The Kingdom Began in Puerto Rico: Neil Connolly’s Priesthood in the South Bronx
By Angel Garcia
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
How the South Bronx and Puerto Rican migration defined Fr. Neil Connolly’s priesthood as he learned to both serve and be part of his community
South Bronx, 1958. Change was coming. Guidance was sorely needed to bridge the old and the new, for enunciating and implementing a vision. It was a unique place and time in history where Father Neil Connolly found his true calling and spiritual awakening. The Kingdom Began in Puerto Rico captures the spirit of the era and the spirit of this great man.
Set in historical context of a changing world and a changing Catholic Church, The Kingdom Began in Puerto Rico follows Fr. Neil Connolly’s path through the South Bronx, which began with a special Church program to address the postwar great Puerto Rican migration. After an immersion summer in Puerto Rico, Fr. Neil served the largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the Bronx from the 1960s to the 1980s as they struggled for a decent life. Through the teachings of Vatican II, Connolly assumed responsibility for creating a new Church and world. In the war against drugs, poverty, and crime, Connolly created a dynamic organization and chapel run by the people and supported Unitas, a nationally unique peer-driven mental health program for youth. Frustrated by the lack of institutional responses to his community’s challenges, Connolly challenged government abandonment and spoke out against ill-conceived public plans. Ultimately, he realized that his priestly mission was in developing new leaders among people, in the Church and the world, and supporting two nationally unique lay leadership programs, the Pastoral Center and People for Change.
Discovering the real mission of priesthood, urban ministry, and the Catholic Church in the United States, author Angel Garcia ably blends the dynamic forces of Church and world that transformed Fr. Connolly as he grew into his vocation. The book presents a rich history of the South Bronx and calls for all urban policies to begin with the people, not for the people. It also affirms the continuing relevance of Vatican II and Medellin for today’s Church and world, in the United States and Latin America.
Angel Garcia
Angel Garcia was a community organizer and Executive Director of South Bronx People for Change, a Church-based direct action and membership organization cofounded by Fr. Connolly. Born in Puerto Rico, and a graduate of Regis High School, Princeton University, and Pace University, Garcia is a long-term resident of the South Bronx and has been active on social justice issues and worker cooperatives.
Related to The Kingdom Began in Puerto Rico
Related ebooks
The Kingdom Began in Puerto Rico: Neil Connolly's Priesthood in the South Bronx Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLinking Arms, Linking Lives: How Urban-Suburban Partnerships Can Transform Communities Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Frank H. Nelson of Cincinnati Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRadical Disciple: Father Pfleger, St. Sabina Church, and the Fight for Social Justice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5With Justice for All: A Strategy for Community Development Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Church in the Public: A Politics of Engagement for a Cruel and Indifferent Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTheology from the Trenches: Reflections on Urban Ministry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhen I Get to Heaven: The Lord Willing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAct Justly, Love Mercifully, and Walk Humbly with Your God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Multi-Cultural Prayer Army: The Answer to America's Present Spiritual Crisis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Making of a Country Parish Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsResurrecting Church: Where Justice and Diversity Meet Radical Welcome and Healing Hope Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTowards the End of My Days: Theological & Spiritual Reflections Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Heart for the Community: New Models for Urban and Suburban Ministry Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Place Matters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat on Earth is the Church?: An Inquirer’s Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElusive Community: Why Do We Avoid What We Were Created For? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cross the Line: Reclaiming the Inner City For God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNo Perfect People Allowed: Creating a Come-as-You-Are Culture in the Church Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gospel Haymanot: A Constructive Theology and Critical Reflection on African and Diasporic Christianity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrangers Next Door: Immigration, Migration and Mission Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Those in Power: Without Inclusivity and Equity, the Catholic Institution Will Quickly Decline Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Black Church At Its Best Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRestoring At-Risk Communities: Doing It Together and Doing It Right Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Faith and Healing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThriving in the City: A Guide to Sustainable Incarnational Ministry Among the Urban Poor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohn Paul II: A Personal Portrait of the Pope and the Man Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Autobiography of Charles G. Finney: The Life Story of America's Greatest Evangelist--In His Own Words Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Connecting Church: Beyond Small Groups to Authentic Community Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5By the Goodness of God: An Autobiography of John G. Innis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Religious Biographies For You
Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Elisabeth Elliot Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Prayer Journal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paul: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman They Wanted: Shattering the Illusion of the Good Christian Wife Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Here I Stand - A Life Of Martin Luther Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex, Jesus, and the Conversations the Church Forgot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of the Trapp Family Singers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5To Love and Be Loved: A Personal Portrait of Mother Teresa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Confessions of St. Augustine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With God in Russia Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/590 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letters and Papers from Prison Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unveiling Grace: The Story of How We Found Our Way out of the Mormon Church Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chasing the Dragon: One Woman's Struggle Against the Darkness of Hong Kong's Drug Dens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Dared to Call Him Father: The Miraculous Story of a Muslim Woman's Encounter with God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil in Pew Number Seven Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bonhoeffer Abridged: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil in the City of Angels: My Encounters With the Diabolical Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Severe Mercy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Kingdom Began in Puerto Rico
0 ratings0 reviews