Founder of Catholic movement works for unity in America

With roots in Latin America, group now promotes
evangelization in northern Colorado

Denver Catholic Register, vol. LXXV, No. 45 - November 17, 1999

Luis Fernando Figari, founder of different lay associations, spoke recently with the Denver Catholic Register about his efforts to promote the new evangelization in America. Figari, a consecrated Peruvian layman, founded the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae that was approved by the Holy Father as a Society of Apostolic Life on July 8,1997. It includes priests and consecrated laymen. In 1985 he founded the Christian Life Movement, that received pontifical approval in 1994. Its more than 20,000 members are in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Italy. In 1991, Figari founded the Marian Community of Reconciliation, an association of consecrated lay women dedicated to apostolate with youth, the poor and to the evangelization of culture. It is active in the United States (Denver), Colombia and Peru. Last year he founded the Servants of the Plan of God, an association of consecrated women very similar to a religious order dedicated to work with the sick, the abandoned, the poor and the elderly. He recently published a book of prayers to Mary entitled, "With Mary in Prayer."

Register: Describe what role the Catholic faith has played in your life.

Figari: I believe that faith is a blessing one can never value enough. It surely changes one's life. At the same time, faith offers wonderful horizons of communion with God, with your inner self, with our brothers and sisters, and -in all that- it shows the possibility of true self-fulfillment. That is my personal experience and it is what I have seen in other people that strive for perfection in charity in everyday life.

Was there a moment of conversion?

I am a cradle Catholic. Nevertheless, I would say that in my life there's been more than one moment of experiencing a strong increase in nearness to God and a special conscience of what God's plans are for me. I may add that it seems to me that conversion is an ongoing process along one's whole life. Even though there are special occasions for a deeper conversion, I experience each day as an opportunity to get closer to God, to increase my love, and to act according to His divine plan.

How can Catholics in the United States work more closely with their brothers and sisters in Latin America?

We all share a common faith. So I think we must be quite conscious of what that sharing really means. I think a primary goal for us all is to know our different specific histories as members of the Church. To be open to each other's history and experience of faith might be a very engaging challenge. I think that Pope John Paul's visit to Mexico and the United States offers an occasion to deepen that understanding. To be conscious of what solidarity means in terms of effective communion is a good starting point. No one can deny there is a gap between North and South, and each one can help to shorten it. Each one can find effective means to express one's own commitment, sharing in different ways in the spirit of love that builds strong spiritual and concrete Christian bonds. What follows, then, is to act in that direction.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Catholic Church in Latin America?

Latin America is a fruit of evangelization. Even nowadays, it can easily be seen that the deep Latin American identity is rooted in the first evangelization that began more than 500 years ago with the arrival of Spanish and Portuguese missionaries and settlers. Since then, society culture, Catholic popular piety and traditions remain a backbone in the identity of Latin American people. That's why the Pope could recently say from the Aztec Stadium in Mexico: "America, land of Christ and Mary!" Nevertheless, it must be said that the Church in the South is now suffering from a wave of secularization, the increasing presence of anti-Catholic groups, and from the threat of new ideologies. Some countries more than others are affected. There is also the challenge to answer poverty from a perspective of reconciliation which embraces charity and justice. All these make very real a necessary commitment to a New Evangelization.

What role does devotion to the Blessed Mother play in your spiritual life?

It's a very important one. It would be very difficult for me to understand myself as a Christian without my filial love for Blessed Mary. We have conscience that Holy Mary is our mother because Lord Jesus Himself told us so, while addressing John, as He was hanging on the Cross. Her spiritual motherhood has a special significance to all who really want to follow Christ. Our filial love to Her is a way to personally answer the Lord's last will: Behold, your Mother! So it is Christ who leads us to Mary. As we lovingly reach towards her, we discover that in her whole life, as well as deep in her heart, everything leads us to a more intense and deep relationship with Jesus, Our Lord. Answering to that Marian dimension of our faith surely helps us a lot to live a richer Christian life.

What inspired the book of prayers you have written?

First of all, I must answer the Holy Spirit. I firmly believe that it is He who inspires us to pray. The apostle Paul taught that quite clearly. Looking at the process of how "With Mary in Prayer" came to be, I must say that it was an answer to a request of members of the Christian Life Movement. At first, I remained undecided before such a request. Because, I thought, when you are praying, you are just doing that. But, after asking Mary to intercede so I could write down what I prayed for in my heart, I just began doing so. That only happened in certain moments of prayer. It has been a very special experience to share those prayers in the hope that the men and women who pray with them might increase their filial love to Mary as a way to get closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.