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. Capturing the ecclesial maturity that exists in many of the movements, Leahy addresses specific questions, like:
• how the movements express and/or renew charisms
• how the movements fit in the context of Apostolic Succession (including the role of priests)
• movements and the parish
• canonical challenges
