 About usNew Families The New Families Movement is
a branch of the Focolare Movement with a specific focus on the family. It was founded by Chiara Lubich in 1967.
 The New Families
Movement is present in almost all countries with an active membership of approximately
300,000 and a widely spread network of supporters.
Its members seek to build their family life as firmly as possible
on the basis of the spirituality of the Focolare Movement. This spirituality of unity,
lived in the ambit of the family, strengthens the love inherent in every family, renewing
family relationships in the light of enduring values. The resultant strengthening of unity
between the parents becomes an unfailing source of wisdom for parenting and a powerful
reference point for their lives. The differences between the generations are seen in a
positive light as family members open up to each other to give and receive one
another’s gifts.
The wealth of love present in those families who live this
spirituality overflows and attracts other families. For example, many families, on the
verge of break-up, through the support of the New Families Movement, have been able to
re-build their marriages.
Our society does little to uphold traditional values, and family
values such as faithfulness in marriage and openness to new life, are under constant
pressure. A united family with a sense of family cohesion, with strong spiritual values
and which reaches out to others, is a luminous example for everyone in the public and
religious domains.
A typical activity of members of the New Families Movement, as Igino Giordani observed, lies "in keeping alive the
flame of love in the home and in transmitting its warmth outside the home, into society,
so transforming the wider community into a family".
| The New Families Movement consists of
local groups formed by the families
themselves. Rather than a structure, these groups are based on the sharing of family life
at a very practical level, with the giving and receiving of practical and spiritual
support. New Families groups are linked with one another at regional, national and
international levels. |
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Brief history
During the Second World War, as heavy bombardments
devastated the city of Trent, Chiara Lubich’s family were forced, along with
many others, to take refuge in the mountains. However, Chiara felt that God was asking her
to remain in the city, together with the other young women who had begun to follow her.
With them she had started to live an experience of rediscovering the Gospel which in time
gave rise to the spirituality of unity.
Within a few months, there were more than 500 people living the way of life proposed by
Chiara and her first companions. Among them were young people, mothers, fathers, children,
entire families…
In 1948 the Italian politican and
writer, Igino Giordani, a married man with
four children, came into contact with Chiara and the newborn spirituality of unity. This
led to a new development within the Focolare Movement. The numbers of families who put God
in the first place in their lives was growing with the expansion of the Focolare centres.
In 1967, in a memorable talk,
Chiara Lubich launched the New Families Movement.
In 1991, a report published by The
International Institute of Family Studies in Milan (CISF), entitled "Second Report on
the Family in Italy", referred to New Families as the most important family
movement in Italy.
Projects and activities
Following are a selection of activities of the New Families
Movement:
The organisation of courses
of formation for families and engaged couples, held locally and at the Focolare
Movement's International Centre in Rome.
The sharing of goods freely
among families who put their surplus goods in common to alleviate the immediate needs
of poor families either locally or globally.
The provision of support for
people in the community with specific needs, such as those who are suffering from the
effects of substance abuse, war or poverty, either through care-giving, adoption or
fostering.
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The provision of economic and moral
support at the service of human life through pregnancy counselling and support
in difficult situations, through education in natural family planning, through care of the
elderly and of the terminally ill.
The production of printed and
audio-visual resources on the family.
The active involvement in state,
civil and church institutions in order to campaign on behalf of the family.
Programs
These are couples who wish to live the
spirituality of the Focolare in a radical way, making themselves available to work for the
New Families Movement wherever they may be needed. There are 850 Focolare families
world wide and over 200 of these have left their own countries for overseas destinations
in order to support new communities.
The New Families Movement periodically
organises national and international conventions and seminars for its members and for
others interested in its activities. These meetings focus on a wide range of
family-related issues which allow participants to deepen the spirituality of unity and to
share experiences with people from all over the world.
Permanent schools of formation for
families operate in many of the little towns of the Focolare Movement. In these
schools, families from various countries live in self-contained apartments and participate
in the formation programs provided. These families spend time together in study, work and
normal family activities.
This total immersion in an atmosphere where the Gospel is the only law,
provides the opportunity for an exchange of experiences between families with different
cultural backgrounds. "Loreto", the first of these permanent schools was
established in 1982 at Loppiano near Florence, Italy.
"Adoptions
at a Distance"
New Families launched this particular
form of international solidarity in the 1970s. Through this project, provision is made to
support the economic and educational needs of children without uprooting them from their
own countries and cultures. Funds are also made available for the needs of the children's
families and the local social structures.
Currently, 66 such projects exist in 38 countries, giving assistance to
9,300 children in four continents. Contributions are given for schooling, medical
treatment, nutritional needs of the children and their families, and training in basic
skills.
An important outcome of this project is the creation of a support
network among various countries, cultures and traditions and the development of profound
and dignified relationships based on reciprocal giving and receiving This in turn leads to
renewed efforts on the part of the recipients to better their conditions.
More information on "Adoptions at a
Distance".
Igino Giordani
Igino Giordani,
journalist, politician and Member of the Italian Parliament, was born in Tivoli in 1894.
He met Chiara Lubich in 1948, and was
deeply struck by the spirituality of the Focolare Movement. His contribution to the
development of some of the spiritual and social aspects of the Focolare Movement was so
great that he is considered to be a co-founder of the Focolare.
He was the first ‘married
focolarino’.
His publications,
numbering approximately 100 volumes, and his many pamphlets and articles, deal with such
topics as the Fathers of the Church, apologetics, ascetics, the lives of the saints,
politics and also fiction.
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