Chiara Lubich and the Intercultural Dialogue—Educational Relevance in a Time of New Conflicts

Abstract

As in a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces put together place before us the drama of the proliferation of new conflicts. Such are the times of today when people try to justify war on the grounds of belonging to different and incompatible cultures. Hence, there is an urgent need for a revival of intercultural dialogue and adequate education to foster it. Aware of the current challenge to peace, the two authors, who come from different geographical areas and cultures, seek through their research to highlight the educational value of Chiara Lubich’s charism, her work and that of the Focolare Movement she founded. To this end, they make use of the hermeneutic method of “text” analysis, understood as everything the person said, did and wrote. For this, they focus on what, with respect to the epistemology of education, consists in the real innovation, namely: the Lubich synoran, the Golden Rule as the axiological foundation of intercultural dialogue education, the Art of Loving as a method and the Cube of Peace as a teaching tool.