Pope praises Focolare’s charism of unity and peace, calls for transparency, respect for conscience

March 23, 2026

Pope Leo XIV received participants in the Focolare Movement‘s general assembly and praised the movement for its charism of unity and peace.

“You have all been attracted by the charism of the Servant of God Chiara Lubich, which has shaped your personal existence and the style of your community life,” Pope Leo said during the audience, which took place on March 21 in Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace. “Every charism in the Church expresses an aspect of the Gospel that the Holy Spirit brings to the fore in a given historical period, for the good of the Church herself and for the good of the entire world. For you, this is the message of unity: unity among human beings, which is the fruit and reflection of Christ’s unity with the Father.”

“Through you too, God has prepared, over the past decades, a great people of peace, who at this very moment in history are called to act as a counterweight and a bulwark against so many sowers of hatred who are dragging humanity back to forms of barbarism and violence,” the Pope continued.

The Pontiff called upon assembly participants to “discern together which aspects of your communal life and your apostolate are essential, and must therefore be maintained, and which, on the other hand, are tools and practices that, although long in use, are not essential to the charism, or have presented problematic aspects and should therefore be abandoned.”

“This phase also demands strong commitment to transparency on the part of those who hold roles of responsibility at all levels,” Pope Leo said. “Indeed, transparency is on the one hand a prerequisite for credibility and on the other is required because the charism is a gift of the Holy Spirit for which all members are responsible. They therefore have the right and the duty to feel that they are partners in the Work to which they have committed themselves with total dedication.”

Pope Leo then distinguished unity, which entails respect for conscience, from uniformity:

The responsibility for common discernment, entrusted to you all, also encompasses the way in which the charism of unity must be translated into styles of community life that allow the beauty of the Gospel’s newness to shine forth and, at the same time, respect the freedom and conscience of individuals, valuing the gifts and uniqueness of each person ...

Unity is a gift and, at the same time, a task and a call addressed to each one of us. Everyone is called to discern God’s will and how the truth of the Gospel can be realized in the various situations of community or apostolic life. And everyone on this path of discernment must exercise fraternity, sincerity, frankness and above all humility, freedom from oneself and from one’s own point of view.

The unity of all in God is an evangelical sign that is a prophetic force for the world. Unity, then, must not be understood as uniformity of thought, opinion and lifestyle; indeed, this could lead to a devaluation of one’s own convictions, to the detriment of personal freedom and of listening to one’s own conscience.

“Dear friends, let us thank the Lord together for the great spiritual family that was born from the charism of Chiara Lubich,” the Pope concluded. “I encourage you to continue on your journey and I bless you wholeheartedly, invoking the intercession of the Virgin Mary upon you all, that she may protect you and always accompany you with her maternal help.”

The papal audience took place a week after general assembly participants reelected Margaret Karram, its leader since 2021, to a second five-year term as president.

The Focolare Movement’s goal is “to live and work in a way that Jesus’ prayer to the Father may be fulfilled, ‘That all may be one’ (Jn 17:21),” according to the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life’s Directory of International Associations of the Faithful. Members “do so by following the privileged path of dialogue in an ongoing endeavor to build relationships of fellowship among individuals, peoples and cultures, always with respect for diversity.”

Founded in 1943 by the Servant of God Chiara Lubich (1920-2008), the movement is officially known as the Work of Mary.

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• To Participants in the General Assembly of the Focolare Movement (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 3/21/26)
• Directory of International Associations of the Faithful (Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life)