The end of this discourse also makes us think of the vision of the future expressed in the circles of thought apparently foreign to the Focolari – but are they really?
“Our planet is threatened by dramatic divisions, albeit destruction. This new life permits us to regress and progress simultaneously. Thus it is that humanity will find again this unity for which God created it, and the churches will realize this plenary community which Christ conferred to His Church in founding her.”
In other words, by ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, mankind reaches beyond that which divides it and tends towards the era of peace and of total regeneration which is its ultimate end. As to the “churches”, their role is to promote this wonderful ‘New Age’ of man and the world become one.
In the talks held during the collation of the Education for Peace prize (UNESCO), Chiara Lubich had already expressed similar ideas:
“It is together (that is, with the adherents of other religions) that we advance towards the fullness of the truth to which we all aspire. Thanks to the spirituality of the Focolari, men and women of almost all nations attempt today (…) to be (…) seeds of a new people, of a world of peace, (…) of a more united world.”
In summary and in the light of all these texts, we then note that, twenty years after the awarding of the Templeton prize, Chiara Lubich fully confirmed that she was truly worthy to receive this dark recompense.
The international alliances of the Focolari
In the logical sequence of the prized which Chiara Lubich was awarded, we must now take a look at some of the international organizations with which the Focolari movement is more or less connected.
Nykkyo Niwano and The World Conference of Religions for Peace
In 1979, two years after Chiara Lubich, a man with whom, she admitted herself, she carried on a profound spiritual exchange for years, was judged worthy to receive in his turn the Templeton prize. This man, well known in world religious circles, is Nykkyo Niwano. He is the founder of a lay Buddhist organization: Risso Kosai-Kai, and of The World Conference of Religions for Peace. He was the sole Buddhist invited at the Second Vatican Council as an observer.


The Templeton Foundation explained its choice of Nykkyo Niwano to honor his tireless efforts in the domain of interreligious dialogue and of world peace.
In his thanksgiving speech, the awarded developed the following point: Before everything, he says, it is important that humanity form a global community. In the process involved in this, religions play a very important role. Their ends must be: the search of happiness, spiritual deepening, and world peace. It is the task of The World Conference of Religions for Peace to take away every obstacle put in the way which leads to a world living in peace.
These clarifications are not useless and they do not keep us from our topic as Nikkyo Niwano is tied to Chiara Lubich by a close friendship, and she is herself honorary president of the World Conference he has founded. She therefore adheres perfectly to the objectives of this institution:
“We approve and fully support some Buddhist initiatives for peace in the world, such as the well appreciated World Conference of Religions for Peace has brought.”
The ‘U.N.-type’ friendship of The World Conference of Religions
This Conference was founded in 1970. Its founding act claims its origin from the ideas of three American religious leaders, one of whom is no other than Bishop Wright, the future Cardinal! It was decided to set up the international secretariat in New York, facing the U.N. building because, from the very beginning a close collaboration with the world organization was envisaged.
Besides, some facts permit to illustrate the efficacy of this collaboration. Thus, it is the Conference of Religions which proposed Chiara Lubich as awarded for the Education for Peace prize (UNESCO) which she received in 1996. On the other hand, the Conference of Religions enjoys a consultative status with the UN and UNICEF. It has also obtained to be approved as NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) with UNESCO, in 1996.
There exist some close liaisons among all these international organizations, religious or lay, which form a tentacular network, acting in the same direction. It is an undeniable fact. For example, Federico Mayor, General Director of UNESCO, published an interview in a German magazine of the Focolari movement: Neue Stadt (New City).


But, it is necessary to know that F. Mayor, and other functionaries who occupy high positions in the UN, collaborate very actively with the Lucis Trust (originally Lucifer Trust – Ed.) of A.A. Bailey (Foundress of the Lucifer Trust, a master-mind of the New Age – Ed.). It is clear that in associating themselves with those people, one walks on slippery grounds.
But let us continue our examination of the World Conference of Religions founded by Nikkyo Niwano.
Rodrigo Carazo figures among its honorary presidents. This former president of Costa Rica entertains the liaisons similar to those of Federico Mayor: he is also an active collaborator of the Lucis Trust.
The Conference of Religions also had as president (now retired) the former Archbishop of New Delhi, Angelo Fernandes. This man openly supports the powerful organization of the Planetary Citizens, which has become an occult group. During an assembly organized by UNESCO in Barcelona, he made a discourse having for theme: “A global spirituality of social responsibility.” He defined the spirituality in the following way:
“The conscience of our responsibility for a new organization of political and economical institutions, a responsibility which is anchored in the personal experience of the divine.”
For an Archbishop, it is truly a remarkable definition.
Other points render his speech worthy of our attention. Angelo Fernandes several times quotes Robert Muller (a functionary who occupied a directive post in the UN during forty years and who collaborated as well at the Lucis Trust where he had some responsibility). Fernandes relies too on Dag Hammarskjöld and U Thant, other great promoters of a worldwide global spirituality, indispensable, according to them, to our new planetary conscience. It is clear, and Angelo Fernandes explains profusely, the decisive element of this new “spirituality” is its worldwide dimension and its concern for the planet. We need, he says, to institute a new global and universal community, because, from now on, it is the only form of a viable community. In this logic, he finishes his discourse exhorting us all to become that which, in reality, we are already: one.
It is impossible not to see the relations which exist between these principles and those of Chiara Lubich, which we have exposed above.


By the very choice of words, the objectives propagated over the years by the groups close to Aries and by the powerful groups of mondialists, can be found in the ideas of the founder of the Focolari. Besides, we saw it, these V. I.P s. of mondialism are her friends whom she does not cease to frequent.
SOME COMMON UNDERTAKINGS OF THE CONFERENCE OF RELIGIONS AND OF THE FOCOLARI
But that which precedes belongs to the order of declarations of intention and of discourses. Collaboration does not stop there. It remains to say by what concrete undertakings the World Conference of Religions for Peace and the international societies which are connected to it, apply their principles and fulfill their appeals to a mondial unity with the Focolari.
Two events of these later years are, on this regard, worthy of consideration because they gave way to great manifestations in which the Focolari were involved. We wish to clarify that the information which we are going to give on this subject come from the documentation of the World Conference itself.
The centenary of the Parliament of Religions
First, in 1993, there took place, thanks to the hospitality of the Archdiocese of Chicago, the congress of the centenary of the Parliament of the Religions of the World – previously held in Chicago in 1893.
In the context of this anniversary, a meeting was also held in Amsterdam. It is more interesting for us because it concerns more directly our topic. For the organization and the running of this assembly was, in a great part, entrusted to the movement of the Focolari.
At the start, there was a reading from a text of Pir Vilayat Khan, in which he exhorted his listeners to pursue the interreligious dialogue. Notably – and we find there a known refrain – he asked the representatives of religions to encourage aspirations towards universality hidden in their traditions. Pir Vilayat Khan is not unknown in international circles: he is the honorary president of the Club of Budapest founded by the Club of Rome: he is also of the signatories of the Manifesto of the
planetary conscience published by this club.
Many speakers were heard, among whom a member of the Reformed Church of Switzerland – also member of the Focolari – and an adept of Brahma Kumaris, a group about which we shall speak later.


The speeches and discussions were accompanied by prayers, meditations taken from diverse religious traditions, and a floral ceremony which, unfortunately, is not described in the documentation
The sixth World Conference of Religions
The second event which enlightens the activity of the World Conference and of the organizations which are connected to it is the “Sixth World Conference of Religions” held in Rome – more exactly at the Vatican and at Riva del Garda – in 1994.
The motto around which the participants were gathered was: “Save the world – Religions for peace.” Without doubt, the world and each one of us need to be saved, but, obviously, the true and only Savior, Our Lord Jesus Christ, was the great Forgotten of this Conference.
The principal end was to establish a deepened dialogue between religions, to come closer effectively to each other. Two kinds of activities lead to that: on one side, appeals and discourses pronounced before the assembly by diverse religious leaders: on the other side, a common participation to the ceremonies of several religions: Islam, Shintoism, Judaism and local religions (animism).
As we have already emphasized, these meetings refrain from being syncretists. They do not seek to reunite elements taken in each religion to make with this mixture something new, a supra-religion which will occupy the place of the old ones. The purpose is to form a unity among existing religions by mutual tolerance, in overcoming and in preserving the particularities of each tradition, and in respecting their own historical forms.
Nevertheless, words aside, is such an undertaking possible? In the common edifice which they construct together, the mixed traditions cease forcibly to be specific and do constitute, in fact, a picturesque enrichment destined to satisfy the disparate sensibilities of everyone. Moreover, how will elements of opposite origin formally contradicting each other be able to stay together? The ones or the others must necessarily yield. A certain form of syncretism is therefore inevitable.
But especially, how can a Catholic keep his faith intact in the midst of such confusion? How can he continue to pretend that Catholicism is the only truth, and that outside of Christ and of the True Church, there is no salvation?


