The Catholic Avant-Garde; French Catholicism Since World War II
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967. First edition. Octavo, original white cloth, original dust jacket. Fine. Item #1188
"THE READER SHOULD NOT LOOK FOR THE WAR SONGS OF ONE GROUP OF CHRISTIANS WHICH WANTS TO TRIUMPH OVER OTHERS, BUT FOR A STORY OF FAITH ADVANCING THROUGH HISTORY"
First edition of this fine introduction to the "key documents of the French Catholic Revival."" Commonly regarded as the "Eldest Daughter of the Church" the Catholics of France "have been the pioneers of almost every important intellectual and social movement in the contemporary Catholic Church." Published at the close of the Second Vatican Council, the editors present a comprehensive collection of extended statements on the issues of the day. The book consists of seven sections: I. Christianity and the Modern World, II. A Mission Country, III. Toward a Christian Realism, IV. The Church Apostolic, V. The Secular City, VI. The Struggle Against Colonialism, VII. World Violence and World Peace. The editors, in their short Introduction, claim "the texts we cite show that the Christian renaissance in France involves both praise of God and brotherly service, contemplation and action, responsibility for present time and hope in the end of time—which is also the ultimate renaissance" ("Jean-Marie Domenach / Robert de Montalvon / August 1966"). The conclusion ("A New Christianity") describes the French Church as moving away from "the notion of Christendom as an alliance of the land, the parish priest, and conservative political power" to a renewal of "the bond between the Church and the poor." With a pre-publication blurb by Michael Novak (on the rear panel of the dust jacket) describing "the underground revolution which prepared the way for Vatican II...and built the aggiornamento." Designed by Ernest Reichl with dust jacket design by Rudolph de Harak.
Price: $50.00