Communion and Liberation is an ecclesial lay movement in the Catholic Church which has the purposed of forming its members in Christianity in order to make them coworkers in the Church's mission in all areas of society.
CL began in 1954 in Italy, at the Berchet classical high school in Milan, when Servant of God, Father Luigi Giussani (1922-2005) started an initiative of Christian presence which uses the pre-existent name Gioventù Studentesca (GS. English: Student Youth)
Its current name, Communion & Liberation (CL), appeared for the first time in 1969. This name brings together the conviction that the Christian event, lived in communion, is the foundation of man's authentic liberation.
As Benedict XVI declared, Communion and Liberation "today...offers a profound way of life and actualizes the Christian faith, both in total fidelity and communion with the Successor of Peter and with the Pastors who assure the governing of the Church, and through spontaneity and freedom that permit new and prophetic, apostolic and missionary achievements" (Address to CL, March 24, 2007)