He might well persist in believing it interiorly, but it will be necessary that he says it no longer openly, that he reduces his faith to a religious opinion among others (which is a denial and an infidelity) and that he accepts not to trouble the universal peace.
For such is the ultimate end: the summum bonum of this undertaking of the recuperation of world’s religions: to establish peace on earth. Not the peace which God gives, but that of man. The mondialists want the religions to serve as instruments to accomplish this planetary mission which they took on themselves in the name of humanity.
The second part of the conference – the most interesting for us – took place at Riva del Garda. The Focolari movement was extremely active there, as the leaflet of information of the World Conference does not cease to emphasize. Without their disinterested commitment, especially in relation with the media, the great success of this meeting would not have been possible, as it is reported.
It is worth looking at the list of speakers of Riva del Garda, for we always find the same networks of international fraternity. On the Catholic side, we notice the presence of Cardinals Arinze, Etchegaray and Martini, as well as Archbishop Fernandes, whom we know already, and the theologian Hans Kung. The U.N. was represented by Yasushi Akashi, its delegate in former Yugoslavia. There was also, naturally, the founder of the World Conference, Nikkyo Niwano mentioned previously.
As a conclusion, “the declaration of Riva del Garda” was adapted, it was solemnly read on board of a boat moving across the water. This ceremony had a symbolic importance: the boat navigating on the lake signifies the voyage of men towards peace, guided by religions: but the shore, the end, is not yet reached.
This declaration summarizes the results and the objectives aimed at by the assembly. The central point is the intention of forming a world community and to fix on it rights and obligations. It proclaims that an enlightened religiosity contributes to the triumph of liberty and of human rights. It affirms the importance of interreligious dialogue to “heal the earth” and chase from it the destructive elements. It is not very difficult to guess what is meant by these “destructive elements”, and moreover, the declaration itself explains it: these are religious nationalism and extremism.


Such ambition demands, of course, the collaboration with the U.N.: the conference confirms its commitment in this sense. The declaration speaks further of the “healing of the world” at a local as well as at a global scale. It depicts a harmonious and peaceful universe which is the end of life and of the aspirations of man.
Unity among religions is especially encouraged. In view of the reconciliation, everyone is asked to know how to use the sacred texts coming from other religious traditions, to treat other religions with respect, to meditate together, for all that is a source of mutual enrichment.
Finally, the text draws up a vision of a unified religion, similar to a giant copula (does it not look rather like the head of a pyramid?), which integrates generously in its bosom all religions. If the diverse religions thus behave themselves, then “without violating their identity and their pretense of possessing the truth of the purely religious order, they could discover convergence and complements in the socio-ethical order”.
It is useless to show, point by point, that this declaration contains almost no principle which a Christian can accept without reservation. This is horrifying, because a great number of the representatives of the Catholic Church were present and actively participated in this meeting, and the Focolari have energetically encouraged it. In fact, it makes sense that these “Catholics” have not condemned in words that which they practiced and lived during the rest of the conference. For there were invocations and meditations of Buddhists, of Indians and of Hindus, and numerous pagan ceremonies.
Moreover, the World Conference of Religions for Peace publishes, in its brochure of information, an interreligious calendar, in which are found reunited the feasts of nine religions: Christianity, Sikhs, Islam, Buddhism, Baha’i, Judaism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism. The only Christian feasts named are: Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Easter, and Pentecost. They are given the same rank as the pagan feasts, as the expression of a religious tradition among others. They are tolerated, they may even show themselves on the condition that they respect the others, that they do not seek to prevail on others, neither to trouble nor prevent the great unity envisaged.


THE BRAHMA KUMARIS UNIVERSITY
Among the international and religious organizations that we have named and to which the movement of the Focolari is connected, there has been mentioned of the Brahma Kumaris, a society founded in Karachi in 1936, and which describes itself as a ” spiritual university the world” (Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University).
This university has had foundations in the whole world, especially in Asia and in Europe (in eighteen countries). Its primary aim is to encourage meditation and spiritual apprenticeship by the development of the “Ego –the I”. But beside these preoccupations concerning the individual, this university pursues the same ends as the organizations we have spoken of, about world peace, the advent of a harmonious world, the collaborations with the world religious organizations, with UNICEF and the U.N. (it also has a consultative voice at the economic and social council of the U.N. and it was received also as NGO).
We find then the same milieu and the same frequentations with which the Focolari movement is connected.
Moreover a publication of the Council of the
Parliament of World Religions (for which the Lucis Trust makes some publicity!) explicitly mentions the links uniting all these international organizations . We find there documents published by these organizations, and numerous proofs that they all belong to same vast network linked more or less tightly. It is true that neither the Focolari movement nor Chiara Lubich appear in this publication, but all their mondialist friends with whom they collaborate are there.
Cornelia Ferreira, an expert in the domain of the New Age, solemnly expressed the danger in which we live:
“One of the aims pursued for a long time by the masonic New World Order finally seems at hand: ONE World Church, being built for the last 150 years, is taking shape. Among the collaborators working in this direction, we see certain leaders of the Catholic Church who contribute to it through the international organization named the World Conference of Religions for Peace.”
1. Man must, above all things, establish peace on earth (in contrast, the first commandment of a Christian aims at the love of God).
2. Religions are responsible for wars and conflicts (the Church teaches that wars and quarrels come from sin).
3.


Unity of religions can bring peace (Our Lord says on the contrary: “My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, do I give unto you.”)
On the other hand, the only end interesting a Catholic is to root himself always more deeply in the Mystical Body of Christ. It is this deep union with Christ which – Deo juvante – will lead us one day to the “visio beatifica“, the beatific vision, and thus, to eternal peace.
Categories: new age


My first goal, and that of the people who work with me on this website, is to make it more clear that Focolare can be a good and positive force, but it runs the risk of taking over people’s lives and conscience. Not at the beginning but after some years, you begin to believe that the Ideal it worth dying for and that this goal is so great that any means are justified to reach it. You start to permit suffering in your own life, and next you also accept some suffering in other people’s lives if it is for this sanctification of the person or the good of the cause. I was told that the voice of Jesus in the midst is more important than my own conscience because the latter might be flawed by sin and human desire. After some time I lost the ability to make my own decisions; I only did what Jesus in our midst said was right. I stopped to grow as a person and became a child, a popa… For this I was rewarded by the other members of the focolare. I was encouraged to go on like this, la popa piu graziata della scuola Gen, I was the Gen who had received God’s grace in a special way.
Now, in this website I like to say. I am happy for the good things the focolare has done, but I warn the movement not to take over other people’s conscience. Let the members free in what they do or believe. Accept some disagreement. The world will not be less ONE if there is more freedom. God is a God who lets His children be free.
My second goal is to give a forum, a platform for people who, just like me find themselves in a vacuum after leaving the movement. All our friends outside the focolare are gone, we have abandoned our families for the love of God and the Focolare and we stand alone. Our Focolare friends stopped seeing us because they are just too busy spreading the Ideal and they are disappointed with very member who leaves the movement. They believe we have rejected God’s grace for us. So we are on our own, and I like to give the opportunity to meet and talk to other people in the same situation. The main instrument for this is the guest book. It is a great success and it has had over 20.000 visitors.


Finally, I also like to show that people have been able to live very good and meaningful lives after they have left Focolare. And I like to help you in making this step, if you feel that it is your time too.
Please be not offended by this initiative. I am always open to talk or write with any member of the movement. Thank you for your understanding.
Anastasia (This is an alias to protect myself, my friends and family)
Link to a remarkable article about ex-focolarina Monique from Holland
‘I sold my soul’
From the age of ten Monique Goudsmit (54) took part in the focolare community in the city of Eindhoven [Holland] where she lived. Almost daily she went there after school and sometimes she stayed the night. Her mother thought it was wonderful to have a daughter so devoted to ‘unity in Jesus’. Goudsmit herself was also very enthusiastic: “the idea of being one with others, absorbed in the great whole, attracted me enormously. In the evening I lay in bed reading the meditations written by Chiara Lubich, the Italian founder of the movement. I helped in organizing youth meetings and I eventually became the model of an ideal focolare youth. My photo hung in the world centre in Rome. I was a fanatic. I believed in the constant mission to convince people of the message of Focolare by every possible means.”
On her nineteenth birthday she went to live full-time in the community. She received a ‘new name’ from Chiara Lubich: it was the foundress’ own name – Chiara. “When I heard that I was in shock. I was over the moon. Was I predestined for something that great? I started to believe I had a calling.”
Looking back, she believes that many things which happened to her were wrong. “After high school I wanted to study at the Ballet Academy. But Lella, the leader of the Dutch Focolare Movement and head of the community in Eindhoven said, ‘It’s better if you don’t’. And because all I wanted to do was ‘be in unity’, I obeyed and applied for the social academy that had her approval.”
Lella got transferred to Amsterdam and Goudsmit moved with her.


“What our Capo (the Italian term for local leader) said was right, we all believed that 100%. Nobody dared to question her. To be one with the Capo was the essential thing, devoted and dedicated. Because that was the way to be connected with Chiara in Italy. For the same reason, Italian was mainly spoken in the house,” says Goudsmit. “I know that I asked Lella once what it meant to ‘give all to Jesus in our midst’. She responded: ‘You don’t have to understand anything. As long as Chiara understands’.”
At least once a year the focolarini went to Rome to listen to speeches by Chiara. “At those times, I felt lifted into a collective atmosphere of holy euphoria,” Goudsmit recalls. “But I used to feel embarrassed when, after the meeting, I would join the other adult members running after Chiara’s car. I used to say to myself – you are a Dutch person, much too down to earth for this sort of behaviour.”
The great ideal was “unity, according to the words of Jesus: ‘where two or more are united in my name, I will be in their midst’. There was in the Focolare an atmosphere of loving connection,” Goudsmit continues. “Everybody was always joyful, there were only smiling, pleasant people around me always. Everybody was always happy. I did not realize that I actually did not know who the real people were behind the everlasting smiles. And nobody really knew what was happening inside of me. Who you were was of no importance. How often Lella told me: ‘Monique is not supposed to exist, she must die for unity’. Afterwards I realized that the community members didn’t know me and that I didn’t know them in spite of us having lived together for years. It was also quite strange to talk about yourself as WE, which was the usual way. I had no friends among the community members, because everybody was ipso facto a friend. You weren’t supposed to distinguish between one person and the next. And you were not supposed to build friendships outside the movement. When community members asked, ‘How are you?’, it was the custom to answer not only with ‘fine’ but also reinforce this with some positive details. To reply with anything negative was taboo: you had to transform it into something positive.


