A Charisma for the Interreligious Dialogue: Case Study of Chiara Lubich

Abstract Chiara Lubich was a charismatic layperson who founded the Focolare Movement – Opus Mariae as a very liberal lay charismatic movement within the Roman Catholic Church. The Focolare has an impressive focus on ecumenism and interreligious/intercultural dialogue. Pope Francis opened in 2015 the cause for her beatification and canonisation as a person “who turned on a new light for the path to unity in the Church.” This paper does not focus on ecumenism as an essential part of the Focolare Movement but on interreligious dialogue, which became a natural necessity when the Movement started to spread worldwide. The focus here is not on the interreligious dialogue methods but on Chiara Lubich’s personality and charisma as a proponent of dialogue initiatives. Her mystical experience and deep sensation of everyone being a single family brought the Movement closer to other religions.