7 Preface This book is a special gift of the Heart of Jesus Province to the worldwide Pallottine Family and moreover to all people interested in serious and profound spirituality. It is based on a work of intensive research on the many writings of Vincent Pallotti, which was done in connection with the 50th anniversary of his canonization on January 20, 2013. – When John XXIII canonized Vincent Pallotti, he linked the memory of Pallotti once and for all to the epochal event of the Council and, of course, the memory of the Council with the personality of Vincent Pallotti. This fact may be taken as a symbol and indicates a direction for the permanent need to go back to the roots and to reinterpret our charism in the light of the present time. The book contains neither a summary of Pallotti´s writings nor of his life, but concentrates on his anthropology and ecclesiology and their implications for Christian life today. When it was published in German language in 2013, the response was tremendous. This encouraged us to make the book accessible to sisters and brothers in other cultures and to translate it into English. It is with pleasure and with pride that I am able to offer you this book with its far reaching perspectives, richness of inspiration and depth of theological refl ection. I especially express my gratitude to the author, Brigitte Maria Proksch, a theologian living in Vienna/Austria and cooperating with our Province in many ways. After having done the research on Pallotti´s scripts, Brigitte decided to join the Pallottine Union of Catholic Apostolate. I am also very grateful to my confrere Erik Riechers for the translation of the book. Born in Canada and living in Germany Erik is bilingual. He is a member of the Heart of Jesus Province Germany-Austria and always has an eye on international needs and developments. The translation was a challenging work as the way of thinking and the structure of expression is very different in German and English. I wish to express my deep gratitude to him for his work. It is my hope that this book will serve as an inspiration to the Pallottine Family in many ways. Helmut Scharler SAC Provincial of the Heart of Jesus Province Friedberg, April 2022
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