Chiara Lubich
While in the air-raid shelter, we came upon that page of the Gospel which speaks of the Testament of Jesus:
“May they all be one, Father, as you and I are one”.
These words seem to light up one by one. That “everyone” expanded our horizon.
That project for unity was to be the goal of our life. Chiara Lubich
From that first nucleus in Trent…
The first inspiring spark, the “mind blowing discovery” of the One whom “no bomb could destroy” – God – took place against the backdrop of hatred and violence of the Second World War. It was the experience of God as Love and he radically changed the life of Chiara Lubich, then barely twenty years old. She immediately shared her experience with her friends who were to become her first companions.
They took with them into the air-raid shelters only the Gospel.
There they discovered the secret of how to respond to Love. At that time, Chiara herself wrote: “Each day there were new discoveries: the Gospel had become our only guide, the only light of our life.
By living the commandment of mutual love, they discovered the way for rebuilding fraternity in a disintegrated society “Let’s share everything: our things, our houses, our money. This was to be a totally new life.”
That first group of young women experienced, to their amazement, light, strength, courage, love, all fruits of the presence of Jesus which He promised when two or three are gathered in his name, meaning in his love. It was a light which illuminated the final prayer of Jesus to the Father: May they all be one. This divine plan for the human family was to become the program of their life: “Let’s make unity the trampoline to take us to where unity is lacking and to help bring it about.”
The effects: “Every day the number of people, of all ages and backgrounds, grew. Hatred and conflicts diminished. Many families were reunited”. There was a growing certainty that the Gospel holds the key to every social problem and to the problems of each individual.
… a Movement
Soon afterwards that small group of people became a movement which brought about a spiritual and social renewal. In less than 60 years of life, the movement has spread worldwide to 182 countries counting more than two million adherents with an outreach, difficult to quantify, of a few million people.


It used to make me nervous: have I already worked out something positive to say?
We use to practise the so-called ‘hour of truth’ on a regular basis. We had to take turns saying positive and negative things about each other, without being able to defend ourselves. The only accepted reaction was to say ‘thank you’, because we were being helped to free ourselves from obstacles to unity. When I was home alone, I was continuously phoned up by members of the community asking what I was doing. I later discovered that these checks were reported back to the authorities of the movement. Not everyone was controlled in this fashion”, says Goudsmit, “only the ones who were considered to be weak”. And she also checked on others in the same way. Now she considers this behaviour violates the integrity of others. “I would now never even consider calling someone to check what he or she is doing.”
Even though Goudsmit had a good job, she had no money to buy clothes. The whole of her monthly salary was transferred directly into the account of the community. Clothes would be distributed occasionally. “Lella chose something for you and you had to be content with what she chose. ‘Thank Providence,’ you would say. Nobody ever said: ‘this doesn’t suit me.’ Secretly I often felt the clothes I received were ridiculous. One day I was given lovely apple green and light blue clothes. They really suited me, I liked them and I even received compliments at work. I was able to enjoy them for exactly one day. Lella then made me give them to someone else. ‘You are too vain,’ she explained. Another time I said I wanted a woollen sweater, but Lella gave me a cotton blouse. She told me it was because I was too concerned with appearances. I didn’t dare explain that I was cold all the time.
“Focolare was a kind of womb, warm and safe, as long as you stayed in a fetal position. The moment that was no longer possible, you have a problem,” says Goudsmit, who lived in the community for fifteen years after entering at age nineteen. When she was thirty-four she left the Focolare movement. “Focolare is actually a sect,” she says, even though she admits that she was never forced to anything and voluntarily adjusted to the ways of the movement.


“There was never blood on the carpet in the Focolare.” But she also makes clear that when she eventually cut her ties with Focolare, she was actually still a child, not used to making her own choices, stating boundaries, handling money, running a home, building love relationships or friendships.
Looking back she gives a harsh diagnosis. “I thought that living in the Focolare community was a personal choice, that I was honest and pure in doing so, but I had sold my soul in the secret hope of finding some love.” 10.
The inability to establish boundaries cost Goudsmit dearly. Later in life, she was sexually abused over a long period of time as she describes in her recently published book of her life story. That is also the reason she writes and is interviewed under pseudonym.
BEVRIJD – Over identiteitsverlies en de lange weg naar heelwording (= LIBERATED – About loss of identity and the long road to healing)
Author: Monique Goudsmit (ps) First edition: 2009 ISBN: 978-94-90075-10-1 Euro 19,75
Cardinal Simonis does not want to hear criticism of the Focolare
At the beginning of 2008 Cardinal Simonis, the retired head of the Roman Catholic church in the Netherlands, went to live in his new home at the Mariënkroon, the national center of the Focolare near den Bosch.
“To me it is a piece of paradise on earth”, he says. “There is a saying: his happiness is complete. Well, I can say that now. I have found here a genuine brother- and sisterhood, as the church is supposed to be.
Simonis sees here, ‘the church in the optimal sense of the word’. “I am very grateful to be able to live in this community. When I drove back from the northern part of the Netherlands the other day, I told my driver, ‘Lovely, I’m going home’. Here I am in a dynamic community with people of all ages. Maybe I can also contribute to it.”
Simonis says he always felt at home in the Focolare movement. He knows it now for more than twenty five years. “Immediately it was clear to me: there is a lot in there. Love in unity, unity in love. A wonderful ideal, also for youth.


But also an ideal to be lived. The whole church ought to live this spirituality of community.”
Nevertheless he does not identify exclusively with the movement: “There are more movements in the church and a bishop has to be open to them all. They complement each other. Your preference depends on your character and everyone has his own preference for a certain form of spirituality. For me it is the Focolare.”
Trouw send Goudsmit’s book to Simonis and he read it. He comments: “It is a very sad book. What she says is absolutely untrue. It is just about this one person. It all depends on your point of view.”
But how is one supposed to see the rule in the Focolare that you have to thankfully accept your clothes and that you can’t choose them yourself?
Simonis: “Some rules here speak for themselves. They go with a shared feeling. When your heart is no longer in it, you will see things differently. When you are a member of a football club, you have to follow the rules of behaviour and the game. When the attraction is gone, you will look at the happenings there in a completely different way.”
“In Goudsmit’s story I miss the understanding of the World’s needs; it is all about her own needs. She should see her own limitations. She should not express her criticism in this way, that does no justice to the Focolare. You join or you don’t join. You are free in that choice. It is the same with religious orders. You could tell the same story about them. The concept of sect is wrongly used in this context. Just as the word fundamentalism is wrongly used nowadays. Someone told me the other day that I am a fundamentalist, when I said that I proclaim the faith according to the Roman Catholic church.”
According to an article that appeared in a special edition of the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire (19 March 2008) to mark the death of Chiara Lubich, ‘They [the focolarini] decided, “No tears in Rome [at Chiara’s funeral] because she is not dead.


She lives for ever in all of us.”‘ Rather than giving a witness to the millions who followed the live broadcast on Italian television or the internet feed – which was presumably what the Focolare old guard intended – this stoical approach lent an eerie atmosphere of uncertainty to the proceedings. A friend of mine who has had no contact with focolare but is familiar with its ethos, had the impression that the members were so used to being told what to feel and how to react that in these unprecedented circumstances they simply didn’t know what the appropriate response should be. In reality, they had been instructed exactly how to behave and it was this very fact that gave to the event its strange, unengaged quality.
As an ex-member who still feels affection for members of the movement and certainly for Chiara, despite my many criticisms of the organisation, I was moved to tears by the funeral and found it odd that those who profess themselves to be her most devoted followers remained dry-eyed. Only Oreste Basso, one of the first focolarini and the ‘Co president’ of Focolare, broke down when he approached the altar to thank the distinguished guests on behalf of the movement, but then old men are notoriously prone to tears and he struggled successfully to regain his composure. Chiara’s first companions Eli Folonari and Graziella de Luca, on the other hand, had a jolly chat outside the basilica at the end of the funeral as though they had just concluded a successful Day Meeting.
Chiara Lubich’s funeral shone a very public spotlight on one of the Focolare Movement’s most serious shortcomings: the detachment from feelings encouraged in members. In this case, it was so strong that the spontaneous reaction most human beings would experience in such circumstances was absent. Sister Madeleine, founder of the Little Sisters of Jesus, once said that in order to be Christian, it is necessary to be human first; but that is rather difficult in the Focolare Movement in which ‘human’ is a negative term.
Psychologists would say that the detachment from ones emotions that the movement promotes is pathological and dangerous. Indeed, it could well be the principal reason for the prevalence of depression and mental illness to be found in Focolare from the top down. Now that the founder is dead, current and former members of the movement would benefit greatly from a probing and truthful investigation into this aspect. 11.


