FOCOLARE MOVEMENT ______Information Service Press Release - July 16, 2013

CHIARA LUCE BADANO (1971-1990) Beatified on September 25, 2010

Biography Chiara Badano was born on October 29, 1971 at , in the province of , (). She was a beautiful, intelligent, sports-loving and happy young person. She wanted to become an air-hostess to discover the world; but she also wanted to be a doctor to go to Africa to cure sick children. She was moved by love for the weaker ones, and she did not shun those whom she regarded as unpleasent. Hers was a normal life with its ups and downs. She was very popular with her many friends because she was always open and ready to listen to them. During her years in the middle school, she suffered because of her commitment to her Christian beliefs. In the fourth year of her studies, she failed in one of the subjects owing to the difficult relationship with one of her teachers. She regarded this as an injustice which hurt her a lot, but she overcame this difficulty without resentment. At that time she also suffered disappointment because of her first love. Chiara made a springboard out of every obstacle. For her, difficulties were opportunities to train herself to live the gospel in an authentic way, to respond to God’s love, who attracted her since she was a little more than 9 years old, when together with her parents she participated in the Family Fest, an international event for families promoted by the . It was then that she decided to live as a Gen, as one of the young people of the Focolare. After her first Gen meeting, accompanied by her friend Chicca, the two of them together wrote to : “ We have started our adventure: we want to live the will of God in the present moment. With the gospel at hand, we will do great things”. Chiara Lubich had just launched a challenge to the very young: “You must become a generation of ”, because she added “ to build new cities and a new world, engineers, scientists and politicians are not enough; we need wise people, we need saints”. The foundress of the Focolare Movement also revealed to them her secret: Jesus in the moment of his greatest suffering, when he cried the abandonment of the Father. She told them: “ Without Him we cannot stand on our own feet”. Chiara Badano heard these words during a Focolare Meeting in 1983. These words became her life. At the age of 17, something very unexpected happened. While playing tennis, she felt a very sharp pain in her shoulder. Tests ensued, and one of the most serious and painful forms of bone cancer was diagnosed. She was admitted to hospital for surgery with long-term care and continuous tests. Her doctors came to the conclusion that her cancer was incurable. The professor, taking care of her, announced this to her before starting chemotherapy.

Maria Teresa, her mother relates: “I was waiting for Chiara; minutes passed and they became hours. After two hours, when I could see her at a distance, I realized that she was walking very, very slowly. She was wearing her long coat; we used to wear those long green coats at the time(...). She had her hands in her pockets. Dad was behind her. When she arrived at the door, I asked her: “ Chiara, how was it?”. Without looking at me and with a grim look, she replied twice: “Now, do not talk!”. And she threw herself on her bed. I would have liked to tell her a lot of things:, such as “You’ll see; maybe....you are young”, but I respected what she has asked for. From the expression on her face I could see the struggle inside her.

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On the small shelf above Chiara’s bed there was a small clock. After twenty-five minutes – I looked at the clock - she turned to me with her usual, radiant smile, with a look full of light and a broad smile and she told me twice: “Mum, now you can speak”. It took Chiara twenty- five minutes to say “yes” to God, but she never went back on it”. Later Chiara lost the use of her legs, and shortly after she suffered a severe haemorrhage. She was in great danger of losing her life. On this occasion, the Gen took it in turns to pray all night. The doctors were wondering whether they should stop the therapy not to make her suffer or to proceed with one last transfusion. They decided to proceed. Chiara lived for another year, a very crucial one for her. After a very difficult night, she confided: “Physically I suffer a lot, but my soul sings”. Those who visited her thought they could help to keep her spirits up, but instead they were struck and deeply affected by Chiara’s great peace and serenity. Frequently, many remarked that they experienced an atmosphere of Paradise. One of the doctors, a non-believer and a strong critic of the Church, said: “ Since I have met Chiara, something has changed inside me. There is coherence here and I can understand Christianity”. Chiara Lubich, answering her last letter, wrote to her: “ God loves you immensely, and he wants you to experience a taste of heaven. Your radiant face expresses the love you have for Jesus. ‘Chiara Luce’ (Light) is the name I have chosen for you. Do you like it? The light of God overcomes the world!”. On the eve of her “departure”, she greeted personally all those present, especially the young ones. And she said to them: “Young people are the future. I can no longer run but I would like to pass on to you the torch as one does in the Olympics. We have only one life and it is worth spending it well.” Then, touching her mother’s hair, she said: “Good-bye! Be happy because I am happy”. On October 7, 1990 Chiara Luce ended her earthly adventure. She prepared everything for her funeral: songs, prayers of the faithful, flowers, dress and hair-do; she wanted to be dressed in white, like a bride. She told her mother: “When you’re getting me ready, Mum, you must not cry, you have to keep on saying to yourself: Chiara Luce is now seeing Jesus”. Many young people were present for her funeral. Mons. Livio Maritano, the Bishop of Aqui, said: “ The joy was dominant, tears and smiles were strangely united”.

