Focolare Marks Anniversary of Founder

Cardinal Paul Poupard, the former president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, will preside at a Mass in Rome to commemorate Lubich's death, which took place last March 14. The service will be held at 11 am at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

An Internet broadcast, titled "With Chiara -- a Continuing Dialogue," will be shown Saturday on http://live.focolare.org.

The program will be broadcast from the Centro Mariapoli in Castelgandolfo, with contributions from leading representatives of various Churches and civil society.

A high point will be the taped testimony of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz on the relationship between Pope John Paul II and Lubich.

On Sunday, Bartholomew I, ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, will deliver a commemorative speech after vespers in the Church of the Panagia, at the Belgrade Gate in Istanbul.

Earlier Sunday, a Mass said at the Maria Theotokos Shrine in Loppiano, Italy, will be broadcast live on RAI Uno. The presiding celebrant will be Bishop Luciano Giovannetti of Fiesole.

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On the Net:

For information on local events: http://www.focolare.org/