The Pact: The Spiritual Friendship Between Chiara Lubich and Iman W.D. Mohammed

Roberto Catalano witnessed the birth and evolution of a religious, cultural, and ethnic encounter between a seemingly unlikely pair of leaders: one Christian and the other Muslim. In The Pact, he recounts their respective histories, which have captured the hearts and minds of millions worldwide who love and respect these two remarkable figures: Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, and Imam W. Deen Mohammed, who for thirty-three years led the Muslim American community.

Roberto Catalano has an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Turin, and a doctorate in Theology of Religions at the Pontifical Urban University, Rome. From 1980 to 2009, he taught Italian language at the Italian Cultural Institute at New Delhi and directed the cultural office of the Italian Consulate in Mumbai. From 2008 to 2021 he was co-director of the Focolare Movement’s Center for Interreligious Dialogue in Rome. Since 2013 he has taught courses on dialogue at Sophia University Institute (Loppiano-Florence), where he is now Professor of Theory and Ethics.