The Catholic lay Focolare movement will soon have its first beatified member. Chiara Badano, who died just 20 years ago while still a teenager, will be beatified Sept. 25. Bishop Pier Giorgio Micchiardi of Acqui, Italy, announced Friday the beatification, which will take place in Rome. Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, will preside over the ceremony.
Young people of the Focolare movement will that evening celebrate Badano’s beatification in Paul VI Hall. The next day, Sept. 26, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope’s secretary of state, will preside over a thanksgiving Mass in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Chiara Badano was born Oct. 29, 1971, to parents who had been awaiting a child for 11 years.
She first came in contact with the Focolare movement when she was nine. She and her parents attended a Focolare family festival in Rome, and the event made a decisive impact on all three. Badano became extremely active in the Focolares’ Gen Movement (New Generation). She liked sports, dancing and singing. At age 16, she decided to consecrate herself to God.
Just a year later, while playing tennis, Badano experienced sharp pain. Doctors soon discovered bone cancer. As the disease progressed, Badano faced repeated hospitalizations and increasing pain. She often repeated, “For you, Jesus. If you wish it, so do I!” Soon Badano had to endure one of her harshest trials: She lost the use of her legs. However, she confided to one of her friends: “If I had to choose between walking and going to Paradise, I’d have no doubt, I would choose Paradise. Now I’m only interested in that.”
ROME, MARCH 22, 2010 (Zenit.org)