The genuine gospel message is certainly not a recipe for mental illness. If it is truly God’s Word, it should be just the opposite. I remember attending the funeral of a child at Loppiano, the daughter of married focolarini, who had died after suffering terribly from a painful congenital illness. The atmosphere was one of manic rejoicing and not even the parents or siblings let slip any indications of sadness or mourning.
I wondered then, and I have wondered down the years, why no one pointed out that this is the Focolare approach and certainly not that of the gospel. Jesus was very much in touch with his emotions and did not shrink from showing them in public. In particular, he wept over Lazarus’ death, even though he must have known he had the power to raise him up.
This is surely the good, human reaction to the loss of a loved one. And here is the nub of the problem. What exactly is the nature of the love that Focolare preaches if it is so disembodied, so disincarnate, that it feels no reaction to the loss of someone one claims to have loved to the point of being ready to lay down ones life for them? In life, as in death, the reaction to the loss of close friends is remarkably cold – as in the case of members who leave the movement for example. Can real love be compatible with such a lack of feeling?
I have long been troubled that the gospel virtue of compassion was never mentioned in Focolare teachings. Yet we read that Jesus had compassion on the multitude and that he wept over the fate of Jerusalem. He even compared himself to a mother hen gathering her chicks: a more tender and emotion-filled image would be hard to find. Yet how can the focolarini be expected to ‘feel’ or ‘suffer’ with others if they mistrust feelings so much. I remember how, shortly after leaving Focolare, I was moved by a television programme or a film which made me weep for the first time in nearly ten years. My emotions had been released from their prison. How can we obey Jesus’ command to ‘Weep with those who weep’ if we are unable to weep ourselves?


Rather than follow the stoical line of the movement, I prefer to follow the path that Jesus indicated: ‘Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.’
Gordon Urquhart [more on page 15]
A new startling story from one of our visitors:
This site is such a surprise. I was introduced to the movement in 1976, and I thought I had found “the answer” to all the pains of my childhood as well as to the unhappy circumstances of a bad marriage. The love of “Jesus Forsaken” as a means to accept imperfect life and still be able to love and contribute to God’s work, was a revelation I needed. The following 19 years with the movement was filled with ups and downs of joy and confusion and guilt. I believed with all my heart I was “living the Ideal” and yet, with my husband and with the members of the movement, I was never quite “good enough”. When I could not commit to an offering of money (the RED), because my controlling husband never gave me my own money, I was invited to talk to a Cappa Focolarina and it was “suggested” that I really did not have what it took to live the “difficult and demanding” life of a true married Focolarina. I was crushed. I attempted to live out the “Ideal” as a Volunteer, but never had a grappola, as I lived far from any Focolare community. I was pushed to get “members” to form one. Another Focolarina told me my “downfall” to living a vocation was to be my attachment to my husband and my analytical mind. I had always thought these would be good things to have. I began to doubt myself and my marriage. [ctd. below]
The erosion of my life was not caused by the Focolare, but this treatment certainly played a part in the confusion I was trapped in. When I found that my “attachment” to my husband was broken by the realization that my ability to function was compromised by the horrors in the marriage, I chose to leave my marriage to be able to live for my children, I explained this as well as I could to the people I have been “estranged” from the movement since my divorce in 1995.


In spite of efforts to keep in touch, I also found that, I was no longer of interest when I couldn’t take the initiative to attend meetings, make calls, etc. I finally realized that it was fair to be “exiled”, although no one ever said it officially, since I was after all “living in sin.” A good friend of mine, who I actually introduced to the movement in 1983, has kept in touch, sporadically, at best. Even with her, I believed I had become “unclean” and ‘untouchable.” But, then I haven’t made an effort either. The years during and following my divorce and separation from the Catholic church were so painful and lonely, that I suffered clinical depression. Those who helped me with my children, my finances, and putting my life together, were NOT the Focolare family, and NOT the Catholic church, but those whom I least expected. “Belonging” to the movement when I was no longer capable of active participation, proved to be meaningless. I consoled myself with the thought that surely they would pray for me, and accepted my fate as my own fault for not continuing to “embrace Jesus Forsaken” through a painful, broken, damaging marriage.
So, my story is long, I have followed the movement at a distance, and once in awhile, when invited, participated in the few local activities. I have had 13 years to reflect upon it and to learn about myself, others, and God. I believe that Chiara is authentic and the writings of the early movement are solid. Someone here wrote that there is nothing “new” in Focolare, so why the New this and the New that. Well, it is about becoming “new” in Christ actually, and yeah…that is just basic Christianity. My trips to Rome, the many gatherings, including Mariapolises and visits to see Pope John Paul, building of Luminosa, taking my children to international gatherings, spending what money I had to fight my husband for to participate in things. And so much more has brought me much insight into faith and was definitely an instrument in my faith and spiritual development. So, I could only blame me.
What has haunted me, what I don’t understand to this day, is how it is Christian and/or Holy to abandon a “family member” when they are most in need.


I realize that in my personal life, I became the face of Jesus Forsaken. Yet, I was not embraced, “always, immediately, and with joy.” In fact, I believe I was easily forgotten. I am not angry…..I am just hurting and don’t know how to heal from this. 12.
All people to whom young people turn in their quest, should feel their deep responsibility to offer their best life experience, but never make the young ones dependent on themselves or on any ideology – instead youngsters should be encouraged to think by themselves and look for their own conclusions and deductions, even somehow “pushed” to walk by themselves.
It has been a few weeks ago that I came across this unique website. Really, you are doing a great job. You show another side of the focolare that has not been revealed by other sources, only by Gordon Urquhart’s excellent book.
When I mailed my thoughts to the webmaster I got very good response and now I have contact with other people who have been involved in the movement. This is a great help. I’d like to thank everybody who has made this possible. If anybody is out there not knowing what to think of this website, I can only say, don’t hesitate but contact the webmaster. Share your ideas and you will see how life after focolare can also be good.
We all have the love of God in our hearts, nothing can change that. But we are not made to be alone. For me, it has been good to find new friends here who respect me, trust me, without trying to influence or manipulate me. Special thanks to a unique person in the web team who went through a great deal of trouble to make me understand things better.
A few of my best friends are living in a focolare, some of them even because at one time I have introduced them to the movement. Now I feel very sorry for them because they have lost all their privacy in order to live their Ideal of God-Love. I know it is their own free choice to do so, but I cannot understand why everybody has to pay such a high price for wanting to live the Word of God.
Chiara took the Gospel very literally, which was a great strength, but not everyone is as strong as she was. Many people break down under the pressure of living in a glass cage.


I appeal to all the leaders of the Focolare to ease down a little, be more open minded and allow some privacy to the members of the Focolare.
In the end this openness will help to keep the Ideal alive. Think about it and you will see it is the decent thing to do.
The alternative site about Focolare has a great value. It has a duty to tell people that contact with this movement implies that you will have to accept a lot of rules that many sects use to obtain trust.
You can’t close your eyes in front of the techniques used by Focolare in order to keep you in and convince you not to express the reasonable doubts that could arise.
You should recognize them and then you could tell me if the Truth of Movement justifies those techniques. I don’t think so, but I could understand such a point of view. What’s your opinion?
Moreover, the value of this site is also the fact that it provides to many ex-members a VERY important place in which they can share their (often painful, like mine) experiences lived in Focolare.
Is there a happy life after focolare?
It certainly is possible but you have to find some solutions. If you know somebody from your region who has left try to spend time together and try to talk talk talk; you will be so amazed at what the other says, that they struggled with exactly the same things as you did.
I did the same I went for a walk with somebody I had know for a very long time; now for the first time I met her as she was; she had struggled with the same things but never ever we would have talked about that in our focolare period because then you would be out of the supernatural.
My dear friends we consist of a natural and supernatural part and should take care of both. As you will have lost all of your former focolare friends why not go on holiday together. Try to remember what you liked as a hobby before you entered focolare and take it up again. If you hurt too much go and seek help with a psychiatrist you don’t have money ask focolare if you have given your superfluous and insist on it that you need it. Be patient with yourself, in time you will find new friends, hobbies and a new aim in life. Take courage!
Recently we received many e-mails, both from people who encourage us and also from people that are very angry with this website.


Now it is possible to write your opinion in the guestbook, but we also like to put some more questions on this site. We like to hear a reaction from the official Focolare movement, but also from people who are members or ex-members of this organization. The official Focolare leadership is especially invited to clarify their point of view.
1. Why do so many people in the focolare see the brainwashing and manipulation, and still continue to stay in the movement?
2. Why do so many people accept that the Focolare organization keeps all its financial dealings a secret?
3. Why do some Focolare people have expensive cars and beautiful houses, while others suffer?
4. Why is Loppiano more and more empty and why do so may people with eternal vows leave the movement?
In a recent verdict the Dutch High Court has prevented a focolarino to receive a tax-reduction. The Court ruled that a member of the Focolare is bound to give all his belongings and money to the Movement. This makes it impossible for him to use the same money claiming it is a free gift and receive a tax-deduction.
In our opinion this case proves once again that money is a most important issue for the Focolare people. Fortunately there are some officials yet who can see clearly what is right and what is just too much. For those of you who want to know every detail we put in the link: Focolare-verdict http://www.focolare.net/Uitspraak.mht
In our last count it turned out the international Focolare website has 800 web-pages now. They are overwhelming the net as well as the real world, with more drive than any international commercial company. It seems that those who run the organization these days have gone a long way from the humble beginning without a clear goal, like Chiara had at the start of the movement, some 60 years ago.
“There is a life after Focolare”
Welcome to our guestbook. On this page you will find some important contributions of our visitors.
If you like to add a new entry, please use the link Click to add a new entry
JM wrote: I never got so deep into this movement and as a scientist/student doctor was always sceptical….


