5 Word of Welcome Spread wide the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your dwelling stretch out – do not stint. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your tent pegs. (Is 54,2) Everywhere in the world today, there is a concern about building the big tent. In politically divided countries, in places of economic disparity or in the many moments in which societies and communities are torn apart by strife, there is a burgeoning desire and cry to build the big tent. Vincent Pallotti was concerned about just such a big tent long before globalisation and a modern world of startling complexity made it necessary. He was driven by a deep religious conviction that the big tent was God’s vision for the world from the very start. And this conviction led him to the conclusion that a bigger tent for the Church would necessarily mean that room must be made for a greater participation of all who dwell within it, that greater diversity would have to be accommodated with the curtains of its dwelling and that greater dialogue must echo within its curtains. I am very grateful to Dr. Brigitte Proksch for this book, which allows us to see Vincent Pallotti and his inspirations with fresh eyes. To Fr. Helmut Scharler and the Heart of Jesus Province I extend my gratitude for making this work available to the English-speaking world. I warmly recommend this book to any and all who long for and strive for a broader and more gracious way of being Church. It is my hope that a renewed acquaintance with Vincent Pallotti and his remarkable, timeless intuition that such a Church is possible and desirable will rekindle our passion and strengthen our purpose in spreading wide the place of our tent for participation, diversity and dialogue. That would, indeed, be a gift to all the Church. Jacob Nampudakam SAC Rector General Society of the Catholic Apostolate Rome 2022
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