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Maria Voce, the successor of Chiara Lubich |
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18-07-2008 |
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The first election of the General Assembly of the Focolare Movement took place in Rome, last Tuesday, on July 8th, 2008, where Maria Voce was elected as the new president, after Chiara Lubich, the founder of the movement, who died on the 14th of March. Also, Gaincarlo Faletti was elected as the new co-president.
There were 516 participants in the Assembly, including the Zones Delegate and other members of the Movement from the 5 continents.Maria Voce was elected close to unanimity, and Gaincarlo Faletti was elected more than two thirds of the majority.The results were immediately communicated to Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. In giving the official confirmation of those elected, he hoped that Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti may carry out in a fruitful manner their tasks in absolute fidelity, following the ideal of unity, which is the primary goal of the Movement.In the coming days, the elections will proceed to elect the members of the council.Maria Voce was born at Ajello Calabro, in Italy, on the 16th July 1937. She has known the Movement since 1959 and has lived in the community of the Focolare for 44 years. She is a lawyer by profession. She also studied theology and canon law; she was involved during these past years in the recent updating of the general Statuses of the Movement. She is one of those responsible for "Communion and Law", a network of professionals and academics who are involved in the field of law, a recent offshoot of the Focolare Movement. She is also a member of the Abba' School, an interdisciplinary centre of studies. She lived in Turkey for 10 years, where she worked closely with the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople between 1987 and 1988, as well as with the present Orthodox leader, Patriarch Bartholomew I, and with leaders of the other Christian churches and with the Moslem World.Gaincarlo Faletti was born at Asti (Piedmont), in Italy, on 14th September 1940, in a family of farmers. His father was a laborer and his mother a housewife, endowed with a sense of social sensitivity. Though he grew up in an environment that was not close to the Church, he soon decided to become involved in both the world of youths and that of Christian voluntary work in order to be close to those who suffer most and live in poverty. At 19 years of age, he was struck by the ideal of Fraternity and Unity of the Focolare Movement and at 25 his decision had matured enough to give himself wholly to God in the Focolare. After finishing his studies in Economics, he occupied several administrative posts at a banking institute. Besides being responsible of the Movement in Rome, he was also responsible of the Movement in Genoa and Lazio. He was ordained priest at the beginning of his work in Rome. |