A small people – Because of the variety of its composition, the Focolare Movement has taken on the dimensions of a small people, so described by Pope John Paul II. It embraces not only Catholics, but also Christians of different Churches and ecclesial communities, as well as the Jewish people. Little by little, many followers of the great world religions, as well as people with no religious affiliation have become part of the Movement. This adhesion to the Movement is without syncretism and encourages all to maintain full faith in their own identity. What all these people have in common is the commitment to live, in one way or another, love and unity, which are written in the DNA of every human person.
The term Focolare Movement (“focolare” means fireplace) was applied to the Movement, since its beginnings, by the people of Trent because of the “fire” of Gospel love which animated Chiara Lubich and her first companions.
Chiara Lubich. She herself emphases that the Movement “was not thought up by a human mind, but that it is the fruit of a charism which comes from Above. We try to follow, through circumstances, the will of God day by day”.
– The Bishop of Trent, Msgr. Carlo de Ferrari, gave the first approval at the level of the local Church in 1947: He said, “Here there is the hand of God”. A number of pontifical approvals followed, the first being in 1962; the most recent, which encompassed the latest developments, was given in 1990.
– The Focolare is part of the present phenomenon of the flourishing of ecclesial movements which have originated over the years from “a precise charism given to the person of the Founder” (John Paul II), meaning that it is a “gift of the Spirit” which unceasingly gives rise to the “novelty of Christianity” (Cardinal Ratzinger). John Paul II denoted the charism of Chiara Lubich as “a radicalism of love” and saw in the Movement the lineaments of the Church of the Council, open to the various dialogues (19.8.1984). 2.


Especially when a charismatic but dody focolarino told our gen meeting a ‘wonderful’ tale of a gen who chose to go to the gen meeting instead of his parents special wedding anniversary as that was the will of God… Please !!!! The alarm bells never stopped ringing after that…
….my deepest experience (albeit hideously superficial) was spending a student summer at Loppiano. Pretty much finished off my interest as so weird. Yet I did feel some peace and a sense of God then.
Went to a conference in Florence this autumn, and out of curiosity walked up from Incisa. Just to wander. I was horrified by the US $$ evangelist ‘church’ and centre, and obsessive attempts to show me round, give me a lift, show me artworks. Politely insisting I wanted to just reminisce alone and walk back wasn’t enough, they stuck like glue and I had to set off PDQ when no-one looking… and still got followed down the hill by a suicide love-bomber. I think God was with me as my rusty 15 year old unused Italian became quite fluent.
Focolare is a failed experiment, a cult, a dangerous remnant of 20th century Christianity and really should be wound down when we get a Pope who is in tune with the reality of the world.
Yvonne wrote: I left last week, after 37 years of intensive commitment. Now I undergo all kind of tentatives for “recuperation”, letters, emails, phone calls. It makes me feel guilty. I guess isolation will become the hardest thing if I keep my door close to these people whom I believed being friends for the longest part of my life. Tears and fears
Maria wrote: Dear Yvonne,
Yes, the isolation will be the hardest thing, because the calls etc will stop if they realize you’ve made up your mind. It will be hard. And you will have to go through a period of mourning for all those long years which I hope also have some good memories. But remember, there is a life after focolare, there is the church at large peopled with normal people, not saints, but those are real.


Think of Resurrection time…it will come for you too, with a finding of your own real identity, strong in the knowledge from a quoting in the Old Testament “even if a mother forgets her child, I will never forget you”
Marcel wrote: Dear Yvonne
Can you tell us more why you left? A person who has been committed for 37 years and has got to know the movement quite well must have a serious reason to quit. It is easy to imagine what you must feel now. I left 12 years ago after 12 years of commitment and I still sometimes feel kind of guilty.
However I can assure you there is life after focolare Social life, familiar life and spiritual life as well! You finally get to know better what catholic faith is about, you can know its beautiful tradition without the “communitarian spirituality” bias.
Michelle wrote: As a non-catholic Christian I am offended to be invited. To quote the brochure- The movement, which originates in the Catholic Church, includes Christians, members of other religions, and people of no religious conviction, all of whom are committed to bringing about a world in which there is more solidarity, more unity. In fact at the retreats having a Catholic Eucharist daily doesn’t encourage Christian unity at all. It’s clique-ish and non biblical.
I would also not be interested in any “movement” which does not disclose all financial information. If this is true I wouldn’t send a dime.
Lucy wrote: I think this movement has the potential to lead to moral relativism, and confusion. I hope the pope puts more oversite into this organization. The people I know in it can only parrot: Jesus prayed for us to be one. My Answer: Not at the price of apostasy from the TRUTH!! The people I know in this don’t really think for themselves, it is all focolare this and that. They have about all the charm of an AMWAY salesman.
I am not involved in the Focolare movement anymore, although nearly my whole family is.
Yesterday my mother told me that a young man, who was in Focolare in our town, died. Several years ago he told God he can take his life in exchange for solving problems that occurred in that time in the male part of the Focolare movement in our country. Three years ago he really got sick and he died the day before yesterday.


People from the Movement would say – oh, what a wonderful young man, he offered his life for others. But I ask – for whom is it good that this young man died? Does God need the suffering to introduce changes into problem situations? I do not believe it. The scientists discover more and more how powerful can the soul/mind influence our body.
I would even say that from certain perspective it is easier to suffer and die than to live and “fight”.
molly wrote: Hello Marushka
What an excellent point you make. I was impressed when I first “met the movement” at the people who claimed they were “willing to die for me.” Quite a shock to hear someone say that, but at a shallow level, that is sometimes the manipulative purpose. It’s hard to keep in mind what the original purpose was and how that came about. I find balance in always going back to the beginning of ANY thing and remembering the basic ABC’s. 14.
But back to your statement. For me, what I found disappointing, and continue to find disappointing, is that I can not find (well, not 100% true, but close)…I can not find anyone willing to LIVE for me. Do you know what I mean? I mean a quick phone call or short message. I wonder sometimes if I continue to get the silent treatment, or if the world has just changed to where we are all so busy just trying to keep up, living in a world of information overload, toxic overload, and just too much of everything and too little energy.
Wouldn’t that be a kick for them to update what has become a cliché to now say, “I am willing to live for you.” Of course, who would be willing to do that? Perhaps we could begin with, “I am willing to live for you for 5 minutes”? How might the outcome have been different for your sensitive friend.
But regarding suffering, I do also add that to offer our sufferings for a good cause has its merits if one has a (wince) healthy attitude towards it. For example, perhaps lame, if I am depressed or in physical pain, and I offer it for someone or a cause, consciously, it puts my focus off of myself and towards my neighbor. And at times we can both benefit.


Well, that’s my two cents, not well thought out, because my husband is cooking bacon and I can smell it. Thank you for your post! I am sure you will hear something perhaps with more depth from the others.
I am moving deeper and deeper into this movement. At present I feel myself to be objective, I recognize the questionable and difficult aspects of the movement and I am concerned for myself. At the same time, I have never been accepted so unconditionally and unequivocally in my life. Your site is helping me to be sure to remain grounded, but for how long, I do not know. I’m afraid to leave my email address because I know I may be recognized.
your letter left me sad and concerned for you. I have seen quite a few times in my life how people, even extremely smart ones, “give their reason up” for some organization, including Focolare. In this struggle and influenced decision, there is nothing to do with person’s level of intellect, and everything to do with the emotions.
At this moment, you are still at your senses, but as you realize and fear, it may not take long until you will “break” under the pressure, and accept the things you are wondering now. And this would be a great loss, because by the words of Antoine de St. Exupery, “I know only one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind”. You are at the brink to give your freedom up, perhaps for long years – and it would take long to get it back, while you can also lose a lot in the meantime. People’s real stories with Focolare could be a good warning for you, as it also seems to be, thanks to this website.
What is happening to you now, when you feel that “I have never been accepted so unconditionally and unequivocally in my life”, is a deliberate technique called “love bombing”, that is used by many if not all mind-controlling organizations (incl. new religious movements of that kind).


The newcomer finds her/himself in the centre of a constant attention, smiles, seeming acceptance, love affirmations, sharing of interests, apparent “soul-mates” and “kindred minds”… It is very hard to resist, especially if one is in a life situation where there are big changes, insecurity, losses, vulnerability of some kind, spiritual/mental identity-quest etc (is this also your case?). The Apologetics Index http://www.apologeticsindex.org defines it as “The practice of some cultic movements to shower new recruits or prospects with extra love and attention. Seen by many as an unethical persuasion tactic designed to hinder critical thinking regarding the pros and cons of joining or remaining with the group”. You can read about this for instance on:
In neuropsychological aspect, a Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Hans Breiter says: “Some people seem to be born with vulnerable dopamine systems that get hijacked by social rewards.” This is what is happening to you now, and it seems wonderful, but in reality “the “love” is feigned and the practice is manipulative”.
Btw, I’m not stating, that those in Focolare who “love-bomb” you right now, are aware of what they are doing. An average focolare-member is just carrying on the practice that was once applied on her/himself… perhaps even in the best intention – but not rendering account to oneself, what s/he is doing and whether it is honest or a manipulation. Those on this web space, who have went through Focolare and being involved in its recruiting systems, can tell you all about how they themselves did it, and how sincere they were while doing this.
For your own sake, I hope cordially that you will be able to see these things through, give a name to your uncomfortable feelings and intuitions, and step back while you still can. Keeping one’s freedom of mind and capability to conduct one’s own life, is worth all the losses, or “losses”. And there is nothing to do with rejecting God, because you can certainly love and serve God better and more sincerely, if you are a free mind and free soul but not just an anonymous particle of some group where always “someone knows better, what is the will of God and what is good for you”.


