Ecclesial Movements and Communities: Origins, Significance, and Issues

People on the lookout for trends in the Catholic Church will be very happy to discover Brendan Leahy's "Ecclesial Movements and Communities." His overview of their rise and development over the last 50 years captures the unique qualities of Charismatic Renewal, Communion and Liberation, Cursillo, Focolare, L'Arche, Legion of Mary, the Neocatechumenal Way, Regnum Christi, Sant'Egidio, and others.

Leahy presents the movements as examples of the Church's charismatic dimension, a principle which Pope John Paul II described as 'co-essential' with the hierarchical-institutional dimension.