Election of Focolare President Print E-mail
Written by Directors of the Communications Office   
Friday, June 27, 2008
Focolare community readies itself to elect the first president to succeed its founder

Journalists, lay people and clergy, upon hearing of Chiara Lubich’s passing on March 14, 2008, all try to understand how her extraordinary legacy will live on and how the movement she founded with more than 2 million adherents worldwide will go ahead without its charismatic leader. Interest, curiosity, apprehension—one’s state of mind may vary, yet a common question arises:
“What’s next?”

It is a legitimate and fair question, given the rich inheritance of spirituality, doctrine and works that she left behind. The richer the personality of the founder, the more arduous and complex is the task of those who continue their work without his or her guiding hand.

"Where two or three…”
During Chiara’s three-and-a-half years of illness that preceded her departure for heaven, the Focolare’s general councilors and those in various leadership positions took on greater responsibilities. They were, nevertheless, accustomed to regularly submitting their initiatives for Chiara’s approval. Other founders, such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta or Communion and Liberation’s Fr. Luigi Giussani, named their successor.Chiara did not. In keeping with the logic of the collective spirituality that she gave life to, she left the outcome for unity to decide, showing both her faith in Jesus’ promise—“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in their midst” (Mt 18:20)—and her confidence in those who remain.


Calling a General Assembly

Oreste Basso, an engineer, a focolarino since the early 1950s and a priest, was elected as co-president of the Movement in 2002. His task, at Chiara’s death, was to convoke a General Assembly for the election of the new president, who, according to the Focolare’s statutes, will always be a laywoman. This July, delegates elected by local communities will come from all the corners of the world to the movement’s international headquarters near Rome, for the general assembly which is made up of more than 400 participants, including representatives from the Focolare’s 23 branches.


Electing a Successor and Councilors

A three-day spiritual retreat will be followed by the election of the president, the co-president—whose names will be immediately submitted, through the Pontifical Council for the Laity, to the Vatican for approval—and the General Council. Each vote will require a two-thirds majority to guarantee the widest possible consensus, setting an agenda for the post-Chiara world.


Watch for the Focolare’s General Assembly in the upcoming weeks.

 

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