"This volume contains the texts of the various interventions and meditations that accompanied the celebration of Vespers on the vigil of Pentecost, presided over by the Supreme Pontiff in St. Peter's Square on 3 June 2006 in the presence of over a hundred ecclesial movements and new communities. It also contains the proceedings of the second World Congress of ecclesial movements and new communities, held at Rocca di Papa (near Rome) on the initiative of the Pontifical Council for the Laity in the immediately preceding days.ù

In publishing the present volume, we hope to perpetuate the memory of these two great events. We hope they will be an encouragement to the ecclesial movements and new communities that participated in them and bear fruit in the existence of all those who, in reading these pages, may see -to use the Pope's words- how the Lord makes life beautiful and causes a desert in which we often find ourselves living to blossom anew."

From the preface, H.E. Archbishop Stanisław Ryłko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity

The Beauty of Being a Christian. Movements in the Church, Proceedings of the Second World Congress of the Ecclesial Movements and New Communities (Rocca di Papa, 31 May – 2 June 2006) and texts of the Meeting with the Holy Father Benedict XVI on the Vigil of Pentecost (St. Peter’s Square, 3 June 2006) (€15). Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2007.