Fire and Hope

Pierre Goursat (1914 - 1991) founded the Catholic Emmanuel Community, now present in more than 60 countries worldwide. He was instrumental in the rediscovery of the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus, through the promotion of the pilgrimage centre of Paray-le-Monial in France. This book traces Pierre Goursat's own Iife, and through it the history of the formative years of the Emmanuel Community. It also sheds light on a period of remarkable vitality and hope in the recent history of the Catholic Church. On one hand Pierre had an instinct for mission and an understanding of the urgency of evangelization. On the other he possessed a rare quality of 'the realism of grace': an awareness of the weight of human nature and its fragilities, and of how the life of God could shine through in ail this. He was able to make this synthesis because of the long hours he spent in adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament. That was where he received the fire and the discernment for humbly serving those whom God entrusted to him. He loved the Church. Dominic Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon (France) Hervé-Marie Catta was one of the first companions of Pierre Goursat and a founding member of the Emmanuel Community. Fr. Bernard Peyrous, an established preacher and church historian, has written more than 20 books on various themes of spiritual Iife, history and contemporary Church issues. He is a member of the Emmanuel Community.