“Whoever listens to you listens to me”

Among the words of the Gospel we were particularly touched by: “Whoever listens to you listens to me” (Lk 10:16). So as to put it into practice we went to visit our Bishop of Trent, Msgr. Carlo De Ferrari. We told him all that was happening. We were ready to dismantle everything, if this was his decision.

Our Bishop listened; then he smiled and said, “Here is the hand of God,” and his approval and blessing stayed with us until his death. He assured us that the light we were following was an authentic Christian inspiration. Later on, the Catholic Church approved us officially in the person of several Popes.

The war ended. Those who belonged to the Movement were now able to move freely in order to study, to work, or to take this life to others: in fact, they were invited to go to many cities and towns to talk about what they had lived and seen.

Meanwhile, besides the women’s focolare houses which had grown in number, the men’s focolare houses opened. Something new happened: within the focolare communities were welcomed, insofar as their state in life permitted, married people desirous of giving themselves completely (to God). All over Italy, in a quiet way, Christian communities grew up along the lines of the first one in Trent. The Church of Rome, with its centuries of experience and wisdom, studied the new Movement with paternal affection.