As for now, I cordially suggest you to read some books, that will give to you an insight of what are your perspectives, if you let yourself to be overwhelmed and persuaded to hand over your life to a mind-controlling group, whether Focolare or some else. Make your decisions only after you are well informed what you are doing. I know, that it can be hard, because the lure of the “loving group” is very strong. But there is all your life at stake, that is too precious thing, and you can never regain the years that you will lose being “inside”, that in fact could be spent productively and creatively for yourself and for the others/society. In a restrictive and controlling group, your unique life can become wasted.
I hope you have the possibility to use Amazon or some other bookstore. I include here the Amazon links for just some books, that will help you to make some sense of what is happening to you. If you are in Europe, the same books can sometimes be found in other languages. I try to place them in the order of importance. But even just the first one is already probably enough to bring you to your senses. 15.
Start from here:
Margaret Thaler Singer – Cults in Our Midst
Janja Lalich – Take Back Your Life
Steven Hassan – Releasing The Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves
Steven Hassan – Combating Cult Mind Control
Michael Langone – Recovery from Cults
Robert Cialdini – Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Last but apparently no least – I hope you have already read Gordon Urquhart’s book about Focolare (along with the other New Religious Movements in the Catholic Church):
After reading the book of Margaret Thaler Singer, the book of Urquhart should be your solid source of proof, that most part of the phenomenon she mentions, are well present and fervently used also by Focolare (yes, also and still nowadays, even if you have been told that “these things don’t happen any more). And this is why this movement can not really be recommended to anybody.
I can only pray for you, and keep you in my heart, hoping that at least this one personality would not be destroyed and one life would not go wasted, as it has happened to many before you, and will still happen to many.


If you want to contact me or somebody, write to the webteam of this site – you can create an anonymous mail account for this. We will do our best to help you, if this is what you want. I wish you all my best.
P.S. For those, who read Italian, the book of Thaler Singer is translated and available in full on the Web. Very recommended reading for everyone, inside or outside (still or already) of Focolare.
Thank you for your comments, both Fred and Deanna, it means a lot to know that there is a place in which one can reach out… I am from a troubled family background- I guess that makes me vulnerable to a lot of things. I have never had to explain myself to the people of the Focolare- but sometimes I’d like it if, just once, they’d ask me to. Thanks again. Claire
A recommended book about Focolare
The Pope’s Armada: Unlocking the Secrets of Mysterious and Powerful New Sects in the Church (Hardcover)
~ Gordon Urquhart
Gordon Urquhart (Author)
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(Author) Hardcover: 450 pages Publisher: Prometheus Books; 2nd edition (June 1999)
Language: English ISBN-10: 157392699X ISBN-13: 978-1573926997
Of the several right-wing Catholic organizations that have gained influence in the Roman Church during the reign of Pope John Paul II, Opus Dei is by far the most famous. There are several others, however and Gordon Urquhart’s The Pope’s Armada is a detailed, firsthand look at the inner workings of three such organizations: Focolare, Neocatechumenate, and Communion and Liberation.
For nine years, Urquhart belonged to Focolare, whose 80,000 core members live in 1,500 dioceses around the world. He left in 1976 and has since devoted himself to exposing what he now calls the “sinister characteristics” of the focolare.


Urquhart summarizes their features this way: “the personality cult of the leader; a hidden but rigid hierarchy; a highly efficient internal communications system; secret teachings revealed in stages; a vast recruitment operation using sect-like techniques; indoctrination of members; and boundless ambitions for influence in church and society.” Of greatest concern to Urquhart is another goal of the focolare: “ego-destruction, causing depression and mental breakdown on an alarming scale.”
God’s Armada contains many damning stories about its subjects, but none more so than the stories of young people who give up their greatest loves, ambitions, and possessions in slavish devotion to their sect leaders. “Catholic critics of the new movements maintain that the Pope cannot know what is going on within the movements, otherwise he would not allow them such a free hand,” Urquhart writes. He allows that this may be true, but he also raises some disturbing questions: “Have [Vatican leaders] concluded that their own supreme ends … justify [these groups’] strong-arm techniques…? Could the Pope have had this in mind when he conferred special status on lay Catholics who joined the movements, ‘which are a privileged channel for the formation and promotion of an active laity that is aware of its role in the Church and in the world’?” –Michael Joseph Gross
A must read book for every catholic!, July 28, 2000 by “A customer”
As Urquhart I was member of the Focolare Movement, for 11 years. The horror experiences and extreme manipulation of the focolarini and the thirst for power in Chiara is a really dangerous “carisma” inside the church, they are millions, there have money, they are all over the world (in the poor village of brasil and africa and inside the congress of the United Nations, Italy, Brasil, Europe Union…, they want the world to be one… but under their control… The Focolare movement is probably the most dangerous structure inside our contemporary world… as Chiara said “one day, the church (the Catholic church) will wake up and everything around and inside will be focolarini”
This book is a great “open eyes” tool to understand how the devil can seduce the souls using nice words, videos, meetings, meditation, prayers.


Important reading for Catholics and others, April 11, 2001 by William Kirk
Now I ought to say that, if you’re an anticatholic you will find ‘ammunition’ in this book. That is to be regretted. Because the author raises the distinct possibility that Roman Catholicism as we know it may soon cease to exist, and THAT ought to be a concern for everyone. Everyone, that is, opposed to a ‘fundamentalist’ sect of Christianity. A fundamentalist Catholicism is in fact what is being promulgated by the Focolinari, the Neocatechumenate, and other appendages of the ‘Pope’s Armada’. The author suggests, but unfortunately, cannot prove, that John Paul II WANTS to promote these sects as a counterweight to the rising power of fundamentalist protestantism. One readily sees the danger, because the resources of the Catholic Church dwarf those of any Protestant fundamentalist sect. In contradistinction to the first reviewer, I think the Focolinari, as oftentimes said, are a kind of ‘Moonies’, and so, for the most part, ignorable, if not exactly harmless, as long as you can muster reserves of self-determination so as not to be subverted into their cult. The neocatechumenate, however, come off a great deal more sinister, almost violent, certainly they seek to compel obedience in any diocese which they ‘infect’. And secretive. I think these guys are worth keeping an eye on.
Not easy to get through, but most interesting reading, January 11, 2003 by mianfei
The Pope’s Armada” was written by Gordon Urquhart about several right-wing sects in the Roman Catholic Church, including one, Focolare, that he had been in for some time during his youth. There is also a study of Communione e Liberazione (CL) and Neocatechumenate (NC). It aims to discuss the support that John Paul II has given these groups because of their theological conservatism and the opposition others in the Church have to them because of their interference with ecclesiastical affairs.
The book is very effective in explaining how “During the reign of John Paul II, Catholic Rome has been invaded by wave upon wave of groups and movements of all sizes and shades…” in order to illustrate the impacts of these groups on the Catholic Church.


Their fanaticism and willingness to follow Catholic doctrine in key political and theological arenas made John Paul II see them as more than useful. This led him to confer special status on these movements and to see them as a definitive model for laity in the Church. Thus, the Pope selected of many members of these groups – vastly out of proportion to their numbers – for the 1987 Synod on the Laity.
Urquhart is exceedingly effective in showing the characteristics of these movements that make them cults, especially in terms of the way in which their founders are adored and the way in which they are seen as being the whole of Catholicism by members.
Urquhart also manages to go into dense detail about how these groups have been opposed by parish priests and bishops because of their desire to appeal straight to the Pope. This is because they want to use any form of authority only to justify their own causes – indeed bishops can be recruits for these groups. In the case of NC, they want total domination of parishes. This part is hard to read, but has some effect in explaining the depth of this divide.
Urquhart is much clearer about explaining how these groups are able to use the media to develop their views through journals like CL’s “30 Giorni” (30 Days). He later does aim to show how they move news easily amongst members, and how they have been able to expand a great deal (except for CL, which has focused heavily on Italy).
Urquhart also explains fairly easily their hierarchical structures and how the lives of members “are controlled down to the last detail” (as he experienced). He also looks at the rather unclear way in which the movements justify the neo-ultramontanism which has been revived under John Paul II, and believes that these organisations will provide the popes of the future.
The later part of the book is focused on the sects’ political involvement, which is what endeared them to John Paul. The sects, naturally, tend to allow members to vote only for politicians who support their own doctrine, despite the fact that they do claim to allow political freedom to their members. Like Opus Dei, these sects are very wealthy and in the case of Neocatechumenate, actively encourage accumulation. Focolare, by contrast, does not allow private property, but this has lead it to become extremely wealthy due to vast donations of members, the bulk of which goes towards expansion.


Spirituality of Unity
“Initially we believed that we were simply living the Gospel,” Chiara Lubich wrote, “but meanwhile the Holy Spirit was at work emphasising some words of the Gospel which were to become a new spiritual current:
the spirituality of unity.
The Movement grew and developed through this spirituality which over time has become the lifestyle of people of all ages, backgrounds, vocations and cultures. At its heart are the Focolare Centres, small communities of men or women, single and married.
In this age of dramatic change, in sharing with humanity the painful birth of a new civilization that is globalised, interdependent, multicultural and multifaith, the Focolare Movement is committed, together with many other forces which are moving in this direction, to build the unity of the human family enriched by diversity.
Instruments of unity
Initially the Focolare centres, grouped in “zones”, converged into one international centre. Little by little, from the one trunk, numerous branches grew. Amongst these were large scale movements which spread the seeds of renewal in the various ambits of society and in the Church, opening up oases of fraternity and unity [click on the links below]:
Movement for Men and Women Religious belonging to different congregations
Pathways to unity: the dialogues
Dialogue, at the level of individuals, leaders and movements, communities and groups, emerges as the pre-eminent way for promoting unity:
within one’s own Church, to deepen communion among ecclesial movements, new communities and lay associations, as well as among religious congregations with new and old charisms;
amongst Churches, by weaving relationships based on fraternal communion and shared witness in which age-old prejudices fall and the various Churches open up to a dialogue of life and of people thus accelerating the way towards the visible unity of Christians;
with the Jewish people, in order to heal past wounds and to rediscover the patrimony of our common roots
amongst the world faiths, in order to build universal brotherhood based on the values of the spirit;
with people of no religious affiliation in order to collaborate on the basis of shared values, respect for human rights in the fields of solidarity and peace.
The living out of mutual love to the point of building unity has eventuated a code for transforming society through communion and solidarity in the various ambits of society namely: politics, economy, relationships among people, public morals and social ethics, health, education and culture, social communications.