“A RAY OF LIGHT” After her death there was a lot of talk about the extraordinary nature of her short life. Many changed their life and shared their witness. The bishop, who knew her personally and valued the testimony of her life for young people and for the Church, took the initiative and started the cause of her . The strength and simplicity of the life of Chiara Luce, together with the remarkable work done by the postulation, permitted the process to be completed in a very short time: it took just a little more than ten years. Chiara Luce was declared “Blessed” on September 25, 2010. More than 20,000 young people were in for this event, and many others worldwide participated through a direct transmission by thirty television networks. The day after her beatification, during the Angelus, Benedict XVI spoke of Chiara Luce as an example of Christian coherence: “She is a ray of light for all”1. A week later he invited everyone to get to know her: “ Her life was short, but it bears a wonderful message (...) Nineteen years full of life, of love, of faith”2.

1 Benedict XVI at the Angelus, Castel Gandolfo, 26 September 2010. 2 Benedetto XVI, his meeting with youth in Palermo, 3 October 2010. ______Via Frascati, 306 - 00040 Rocca di Papa (Roma) – ITALIA * tel: (+39) 06 947989 email: [email protected]

3 Fr. Léthel O.C.D. spoke of Chiara Luce to Pope Benedict and the Roman Curia in one of the meditations delivered during the Lenten spiritual exercises. He presented her as one of the many “ holy young girls who fully lived the Gospel”, thus becoming “a teacher of holiness” for everyone3. August 2012, a group of seventy cardinals and bishops gathered in Nothern Italy for a study meeting about the spirituality of unity, chose to spend a day at Sassello. L’Osservatore Romano reported the news under the heading: Chiara Luce Badano gives a lesson to bishops and cardinals. The witness of Chiara Luce brings holiness back to be fashionable: it awakens in many people – and not just young ones – the desire to live for great things. Through her life, one discovers that holiness can be lived through everyday life and that one can become holy. Chiara Luce is felt alive, a person with whom one can establish a relationship.“ Chiara Luce has taught us that we can love always and unconditionally” – says a young Brazilian. Almost everywhere in the world, groups of young people put on stage the musical on the life of Chiara Luce, “Life Love Light”. Another musical entitled “A santidade veste jeans” is being prepared for WYD in Rio de Janeiro. Countless are the requests received by her parents, Maria Teresa and Ruggero Badano, to go and relate her story. Particularly significant is their encounter with a group of prisoners at Rebibbia (Rome) in 2012. Her story travels everywhere through all means: from the first book written about her “I have everything” (Michele Zanzucchi, Città Nuova, 2000, with editions in Brazil, South Korea, France, Great Britian, Slovenia, Spain, Hungary and Polond), to the most recent one “A ray of light” (Mariagrazia Magrini, St. Paul Editions, 2010). 500,000 copies of the Portuguese edition of the book “Dai tetti in giù” (Franz Coriasco, Città Nuova, 2010, with editions in Argentina, Brazil, France and Spain) will be distributed to the young people of WYD in Rio de Janeiro. Thousands are the copies of DVDs and music CDs about her life and about the celebration of her beatification. Internet shows how many know her, or discover her through the most unexpected circumstances, and want to live like her. To date her Facebook page shows that there are more than 55,000 fans, with a number of interactions that is difficult to quantify.

Official Site of the postulation http://www.chiaralucebadano.it/index.php?lang=en

Site “Life Love Light” http://www.chiaraluce.org/en-US/

3 Fr. François-Marie Léthel, O.C.D. in “La luce di Cristo nel cuore della Chiesa. Giovanni Paolo II e la Teologia dei Santi. Esercizi Spirituali con Benedetto XVI”. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Pag. 252 ______Via Frascati, 306 - 00040 Rocca di Papa (Roma) – ITALIA * tel: (+39) 06 947989 email: [email protected]