INFORMATION SERVICE DOSSIER (), January 2016

Maria Voce President of the Focolare Movement

Maria Voce was elected president of the Focolare Movement during its General Assembly in 2008. She is the first focolarina to succeed the foundress, , who passed away during that same year. The 2014 General Assembly re‐elected her for a second term. The first of seven children, she was born in Aiello Calabro (Cosenza, ) on July 16, 1937. Her father was a doctor; her mother a housewife. Struck by the gospel witness of some fellow students, members of the Focolare Movement, whom she met during her university years in Rome, Maria Voce started to live the spirit of the Movement. At the age of 26, she felt God was calling her and left a very promising career ‐ she was the first woman lawyer at Cosenza’s Court ‐ to follow him in the way of the Focolare. Chiara gave her the name “Emmaus”, which recalls the event of the two disciples, who on the way to the village of Emmaus, encountered Jesus after his resurrection and recognized his presence in their midst through the breaking of the bread. After 8 years in Sicily, for 6 years she was one of Chiara Lubich’s personal secretariat. Then, she spent ten years in Istanbul, where she established ecumenical relationships with Demetrio I, who at that time was the of Constantinople and many other metropolitans, among them, Bartholomew I, who is now the Patriarch. During these years, she also had the precious opportunity to establish direct contact and relationship with the Islamic world. In 1988, she resumed her collaboration at the Centre of the Movement. From 1995 to 2008 she was a member of the Abba School, an interdisciplinary study centre founded by Chiara Lubich. Her studies in theology and in canon law were an asset for this work. From 2000 to 2008 she was co‐responsible for the international commission, “Communion and Law”, a network of academics and professionals involved in law. She worked directly with Lubich to update the Movement’s General Statutes from 2002 till the time of their approval in 2007. When she was elected president of the Focolare Movement (July 7, 2008), she was received by Benedict XVI. On her re‐election as president (September 12, 2014), she was received by in a private audience together with about 500 General Assembly participants, among them the newly elected councilors whom she presented to the Pope. On this occasion, the Holy Father entrusted the Focolare with these three keywords: contemplate, go out, educate.

EVENTS DURING HER PRESIDENCY Maria Voce travelled to various countries in the world to meet the Focolare Communities and support them in their civil and religious commitments. In 2009, she went to Fontem (Camerun), where she joined the Bangwa people for the Cry Die (the end of mourning) in honor of Chiara Lubich. She was recognized by Dr. Lukas Nijfua, the Fon of Fontem, as “the guardian of Chiara’s legacy”. In 2013 she was in Amman, Jordan, where she was received by His Royal Highness King Abdullah II. In 2014, she travelled to Recife, Brazil; there she spoke at the inauguration ceremony of the“Cátedra Chiara Lubich de Fraternidade e Humanismo”at the Pontifical University (UNICAP). In October 2008 she participated in the Synod of on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church”, and in October 2012 in the Synod on “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith”. The appointed her as Vice‐Chancellor of Sophia University Institute (IUS), inaugurated in December 2008 and situated in the small town of Loppiano, Italy.

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In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed her as consultant to the Pontifical Council for the , and in 2011 she was appointed by him as consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. She gave her testimony to the Philippine clergy during a national gathering with their bishops that is held every ten years (Manila, 2010). During the ceremony of Chiara Luce Badano (Rome, 2010), the first member of the Focolare Movement to be declared blessed, she highlighted “the Church’s confirmation that the spirituality of unity leads to holiness”. She spoke during the event “Charisms in Communion” held in Assisi (2010); this occasion brought together movements, new communities, religious orders and institutes. She was also invited to speak during the XIV International Conference of the Catholic Fraternity, a federation of Catholic charismatic communities. She was one of the speakers on the day dedicated to during the 50th International Eucharistic Congress held in Ireland in 2012; Alois, the of Taizé and the Anglican Reverend Jackson were the other speakers. On September 2, 2012 she delivered the final message to 12,000 young people gathered in Budapest (Hungary) for the Genfest, an international manifestation with the title “Let’s bridge”. Rome 2012, Città Nuova Publications launched the interview‐book with Maria Voce: The wager of Emmaus. What the focolarini do and think after Chiara Lubich’s departure. On the occasion of the Synod on the New Evangelization (2012), she was invited to speak during a conference entitled “Good News”, that was organized by the capital city of Rome and held at the Capitol. “Men and women in the Church” was the subject she spoke about in Paris (2012) on the 87th edition of Semaines Sociales de France dedicated to “Hommes et femmes, la nouvelle donne”. On September 13, 2013 she had her first private audience with Pope Francis, who encouraged the Focolare Movement to continue with its work and commitment, particularly in the ecumenical and interreligious field. December 7, 2013, the 70th anniversary of the Movement; the five‐year canonical period since the passing away of Chiara Lubich was over, so the formal request for the initiation of the Cause of the beatification and canonization of the Movement’s foundress was submitted to ’s Raffaello Martinelli. The official opening of the Cause took place on January 27, 2015 at the Cathedral of Frascati (Rome). In 2014, she received a Doctorate h.c. in Law from Notre Dame University (USA) for “her extraordinary leadership” and for the Movement’s “great witness and inspiration” to the world. On November 7, 2014, Fr. Angelo Maffeis, president of Paul VI Institute joined Maria Voce for the opening of the study days about “Paul VI and Chiara Lubich. The prophecy of a Church in dialogue”, that were held at Castelgandolfo, Rome. These study days were organized by Paul VI Institute (Brescia) and Chiara Lubich Centre (Rocca di Papa, RM) During a special audience with sixty Bishops friends of the Focolare Movement (Vatican March 4, 2015), she greeted Pope Francis on behalf of 150 representatives of Evangelical movements whom she met two days before in Germany. The Pope confirmed the importance of the ecumenical work promoted by the Movement. She spoke at the conference entitled “Chiara Lubich: unity and politics” that took place at Montecitorio, the seat of the Italian Parliament (Rome, 2015). Some 400 politicians, scholars and representatives of civil society were present. Maria Voce was invited by the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, together with other religious leaders, to take part in a High Level Thematic Debate on “Promoting Tolerance and Reconciliation: fostering peaceful, welcoming societies and opposing violent extremism”, held on 21st and 22nd April 2015 at the UN Headquarters in New York. 193 Member countries took part. In her talk Maria Voce emphasised the importance of dialogue as the “pathway to recognizing each other as brothers and sisters, as free and equal.” In her capacity as Co‐President of for Peace, she took part in a debate held in the Vatican on 28th April 2015 on “The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Humanity”, organized jointly by Religions for Peace, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences. On 16th June 2015 she took part, together with 14 other religious leaders, in a debate held in Brussels and organized by the European Commission on the theme “Living together and disagreeing well”.

