Elected new President of the Focolare Movement, Maria Voce, experienced in ecumenical and iterreligious dialogue and one of Chiara Lubich's closest collaborators.
 
The new co-president, Giancarlo Faletti, previous co-director of the Focolare in Rome.

On July 7 with an almost unanimous vote, the General Assembly of the Focolare Movement elected Maria Voce as its first president to follow founder Chiara Lubich. An international delegation of 496 members, the Assembly gathered in Castelgandolfo, Italy since July 5, also elected Giancarlo Faletti, previous co-director of the Movement in Rome, as the new co-president, reaching more than two-thirds of the votes (as prescribed in the Movement’s statutes) on the first ballot.

With the death of Chiara Lubich on March 14 and the election of Maria Voce and of Giancarlo Faletti, the Movement enters a new stage in its history from that period during which Chiara and the first men and women focolarini began the Movement and who, until now, held leadership positions in the Focolare’s direction. The new president’s first words were to thank these first focolarini for the trust which accompanied this transition. She was “very sure to have them as first collaborators,” she commented.

The role of the new president will obviously be different from that carried out for over 60 years by Chiara, who often said “it would not be just one person” to replace her, but a “body” of persons—that includes the General Council and the president in communion with the co-president—so as to always ensure the charism of unity.

Maria Voce was born in Ajello Calabro, in the southern part of Italy on July 16, 1937. She met the Movement in 1959 and for 44 years has lived in focolare centers. With degrees in Theology and Canon Law, in recent years she collaborated with Chiara on the revisions of the General Statutes of the Movement. A member of the Abba School, the Focolare’s interdisciplinary study center, she contributed to the recent founding of Communion and Law, an international network of professionals and scholars who strive to bring the Focolare’s spirit of unity to the field of law. She has also had direct experience in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. Having resided in Turkey from 1978 to 1988, she developed a close relationship with the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the current Patriarch Bartholomew I, with leaders of other Christian Churches, and the Muslim world as well.

Giancarlo Faletti was born in Piemonte, Italy, September 14, 1940, into a family greatly concerned for the social welfare of others. Early on, he made a strong commitment to work among the youth, and in Christian activities on behalf of those who suffer and live in poverty. At 19, he was fascinated by the Focolare’s ideals of brotherhood and unity, and at 25 he decided to give his life to God through the Focolare. After completing his studies in economics, he worked in the administration of a bank. Co-director of the Focolare in various zones of Italy, he was ordained a priest during his years as the co-director in Rome.

The election of the General Councilors—made up of 18 men focolarini and 18 women focolarine—will proceed, beginning July 9th. Their prime task will be to aid the president in her leadership of this vast movement comprised of 140,000 core members and more than 2 million adherents.