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The Economy of Communion and the Focolare Movement

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The Economy of Communion involves entrepreneurs, workers, managers, consumers and financial operators. It was launched by Chiara Lubich in May of 1991, in Sao Paolo, Brazil, with the aim of building and showing a human society where, following the example of the first Christian community in Jerusalem, "no one among them was in need".

The businesses are the pillar of the project. They freely commit themselves to put their profits in common, dividing them into three parts with the following corresponding goals:

Support the development of persons and communities that find themselves in need, through shared projects based on reciprocity, subsidiarity, and communion;

Spread the culture of giving and of reciprocity, a pre-condition to integral development and of an economy and society characterized by fraternity and solidarity;

Development of the business, creating jobs and wealth, orienting all internal and external business life towards the common good.

[information gathered from www.edc-online.org - see External Links]

The Focolare Movement - Its members come from all sectors of humanity and all of the social categories - employees and entrepreneurs, factory workers and politicians, artists and health-care workers, judges and journalists….

Their aim is carry out their life in society in accordance with the spirit of unity, renewing themselves, transforming their environment and spreading this spirit to as many people as possible. Together with those who have a religious faith, we also find others who have non-religious convictions…- all work together with commitment, united by the same ideal.

Chiara Lubich Monument in Fontem, Cameroon

And so social actions have been born, and are developing in the last few years (such as those in Northern Ireland, in the ex-Yugoslavia, in Central Africa, and in the Lebanon), as have projects of international solidarity (for example, in the Brazilian favelas, or in the Philippine barrios), entrepreneurial and economical activities in all parts of the world etc., and some countries have even seen the birth of true little town, which are inspired by the Gospel and by the "law" of reciprocal love.

Every activity, whether personal or collective, of members of the movement is inspired by the desire to bring about a concrete realisation of a cell, a place in society which flourishes on a culture of giving, overcomes divisions and conflict, so as to move together towards unity.

With this spirit, the social activities in particular bring about, with time, reciprocity, and overcome all forms of welfarism, so as to see the true value of everyone’s contribution in the realisation of a more united world.

[information gathered from www.focolare-en.ca - see External Links]