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The Life of Luigi Giussani |
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A detailed account of the life and legacy of the founder of the Communion and Liberation movement.
Monsignor Luigi Giussani (1922-2005) was the founder of the Catholic lay movement Communion and Liberation in Italy, which has hundreds of thousands of adherents around the globe. In The Life of Luigi Giussani Alberto Savorana, who spent an important part of his life working and studying with Giussani, draws on many unpublished documents to recount who the priest was and how he lived. Giussani’s life story is particularly significant because it shares many of the same challenges, risks, and paths toward enlightenment that are described in his numerous and influential publications.
Savorana demonstrates that the circumstances Giussani experienced and the people he encountered played a crucial role in defining his vocation. Illuminating details are shared about Giussani’s parents, professors, and friends in the seminary, the things he read, his priesthood, his experience teaching, misunderstandings and moments of recognition, and illness. Luigi Giussani considered Christianity to be a fact, a real event in human life, which takes the form of an encounter, inviting anyone and everyone to verify its relevance to life’s needs. This is what happened for so many people all over the world who recognized in this priest and leader, with his rough and captivating voice, not only a teacher to learn from, but above all a man to compare oneself with - a companion for the journey who could be trusted to answer the question: how can we live?
In addition to providing the first chronological reconstruction of the life of the founder of Communion and Liberation, The Life of Luigi Giussani provides a detailed account of his legacy and what his life’s work meant to individual people and the Church.
Savorana demonstrates that the circumstances Giussani experienced and the people he encountered played a crucial role in defining his vocation. Illuminating details are shared about Giussani’s parents, professors, and friends in the seminary, the things he read, his priesthood, his experience teaching, misunderstandings and moments of recognition, and illness. Luigi Giussani considered Christianity to be a fact, a real event in human life, which takes the form of an encounter, inviting anyone and everyone to verify its relevance to life’s needs. This is what happened for so many people all over the world who recognized in this priest and leader, with his rough and captivating voice, not only a teacher to learn from, but above all a man to compare oneself with - a companion for the journey who could be trusted to answer the question: how can we live?
In addition to providing the first chronological reconstruction of the life of the founder of Communion and Liberation, The Life of Luigi Giussani provides a detailed account of his legacy and what his life’s work meant to individual people and the Church.
Details
1416 Pages, 6.25 x 9.25
60 b&w photos
ISBN 9780773551855
December 2017
Formats: Cloth, eBook
"This biography does not leave us as we were before we started reading; it probes us and is able to transform us." Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
"This is a book worth reading; not one page of it is boring. An illuminating life." Joseph H.H. Weiler, Joseph Straus Professor of Law, New York University
“Alberto Savorana has written a comprehensive, deeply researched, and insightful biography of Luigi Giussani.” Reading Religion
"This is a book worth reading; not one page of it is boring. An illuminating life." Joseph H.H. Weiler, Joseph Straus Professor of Law, New York University
“Alberto Savorana has written a comprehensive, deeply researched, and insightful biography of Luigi Giussani.” Reading Religion
Alberto Savorana is a journalist and author who currently oversees the press office, public relations, and publications program for Communion and Liberation.
Introduction • vii
PART ONE: 1922 -1964
1. Birth and Childhood (1922-1933) • 5
2. The Seminary (1933-1945) • 33
3. The Masters of the “School of Venegono” • 63
4. “Studium Christi” and Priestly Ordination (1939-1945) • 85
5. The Early Years of Priesthood and Illness (1945-1950) • 110
6. From the Confessional to Assistant to Student Youth (1950-1954) • 133
7. Starting to Teach in Berchet High School (1954) • 167
8. Montini, the Citizen Mission, and The Religious Sense (1957-1958) • 208
9. The Experience of GS: A Method Imposes Itself (1958-1962) • 240
10. The Adult Group: The Events Leading Up to It and Its Beginnings (1958-1975) • 267
