Chiara’s visits

   “You go first, then build a Mariapolis Center, and I will come,” Chiara Lubich said to Giò Vernuccio in 1965. In a meeting with Card. Rufino Santos in November 1965, she and Fr. Foresi had actually planned to visit Asia the following April 1966. But God’s plans were different.
   Several trips planned in the ‘70 always failed to materialize. Finally Chiara touched Philippine soil in January 1982. She had already visited Japan where the Buddhist movement Rishho-Kosei-Kai had invited her to share Christian experience with 12,000 members. Then she passed by Korea and Hong Kong, where she visited the local Focolare communities.
   Her impression? “It’s true,” Chiara said after a few days, “that the Filipino people—being young in their independence—have to solve many problems… But what spiritual wealth! I saw many churches, shrines, a lot of children going to confession and communion… So I thought: ‘This is a gold mine! Here we can find—a kind of—spiritual oil well. It is necessary to take out much light and much energy from this source for the whole of Asia!’”
   “But to do this,” Chiara concluded, “the Risen One should always remain in our midst. Where? For example, in families, in seminaries, in our parishes, everywhere, the Risen One must be present. Imagine what Jesus will do? He does things which are too great!”
   In fact, Chiara’s scheduled stay in our country—as always wherever she goes—had been planned in detail… but not the many surprises Jesus had in mind: the birth of a permanent Mariapolis in Tagaytay, the School for Priests, and the School for Oriental Religions, among other things.
   Later on, talking about this presence of Jesus which brings about a family of the people of God and not an organization with a hierarchical structure, Chiara would often recount her experience at Taal Vista Lodge in Tagaytay. There she stayed for a few days with other focolarinas. When the hotel staff knew there was someone important among them, one day they asked: “But here who is the boss?” They could not decide who was their superior because of the reciprocal love among all!

   In 1985 another visit was planned, and Chiara was already in Japan and on her way to Manila, when the Holy Father John Paul II called her to participate as an auditor in a synod of bishops in Rome. Many Focolare members from Bangkok, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Australia had come to the Philippines to meet with her. When news of the change arrived, some people really cried. The program however went on: a large gathering at ULTRA and a smaller one at PICC where close Focolare members were supposed to meet with Chiara. And there something happened: probably because of their suffering, loved and embraced as Jesus Forsaken, from the start there was an atmosphere of simple and profound joy. Jesus in the midst had filled the hearts of each one, in such a way that everyone made an unforgettable experience.

   It would be another 12 years—in January 1997—before Chiara could travel to Asia again. This time it was to receive an Honorary Doctorate in Theology from the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila, the first time in the long history of this Pontifical University that such recognition was given to a layperson and to a woman. “This is a clear recognition,” said Fr. Rolando V. de la Rosa, the UST Rector, not only of the unique role of the laity and of women in the Church, but also of Chiara Lubich herself. Indeed, the presence of a holy person like Chiara makes us ask that question buried under tons of neglect, fear indifference, and anxiety: ‘Why not I?’ Or better yet, ‘Why can’t I?’”
   This extraordinary welcome also gave Chiara the chance to meet a large public in Manila and to expound on the new approach to theology arising from the charism of unity. Fr. Fermin, OP, then Rector of the UST Seminary, commented: “In the past theology has very often been pure speculation… As I understand it, in the Focolare, unless we practice what we believe in, it’s all worth nothing. This is for me a very important insight.” And one of the participants: “The event was more than a ceremony. It was an experience on the presence of the Spirit that pervaded our auditorium when she was conferred an honorary degree.”
   The conferment of the honorary degree had a wide repercussion on media, attracting a jam-packed press conference and an interview with Loren Legarda. In the meantime Chiara met with the most varied people: some Bishop friends of the Focolare, the children, Cory Aquino, Card. Jaime Sin, the Apostolic Nuncio, and, on January 22, her birthday, with the whole Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
   During the press conference, one of the journalists present asked Chiara about her view of the world. “The world certainly looks like it has gone mad,” she answered, “but I often think that during Jesus’ time it was even worse. There was slavery, the immorality of the Roman Empire, etc. Now, if Jesus dared to say what he said, why shouldn’t we?”
   And during a meeting with 150 children, to a five-year-old child who asked her, “We know that Jesus loves the rich, but does he love the poor as well?” she answered: “Jesus loves the poor, and the rich when they give something to the poor…”
   Then the two-day meeting at PICC with committed members of the Focolare coming from Asia and Oceania. For many of them, it was the first time to come together to meet Chiara. Of course they already knew her through the ideal of life they shared with her. However, it was a totally different thing to live as one family with her. The answers given by Chiara to some of their questions were simple, yet full of wisdom. She underlined the cultural strength of Filipinos and gave some hints to everybody on how to love in each situation. “You can overcome anything with love,” she said, “even millenary traditions, or just day-to-day problems.”
   For everyone present the reality of building a united world was no longer utopia but a definite reality. Chiara herself was amazed by what had happened. Before the Philippines she had been in Thailand where a profound interreligious dialogue with Buddhist monks had taken place, and after Manila she went to Taiwan where she met with the Chinese world. At the end, she described her Asian trip with these words: “A dream and a fairy tale. A dream because we have seen many things we hoped for already realized, and also a fairy tale, for we have witnessed unimaginable happenings.”