During her trip to Jerusalem in 1956, Chiara Lubich had the opportunity to visit the Roman staircase at the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, which a tradition links to the moment after the Last Supper when Jesus prayed to the Father “may they all be one” (Jn 17:21). Chiara expressed a desire to one day build a center nearby.
In the 1980’s, the Assumptionist Fathers (Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption), owners of the St. Peter in Gallicantu site, were interested in selling part of their land.
In 1989 the Holy See gave the consent for the purchase of the parcel (8,918 sq. m). In November 2003, the signing of the agreement for the definitive transfer of land to the Focolare took place.
The building project was approved in 2016.
The International Center for Unity and Peace is planned as a multi-purpose structure suitable for hosting various local and international events and initiatives. An essential and important part of the project is the surrounding open space where rest areas will alternate with green zones, thus facilitating socializing and interactive activities.
The objectives of the project are:
- to create a space for meetings and prayer among Christians of various Churches;
- to promote respect, tolerance and the capacity to live together by furthering mutual knowledge and dialogue among the faithful of varying religions;
- to offer a space for study and research in the intercultural, ecumenical and interreligious fields;
- to offer exchange meetings, courses of formation and volunteer activities on international and local levels for young adults and teenagers; to provide for Christian youth opportunities for vocational discernment;
- to offer meetings and formation courses in the field of peace education;
- to create intercultural pathways for pilgrims and visitors to the Holy Land so as to develop a culture of dialogue through knowledge of art and of the holy sites;
- to offer a message of fraternity and peace also to the occasional local visitors and to the inhabitants of the surrounding area.
See https://icupj.org/ for more information.