Chiara Lubich, from Trento to the world

The exhibition “Chiara Lubich, city, world”, which we - the Fondazione Museo storico del Trentino – have organised together with the Centro Chiara Lubich, offers a great opportunity. In fact, we have the chance to contribute – as an institution dedicated to history can do – to an adequate divulgation of the life, the action and the thought of this extraordinary Trentine woman.

The centenary of her birth, which will see the presence of many people from all over the world in Trento and in Trentino (and especially in Primiero), gives also to our community the opportunity to relate in a new way to this figure. It will give first and foremost a chance to know her, to arouse curiosity, to question ourselves. It is no coincidence that the exhibition draws the attention, starting from its title, to a “city” which necessarily opens up to the “world”. And this is a complex relationship, constantly in the making, historically determined by the concrete experience of living through the XX century; but it is also open to reflection, to words, to an action which becomes ever more a collective and a community action. Ready for dialogue, for discussion, for sharing.

What did Trento and Trentino represent for Chiara Lubich? We will discover that by going through her biography, starting from her origins, from her education, from her activity as an elementary school teacher. On the background, Trento in the aftermath of WWI: a city still marked by the devastating wounds of the first global conflict, the years of Fascism with its forceful propaganda and creation of consensus. Then, the war again: with the bombings, the deprivation, the continuos effort to cherish hope. But there are also the mountains, the extraordinary landscapes, the values of solidarity and cooperation which characterise the Trentine people.

What did (and most of all can) Chiara Lubich represent for Trento and Trentino? A lot, for sure; as it is for many other communities, many other “cities” which make up our world. But, more specifically, her role is connected with and is an expression of a specific territorial vocation, and of a particular location of “border land”. Reflecting upon her figure, knowing her, is thus a further increase of awareness: placing here adequately in our history is a way to tackle the challenges which are ahead of us.

Giorgio Postal

President of the Fondazione Museo storico del Trentino