Review by Choice Review
In this lucid, coherent assessment of the Second Vatican Council, O'Malley (Georgetown) provides background on past general councils and current issues confronting Catholicism; he addresses annual sessions separately, prior to a concluding chapter. O'Malley looks at issues and personalities. Most intriguing is the role of Pope Paul VI, who involved himself in the council's deliberations but whose interventions were not always easily interpretable. O'Malley addresses both sides of the issues debated in Rome, providing readers with some sense of the minority's zeal for doctrine and discipline and the majority's pastoral concerns. He treats the crucial issue of language--not so much Latin versus the vernacular, as dialectical precision displaced in the documents by a pastoral rhetoric rooted in scripture and the fathers of the early Church. No previous council had addressed issues like the role of the laity and the collegial nature of the episcopate, especially in extensive teaching documents. Overall, O'Malley sees the council as achieving much but failing to implement collegiality by restructuring the Roman curia to be more responsive to the episcopate. His most negative prose, however, is reserved for procedural muddles that, as much as debates over issues, help explain the drama of the council as it confronted contemporary challenges. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All libraries. T. M. Izbicki Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
From 1961 to 1965, the world closely watched the proceedings of Vatican II, the Catholic Church's council on the condition and future of the faith. Georgetown historian O'Malley presents the most thorough account of the proceedings of the council itself, from the time it was declared in 1959 until its conclusion in 1965, fulfilling the book's title. O'Malley gives a thorough and detailed history of the event, situating it in the longer history of the church and previous councils. But the bulk of the book concerns the characters and controversies of Vatican II itself, the biggest meeting in the history of the world. Though challenged by a conservative minority, the progressive majority of Vatican II reoriented and refashioned the Catholic Church: opening it to ecumenical relations, declaring its support for religious liberty and ending the practice of the Latin Mass. Infusing the council was the spirit of aggiornamento--Italian for updating. O'Malley shows how Vatican II allowed the church to modernize while also remaining true to its traditions and convictions. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
The Roman Catholic Church is nearing the 50th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II, a council that unquestionably had profound influences both ecclesiastically and in society at large. This book is an absolutely brilliant recapitulation of the council, an insightful analysis of its proceedings and conclusions, and a solid foundation from which to grasp contemporary Catholicism. The clearly written and accessible text explores and summarizes the historical underpinnings of Vatican II while explaining modern influences and trends. A priest, O'Malley (University Professor, Georgetown Univ.) invites readers to experience uniquely the dynamic movements of the four-year council. Relying on source documents and the divergent positions of particular bishops, O'Malley creates a vivid account that enables readers to experience Vatican II firsthand 50 years on. His is not a commentary on Vatican II but an interpretative analysis, balanced and grounded, of the modern world's most significant gathering of Catholic bishops. It is truly a text of today, employing the added benefit of hindsight. The book includes a chronology, biographical descriptions of cited council fathers, an expanded notes section, and a helpful index. O'Malley's own Four Cultures of the West is a wonderful companion to this title. Highly recommended for all libraries.--John Leonard Berg, Univ. of Wisconsin-Platteville Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