Via Frascati, 306 - Rocca di Papa (Roma) Italia - T. +39 06 94798147 - [email protected] - www.focolare.org

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In the Ecumenical Field Rome 2008: she was received by Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople; she had another audience with him in 2010 at the Patriarchal Headquarters in Istanbul. In 2009 she met Pastor Samuel Kobia and other leaders of The World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva (Switzerland). She had talks with the general secretaries of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Conference of European Churches, the Lutheran World Federation and the World Federation of Christian Students Associations. In 2009 she took part in the celebrations held in Augsburg, Germany on the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. In 2010 she welcomed at Rocca di Papa (Rome) Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, the successor of Pastor Kobia who was accompanied by a delegation from WCC. She met Rev. Munib Younan, the President of the Lutheran World Federation (Jerusalem, 2011). She spoke about “the culture of trust” in the Anglican Cathedral of St. Anne in Belfast. 300 Christians of various denominations and leaders of the Church of Ireland, the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church and were present. In 2012 she was one of the speakers, with Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Pastor Gottfried Locher, president of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches, who took part in an ecumenical day held in Berne (Switzerland) on the 50th anniversary of the opening of Vatican Council II. She collaborated with leaders of one hundred movements and communities of various Christian Churches giving full support to events for Together for Europe, held in various European locations with the aim of giving a soul to Europe. She was called to testify “fidelity to the charism in times of great change” (2015) in the presence of 150 leaders of evangelical movements and free churches, whom she met in Schwaebisch Gmünd (Germany). She was asked to convey greetings to the Pope on their behalf.

In the interreligious field Judaism. Dialogue was started with Dr. Riccardo Di Segni, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, who visited the Centre of the Focolare Movement in 2009. During a conference held in 2011, in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, she spoke about “The Role of Dialogue in promoting peace”. Rabbis, members of the Catholic Episcopate, Jewish academics and Palestinian representatives were at this conference. Islam. The friendship established between Chiara and the late Imam WD. Mohammed, leader of Afro‐ American Muslims and his movement continues. Messages of fraternity are exchanged with brethren of Muslim faith, who are visited in their countries or who participate in meetings held at Castelgandolfo (Rome). Buddhism. She has continued in Chiara’s footsteps and since 2008 she had frequent contacts with leaders of Japanese movements and Thai . In 2010 she spoke in the Sacred Hall Rissho Kosei‐kai, in Tokyo where she highlighted the affinity between the two movements as “bridges between the Buddhist and the Christian world and vice versa”. She participated in the Buddhist‐Christian Symposium held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she spoke about suffering. She also addressed 100 young Buddhist monks at the University of the same city. Hinduism. In 2009 she met Dr. Vinu Aram, director of Shanti Ashram of Coimbatore, who was visited by Chiara Lubich in 2001 and Didi Talwalkar, leader of the vast Indian movement Swadhyay Pariwar. In both cases and with both leaders she reaffirmed the fraternity that binds the respective movements and the will to walk together. She spoke at the IV Summit of religions in view of the G8 (Rome 2009), highlighting the importance of dialogue with respect to leadership. Since 2013 she is co‐president of Religions for Peace, together with other representatives of different religions and cultures. She spoke in the IX World Assembly of Religions for Peace held in Vienna in 2013. The theme was “Welcoming others. A multi‐religious vision of peace”.

Via Frascati, 306 - Rocca di Papa (Roma) Italia - T. +39 06 94798147 - [email protected] - www.focolare.org