Dialogue and Unity

Dialogue and Unity Networking the Ecumenical

Elisabeth Hachmoeller is from Lower Saxony in Germany but has lived outside Germany longer than she lived there. She is a member of the Focolare, a movement founded by Chiara Lubich in 1943 in war torn Italy focusing on faith, peace, and unity. The Focolare is recognised by the Vatican under the Official name of the ‘Works of Mary’. It operates in 180 nations and has over 140,000 members but the Vatican estimates that 4.5 million people are actively associated with his work. Elisabeth and one of her brothers were quite disaffected by the Church in their teens but met the Focolare and were renewed and enriched in their faith joining as full members. A family affair now, Elisabeth’s brother lives in a Focolare House in Munich, her late parents were also very active members. The word ‘Focolare’ is Italian for ‘hearth’ or ‘family fireside.’ Firmly ecumenical Elisabeth is the ideal person to juggle the complex network of initiatives, people and organisations that relate to Churches Together in the Merseyside Region (CTMR) the interchurch body covering most of the archdiocese, but we also have Churches Alive in Man, Churches Together in Lancashire and Greater Manchester Churches Together. Elisabeth has a degree in theology from the University of Muenster which came as a surprise when she moved to the Focolare House in Glasgow as she was better qualified than many of the priests who worked with her in the Pastoral Department of Motherwell Diocese (she had also lived in Italy and Switzerland and the exotic climes of Welwyn Garden City where the Focolare have a Conference Centre). Elisabeth has worked for CTMR since 2005 and in her current role as Ecumenical Coordinator since 2015. She relishes the work and speaks warmly of her privilege in being Secretary to the Church Leaders Group and of their commitment to collaboration and honest sharing – she spoke of Bishop Paul Bayes who was a pastoral caring person and a valued member of the group. Elisabeth was instrumental in establishing the CTMR 18-30 Group which brings together a broad spectrum of young people from different denominations and has been given national coverage by Churches Together in England. Elisabeth made a presentation to Catholic and Anglican Bishops meeting in Liverpool earlier in the year. Elisabeth is a great networker sharing insights and ideas with colleagues in bodies like CTMR notably in the Northwest, the Ecumenical Officers, Safeguarding Officers, and Trustees. Current agenda items include emergency planning, publicity for Christian fringe events at the Labour party conference and meeting the priest of the Indian Orthodox Church in Liverpool. An important task is the Bulletin which is emailed to 800 people about once a month and a larger version is also sent by email and snail mail to 965 people once a year. Elisabeth lives in the Women’s Focolare House in Roby, where they are renowned for their hospitality, and has various tasks and roles as a member of the Focolare one of which she relishes using her bilingual skills (although she now thinks in English) is to translate for meetings of the Focolare Network of supporting Bishops including Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran. Not only does she work parttime for CTMR but also works in another ecumenical context for one day a week at Liverpool Hope University at Hope Park, Childwall in the International Department. A big task for Elisabeth in the coming months is sorting out the office at the Friends Meeting House in the City Centre and moving to the St Margaret Clitherow Centre – there are a lot of files for what is after all the area of the UK most famous for being ‘Better Together’.