Students, young entrepreneurs invited to Economy of Communion summer school

Criterion staff report

The Economy of Communion (EoC) is a network of business owners around the world formed about 25 years ago by Focolare, a lay movement within the Church.

While most EoC companies are for-profit, their members use a portion of their profits to increase a sense of communion among all people. They do this by aiding people in need and helping entrepreneurs, often in developing nations, start their own businesses guided by EoC principles.

Pope Benedict XVI praised the EoC business model in his 2009 encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate” (“Love in Truth”). Pope Francis met with EoC members from around the world earlier this year.

During his meeting with them, Pope Francis said, “Economy and communion. These are two words that contemporary culture keeps separate and often considers opposites.

“By introducing into the economy the good seed of communion, you have begun a profound change in the way of seeing and living business. Business is not only capable of destroying communion among people, but can edify it and promote it.”

Two businesses in Indianapolis are members of the EoC: Mundell and Associates, an environmental consulting firm, and JL Funk & Associates, a leadership and organizational development consulting firm.

Students or young entrepreneurs, ages 19-35, are invited to learn more about the EoC during a summer school it is sponsoring from June 20-23 at Mariapolis Luminosa, a Focolare center in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Helping to lead the summer school will be John Mundell, chief executive officer of Mundell and Associates and a member of St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis, and Jim Funk of JL Funk & Associates and a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Indianapolis.

Topics to be explored during the summer school include building purpose-driven enterprises, social entrepreneurship, business planning, leadership skill building and fostering a culture of giving and communion.

Registration is available online and must be completed by May 30. For more information about the EoC and its summer school in June, visit https://eocnoam.org/eoc-meeting-2017-invitation. †