A Woman’s Work: A Chiara Lubich: A Biography of the Focolare Movement and Its Founder

May 14, 1944: a young Italian woman sits on a hillside overlooking the city of Trent and watches her home being destroyed by wartime bombing. Inside her begins to stir a vision that would produce an international movement dedicated to religious unity, peace and devotion.

Today, the Focolare Movement, begun by this determined woman, Chiara Lubich, has grown to number more than 4 million supporters. It is the largest world-wide Christian movement. Sometimes controversial, often inspiring, the Focolare has more than 150,000 committed members, among them consecrated single people living in residential communities.

An informative and readable book. Gallagher tells the story of how this remarkable movement began and grew, but he does it without casting any of the principal characters too deeply in plaster or painting any of their opponents too darkly. What appears instead is an account, a sort of history with sharply drawn characters, of one way God is working in the world. New Covenant Author Jim Gallagher does an excellent job of not just presenting the facts about Lubich and the [Focolare] movement, but telling the story of each. Catholic Heritage Her ability to cross rivers of discord and move easily among all people has made Lubich one of the most important women in the Roman Catholic Church. Religious News Service