5 cardinals and 123 bishops friends of the Focolare will gather in Trento on the 8th and 9th of February for the centenary of Chiara Lubich, representing 53 countries and 5 continents. The meeting - titled "A charism at the service of the Church and of mankind, a hundred years after the birth of the blessed Chiara Lubich" - will take place at the Centro Mariapoli in Cadine, near Trento.

The meeting also includes a visit to the exhibition "Chiara Lubich City World" at the Gallerie di Piedicastello (Saturday 8th, 3pm) and some important events open to the public.

The first one is "From the Council of Trento to Tridentine Chiara", on Saturday 8th at 5.15 pm in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Trento. The archbishop of Trento, most rev. Lauro Tisi, will then preside the Vespers and the Holy Mass at 7.15 pm in Cadine.

On Sunday 9th at 10am cardinal Francis Xavier Kriengsak (pictured), archbishop of Bangkok (Thailand), will preside the concelebration of the Holy Mass in the Duomo of Trento. The mass will be broadcast live on TV2000.

Afterwards, the bishops will meet the local authorities - the president of the Provincial Council, Walter Kaswalder; the president of the Province, Maurizio Fugatti; and the mayor of Trento, Alessandro Andreatta - in the Palace of the Province.

Besides those who will gather in Trento, many other bishops in the world acknowledge the cotnribution the Focolare Movement gives to their ministry - from the pastoral activity, to the relationship with their collaborators, to the dialogue in and outside the Chirch, to evangelization. The Regulation for the Branch of Bishop Friends of the Work of Mary, where they are recognized as such by the Pope and approved by the Pontifical Council for the Laity in 1998, recognises that the Spirituality of Unity is “in very deep harmony with the episcopal charism, that it strengthens effective and affective collegiality and unity with the Holy Father and among bishops, and it leads them to actualize the teachings of the Second Vatican Council on the Church-Communion.” Chiara Lubich herself urged the first bishop friends to “Contribute to giving a soul to collegiality", and firmly believed that this would bear fruit in every diocese.