In front of the phenomenon of financial and economic globalization - which opens new perspectives on the one hand but, on the other hand, implements a pattern of development that creates an ever-increasing gap between the rich and the poor - the need for deep changes is increasingly felt.

During a trip to Brazil, in 1991, after an initiative of Chiara Lubich, the project of the "Economy of Communion" is set off: it is aimed at offering - even if still in an embryonic stage - a response to the tragedy of the extreme poverty of those populations, who are deprived of the most basic human rights.

"Unlike the consumer economy, based on a culture of having,
the Economy of Communion is based on the culture of giving.
This might seem to be difficult, ambitious, heroic.
But it is not so, because human beings made in the image of God, who is love, find their fulfilment in loving, in giving. This need is in the deepest recesses of their being whether they have faith of not. On this basis, supported by our experience, lies the hope of
a universal spreading of the Economy of Communion".

The company's profits - and this is new - are equally earmarked as follows:

• To support the more disadvantaged and meet their most basic needs (food, house, health and education).
• To train "new persons" to the "culture of giving". Without these new persons, in fact, it would be impossible to implement an Economy of Communion.
• To invest for the company's growth.

The Economy of Communion immediately attracted attention not only in Latin America, but also in Central and Eastern Europe, where it gave hope in the face of the unrestrained capitalism which followed the downfall of socialism. In a very short time, the idea spread to all continents.
The project "Economy of communion" is a real anthropological revolution whose nature is not only economic but also cultural.
According to the prevailing economic theories, individualism is a fundamental quality of homo oeconomicus. On the contrary, in this new perspective the latter is a person whose relationships with the others is based on reciprocity.

These objectives are a thrust to productivity for workers, because they become aware of the fact that they no longer work just for themselves and their company, but also for a world-wide social goal.

"Putting the economy of Communion into practice - says Tommaso Sorgi, sociologist - provokes a quantum leap in our awareness, both morally and psychologically. It catapults us from that practice which reduces economic activity to a mere material relationship based on rational egoism - which is as destructive as lack of freedom or of intellectual stimulation - to a growth in humanity through economic activity, thus liberating a powerful flow of energy which is in the innermost being of every person".

Relationship between employers, employees and their company
Persons and not capital are at the centre of the business and therefore the company does what it can to make the best use of each employee's skills and to build an atmosphere leading to personal creativity, participation and a total assumption of duties and responsibilities. Turning one's company into a real community is one of the employer's first objectives.

Relationship with customers, suppliers and people in the business community
The company works together with suppliers to provide useful and quality product and services at fair prices. The members of the company deal fairly with their competitors. The company is thus enriched by a "non material" capital built through a relationship of esteem and trust with customers, suppliers and people in the business community.
Such relationships will set the business on a course which is less at the mercy of the fluctuating state of the market.

Ethics - The company pays all the required taxes; it does not indulge in corrupt practices; it has ethical dealings with regulatory bodies and trade unions; it takes every precaution to prevent pollution.

Today about 750 companies (big and small ones) and businesses have adhered to this project - more than 200 in Latin America and 300 in Europe.

A new economic culture - This project is arousing a great interest also on a theoretical level. More than 20 degree thesis have been discussed and more than 100 of them are in preparation in several Universities world-wide. Many Universities in Europe, Australia and Latin America are organising seminars and congresses to study the developments of this experience.
    It is meaningful that the first official acknowledgements are coming from Eastern Europe and Latin America:
    On June 19, 1996, the Catholic University of Lublin (Poland) awarded Chiara Lubich with a degree ad honorem in Social Science. During his speech of laudatio, Prof. Adam Biela spoke of "a Copernican revolution in social science, for having implemented a 'paradigm of unity' showing new psychological, social and economic dimensions that post-communist society was waiting for in the present difficult stage of transition".

    In Brazil, in one of the poorest regions of the Country, Pernambuco, in the city of Recife she was awarded with a degree ad honorem in Economics by the Catholic University. The Rector, Father Peters, S.J., defined the economy of communion as a "fruit of a rich spirituality helping people to live the Gospel intensely and makes it pour onto the social and economic sphere, thus transforming the cruel capitalistic competition into a human symphony of communion".

    During the meeting which took place in a room of the Federal Brazilian Parliament, in Brasilia, promoted by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, the Brazilian Federal vice-president, Marco Maciel, described the economy of communion as "a new experience which brings a strong dose of humanism to economic relationships, in a world dominated by the phenomenon of globalization".