PRIEST AND WORKER: The Autobiography of Henri Perrin

by Bernard- Trans. Wall ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 29, 1964

The priest-worker movement in post-war France endeavored--in the most practical ways--to bridge the gap between an isolated traditional church and the rising masses of labor. Until 1954 when Rome outlawed the movement, the priests, led by Henri Perrin, worked in the factories, joined the labor unions, and despite the oft-repeated label of ""Communist,"" strove only to bring the Catholic teachings into the people's reality. Father Perrin took his spiritual beliefs in the factories with him, and through all the opposition--from Rome and from industry itself--transferred a missionary's zeal into a worker's habit. His autobiography, compiled by friends after his accidental death in 1954, from his letters, diaries and writings, chronicles his own story along with that of the movement. His aims and ideals are clear, his own life's goal, less so; for just before his death he wrote, but did not mail, a letter asking to be laicized from the priesthood. He had, by the end, changed from a priest-worker into a worker-priest--and the reasons for the change are somewhere in his autobiography. A fine personal document and an interesting perspective on an important contemporary movement that may yet have more influence than is suspected.

Pub Date: June 29, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1964

Categories: NONFICTION