{"title":"Jan De Volder","description":"\u003cp\u003e0\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"spirit-of-father-damien-book-jan-de-volder-9781586174873","title":"The Spirit of Father Damien","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eForeword by John Allen \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFather Damien, famous for his missionary work with exiled lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, is finally Saint Damien. His sanctity took 120 years to become officially recognized, but between his death in 1889 and his canonization in 2009 amid creeping secularization and suspicion of the missionary spirit he so much embodied Fr. Damien De Veuster never faded from the world's memory. What kept him there? What keeps him there now? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo find an answer, Belgian historian and journalist Jan De Volder sifted through Father Damien's personal correspondence as well as the Vatican archives. With careful and even-handed expertise, De Volder follows Father Damien's transformation from the stout, somewhat haughty missionary of his youth, bounding from Europe to Hawaii and straight into seemingly tireless priestly work, to the humble and loving shepherd of souls who eventually succumbed to the same disease that ravaged his flock.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDe Volder finds that?as spiritual father, caretaker, teacher, and advocate?Father Damien accomplished many heroic feats for these poor outcasts. Yet the greatest gift he gave them was their transformation from a disordered, lawless throng exiled in desperate anarchy into a living community built on Jesus Christ, a community in which they learned to care for one another.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery generation seems to have its own image of this world- famous priest. Already during his life on Molokai and at his death in 1889, many considered him a holy man. Even today, in the highly secularized Western world, he is widely admired. In 2005 his native Belgium honored him with the title the greatest Belgian in polling conducted by their public broadcasting service. Statues honor his memory in the National Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and at the entrance to the Hawaiian State Capitol in Honolulu. In 1995, in the presence of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Pope John Paul II beatified him in Brussels, Belgium; and in 2009 Pope Benedict XVI canonized him in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Today Father Damien is the unofficial patron of outcasts and those afflicted with HIV\/AIDS.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIllustrated with many photos.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e De Volder contends that the common thread running through the saint's life, the spirit of Father Damien that so speaks to the world, is at once uniquely Christian, fully human, and as important today as ever before. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49892258677009,"sku":"CIN1586174878G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51126881255697,"sku":"CIN1586174878VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1586174878.jpg?v=1750959619"},{"product_id":"cardinal-mercier-in-the-first-world-war-book-jan-de-volder-9789462701649","title":"Cardinal Mercier in the First World War","description":"Cardinal Desire-Joseph Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, was the incarnation of the Belgian resistance against the German occupation during the First World War. With his famous pastoral letter of Christmas 1914 'Patriotisme et Endurance' he reached a wide audience, and gained international influence and respect.  Mercier's distinct patriotic stance clearly determined his views of national politics, especially of the 'Flemish question', and his conflict with the German occupier made him a hero of the Allies. The Germans did not always know how to handle this influential man of the Church. Pope Benedict XV did not always approve of the course of action adopted by the Belgian prelate. Whereas Mercier justified the war effort as a just cause in view of the restoration of Belgium's independence, the Pope feared that \"this useless massacre\" meant nothing but the \"suicide of civilized Europe\".  Through a critical analysis of the policies of Cardinal Mercier and Pope Benedict XV, this book sheds revealing light on the contrasting positions of Church leaders in the face of the Great War.  This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52667144634641,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52667145683217,"sku":"NLS9789462701649","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9789462701649.jpg?v=1762281817"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-jan-de-volder.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}