Pasquale Foresi (5 July 1929,

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

– 14 June 2015,

Rocca di Papa Rocca di Papa (Roman Castles Romanesco: ) is a small town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, Italy. It is one of the Castelli Romani about southeast of Rome on the Alban Hills. It is close to the other communes of Velletri ...

) was an Italian

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. He was connected to the

Focolare Movement The Focolare Movement is an international organization that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brotherhood. Founded in Trent, northern Italy, in 1943 by Chiara Lubich as a Catholic movement, it remains largely Roman Catholic but has st ...

co-founded by him,

Chiara Lubich Chiara Lubich (born Silvia Lubich; January 22, 1920, Trento – March 14, 2008, Rocca di Papa), was an Italian teacher and author who founded the Focolare Movement, which aims to bring unity among people and promote universal family. She was a c ...

and Igino Giordani. The Focolare Movement is an international organization that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brotherhood with other religious movements.

Biography

Foresi was born on July 5, 1929 in Livorno (Italy) and attended the seminary in Pistoia and the

Almo Collegio Capranica The Almo Collegio Capranica is the oldest Roman college, founded in 1457 by Cardinal Domenico Capranica (1400–1458) in his own palace for thirty young clerics, who received an education suitable to prepare them for the priesthood. History ...

."Pasquale Foresi", Focolare
/ref> He interrupted his studies for a while because of doubts and a crisis of faith. In December 1949 he met

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and immediately became interested in the Focolare Movement. “... absolute faith in the Catholic Church and at the same time a radical evangelical life, that I understood what my true place was and quickly the idea of priesthood reappeared”. He finished his studies and was ordained as a catholic priest on April 4, 1954. Father Foresi played an important role in shaping the spiritual, theological and cultural expression of the Focolare Movement. He became, with Lubich, the group's first co-president. Foresi was in charge of relations with the Holy See, and assisted Lubich in drafting the statutes of the movement. He was instrumental in setting up the “Mariapolis Centres” that provide courses for the members, and also wrote a number of articles on the spiritual and social dimension of the theology of the Focolare Movement. In his late years, Father Foresi lived at the Focolare headquarters in

; he died on June 14, 2014."Don Pasquale Foresi", Santi e Beati, June 23, 2015
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foresi, Pasquale 1929 births 2015 deaths People from Trento Founders of Catholic religious communities 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Italian human rights activists

Biography

See also

References