Urquhart is extremely clear that these Catholic sects are extremely dangerous and that even now there is no way they can be stopped due to the fact that changes in policy are very unlikely – indeed I would go so far as to say that intensification of John Paul II’s policies is certain to continue through the next series of Popes. There is little doubt that these movements have a rosy future and it is not likely that many will be easily informed of the danger in them, especially given the Pope’s power and his support – though Urquhart does admit he would like to see it. 17.
On the whole, an essential read to see where the Catholic Church is heading.
It would be better if the book were broken down into a much larger number of chapters or if each sect (CL, Focolare, NC) was treated separately from the others so that one could study and compare them. As it is, I find the book absorbing but unstructured. Written in a stop-start fashion and without any structure, this will take a great deal of time to absorb.
sad to say, but this book is a joke, October 6, 2003 by Father Stanislao
When I ordered the book I was very excited. I wanted to know what he had to say about these movements. I was born and lived in Italy and, in a way or another, I came in contact with all three movements. I now live in USA where I minister as a Roman Catholic Priest. At first, I was surprised that he said nothing about Opus Dei; I realize that it doesn’t fit under the category of movement (although the word Armada would apply in this situation).
The author is very verbose in his description. It is interesting to notice how many “negative” adjectives he has used. There is a lot of anger in these pages. I would say that he had a thesis (the Movements are sects) and a hidden Agenda (“Focolare hurt me and I want to hurt Focolare”).
The major flaw of this book, I believe, is found in the editing. It’s badly put together. True, the author is not a scholar but a journalist; still, I would expect some logic in defending a thesis.
There is no description of what a sect is; nothing is given to the reader upon which, and against which, he or she (the reader) may evaluate the author’s thesis.


Sources (mostly organizations that studied religious cults) are mentioned sporadically and only when his point needs to be supported. This is call “prooftexting.” It is usually avoided by scholars because it invalidates the strength of their argument. Mostly, the rule is “if you proof text, your argument doesn’t stand on its on.”
Because blinded by his Hidden Agenda, the author seems to ignore that Movements like Focolare belong to a tradition that he bigger, larger and deeper than he seems to see. The problem the author has is his lack of evaluating the spiritual points within the boundaries of the Catholic Tradition. Had he done so, he would have been surprised at the parallels between these movements and others that the Church has seen in years/century pasts. Nothing is said about the spirituality of the Movement but only about the “bad things” they do. All these “bad” things are given to the reader freely and without order, almost as a stream of consciousness. (It is very natural for people who have been hurt to cope with themselves in this way).
Everything that he says – in the way he says it – could be applied to anything else in the Catholic Church. The author could write another book about the Franciscans, Jesuits and Dominicans by using the same text (well, most of it anyway) and just substitute the words. This casual way of treat the subject of the work impoverishes the whole thesis.
Posting a review here doesn’t allow me to go into details but it really makes me sad when people transform their arguments into “talk shows.” This is another book that has been written to make money (like “a few good men,” which is, in my opinion, even worst). I do not doubt the experience the author had, and I do not wish to minimize them; I also know very well the problems that NC has caused in many parishes (I would not allow them in my parish!) just as I have seen that some focolarini can indeed put themselves in danger to become too lost in the Chiara-cult. All this, however does not discredit the spiritualities of the Movements.
The book will not help anyone who really wants to know the shadows of these realities (as I wanted to). On the other hand, it is great for “talk-show” mentalities – very popular here in the US.


Interesting perspective, August 31, 2004 by Tracy B. Hummel
I find it rather amusing that the author portrays these movements as “right-wing”. In fact, in some important ways they are quite radical.
Focolare’s focus is unity, but what does that mean? Unity in the one true Church of Jesus Christ? Unity in Christ Himself? No! Unity in a nebulous humanistic sense. The Catholic Church has always been focussed on the salvation of souls through conversion to Jesus Christ and the Church He founded.
The Focolare seems almost to positively discourage conversion to the Catholic Church. There’s a lot of pious talk, but where’s the missionary spirit of a St. Francis Xavier or of a St. Paul for that matter? Don’t get me wrong, I think these people are sincere and the Catholics among them seem to believe in the major dogmas of the Church, except perhaps for the one that says “outside the Church, no salvation”.
As far as the cult thesis goes, I think there is probably some truth in it, but I also think the author exaggerates. They do seem to run their members ragged with activities and I definitely think there is a “cult-of-the-leader” tendency, although as the priest in another review pointed out, one would probably say that about the early Franciscans or Jesuits or Dominicans.
The thing that disturbs me about them is not their fundamentalism but their radical break with the traditional teachings of the Church in the areas of evangelization and ecclesiology. [Underlined words, see p. 1]
This book is laughable, March 4, 2009 by “critic”
I was really shocked at the amount of false information contained in this book. It seems as though the author was trying to make a statement at all costs, rather than presenting everything with a balanced perspective. If you do decide to base your opinion of these groups based upon this book, that would be tragic – it is necessary to take all of Urquhart’s expositions with a very large grain of salt. 18.
Quotes from people who wrote to us
My name is René and I came into contact with the Focolare in 1979 in Australia. I was then 17 years of age and living with my family. My father was searching at that time for some form of meaningful Christian community to belong to.


I met a handful of focolarini and attended a few mini-Mariapoli days. Some of the gen 2 boys were renting a house (the “Gen House”) and I used to travel up on some weekends to visit and stay overnight.
After completing secondary school in 1980 I visited my relatives in Ireland, and also stayed for some weeks in Loppiano. When I returned to Australia, I lived for 2 years in Brisbane and did not have any contact with Focolare. I became involved with and lived in a “Catholic Worker” community (inspired by the lives of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in New York).
In 1983 I lived in a “Gen House” until August 1986. During those years I also attended some Mariapoli in Manila. I then stayed for a few months in Rome at the international Gen House near Grottaferrata within the domain of the focolarino “Opus”. I proceeded to live in the Gen School at Loppiano for a further 6 months and on my way home, I stopped off to experience life with the Gen and focolarini of Manila and Tagaytay for 3 months in mid 1987.
Within a year of returning from these intense experiences, I expressed a desire to become a focolarino. I lived together in a rented house together with a few other “esterni” for a few years. In late 1990 I moved into a focolarini household for a few months before returning to Loppiano again in January 1991.
Together with other prospective focolarini who were not able to speak Italian, I spent 12 months learning the language before entering the first year of “The School” of focolarini in 1991/2. I completed the second year in Montet in 1992/3 but was experiencing depressive symptoms and was asked to stay another year. Over the course 1993/4 I was offered the opportunity of talking with psychiatrist Dr Paul Schmidt, a focolarino in Zurich. I found the life at Montet so stifling that in September 1994 I asked for a ticket to return to Australia.
I stayed in focolare for a month until I found myself an apartment and employment. I lived alone. I was estranged from both my family and the focolare community.


After about a year I suffered a major depressive episode and stopped working for a year.
Ten years ago, in August 1996, at the age of 35, I began to go out with a woman, who I married in December 2000. I now have 4 step-children. Last year, the two boys (25 and 21 years old) and the eldest girl (23) moved out of home. Our youngest girl is 16 years old.
I am finding life “on the outside” to be challenging and rewarding as I struggle with mental illness. After a few years of marriage and some limited capacity in a role as step-parent, stress at work contributed to further episodes of major depressive disorder and over another year out of work.
I have just started to return to work a few months ago in the field of “Personal Support” (a program of assistance to people experiencing long-term unemployment). For 10 years, up until a few months ago, I had avoided any kind of work directly associated with caring for others.
Having read Gordon’s book, I am also eager to find and talk with others who have undergone such intense experiences and to put together some of the pieces of the puzzle which remains in my mind, heart, spirit and body.
May these lines bring a blessing to your reading of them in some way. René
Focolare Movement: Lights and Shadows
http://focolarenet.tripod.com/questions.html Last update: February 4th, 2008
Questions and answers
Who are the people making this site and why are you doing this? (from: Miguel, 18 years, Madrid)
Answer, by webmaster:
We are a few people only, a handful of ex members of the focolare. We have been surprised by the fact that underneath the message of love that is transmitted by the focolare, there is also a kind of deception present. It seems that some focolare members believe that their goal can justify many different means. It is our task to share this view with as many people as possible. Until now, most people who left the focolare have been on their own, alone with their past, but now we see a growing number of people united around a common belief that focolare is very much like other cults and sects in the world (Moon sect, Jehovah’s Witnesses, New Age etc). We cannot keep quiet about this.


