Chapters in this book

1. Front Matter i
2. Contents v
3. Introduction vii
4. 1922–1964
5. “A father and mother give themselves to their child” Birth and Childhood (1922–1933) 5
6. “The beautiful day” The Seminary (1933–1945) 33
7. “If I hadn’t met Gaetano Corti, Giovanni Colombo …” The Masters of the “School of Venegono” 63
8. “Something otherworldly in this world” “Studium Christi” and Priestly Ordination (1939–1945) 85
9. “The circumstances: signs of the task God has entrusted to our life” The Early Years of Priesthood and Illness (1945–1950) 110
10. “My dearest first friend from Milan” From the Confessional to Assistant to Student Youth (1950–1954) 133
11. “Climbing those steps …” Starting to Teach in Berchet High School (1954) 167
12. “If Christ embraced it, life has an immense value” Montini, the Citizen Mission, and The Religious Sense (1957–1958) 208
13. “A movement, not an association” The Experience of GS: A Method Imposes Itself (1958–1962) 240
14. “My life consisted in that call” The Adult Group: The Events Leading Up to It and Its Beginnings A Historical Excursus (1958–1975) 267
15. “The ship to Macapá” The Beginning of the Mission in Brazil (1960–1964) 280
16. “The mystery of the Church, a lived fact” Montini, Experience, the Council, and Giovanni Colombo (1963–1964) 296
17. 1964–1986
18. “When Christ is forgotten, Christianity becomes zero” From His Travels in America to the Beginning of the Crisis (1965–1967) 355
19. “A revolution of yourself” Sixty–Eight 392
20. “Why communion is liberation” The Birth of Cl and the Early Seventies 418
21. “From utopia to presence” Friendship with the University Students (1970–1976) 465
22. “We are what you are” Spain: A Historical Excursus (1974–1985) 493
23. “Take heart, you and your young people, because this is the right road” Palm Sunday with Pope Paul VI (1975) 514
24. “An irrevocable critical distance” The Late Seventies 533
25. “A will to serve that man with all my strength” The Year of Three Popes (1978) 574
26. “The greatest grace in the whole history of the movement” The Birth of the Fraternity of Cl and Its Pontifical Recognition (1980–1982) 592
27. “Certain of a number of great things” The Assassination Attempt on John Paul II and the Early Eighties 607
28. “We have to empty the boot” Cl’s Thirtieth Anniversary and the Pope’s Missionary Mandate (1984) 650
29. “My hope for myself and for you is to never be at rest” The Late Eighties 677
30. 1986–2005
31. “In the footsteps of Christ” Trips to the Holy Land, Japan, and Greece (1986–1987) 719
32. “Lay, that is, Christian” The Synod on the Laity and the Tenth Anniversary of John Paul II (1987–1988) 748
33. “Truth comes from the flesh” Pontifical Recognition of the Memores Domini and the Fraternity of Saint Joseph (1988–1990) 782
34. “A shameful earthquake for humanity” The War in Iraq and the Pilgrimage to Lourdes (1991–1992) 813
35. “Something that comes before” The Books of the Christian Spirit, Justice, and the Historicity of the Gospels (1993–1994) 859
36. “The density of the instant” The Movement’s Fortieth Anniversary and the University Students (1994) 897
37. “A gaze to learn” Responsibility and Italy in Danger (1995–1996) 923
38. “Old age has erupted in me” Illness and “God All in All” (1996–1997) 965
39. “The only resource lies in that apex of the cosmos that is the self” Spirto Gentil, The Religious Sense at the Un, and Modern Rationalism (1997–1998) 990
40. “Jesus called me; I let myself be taken by Him” 30 May with John Paul II and the Work (1998–1999) 1012
41. “There is a piece of nothingness that is not lost” The “Christian Claim” and the Jubilee of the Year 2000 (1999–2000) 1037
42. “Betting on pure freedom alone for fifty years!” Ground Zero and Giussani’s Eightieth Birthday (2001–2002) 1072
43. “Virgin mother, daughter of your Son …” The Space Shuttle and Nasiriyah (2003) 1095
44. “To bring people to discover how Christ is a presence” The Last Letter to the Pope and Cl’s Fiftieth Anniversary (2004) 1117
45. “Remember that I have obeyed; I have always obeyed” The Death of Giussani and the Funeral (2005) 1145
46. Epiloque 1175
47. Historical Note 1183
48. Endnotes 1191
49. Index of Names 1375