The Fraternity
of Communion and Liberation
This is the eminent
group among those born from the movement,
whose origins and aims it shares. It was recognized as a Lay Association
of Pontifical Right on February 11, 1982. The decree of approval
of the Fraternity's request for recognition reads that the Holy
Father himself was "benevolently pleased to encourage the
Pontifical Council for the Laity" that the recognition procedure
might have a positive outcome. The letter accompanying the decree,
signed by the then Cardinal Opilio Rossi, recognizes that the Fraternity
of CL's contribution to the Church in her work of evangelization
is "of outstanding importance and pastoral urgency," especially
in "distant" de-Christianized areas where "the basic
principles of human life and social interchange are at stake." The
ecclesial nature of the Association, the letter concludes, makes
obvious its "full cooperation and communion with the Bishops,
headed by the supreme Pastor of the Church," down to the pastoral
life of the diocese, to which it offers "its experience and
contribution."
This recognition from the Pontifical Council for the Laity amounted to de facto
approval of the educational experience of CL.
The first "Fraternity" groups were formed around the mid-1970s at
the initiative of some former university students who wanted to go more deeply
into what it means to belong to the Church, also within the conditions of adult
life and the responsibilities it brings, in communion with others.
Today the Fraternity’s groups host 50,000 people who have made the
decision to commit themselves to a way of life that supports the path to holiness,
acknowledged as the true aim of existence. The life of the Fraternity normally
takes place through the free formation of groups who consider that commitment
to be the reason for their friendship and sharing.
Belonging to the Fraternity calls for a minimal rule of personal ascesis, daily
moments of prayer, participation in encounters of spiritual formation including
an annual retreat, and commitment to the support, financial and otherwise,
of the charitable, missionary, and cultural initiatives promoted or sustained
by the Fraternity.
Recent years have witnessed also in Italy and abroad the rise of Fraternity
groups formed by diocesan priests (the first of these took the name of Studium
Christi) who in this way intend to help each other pursue more deeply their
vocation and the accomplishment of their mission.
On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the pontifical recognition
of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, John Paul II writes Fr Giussani
a long autograph letter. Subsequently, Fr Giussani writes all the members of
the Fraternity to call attention to the great value of the Pope’s letter
and to the importance of the indications conveyed. |
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