Maria Voce (born 16 July 1937) [1] is an Italian lawyer and former president of the Focolare Movement. She was born in Calabria, Italy. [2] She was elected as the president by the General Assembly of the Movement after the death of its founder Chiara Lubich, in March 2008. [3] [4]
Maria Voce joined the Movement in 1959 and for 44 years she lived in the Focolare community. After graduating from law, she also completed studies of theology and canon law; in recent years she has been involved in the recent update of the General Acts of the Movement. It is among the leaders of "Communion and Law", a network of professionals and scholars engaged in justice, recently born in the Focolare. [5] She is also a member of Abba School, Interdisciplinary Studies Center. She has also gained a direct experience in ecumenical and interreligious fields; having lived in Turkey for ten years. [6] [7] From 1978 to 1988, she had close ties with the Patriarchate of Constantinople (also with the present Patriarch Bartholomew I), with leaders of other Christian Churches, and with the Muslim world. she was elected as president by the General Assembly of the Movement after the death of the founder Chiara Lubich, on 14 March 2008. She was re-elected on 12 September 2014 for a six-year term. [8]
On 7 December 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Voce as Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Laity. [9] In 2014, Voce received an honorary degree in laws from the University of Notre Dame for her ecumenical work as well as work with the laity. [10]
Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC was a native of Syracuse, New York, who became an ordained priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and is best known for his service as the president of the University of Notre Dame for thirty-five years (1952–1987). In addition to his career as an educator and author, Hesburgh was a public servant and social activist involved in numerous American civic and governmental initiatives, commissions, international humanitarian projects, and papal assignments. Hesburgh received numerous honors and awards for his service, most notably the United States's Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964) and Congressional Gold Medal (2000). As of 2013, he also held the world's record for the individual with most honorary degrees with more than 150.
The Focolare Movement is an international organization that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brotherhood. Founded in Trent, northern Italy, in 1943 by Chiara Lubich as a Catholic movement, it remains largely Roman Catholic but has strong links to the major Christian denominations and other religions, or in some cases with the non-religious.
Chiara Lubich, was an Italian teacher and author who founded the Focolare Movement, which aims to bring unity among people and promote universal family.
Mary Ann Glendon is the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and a former United States Ambassador to the Holy See. She teaches and writes on bioethics, comparative constitutional law, property, and human rights in international law. She supports government bans on abortion services and "writes forcefully against the expansion of abortion rights."
The Italian Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Italy, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope in Rome, under the Conference of Italian Bishops. The pope serves also as Primate of Italy and Bishop of Rome. In addition to Italy, two other sovereign nations are included in Italian-based dioceses: San Marino and the Vatican City. There are 225 dioceses in the Catholic Church in Italy, see further in this article and in the article List of Catholic dioceses in Italy.
Kevin Joseph Farrell, KGCHS is an Irish-American prelate and Cardinal. A former member of the Legion of Christ, he served as the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Dallas, as well as the chancellor of the University of Dallas. On September 1, 2016, Farrell was appointed the prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. He was created a cardinal on November 19, 2016 by Pope Francis.
Maria Orsola Bussone was an Italian Roman Catholic and a member from the Focolare Movement. Bussone's involvement in her adolescence in parish activities led her to Catholic Action as well as to other movements that she served as an active participant; she learnt the guitar and liked sports and music which she engaged in with her close friends. But those who knew her attested to her deep spiritual desires which she found sated in the Focolore Movement that she first came into contact with in the late 1960s. Bussone desired to act as a vessel for the goodness of God and desired that He would "…use me as He wants". Bussone died in an accident in 1970 and there were immediate calls to launch a process for beatification due to the impact she had made on local communities.
Chiara Badano was a young Italian teenager who is on the path to sainthood in the Catholic Church. At age nine she joined the Focolare Movement and received the nickname "Luce" (light) by the founder Chiara Lubich. When she was 16, she was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a painful bone cancer. Chiara succumbed to the cancer on October 7, 1990, after a two-year battle with the disease. She was beatified on September 25, 2010, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love in Rome. Her feast day is celebrated on October 29.
Maria Elisabetta Casellati is an Italian lawyer and politician. She was President of the Italian Senate from 2018 to 2022. She was the first woman ever to have held this position. Casellati is a long-time member of the liberal-conservative party Forza Italia and served as Undersecretary of Health and Justice in previous governments. In 2022, she was nominated as candidate for President of Italy by the centre-right coalition.
Igino Giordani was an Italian politician, writer and journalist, born at Tivoli. He was also a significant figure in the Catholic/ecumenical Focolare Movement.
Vera George Ghattas Baboun is a Palestinian politician and the first female mayor of Bethlehem. Baboun has a master's degree in African-American literature. Prior to her election, she became the principal of the Roman Catholic High School in Beit Sahour (2010-2012) and was an English literature lecturer at Bethlehem University, (1990-2010) where she was also the Assistant Dean of Students (2000-2006). Additionally, she is the chairperson of the Board of Directors for Guidance and Training Centre for Family and Children as well as a gender studies researcher in GRACE network looking at the role of information technology in empowering women in the Arab world. Baboun is the mother of five children. She is a Palestinian Christian.
Brendan Leahy is an Irish Roman Catholic prelate and theologian who has served as Bishop of Limerick since 2013.
Maria Chiara Carrozza is an Italian physicist, engineer and politician. She was Minister of Education, University and Research between April 2013 and February 2014 in the Letta Cabinet. She has been president of the National Research Council of Italy since April 2021.
Marta Cartabia is an Italian jurist and academic who served as Minister of Justice in the government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Pasquale Foresi was an Italian priest and theologian. He was connected to the Focolare Movement co-founded by him, Chiara Lubich and Igino Giordani. The Focolare Movement is an international organization that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brotherhood with other religious movements.
Matteo Maria Zuppi is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Bologna since 12 December 2015. He was previously an auxiliary bishop of Rome from 2012 to 2015.
Daniela Zanetta was an Italian member of the Focolare Movement in the Roman Catholic Church. From her birth she suffered from a rare skin disease that weakened her over time and which would cause skin tears and blistering. Her condition also forced frequent visits to the hospital and blood transfusions. Zanetta tried to put her illness behind her so that she could live a normal adolescent life with her friends and in her free time collaborated with her local parish. Zanetta worked with the Focolare Movement that she joined after being drawn to their charism and that of its founder, Chiara Lubich.
Events during the year 2008 in Italy.
Janina Hiebel is a German-born biblical scholar now residing in Australia who works at the University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia. Her research interests are in the period of the Babylonian Exile, particularly the book of the prophet Ezekiel.
Anne C.S.M. Barzin is a Belgian politician. She was a representative in the Chamber of Representatives from 1999 to 2007, a member of the Parliament of Wallonia from 2007 to 2014 and a Senator in the Senate of Belgium from 2014 to 2019. She was a member of the Liberal Reformist Party and the Reformist Movement.
