| “Unlike the consumer
economy, based on a culture of having, the Economy of Communion is based
on the culture of giving. This might seem to be difficult, ambitious, heroic,
but it is not so, because human beings made in the image of God, who is
love, find their fulfilment in loving, in giving. This need is in the deepest
recesses of their being whether they have faith or not. On this basis,
supported by our experience, lies the hope of a universal spreading of
the Economy of Communion.” (Chiara Lubich Brazil - May 1991)
Araceli as a Pilot City
Economic Principles
The Religious Foundation: The Christian Gospel as a Guideline
Growing Attention of Economists for EOC Businesses World-wide
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Araceli
as a Pilot City
In 1991 Chiara Lubich visited
Araceli, a little town of the Focolare Movement on the outskirts of Sao
Paolo. While crossing this Brazilian mega city, she was deeply troubled
by the contrast of the skyscrapers and the favellas. At the beginning of
the Focolare Movement, in 1943, the discovery of the New Commandment of
the Gospel “Love one another as I have loved you” (Gospel of John 13:34)
lead to a local communion of spiritual and material goods. Now, Chiara
Lubich realised that the communion of goods, as practised in the Focolare
Movement up to that time, was inadequate to confront this magnitude of
poverty. She felt driven towards a new economic thinking by the urgency
of the need to provide food, shelter, medical assistance, and employment,
at least for those people in Brazil who formed part of the Focolare Movement.
While ethnic and religious
differences often lead to violent conflict, the spread of the Focolare
movement had contributed to a constructive dialogue between peoples of
different cultural backgrounds and religious faiths. Now the movement was
also entering the field of economics. Launching the Economy of Communion,
Chiara Lubich challenged the 200,000 members of the Focolare Movement in
Brazil to establish businesses around Araceli to create jobs in the region.
She proposed to all those who chose to become shareholders of these businesses,
to freely give one third of the profits for capital reinvestment. The remaining
two thirds would be allocated to those in need and for the development
of structures for the formation of people in the values of the “culture
of giving”. Businesses in the Pilot City of Araceli now include: La Tunica
- a clothing business; Rotogine – a plastic manufacturing industry; Ecoar
– production of detergents for hospital and industrial use; Shalom – an
accounting firm; Granja Piu Piu – a pig farm; Escola Aurora – a kindergarten
and primary school; Betio Maquinas – an engineering business; Policlinica
Agapa – a medical clinic.
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Economic
Principles
Those involved in the Economy
of Communion are inspired by the principles of a culture which is different
from the prevailing theory and practice of economics. This “culture” can
be defined as the “culture of giving” which is the antithesis of a “culture
of having”. “Giving” is based on an anthropological concept which is neither
individualistic nor collective, but one of communion. In this context giving,
is neither a form of philanthropy nor a way of distributing welfare benefits,
neither a way of seeking individual reward or dominance. It involves respect
for human dignity and has the capacity to generate, even in the business
arena, the Gospel experience of ?Give and it will be given to you”.
Entrepreneurs who adhere
to the Economy of Communion show that there is an alternative to the prevailing
methods of doing business in a market economy. EOC businesses do not pretend
to be a new form of business but through their way of conducting their
business, they renew the customary types of businesses from within. In
the EOC, the profits have to be produced through strict adherence to the
law and through respecting the rights of the workers, of the consumers,
of competitive industries, of the community and of the environment. This
produces extremely positive interpersonal relationships both internally
between employers and employees and externally between the business and
its customers. Often the return comes in the form of an unexpected income,
of the discovery of a new technique or the development of a successful
marketing idea.
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The
Religious Foundation: The Christian Gospel as a Guideline
The Focolare movement came
into being in 1943 when Chiara Lubich (23) and her friends started trying
to live the Christian Gospel. The foundress was an elementary school teacher
and always had a special interest in philosophy, but some words of the
Gospels particularly drew their attention: “Love one another as I have
loved you” (John 13:34), “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I
am there in their midst” (Matthew 18:20). The experience of unity in the
group was able to transform differences into mutual enrichment. “May they
all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you; may they also be
one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21).
This sentence became the program of their life.
The group was often referred
to as the Focolare, the Italian term for the hearth or family fireside.
Beginning in 1949, summer gatherings became central meeting points of the
growing movement as well as a training ground for a new way of life based
on the law of mutual love. Some meetings changed into a more permanent
status. The first Focolare mini city was founded in 1964 at Loppiano, near
Florence, Italy. The world wide Focolare movement now numbers about two
million friends and adherents in over 180 nations.
The core conviction of the
movement resides in a new orientation and style of life drawn from Christian
principles but also recognising similar values present in other religions
or cultures. At first the spirituality of unity spread within the Catholic
Church. Beginning in 1958 Christians of other traditions joined the Focolare.
Members of the world's religions as well as persons of no religious affiliation
also participate in the life of the movement in varying degrees.
In order to strengthen mutual
knowledge, the Movement organises seminars for its members on ecumenism,
inter-religious dialogue and dialogue with those of other convictions.
For several decades the Focolare Movement has been involved in inter-religious
dialogue and has always held close ties with the World Conference on Religion
and Peace. In 1981, for example, Chiara Lubich was invited to Japan by
Rev. Nikkyo Niwano, to share her Christian experience with over 10,000
members of the Buddhist lay movement Rissho Kosei-kai. Honouring the movement,
Chiara Lubich received many prizes, including the Templeton Prize for Progress
in Religion (1977), the Augsburg Peace Prize to honour accomplishments
in inter-denominational dialogue (1988) and the UNESCO Prize for Peace
Education (1996).
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Growing
Attention of Economists for EOC Businesses World-wide
EOC businesses have mainly
been started in Latin America and Europe, and some existing businesses
redirected their policies according to EOC principles.
In the past decade some
750 businesses in more than 30 countries joined the movement. Most are
small to medium businesses with a turnover of less than 20 million dollars
annually. In some parts of Europe and in South America the EOC businesses
have formed a network and co-operate in publishing promotional material.
More than 200 EOC businesses are in South America and 300 in Europe (150
in Italy, 50 in Germany). Some 100 are into agriculture, some 300 in the
service sector, and the rest in the manufacturing sector and industry.
In 1997, 23 German business people even established a Merchant Bank dedicated
to the development of EOC businesses in Eastern Europe, the Middle East
and other parts of the world.
The Economy of Communion
over these years has attracted the attention of economists who have organised
seminars and congresses in European, Latin American and Australian universities
to study the evolution of this new concept. The survival of EOC businesses
show that their underlying principles translate into methods which lead
to a reduction in business costs and improved economic performance. From
a secular viewpoint, EOC businesses are successful because of the unity
created. Every effort to invest in the quality of interpersonal relationships
results in increased creativity and improved capacity to develop innovative
systems and production techniques.
In the late 90s Chiara Lubich
challenged the scientific community to develop a scientific concept of
the Economy of Communion. Some foresee in the principle of “communion”
a contribution leading beyond the individualistic paradigm underlying the
prevailing economic theories, the negative impact of which is very evident
in social and political life. |
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