in St Peter’s Square in a meeting with the Pope;
the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WRCP) which was held in Amman with the
participation of 600 delegates representing 60 countries and many
religions.
On the latter occasion, Chiara Lubich, who has been one of the honorary presidents of WCRP
since 1994, gave the concluding talk to the Plenary Assembly on "A Spirituality for
Common Living".
Ecumenism
In October 1999,
Chiara Lubich was present at the ceremony for the historic Catholic-Lutheran signing of
the Doctrine of Justification in Augsburg, Germany.
She gave her experience at a meeting with more than 1,700 young people gathered in the
Lutheran Church of St Ulrich. In her address to the Executive Committee of the World
Lutheran Federation she spoke of the spirituality of unity as an ecumenical
spirituality.
In the nearby Focolare Centre in Ottmaring, Chiara, together with Andrea
Riccardi, founder
of St Egidio Community, met with the leaders of 15 movements which have grown in the
Lutheran Evangelical Church over the past 100 years. This meeting opened up new
opportunities for communion and mutual collaboration.
In November 1998 in Germany, Chiara gave new
impulse to ecumenism, speaking in Berlin in the Evangelical Church of
Remembrance, where
she had been invited by the Ecumenical Council, and in Augsburg in the historic church of
St. Anne, where the events that determined Martin Luther’s separation from the Church
of Rome took place.
In June 1997, at the opening of the Second European Ecumenical Assembly, in
Graz (Austria), she presented the guidelines of an
ecumenical spirituality for reconciliation among Christians.
In 1996, in Lambeth Palace (London), Chiara
was received in audience by the Primate of the Church of England, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Dr. George Carey, who awarded her the Golden Cross of St. Augustine of
Canterbury in recognition of her work “for the Anglican Communion throughout the
world”.
In 1995, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople,
Bartholomew I, awarded her the Byzantine Cross.
In
the Roman Catholic Church
On the eve of Pentecost 1998, in St Peter’s
Square, Chiara Lubich
was one of the four founders who presented their experience on the occasion of the First
Meeting of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities with Pope John Paul
II, who recognises
in them a hope for the Church and for humanity.
Chiara Lubich
participated as an auditor at the International Synods of
Bishops in 1985 and 1987 where she spoke on the subject of lay
spirituality. In 1999 she participated in the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for
Europe.
(27-03-2001) |
For the unity of peoples