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| Members of the Communion and Liberation movement in Madison meet with Bishop Robert C. Morlino during a celebration of the movement’s 60th anniversary around the world. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
MADISON — On Saturday, March 7, Pope Francis met with more than 80,000 members of the Communion and Liberation lay movement who filled St. Peter’s Square in Rome and the boulevard leading to it.
It marked the 60th anniversary of the movement, which has the purpose of forming its members in Christianity in order to make them coworkers in the Church’s mission in all areas of society.
The movement was begun in 1954 in Italy, by the late Servant of God Fr. Luigi Giussani — who died 10 years ago, which was also remembered at the event with the pope.
Pope Francis told the members of the movement, “Focused on Christ and the Gospel, you can be the arms, hands, feet, mind, and heart of a Church that goes out.
“The path of the Church is to go out in search of those far off in the peripheries, to serve Jesus in every person who is marginalized, abandoned, without faith, disillusioned with the Church, or a prisoner of their own selfishness,” said the Holy Father.
Bishop celebrates with local group
The next day, in Madison, Bishop Robert C. Morlino celebrated Mass with members of the local movement at Holy Redeemer Church in Madison. He also met with the nearly dozen members of the local group at a small gathering after the Mass.
Bishop Morlino welcomed the members of what he called a “wonderful movement of the Church.”
“We remember all the good works of Communion and Liberation,” he added.
During the Mass, members of the movement brought up the Offertory gifts.
At a gathering after Mass, Bishop Morlino told the group he was always “very impressed” with the writings of Father Giussani and with the work of the whole movement around the world.
“I was always impressed,” Bishop Morlino added, “and I thought this was a group that had its focus on the prize of lay mission . . . to affect the structures of society.”
Movement in Madison
The Communion and Liberation movement was started in Madison in 2008 by an Italian couple living in Madison.
“That is how it usually gets started in the U.S.,” said local Communion and Liberation fraternity member Morgan Smith. “We live this charism; when we move away from our community, we need to start a new one.”
“We live the charism by living a certain ‘openness’ to the presence of Christ as he comes to us, usually through an encounter with another person,” added Smith. “We are educated for this openness and an awareness by sharing our experiences with each other.”
Since 2008, the movement in Madison has grown in quality, if not quantity, to about a dozen people, mostly young adult members of various parishes in Madison.
Out of those dozen, there are five fraternity members who agree to live the charism of the community and take it seriously, tithing to the common fund, and living in closer communion with a smaller fraternity group.
The group meets weekly in what are called Schools of Community. The members pray, sing songs, and read from the writings of Father Giussani or other material.
“The reading is attractive, and it strikes us in many ways,” said Smith. “After this, we talk about experiences we have had that week — we either speak about our judgments or ask for help in judging them. We ask each other questions to help gain a deeper understanding.”
Group members told the bishop studying the writings of Father Giussani creates a desire to come every week “because there’s something among the group that helps me want to bring it into my everyday life . . . and it helps me try to bring that into my work in a more real way.”
The bishop remarked the “truth about lay mission was the most important thing that came out of Vatican II.”
He added, “Lay people really were called to holiness and they were called to have some responsibility.”
More information
Those who are interested in Communion and Liberation in Madison are invited to come to Encounter Culture at Cathedral Parish on the third Saturday of each month.
“They can get a small taste of our charism and meet some of the folks who are in the community,” said Smith.
More information is also available by visiting the Encounter Culture webpage at www.isthmuscatholic.org/formation/faith-and-life/encounter-culture or emailing Smith at morganoftheworld@gmail.com or Jon Loftus at jploftus2@gmail.com