CHRISTIAN PRESENCE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

The Catholic Church in France traditionally has been at least two decades ahead of the other national churches not only in theological speculation but also in experiencing, and resolving, the problems of the Church in the modern world. Many of the questions posed at Vatican II, in fact, had been recognized and answered in France in the 1940's and 1990's. An example is the subject of this book: the function of the Christian community at the local, i.e., neighborhood, level. Talec, a member of the famous Community of St. Severin draws on his experience to answer such questions as: What is the Christian community's missionary role in the neighborhood? How does one establish contact with modern man as an individual? What is the worth of traditional Catholic institutions at the parish level? His answers are brief, relevant, often eye-opening comments and observations and the new Christianity itself and on its worth in the twentieth-century system of human values. To an American Christian, the book reads like a record of the parish of the future. If approached from that angle, Christian Presence in the Neighborhood will be an invaluable vade mecum for those engaged in pastoral work particularly in urban areas.