Margaret Karram was re-elected President of the International Focolare Movement for a second five-year term (2026–2031) during the General Assembly on March 12. Argentine priest Roberto Almada was elected as the new Co-President, succeeding Jesús Morán. Karram accepted the re-election, renewing her commitment to serve the Church, the Movement, and humanity. The elections were confirmed by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, the competent authority of the Holy See. Karram, a Christian Arab born in Haifa, Israel, is the third president of the Focolare Movement, following founder Chiara Lubich.
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Margaret Karram was re-elected President of the Focolare Movement for a second five-year term (2026–2031) during the General Assembly on March 12, receiving more than two-thirds of votes from 261 participants representing communities worldwide.1
Fr. Roberto Almada was elected as the new Co-President, also with a two-thirds majority, succeeding Jesús Morán whose term ended per Vatican decree.1
Born a Christian Arab in Haifa, Israel, Karram grew up in a multireligious setting and has dedicated her life to interreligious and intercultural dialogue.1
She previously served at the Italian Consulate in Jerusalem, studied Judaism in Los Angeles, and received awards like the Mount Zion Prize (2013) and Santa Rita Prize (2016); she succeeded Maria Voce in 2021 after Chiara Lubich.1
Argentine priest Roberto Almada, a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and philosophy doctorate holder, has focused on family ministry via the New Families Movement and spiritual accompaniment in Latin America.1
He promoted the School of Logotherapy in Uruguay and Paraguay and worked with institutions like Sophia University Institute.1
The assembly, running March 1–21, will elect General Councillors and discuss statute amendments; elections were confirmed by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.1
Participants will meet Pope Leo XIV in a private audience on March 21.1
Focolare Movement leadership reflects Catholic laity’s evolving role
The Focolare Movement, also known as the Work of Mary, exemplifies the Catholic Church's vision for the active participation of the laity in her mission, as articulated in Christifideles Laici and reinforced by papal messages. Its leadership—marked by lay figures, including a female president—reflects the post-Vatican II call for lay faithful to labor in the Lord's vineyard, fostering unity, dialogue, and evangelization while remaining under pastoral guidance.
Christifideles Laici, issued by Pope John Paul II following the 1987 Synod on the laity, draws from the Gospel parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Mt 20:1-16) to underscore the universal vocation of the baptized. The document portrays the lay faithful as essential workers transforming the world—"the whole world" as the vineyard—into the Kingdom of God. This invitation is urgent: "You go into my vineyard too", repeated to counter idleness amid contemporary crises.
The exhortation emphasizes that through Baptism, laity share in Christ's priestly, prophetic, and kingly mission, distinct yet complementary to the ordained ministry. Pope John Paul II highlights the Holy Spirit's renewal post-Vatican II, evident in lay collaboration with clergy, liturgical participation, catechesis, and the rise of movements like Focolare. This "new manner of active collaboration" addresses a "new state of affairs" in Church and society, demanding lay conscientiousness.
Papal addresses consistently affirm Focolare as a lay-initiated ecclesial movement, born from Chiara Lubich's consecration on December 7, 1943, in Trent, amid World War II. John Paul II, marking its 60th anniversary in 2003, praised it as aligned with Vatican II and Paul VI's Ecclesiam Suam, making members "apostles of dialogue"—intra-Church, ecumenical, interreligious, and with non-believers. He described new movements like Focolare as a "precious gift for the Church", called to prophetic action "under the guidance of the Pastors" for the People's edification.
Pope Francis, in 2023 for the 80th anniversary, echoed this, greeting lay president Dr. Margaret Karram and co-president Fr. Jesús Morán. He lauded Focolare's spread of Gospel unity—"harmonic unity"—across youth, families, consecrated life, and sectors like economy, culture, and media, yielding "conversions, vocations, lives given to Christ". Both popes link Focolare to new evangelization, especially in a secularizing Europe risking a "world without a soul".
Christifideles Laici details lay integration into ecclesial life, particularly parishes as "village fountains" for communion amid dehumanization. Lay activity is "so necessary that without it the apostolate of the Pastors is generally unable to achieve its full effectiveness", rooted in Baptism and Confirmation. Pastors may entrust roles like Word ministry or liturgical presidency in necessity, per Canon Law, but without equating to Orders—"a person is not a minister simply in performing a task, but through sacramental ordination".
The Synod critiqued risks: overusing "ministry," clericalizing laity, or parallel structures. Instead, laity's "specific lay vocation" targets temporal spheres—politics, family, work—while avoiding abusive "supply by necessity." Focolare's structure embodies this: lay-led (Lubich was lay; current president Karram is lay woman), with clerical co-president, promoting unity without supplanting hierarchy. John Paul II urged bishops to "discern, welcome and promote" such charisms in harmony with the Magisterium.
Women’s fuller participation is noted positively in Christifideles Laici's introduction, amid ministries and movements. Focolare's female leadership advances this, mirroring Synod auditors' contributions.
Focolare's leadership evolution—from Lubich's founding "yes" to Karram's presidency—mirrors the Synod's fruits: lay faithful as protagonists in communion and mission. It operationalizes "ecclesiology of communion", with laity fostering parish zeal, evangelizing lapsed faithful, and dialoguing amid social upheavals. Projects like "economy of communion" and ecumenical initiatives extend lay apostolate to society, per Evangelii Nuntiandi cited in the document.
This reflects post-conciliar growth: from Vatican II's lay summons to Synod's verification of Holy Spirit-inspired movements. Yet, guidelines persist—laity exercise roles "in conformity to their specific lay vocation", under authority. Focolare complies, as popes note its pastoral integration.
No sources indicate controversy; rather, unanimous papal encouragement, with higher authority (magisterial exhortation, papal messages) prioritizing lay dynamism guided by Orders.
The Focolare Movement's lay leadership, culminating in figures like Margaret Karram, vividly illustrates Christifideles Laici's vision: laity as vineyard laborers, apostles of unity, enriching the Church without clericalization. Papal affirmations confirm its fidelity, urging all faithful to heed Christ's call for mission in today's world. This evolving role demands ongoing discernment to preserve distinction and communion.