The 21st Council for the 21st Century
GERALD O’COLLINS
Paulist Press
New York/Mahwah, N.J.
The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition Copyright © 1989 and 1993, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cover design by Cindy Dunne
Book design by Lynn Else
Copyright © 2006 by Gerald O’Collins
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
O’Collins, Gerald.
Living Vatican II : the 21st council for the 21st century / Gerald O’Collins.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8091-4290-2 (alk. paper)
1. Vatican Council (2nd : 1962–1965) I. Title.
BX8301962 .O36 2006
262′.52—dc22
2005035833
Published by Paulist Press
997 Macarthur Boulevard
Mahwah, New Jersey 07430
1. How Vatican II Changed My Church
2. Facilitators or Gatekeepers?
3. Receiving a Council with Creative Fidelity
5. Receiving the Council’s Moral Teaching
7. Theology for the Church and the World
Appendixes: Some Postconciliar Texts
The crucial process of reception, that all-important part of any church council … can take several generations. It continues today.
Cardinal Franz König, The Tablet, Christmas 2002
Called by Pope John XXIII of blessed memory on January 29, 1959, Vatican II was the most significant religious event in the twentieth century. Trusting utterly in the Holy Spirit, Pope John hoped that this meeting of all the Catholic bishops would bring about a new Pentecost. He wanted to update and renew spiritually the Catholic Church, heal division within Christendom, and alter the church’s reactionary attitude to the world. The Roman Catholic Church will never be the same again.
When he set this huge project in motion, John had been pope for only ninety days. He lived long enough to open the first session in October 1962, but died in June 1963 before the council met again the following October. Pope Paul VI presided over the second, third, and fourth sessions, and formally closed the proceedings on December 8, 1965. With courage and gentleness, he then faced the awesome task of leading the implementation of Vatican II’s general policies and particular decisions—right through to his death in August 1978. When he was elected pope on October 16, 1978, John Paul II at once pledged himself to continue the work of putting the council’s teaching into effect. Benedict XVI did the same when he became pope on April 19, 2005....
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About Living Vatican II: The 21st Council for the 21st CenturyVatican II was the first Council in the story of Catholic Christianity to deserve being labeled intercontinental and intercultural. What has been its impact? How should one describe and evaluate its reception by Catholics and its wider follow-up among others? How should this twenty-first Council be heard, received, and lived as we move further ahead into the twenty-first century? What perspectives does it offer for the future to those who seek to assimilate it creatively? As a leading theologian, Gerald O’Collins uses a highly personal approach in answering these and many other questions, which makes for a compulsively readable book that illuminates the workings of the Church. Living Vatican II explores the liturgical renewal after Vatican II, the reception of the Council’s moral teaching, the impact of Vatican II on theology, and the work of some key institutions in Rome and elsewhere toward implementing the teaching and decisions of this Council. Finally, the book offers insightful suggestions about the future of the Church. |
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