Wojciech Rogacin – Vatican
In his address to the participants of the General Assembly of the Work of Mary – Focolare Movement – Leo XIV indicated that they had received the charism of proclaiming unity. This spirit of unity, as the Pope said, is “a seed, simple but powerful,” which awakens vocations and is the leaven of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.
True unity is in God
“This leaven of unity is greatly needed today, because the poison of division and conflict tends to poison hearts and social relations and must be combated by the evangelical witness of unity, dialogue, forgiveness and peace,” the Holy Father pointed out.
He added that members of the Focolare Movement are called to be “a counterweight and a barrier against the many sowers of hatred who are pushing humanity back towards forms of barbarism and violence.”
The Pope indicated that the charism of unity and community life should be based on the truth presented by Jesus Christ, who in his priestly prayer, after the words “that they may be one,” added “that they also may be one in Us.” In this way, as the Pope said, he related the unity among the disciples to a higher unity – that between the Father and the Son. “This means that the unity you strive to live and bear witness to is realized primarily ‘in God,’ in fulfilling His holy will,” he added.
Love as the foundation of unity
Leo XIV urged not to understand unity as uniformity of thought, opinion, and lifestyle, which could lead to the depreciation of one’s own convictions, to the detriment of personal freedom and listening to one’s own conscience.
“Chiara Lubich emphasized that the basis of every norm is love. It is therefore necessary that unity always be nourished and sustained by mutual love, which requires generosity, kindness, and respect; that love which ‘is not puffed up, does not seek its own, does not remember evil, but rejoices in the truth,’” the Holy Father stated.
Preserve what is good, discard what is superfluous
The Pope called on members of the Focolare Movement to responsibly keep the movement’s charism alive in a phase that does not end with the first generational transmission after the founder’s death, but continues thereafter.
“At this time, you are called to common discernment as to which aspects of your community life and your apostolate are essential and therefore should be preserved, and which tools and practices – though long used – are not essential to the charism or have shown problematic elements and should therefore be abandoned,” the Holy Father emphasized.
He thanked the Movement for “the great spiritual family that was born from the charism of Chiara Lubich,” including the young people who “with a pure gaze perceive the beauty of the vocation to be instruments of unity and peace in the world.”
