Italy: Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare movement, dies aged 88

Chiara Lubich, 88, died in the early hours of March 14th at her home in Rome, Italy. She will be remembered particularly for her role as founder and leader of the Christian Focolare movement, an international socialist movement that promotes fraternity and social justice.

At the heart of the Focolare Movement, which in Italian means ?hearth? or ?family fireside?, is the belief that solidarity should be the basis for human and economic interaction. Chiara Lubich proposed an economic theory, the ?economy of communion?, by which companies and organisations would distribute their wealth in three equal parts: the first should be reinvested into the development of the company, the second should be donated to the poor and the third should be used to train and develop the skills of the workers. Over 700 companies in 30 countries actually adhere to Lubich?s economic model that seeks to overcome the tension between external market forces and internal social justice, wealth distribution and spirituality.

Today the movement counts with 140,000 members in more than 180 countries and 33 small cities, including Loppiano in Italy and Mariapola in the USA live according to the values Chiara Lubich sought to promote.
Lubich, who is considered a major spiritual figure in the Roman Catholic church, also won several awards, including the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 1996, the Council of Europe's Human Rights Prize in 1998 and the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1977.

The movement has set up non-governmental organisations for international cooperation and has activated more than a thousand social projects world wide. According to a statement issued by the Focolare association, the movement?s charter says that her successor must be a woman.