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ABSTRACT
This article examines the Trinitarian anthropology inherent in the ‘charism of unity’ that characterizes the Focolare Movement stemming from the mystical experience of Chiara Lubich (1920–2008). After describing the theological cornerstones of this charism―namely the evangelical centrality of the commandment of reciprocal love, the circularity between theology and anthropology and Jesus Forsaken as the Christological key to understanding and achieving unity―the article studies its cultural implications as reflected in the philosophical and theological contribution of Klaus Hemmerle (1929–1994). In dialogue with modern thought, Hemmerle in fact draws from and develops the anthropological meaning of the charism of unity as a feasible way to respond to the most acute challenges of today.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. John Paul II, Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II 7, 222–26.
2. Cf. Chiara Lubich, Nuova Umanità, 285–96; English Trans. Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture, http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/claritas/vol1/iss1/ (accessed 25 October 2016); Vera et al., “Il Patto del ’49 nell’esperienza di Chiara Lubich.”
3. The term “focolare” comes from Trent dialect. It can be translated as hearth or family fireside.
4. On his versatile figure, cf. the biography by Hagemann, “Verliebt in Gottes Wort.”
5. For an overview of Lubich’s writings and her spirituality, see Lubich, “Essential Writings.”
6. Cf. Chiara Lubich and Igino Giordani, “Erano i tempi di guerra…’” The historical context of Lubich’s Christian formation was that of Trent in the 20s and 30s of the last century: solid, traditional, spiritually enriched by the experiences of Catholic Action (Azione Cattolica) and the Third Order of Saint Francis (Terz’Ordine Francescano), of which Lubich became a member and director at a local level.
7. Lubich, “In the School of Jesus,” 204–05.
8. Lubich, “Essential Writings,” 205.
9. For a further analysis of this concept, see my “Dalla Trinità,” 565–67; Ripensare l’unità di Dio nella luce della rivelazione, 279–99.
10. Augustine, “On the Trinity,” 20.
11. Cf. Balthasar, “The Realm of Metaphyiscs,” 23: “intersubjectivity, upon which the ethics of the Gospel is based, failed to find an adequate philosophical foundation in the classical period, and even today has not yet become the principal theme of Christian philosophy.”
12. I attempted to illustrate this dynamic in my systematic work Dalla Trinità.
13. Giordani’s contribution to the history of the charism of unity was so decisive that Lubich considered him to be a co-founder of the Focolare Movement. Cf. his biography by Sorgi, “Igino Giordani.”
14. See above 8.
15. Unpublished note from 1950, italics original.
16. On the concept of “trinitization”, which can be traced back to Chiara’s mystical writings of 1949, cf. Mazzer, “Li amò fino alla fine,” 800.
17. Lubich, Essential Writings, 206.
18. On Jesus Forsaken in light of the charism of unity, cf. in particular, Rossé, “Maledetto l’appeso al legno,”; Tobler, “Jesu Gottverlassenheit als Heilsereignis.”
19. On this, see my “Dove l’uno è l’altro,” 211–26.
20. John of the Cross, Ascent to Mount Carmel, Book II, Chapter 7, par.11: “It is certain that, at the moment of His death, He was likewise annihilated in His soul, and was deprived of any relief and consolation, since His Father left Him in the most intense aridity, according to the lower part of His nature. Wherefore He had perforce to cry out, saying: ‘My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ (Mt 27:44).”
21. Ibid.: “This was the greatest desolation, with respect to sense, that He had suffered in His life. And thus He wrought herein the greatest work that He had ever wrought, whether in miracles or in mighty works, during the whole of His life, either upon earth or in Heaven, which was the reconciliation and union of mankind, through grace, with God.”
22. Unpublished.
23. Lubich, “L’unità e Gesù abbandonato,” 57–58.
24. Lubich, Claritas. Journal of Dialogue & Culture, 5–6; http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/claritas/vol2/iss2/3/ (accessed 25 October 2016).
25. Hemmerle, “Thesen zu einer trinitarischen Ontologie.”
26. Hemmerle, “Über die philosophische Phänomenologie des Heilige,”9–80.
27. Hemmerle, “Das Heilige,” col. 579.
28. Hemmerle, “Gott und das Denken nach Schellings Spätphilosophie.”
29. English translation from Hemmerle, “Thesen zu einer trinitarischen Ontologie,” 139.
30. For further analysis of Hemmerle’s Trinitarian ontology, see Frick, “Der dreiene Gott und das Handeln in der Welt.”
31. Balthasar, “The Spirit of Truth,” 21.
32. Hemmerle, Unser Lebensraum – der Dreifaltige Gott, 17–23.
33. Published for the first time in L’ontologia del ‘Paradiso ’49ʹ, 127–37.
34. Hemmerle, L’ontologia del ‘Paradiso’49, 129.
35. Hemmerle, “Leben aus der Einheit.”
36. Ibid., 18.
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.
39. See above 36.
40. See above 37.
41. See above 36.
42. Ibid., 27.
43. Kant, “Critique of Pure Reason,” 152.
44. Hemmerle, “Leben aus der Einheit,” 28.
45. See above 36.
46. Hemmerle, L’ontologia del ‘Paradiso ’49’, 130–31.
47. See above 44.
48. Hemmerle, L’ontologia del ‘Paradiso ’49’, 131–32.
49. Bernard of Clairvaux, de gradibus humilitatis et superbiae, III, 6–10.
50. See above 44.
51. Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion.
52. See above 44.
53. See above 36.
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Piero Coda
Piero Coda (PhD in Philosophy and in Theology) is the president of the Sophia University Institute in Loppiano, Italy, where he teaches systematic theology. He is also a member of the International Theological Commission, of the Italian Theological Association (of which he was President from 2003–2011), and of the Pontifical Academy of Theology (as secretary prelate from 2003–2008). He is a consultant of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and a member of the Coordinating Committee for the joint international Commission for Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. He is a prominent speaker on a broad range of topics in Catholic (and, especially, Trinitarian) theology, and the author of countless books and articles, including works on Chiara Lubich, Jacques Maritain, and Sergei Bulgakov.