Folded Into Time: A Call To American Catholics by John Moynihan


Folded Into Time: A Call To American Catholics
Title : Folded Into Time: A Call To American Catholics
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1667867989
ISBN-10 : 9781667867984
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 300
Publication : Published December 21, 2022

"Folded into Time" is the compelling true story of a small housing ministry in Boston, Massachusetts challenging a doggedly literal, proposition-prone Catholic Church. This ministry, propelled by selfless and devoted laity and clergy, seeks to realize the Vatican II's love and hope through the implementation of fair housing as a moral imperative. Over decades, they hinge the divide between the immovable doctrine of the Church and the irresistible reality of human need. This poignant, inspiring tale speaks to the urgent need of the Church in America to restructure itself, particularly in the aftermath of the child abuse crisis.

Folded Into Time: A Call To American Catholics Reviews

  • Don LeClair

    This book is an engaging and informative book about the challenges and successes of ensuring housing, particularly for the poor, in the Boston area. It also focuses on the role that the Catholic church can and should play to make this happen.

    The author, John Moynihan, spent much of his career in the Planning Office for Urban affairs in the Archdiocese of Boston. He is an impassioned advocate of social justice, with a strong background in theology - both of which are obvious within the first chapters. If your background and interests are not attuned to the theology of affordable housing, it is still worth continuing to read to understand the role and approaches the church used from the 1940’s through 2020 to provide housing. The stories about a variety of different projects reflected the reality of resistance to building housing that includes all people in a community, particularly the poor.

    Personally, I don’t agree with everything in the book, but it was very informative. Mr. Moynihan’s loathing of the suburbs (“narcissistic pods of individualism”) can be rather one-dimensional and tiresome. However, at one point he does acknowledge that a suburban parishioner who has worked hard to find a safe and secure place of upward mobility has a right to protect that.

    Finishing this book gave me a strong perspective on the value and opportunities that come from enlightened development that included diverse communities, and it is a current hot topic in my home town.