The Panreligion of Chiara Lubich

Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare movemnt, was a energetic promoter of the union of all religions no matter what they confessed. By leaving aside doctrinal discussions and emphasizing love, she pretended to establish a new path for ecumenism.

The Focolare method she established was not as original as she pretended. In the 19th century Liberal Catholics were already defending this error, which was condemned by Pius IX in his Encyclical Singularem quidem, here. The Modernists employed that same method as well, which earned them a strong condemnation by St. Pius X in his Encyclical Our Apostolic Mandate, whose text is available here.

Notwithstanding, the post-conciliar Popes have promoted the Focolare movement. It was in great part thanks to the support of Paul VI in 1964 that the movement grew. Lubich was particularly close to John Paul II who championed her movement. At the funeral of Lubich in 2008, Benedict XVI sent a message of "thanks to God for the service Chiara has offered to the Church ... always in harmony with the Magisterium of the Church," referring to the conciliar teachings in a clear contradiction with the previous Magisterium mentioned above.

Above, in 1997 Chiara Lubich preaches in Malcom X Mosque in Harlem, New York. Below, first row, she lights a candle on a menorah at the seat of B'nai Brith, also in New York. Second row, she addresses Buddhist laymen and monks in Thailand, and, in the third row, she greets their superior, Ajahn Tong. Last row, she delivers a speech at a Japanese Buddhist temple of the Rissho Kosei Kai movement.