Dr. Judith Marie Povilus

“Peace is a fruit of love, it is about people striving to live in harmony with God, with fellow human beings, and with creation. Francis of Assisi’s prayer: ‘Lord make me an instrument of your peace’ has been a light in my life.”

Judith Marie Povilus is emeritus professor of logic and foundations of mathematics and former vice-president of the Sophia University Institute near Florence, Italy, which she helped to establish in 2008. Sophia is a new experiment in higher level education based on principles of mutual comprehension and aimed at imparting wisdom along with knowledge, where students from across the globe not only earn a masters degree or doctorate in political science, economics, theology or “culture of unity”, but at the same time practice and experience how to build relations of mutual trust for a future world of peace.

Judith was born in Chicago and earned her masters degree in mathematics from the University of Illinois but, apart from a 10 year commitment in Japan, has spent most of her life in Italy, where she became the first woman to receive a doctorate in theology from the Lateran University in Rome. She has been an dedicated member of the Focolare Movement for the past 50 years, working closely with its foundress, Chiara Lubich, and establishing profound ties with leaders and academics of religious communities of Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Jews. The Focolare Movement aims at building a more united world, following the inspiration of Jesus’ prayer to the Father ‘May they all be one’ (Jn 17:21). It focuses on dialogue as a method, respecting and valuing diversity, with a commitment to building bridges and relationships of fraternity among individuals, peoples and cultural worlds.