What goal do you aim for? (from Renata, 23 years, Rome)
Answer, by webmaster:
Everybody should be free to join any group, sect or organization they like, but it is essential that a person knows what he or she agrees to when joining an organization. We have seen that many young people in a vulnerable period of their life join the focolare without really knowing what they stand for. The way that focolare uses to increase the number of their members is sometimes deceptive and we want to make people aware of this, before they make a decision whether or not to join this organization.
Open Question, asked by many visitors of this site:
What is the deception you are talking about?
Answer, by webmaster:
There is deception in very many ways. To clarify this, we can point at the book A Woman’s Work written by Jimmy Gallager in 1997. Let us give you a few examples.
Even the title of Jimmy s book is deceptive, stating it is about a woman’s work while suggesting this is Chiara Lubich. 19.
All through the book it is being stated that it is not Chiara s doing but the work of Mary and the finger of God. This contradiction makes the book confusing from the very start. The terminology of the Focolare organization is also very deceptive. Everything is called new, New City, New Generation, New Families, while in fact the thoughts are as old and conservative as any other catholic organization. Chiara receives many letters from the Pope and visits him on a regular basis. She has also close ties to the Vatican and Italian establishment. She receives numerous doctorates of honour but all from conservative universities like Poland, Philippines and even Taiwan. There is as much new in this as there was democracy in the former Deutsche Demokratische Republik.
The other great deception is the fact that Chiara keeps telling us that she had no plan in mind for a movement, she only wanted to follow God. This makes life hard for those people who want to object to the movement or the methods that are being used because God himself has started the movement while Chiara only wanted to follow Jesus. This statement is greatly contradicted by other statements like Jimmy Gallagers remark that Anna Fratta spent 30 years of her life in countries of the Communist Bloc in order to implant the movement secretly there.


Chiara also send her best friend Natalia to live in Berlin in 1960, just before the Wall was erected. In 1961 Enzo Fondi and Guisseppe Santache were also sent to Leipzig, all in order to start the movement in the Communist Bloc.
Note: This is not the official Focolare website. The information on our website reflects the personal views and opinions of the webmasters and the visitors of this website. We thank everybody for the many encouraging reactions. Please feel free to write to us; we have taken every possible precaution to guarantee your privacy and confidentiality.
The main goal of this website is not to criticise the Focolare but to help people.
We try to do this in 3 ways:
1. Information and counselling for people who are part of the Focolare or the Gen movement
2.Understanding and friendship for people who have left the Focolare
3. Information for new members or people who are thinking about joining the Focolare
This website does not repeat the information given on the official Focolare website. We give our own thoughts and impressions and are independent of the Focolare organization.
We are working hard to translate our website to other languages like Italian, Spanish, German and Dutch. We would also like to improve the visual appearance of our website. Because we are still a small group, we could use some help. Please if anybody has some time, contact us at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Every offer will be seriously considered.
Focolare Movement: Lights and Shadows
Recently we received many e-mails, both from people who encourage us and also from people that are very angry with this website. Now it is possible to write your opinion in the guestbook, but we also like to put some more questions on this site. We like to hear a reaction from the official Focolare movement, but also from people who are members or ex-members of this organisation. The official Focolare leadership is especially invited to clarify their point of view. All reactions will be published. Please mail us your reactions to the questions below (and also any other questions or opinions).
Why is there no democratic leadership in the Focolare movement?
Why does the Focolare organisation keep all their financial dealings as secretly as possible?
Why do many Focolare people have expensive cars and beautiful houses?


Is it true that Focolare recruits from people in vulnerable situations like young children and people who are having a difficult period in life?
Question of the month, by Lionello, from Florence, Italy:
“Could you tell me the difference between the focolare and Opus Dei?”
Answer, by webmaster:
Opus Dei only wants to take charge of the Catholic Church while the people of the Focolare would also like to take charge of the rest of the world. As Chiara always reminded her followers of the Scripture: Blessed are the meek, for they shell inherit the earth. Focolare is working to put people in responsible positions within the Catholic Church like Cardinal Vik but also in the Italian political arena, in the economic field, at the United Nations through the cover of New Humanity.
[Rest as in the above reproduction]
Maria Voce, new president of the Focolare Movement
On July 7th  a new president of the Focolare Movement has been elected, Maria Voce, 70 years old and a lawyer by profession. As such she has been involved in the design of the statutes of the movement. We hope that she will find the wisdom and the courage to develop and implement the changes in the structures that are necessary in order to comfort de suffering of many people inside and outside the movement. We also hope that her involvement in the making of the statutes will not prevent or impede her ability and her desire to changes what is not working to the benefit of the people involved in the movement. This website will continue to monitor the development of the movement and we are open for a transparent dialogue. 20.
In light of the recent new developments in different zones of the movement, the web team has decided to close the forum for the time being. Also it was necessary modify our guestbook. We will soon give you more information and we hope to re-open the forum again soon. You can always mail to email@example.com. We apologize for the inconvenience.
NEW FORM AND CONTENTS
Just as a person grows and changes, a website like this also changes. The website is now more than seven years in the air and most of the growing pains are gone. The makers of this site now have a more clear vision on the goal of the site and the needs of the reader.


After Chiara Lubich passed away many people came in contact with us and that has given us even more insight in the methods of the Focolare movement and the best way to cope. Presently all together a big group of men and women who were active in the movement for many years have left the Focolare, with pain in their hearts. People who have for years lived in the Focolare have written us and visited us. But who are we? We are people who spent years in the Focolare and now are on our own. We have ourselves experienced how important it is to be able to share and talk to someone who really understands. We bring people together in a safe way, without any loss of freedom of action and with respect for integrity and privacy. We never tell anyone who you are, where you live or your name. If you want to tell anything you do it in your own time in your own way.
What we can tell is that at this point a lot of people from Scandinavia, England, Argentina, America, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and other countries are in contact with us. We hear personal stories but they have also things in common. People who have finally, after years, regained their freedom and they are happy. They tell about lack of freedom and manipulation in the Focolare movement and how this is structural and not due to single persons who have not understood “the Ideal”. We hear that faith in God is possible, even more now that nobody calls from Rome every day to disturb the communication with God. Many say that it was necessary to leave the movement to be able to really live as a Christian and to follow Jesus.
The time after Focolare is difficult but it helps if you can talk to people who have gone through or go through the same process. That is why we invite you to take contact with us, anonymously if you like, through email firstname.lastname@example.org or our guestbook. Your story will not be published on the site, even if you presently can read a lot of personal stories on the website. What you mail us stays confidential and will never be published without your consent. Together we can discover how to pick up our own lives when we, after years within the Focolare movement, are again free and in charge of our daily life and future.
In different zones of the movement there have been recent new developments.


We see many people leave the movement because they can no longer participate in the destruction of people by means of taking their individuality away. We understand that this brings much pain and suffering and we hope that those who leave the movement can find consolation and understanding in having contact with the makers of this website.
The main goal of this website [http://www.focolare.net] is to help people understand the Focolare for what it really is. We try to do this in several ways:
1. Information and counseling for people who are feeling unfree or manipulated because they are part of the Focolare or the Gen movement
2. Understanding and friendship for people who have left the Focolare
3. A warning for people who are thinking about joining the Focolare
This website does not repeat the information given on the official Focolare website. We give our own thoughts and impressions and are independent of the Focolare organization.
We are working hard to translate our website to other languages like Italian, Spanish, German and Dutch. We would also like to improve the visual appearance of our website. Because we are still a small group, we could use some help. Please if anybody has some time, contact us at email@example.com.
Every offer will be seriously considered.
NOTE: This is not an official Focolare website. The information on our website reflects the personal views and opinions of the webmasters and the visitors of this website. We thank everybody for the many encouraging reactions. Please feel free to write to us; we have taken every possible precaution to guarantee your privacy and confidentiality.
FROM TRADITIONALIST WEB SITES
1. FOCOLARE 18.11.2006
*Traditionalists reject, among other things, the ‘charismatic renewal’.
The Focolare Movement seeks a One World Religion based on the “spirituality of unity” of its members.
What kind of spirituality is that when the membership includes thousands of non-Catholics, non-Christians such as Muslims and Buddhists?
Focolare is headed by its founder Chiara Lubich. The founder Chiara Lubich is highly revered because of her private ‘revelations.’ These revelations have binding authority for the movement and seen as “Jesus in the midst.” The private revelations of Lubich is the mechanism that controls and holds the members together.


In this regard, the following are of particular importance:
Movement for unity in politics which is open to people with varying degrees of political commitment, belonging to different political parties. This movement proposes fraternity as a political agenda to be lived with the common good in mind. www.mppu.org
Economy of Communion. In the economic field, the Economy of Communion project has developed. 750 businesses have been inspired by this project and these businesses have an impact at the cultural level. www.edc-online.org
International Cooperation. There are over 1000 social projects of various dimensions in all 5 continents. Particularly developed are those in the field of social health and education in the most depressed areas of the world. The value of this reciprocal help encourages self-help and the means to better the social standing of the needy; this action is supported by an NGO of the Movement called AUW (Action for a United World). www.azionemondounito.org
Models of a new society: the little towns
There are 35 little towns in the world in various stages of development with the characteristic of the culture in which they have arisen. They are miniature towns with houses, schools, businesses and places of worship. Because of the style of life they promote they can offer a model to big cities on the way to live together.
Formation to unity. There are
63 Mariapolis centres in the world dedicated to the spiritual and cultural formation of members. These Mariapolis centres are in 46 nations – 9 of them are located in Italy, not counting the international centre which has its seat in Castelgandolfo in Rome. Permanent schools of formation for the branches of the Movement are present in the various little towns. These Mariapolis centres are permanent schools of formation for different branches of the Movement.
A culture of unity
A centre for interdisciplinary studies, the Abba School, has an academic staff which works to develop the initial principles of a new culture enlightened by the charism of unity. A more recent development, at a cultural level, is indicated in the constitution of an international network of scholars, professionals and students who go into depth in each individual discipline, promoting conventions, courses of formation and publications. 3.