The Focolare Archive
A cultural and strategic resource
The General Archive of the Focolare Movement ( AGMF ) preserves, among the many documents it holds, both paper and multimedia recordsconcerning Focolare’s founder,Chiara Lubich (1920-2008). The records span the history of the Focolare Movement,from its birth to the present day, from its early development to its expansion worldwide.
On June 25, 2019, the Archive and Library Authority of Lazio declared the archive “…of particular historical interest” recognizing its value as an “extraordinary witness, a source of new inspiration and life”. (Dalla Dichiarazione ufficiale – Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali, Direzione generale Archivi, Soprintendenza archivistica e bibliografica del Lazio – Italia. Roma, 25 giugno 2019) The records document the path of universal fraternity generated by the charismatic figure of Chiara Lubich, as well as co-founders Igino Giordani and Pasquale Foresi, her early collaborators.
They bear, witness to the centre and fulcrum of a global archival network: the original current of spirituality, life and thought that has drawn women and men from all latitudes. It is a testimony that thearchive preserves and enhances, both from a perspective of historical research as well as information and dissemination.
“These documents,” said Chiara Lubich, “will in the future be the living presence of a past that has conditioned the present . ” (Chiara Lubich, 6th december, 1962)
There is a page dedicated to the General Archive of the Focolare Movement on the website of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage of the Archival and Bibliographic Superintendence of the Lazio Region, with which there is a successful collaboration and the Italian Episcopal Conference’s website for Cultural Heritage.“BeWeb” the Italian Episcopal Conference’s website for Cultural Heritage.
Archival works
Among the recent works carried out in the archival field, there was the census of the Pasquale Foresi Fund, with the rearrangement of the related ‘Discorsi’ series. The Project, completed in December 2022, was “realised with the support of the Lazio Region for Libraries, Museums and Archives – Annual Plan 2022, L.R. 24/2019”.