Communion and Liberation Movement
Faith, lived out in communion, is the foundation of the true liberation of man. Born in Milan in the 1950s, today the Movement has spread to ninety countries.
Fr. Giussani began his life as an “educator of Christianity” in 1954, when he began as a religion teacher in a public high school in Milan, Liceo Berchet, “his heart bursting with the thought that Christ is everything in the life of man.” He amazed his students with his proposal directed first and foremost to their reason and their freedom, by his invitation to encounter beauty – music, poetry, nature – and by his capacity to reach the depths of the human heart.
The primary instrument for the “education” of those who adhere to the Movement is School of Community, which consists of reading and personal meditation upon a text, followed by a communal meeting with a large or small group either in a public place or in a member’s home.
The method used is a constant comparison between the Christian proposal and one’s own life, in order to continually verify – in the light of one’s experience – its capacity to respond to human needs in every aspect of reality.
The Movement is a proposal of a way of life, for life. In addition to School of Community, there are many gestures and instruments to further the education of the person and the community, including: attention to papal teaching, prayer and reading the Bible, spiritual exercises, music, pilgrimages and the Way of the Cross during Lent, charitable work, engagement with the world of fine arts, posters for Christmas and Easter, the common fund and community vacations.
All of these are the object of the free participation of each person (“I bet everything on freedom,” Giussani often insisted); he didn’t intend any kind of formal membership.
Charism
Communion and Liberation, in its essence, is a proposal for education in the Catholic faith. It is an education that doesn’t end at a certain age, but lasts a lifetime because it is always being renewed and deepened. The same is true of the Gospel, which reveals new discoveries even after we’ve heard it a thousand times. The same is true in the experience of love, of artistic creativity, and even in the simplicity of everyday life. The search for what is true, beautiful, and good, and for happiness is never-ending. This is Christianity: the adventure of life, not a kind of training for life.
Communion and Liberation in the Archdiocese of Washington:
Schools of Community, our weekly small group educational initiative, are meeting throughout DC, MD, and VA including but not limited to Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, Kensington, Germantown, Hyattsville, Baltimore, and Alexandria. Larger community events happen throughout the area as well.
contact
Lauren Harper
movement website