11. The Beginning of the Mission in Brazil (1960-1964) • 280
12. Montini, Experience, the Council, and Giovanni Colombo (1963-1964) • 296
PART TWO: 1964-1986
13. From His Travels in America to the Beginning of the Crisis (1965-1967) • 355
14. Sixty-Eight • 392
15. The Birth of CL and the Early Seventies • 418
16. Friendship with the University Students (1970-1976) • 465
17. Spain: A Historical Excursus (1974-1985) • 493
18. Palm Sunday with Pope Paul VI (1975) • 514
19. The Late Seventies • 533
20 The Year of Three Popes (1978) • 574
21 The Birth of the Fraternity of CL and Its Pontifical Recognition (1980-1982) • 592
22 The Assassination Attempt on John Paul II and the Early Eighties • 607
23 CL’s Thirtieth Anniversary and the Pope’s Missionary Mandate (1984) • 650
24 The Late Eighties • 677
PART THREE: 1986 -2005
25. Trips to the Holy Land, Japan, and Greece (1986-1987) • 719
26. The Synod on the Laity and the Tenth Anniversary of John Paul II (1987-1988) • 748
27. Pontifical Recognition of the Memores Domini and the Fraternity of Saint Joseph (1988-1990) • 782
28. The War in Iraq and the Pilgrimage to Lourdes (1991-1992) • 813
29. The Books of the Christian Spirit, Justice, and the Historicity of the Gospels (1993-1994) • 859
30. The Movement’s Fortieth Anniversary and the University Students (1994) • 897
31. Responsibility and Italy in Danger (1995-1996) • 923
32. Illness and “God All in All” (1996-1997) • 965
33. Spirto Gentil, The Religious Sense at the UN, and Modern Rationalism (1997-1998) • 990
34. 30 May with John Paul II and the Work (1998-1999) • 1012
35. The “Christian Claim” and the Jubilee of the Year 2000 (1999-2000) • 1037
36. Ground Zero and Giussani’s Eightieth Birthday (2001-2002) • 1072
37. The Space Shuttle and Nasiriyah (2003) • 1095
38. The Last Letter to the Pope and CL’s Fiftieth Anniversary (2004) • 1117
39. The Death of Giussani and the Funeral (2005) • 1145
Epilogue • 1175
Historical Note • 1183
Endnotes • 1191
Index of Names • 1375
PART ONE: 1922 -1964
1. Birth and Childhood (1922-1933) • 5
2. The Seminary (1933-1945) • 33
3. The Masters of the “School of Venegono” • 63
4. “Studium Christi” and Priestly Ordination (1939-1945) • 85
5. The Early Years of Priesthood and Illness (1945-1950) • 110
6. From the Confessional to Assistant to Student Youth (1950-1954) • 133
7. Starting to Teach in Berchet High School (1954) • 167
8. Montini, the Citizen Mission, and The Religious Sense (1957-1958) • 208
9. The Experience of GS: A Method Imposes Itself (1958-1962) • 240
10. The Adult Group: The Events Leading Up to It and Its Beginnings (1958-1975) • 267
11. The Beginning of the Mission in Brazil (1960-1964) • 280
12. Montini, Experience, the Council, and Giovanni Colombo (1963-1964) • 296
PART TWO: 1964-1986
13. From His Travels in America to the Beginning of the Crisis (1965-1967) • 355
14. Sixty-Eight • 392
15. The Birth of CL and the Early Seventies • 418
16. Friendship with the University Students (1970-1976) • 465
17. Spain: A Historical Excursus (1974-1985) • 493
18. Palm Sunday with Pope Paul VI (1975) • 514
19. The Late Seventies • 533
20 The Year of Three Popes (1978) • 574
21 The Birth of the Fraternity of CL and Its Pontifical Recognition (1980-1982) • 592
22 The Assassination Attempt on John Paul II and the Early Eighties • 607
23 CL’s Thirtieth Anniversary and the Pope’s Missionary Mandate (1984) • 650
24 The Late Eighties • 677
PART THREE: 1986 -2005
25. Trips to the Holy Land, Japan, and Greece (1986-1987) • 719
26. The Synod on the Laity and the Tenth Anniversary of John Paul II (1987-1988) • 748
27. Pontifical Recognition of the Memores Domini and the Fraternity of Saint Joseph (1988-1990) • 782
28. The War in Iraq and the Pilgrimage to Lourdes (1991-1992) • 813
29. The Books of the Christian Spirit, Justice, and the Historicity of the Gospels (1993-1994) • 859
30. The Movement’s Fortieth Anniversary and the University Students (1994) • 897
31. Responsibility and Italy in Danger (1995-1996) • 923
32. Illness and “God All in All” (1996-1997) • 965
33. Spirto Gentil, The Religious Sense at the UN, and Modern Rationalism (1997-1998) • 990
34. 30 May with John Paul II and the Work (1998-1999) • 1012
35. The “Christian Claim” and the Jubilee of the Year 2000 (1999-2000) • 1037
36. Ground Zero and Giussani’s Eightieth Birthday (2001-2002) • 1072
37. The Space Shuttle and Nasiriyah (2003) • 1095
38. The Last Letter to the Pope and CL’s Fiftieth Anniversary (2004) • 1117
39. The Death of Giussani and the Funeral (2005) • 1145
Epilogue • 1175
Historical Note • 1183
Endnotes • 1191
Index of Names • 1375
