Chiara Lubich, food for thought and growth

Chiara Lubich is one of those personalities who do credit to Trentino. Her message of love, fraternity and hope, which originated here in Trento and in our valleys during WWII, and embodied in the extraordinary experience of the focolare Movement, has spread worldwide. This Movement is now considered one of the most fruitful examples of devotion to the message of Jesus Christ and of commitment to dialogue: within the Catholic Church, among Churches, among people of different beliefs.

The centenary of her birth, with the exhibition at the Galleries in Trento and the several events on schedule, will certainly give food for thought and growth to our community. It is crucial that the message of Chiara Lubich, who always claimed prodly her “trentinità” (i.e. her being Trentine), reaches our youth; and becomes ever more a reference point in the processes of personal and collective growth.

As the cause of beatification progresses, and as we prepare to welcome to Trentino for the centenary also the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, we can’t but look back on Chiara Lubich’s path: from her experience as young elementary school teacher, to the “Mariapolis”, the “Cities of Mary” - from the very first one in Tonadico to the one in Cadine, where many young people and families, religious and lays, have experienced a new evangelical life, which keeps on growing and bear fruit.

This centenary will bring to Trentino thousands of visitors from the whole world. It will be, first and foremost, a year of dialogue, of meeting and sharing. In reaffirming the bond between Chiara Lubich and her homeland, we must succeed in confirming and renovating our highest aspirations, in implementing them in the most coherent way.

Our history and our belonging to a border region should make us more aware of the magnitude of her teaching. Her teaching and her message continuously encourage us to question ourselves, to ponder attentively her words, and embrace the constant yearning for peace.

I wish you a good Centenary and a pleasant stay in Trentino.

Maurizio Fugatti

President of the autonomous Province of Trento