Maria Voce
Maria Voce (born July 16, 1937 in Aiello Calabro ) has been the president of the Focolare Movement since 2008 . She is the first female president after the founder Chiara Lubich .
biography
She was born in the Italian province of Cosenza . Her father was a doctor, her mother a housewife. In 1959, her final year at the Faculty of Law in Rome, she learned about the Focolare Movement. She initially practiced her profession as a lawyer, as the first lawyer in the city of Cosenza. Studies in theology and canon law followed.
Maria Voce gave up her career as a lawyer and went to Grottaferrata near Rome to take part in a preparatory seminar for prospective Focolare women. The encounter led to more intensive occupation with the movement and finally to accession. Chiara Lubich gave her the additional name Emmaus , by which she is known in the movement today.
From 1964 to 1972 she lived in the centers of the movement in Syracuse and Catania ; From 1972 to 1978 she worked in the secretariat of Chiara Lubich, and for the next ten years she lived in the Focolare in Istanbul , where she built relationships on an ecumenical and interfaith level. From 2002 to 2007 she worked with Lubich on changes to the General Statute of the Movement, which the Church approved in 2007.
On July 7, 2008 she was elected president of the movement. On November 24, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed she became adviser to the Pontifical Council for the Laity .
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Voce, Maria |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Emmaus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian nun, president of the Focolare Movement |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 16, 1937 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Aiello Calabro |