COMMUNION AND LIBERATION
www.clonline.org
Founded in 1954, Communion and Liberation (CL) has 100,000 members in 70 countries: “There is no membership card, only free participation of persons.”
Mission: The education to Christian maturity of its adherents and collaboration in the mission of the Church in all the spheres of contemporary life.
Apostolates: While its members have founded Cultural Centers and “Company of Works,” CL is focused on the experience of God in individuals.
Founder: “The memory of Christ when it is lived tends inevitably to generate a presence in society, above and be-yond any planned result ” —Rev. Luigi Giussani
Pope John Paul II: “The original pedagogical intuition of your Movement lies precisely here proposing in a fascinating way, and in harmony with contemporary culture, the Christian event, perceived as a source of new values, capable of directing the whole of existence.”
REGNUM CHRISTI
www.regnumchristi.org
Made up of lay members and Legionaries of Christ priests, Regnum Christi was founded in 1959. Its 80,000 members are in 30 countries.
Mission: Spreading Christ’s message to humanity by undertaking personal, organized, apostolic activity.
Apostolates: Members’ apostolates target evangelization, mass media, schools, youth work, marriage and family, vocations, poverty, and Hispanic outreach.
Founder: Members “wish to go into the entire world and preach the Gospel fearlessly, sustained by the almighty power of God, in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who told us. I will be with you until the end of time.” —Rev. Marcial Maciel, LC
Pope John Paul II: “I urge you, as your motto says, ‘Thy Kingdom come!’, never to slacken in your dream of tirelessly working to make the Kingdom of love, grace, justice, and peace a reality in individuals and in society,”
FOCOLARE
www.rc.net/focolare/
Founded in 1943, Focolare has 87,000 members in more than 180 countries.
Mission: “That all may be one.”
Apostolates: To spread the spirituality of unity Members start publications, promote projects to help the pool, and sponsor schools of formation in spirituality.
Founder: Focolare’s “spirituality is drawn straight from the gospel. For 2,000 years, Jesus has asked His followers to give God the first place in their lives. He desires the fulfillment of His new commandment, ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ …If we love one another, then the world will believe ” —Chiara Lubich
Pope John Paul II: “In unison with the Magisterium of the Church the members of the Focolare Movement have become apostles of dialogue, the privileged way to promote unity dialogue within the Church, ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue, dialogue with non-believers.”
OPUS DEI
www opusdei.org
While not technically a “movement,’ Opus Dei is a personal prelature founded in 1928, with 80,000 members in 62 countries
Mission: To help ordinary people live up to their Christian call to holiness in their day-to-day affairs by giving them spiritual support and formation.
Apostolates: Members’ primary apostolate is their effort to help loved ones come closer to God. Members have also founded not-for-profit education and social-service ventures. Founder: “Your ordinary contact with God takes place where your fellow men, your yearnings, your work, and your affections are There you have your daily encounter with Christ It is in the midst of the most material things of the earth that we must sanctify ourselves, serving God and all mankind.” —Rev. Josemaria Escriva
Pope John Paul II: “To elevate the world to God and transform it from within: this is the ideal [St. Josemaria] points out to you…. He liked to repeat forcefully that the Christian faith is opposed to conformism and interior inertia.”