Stories - 2009

Bar Mitzvah. Via Wikimedia Commons

Rebel with a Cause

EncountersGideon Weiler

The potential for mutually enriching relationships between Christians and Jews is tapped into by an eighteen-year-old boy, as described in this surprising essay. It is a witness by one whose reason has been educated to be loyal to reality.

Nairobi, Kenya. Creative Commons CC0

How the New Creature Is Born

WorldDavide Perillo

The Movement in Africa gathers in Nairobi for three days of work and friendship, discovering, in facts and faces, that Christianity is a challenge–not to the culture, but to the heart.

Bethlehem, Palestine. Wikimedia Commons

Where Everything Began

WorldAlessandra Stoppa

From the wall that cuts Bethlehem in two, to the classrooms in the Palestinian universities; the life of men and women who take their faith seriously where the presence of Christ seems to be something frail and hidden–is a challenge for everyone.

New York Stock Exchange. Flickr

A New Vision in the Center of Capitalism

US, UK and MoreThomas D. Sullivan, Chiara Zamin, and John Touhey

The arrival in America of the head of a multi-national non-profit association of businesses was a provocation in the middle of the world financial crisis, promoting the individual person’s inestimable value above all profits and schemes for success.

Hospital Emergency Room Entrance. Creative Commons CC0

Healing the System

US, UK and MoreSuzanne Tanzi

In this interview, Dr. Sidna Tulledge-Scheitel discusses universal healthcare in America with attention to her hopes and concerns, putting the spotlight on human dignity.

Pope Benedict XVI. Wikimedia Commons

Get Up, Africa

WorldAndrea Tornielli

Forgotten wars and the attack of modern ideologies, AIDS, and poverty. But beyond all the politics, there is an announcement. We present an assessment of the assembly that, in 20 days of work, managed truly to touch reality, “in God’s perspective.”

Fr. Giussani with Some of the first GS Students

The Name of an Experience

US, UK and MoreCarlo Dignola and Fred Kaffenberger

“Communion and Liberation” is a name that originated in Italy in 1969, but is still new to America, provoking surprise and curiosity. We offer some insight into the impact of this reality in the Land of the Free.

Lagos, Nigeria. Wikimedia Commons

Asking for Life Amidst the Huts

WorldAlessandra Stoppa

Thatched roofs, no electricity, and two days’ journey from the city. Yet it was here that one fine day people could be heard singing ancient songs of Christian tradition. Welcome to Jalingo.

London, England. Creative Commons CC0

The Treasure of the City

US, UK and MoreFabrizio Rossi

A business lawyer and a homemaker, an ex-Anglican and a Muslim girl: stories and faces of a community that was born years ago (almost) by chance, and in which now the identity of “that Something that can unite people” becomes clearer and clearer.

The Cosmos. Wikimedia Commons

You Can't Stop the Truth

US, UK and MoreTimothy Dolch

Washington DC, was the first of three Crossroads stops for world-renowned astro physics scientists Msgr. Michael Heller and Dr. Marco Bersanelli. Their openess to the mystery piqued the curiosity of the audience toward a greater awareness of the cosmos.

Jersey City, NJ. Wikimedia Commons

Why Do We Take Care of Others?

US, UK and MoreRegina Kasun

The first annual MedConference took place in Jersey City. The conference was born from the desire of a group of doctors, nurses, and medical students to identify a motivation strong enough to sustain medical practice.

Yaoundé, Cameroon. Wikimedia Commons

One Single Person

WorldMarco Pagani

A country with more than 200 ethnic groups, where barriers and prejudices make living together difficult. The life of a small community–with its center for former street children and the “common fund”–has just received a great gift: the Pope’s visit.

Faith and Reason United by Ludwig Seitz. Via Wikimedia Commons

Faith and Reason: Beyond the Black Legend

EncountersLetizia Bardazzi

An interview with sociologist Rodney Stark on the struggle between faith and reason. “From the very beginning, the Church stressed that if something is truly Christian, it will be reasonable.”

Miami, Florida. Wikimedia Commons

The Most Simple Thing in the World How the Movement Came to Miami

US, UK and More

An exciting development of the growth of CL in America has been the burgeoning of a lively and diverse group in Miami...driven by the force of a yes and united by bonds of friendship–not a complex project, but a very “simple thing.”