Chiara Lubich, Sociology and Gender

Abstract

The article deals with the social influence of the Focolare Movement with regard to relations between men and women, taking the dynamisms of feminist movements into account. It stresses the determination of Chiara Lubich in defending its founding charism in a period when women were under constant male protection, to the point that the statutes of the Movement guarantee that the presidency will always be entrusted to a woman. Equally important is the diarchy, namely the presence of two directors, a man and a woman, in every expression of the Movement, that is a “two-voice” representation, which complies with John Paul II’s anthropological “uni-duality”. Sisterhood, as an alternative to the genealogical chain “from father to son ...”, wishes a “sisterhood” that the Focolare Movement brings about through the foundation of little communities of women with authority, dignity, and the ability to publicly interpret their own stories. Regarding some important cultural aspects, the article highlights some revolutionary aspects of the charism of the Focolare Movement such as: love at the centre of interpersonal relations and activities, the laity as protagonists, “conversion” of masculinity and femininity, a prudent diffidence in defining male and female, conforming to what the author calls a “learned ignorance”.