Focolare Movement

The Focolare Movement is an international organization of spiritual and social renewal and Christian new religious movement that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brother/sisterhood grounded in the Golden Rule. It was founded by then elementary school teacher Chiara Lubich in 1943 in Trento, Northern Italy, as a Roman Catholic lay movement; it remains largely Roman Catholic but includes and sympathizes with other Christian denominations, other religions and non-religious people. The Focolare Movement is present in more than 180 nations, has over 140,440 members and more than 4 million sympathizers. The word "Focolare" is Italian for "family fireside". While the term Focolare is the common sobriquet of the international organization, the International Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right lists its official name as "Work of Mary", approved in 1990 as "Opus Mariae".