Philosopher, Catholic Priest and Radical Thinker of Culture, Ivan Illich is mostly known by controversial writings such as descrolarized society, the medical agreement or nemesis, in which he elaborates a critique of contemporary institutions in the fields of school education , professional medicine, labor relations or socioeconomic development. This book brings together texts belonging to the first stage of the biographical and intellectual trajectory of it, rescuing them from an unmedened oblivion.
The trials that make up the Church without power are testimony of the pastoral work of Illich, which faces eminently practical problems in light of a few genuinely theological concepts: prayer, poverty of spirit and kingdom. As Giorgio says Agamben in the prologue of him, we are before "a thought of the kingdom, of the special presence of this between us, already fulfilled and, nevertheless, not yet".
In the nucleus of Illich's work is the opposition to the imperialist nature of the missionary activities sponsored by the State and the Church. His deep understanding of the history of the latter, especially in the thirteenth century, contributed to his critique of the church and other institutions of the 20th century the perspective of the historian.

"These gathered essays remind us of Illich's ability to surprise us and get us out of the grooves in which our thought is easily glided. Illich's ideas open new ways of understanding ». Charles Taylor

«Ivan Illich is one of the most interesting thinkers of the twentieth century, deep and unable to be cadaned. The thought of him and the spirit of him remain surprisingly relevant in the current cultural context. " William T. Cavanaugh

"This collection of texts gathered by the competent hands of Valentina Borremans and Sajay Samuel, is full of wisdom. It sharply addresses the deficiencies of the Catholic Church with which Illich was still committed, and the complicated cultural roots and expansion of the church in the 20th century. " Jason W. Alvises