History The death of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI constituted two important elements in the landscape of Catholicism, nourishing the journalistic and political dispute about the history and legacy of Vatican II. This book offers an attempt to go beyond "the clash of interpretations"-Vatican II as a rupture in the history of Catholicism on one side, and the need to read Vatican II in continuity with the tradition on the other-necessary indeed because the ongoing debate about Vatican II is largely misrepresented by the use of "clashing interpretations" as a tool for understanding the role of the council in present-day Catholicism. Book jacket.

From 1962 to 1965, in perhaps the most important religious event of the twentieth century, the Second Vatican Council met to plot a course for the future of the Roman Catholic Church. After thousands of speeches, resolutions, and votes, the Council issued sixteen official documents on topics ranging from divine revelation to relations with non-Christians. In many ways, though, the real challenges began after the council was over and Catholics began to argue over the interpretation of the documents. Many analysts perceived the Council's far-reaching changes as breaks with Church tradition, and soon this became the dominant bias in the American and other media, which lacked the theological background to approach the documents on their own terms. In Vatican II: Renewal Within Tradition, an international team of theologians offers a different reading of the documents from Vatican II. The Council was indeed putting forth a vision for the future of the Church, but that vision was grounded in two millennia of tradition. Taken together, these essays demonstrate that Vatican II's documents are a development from an established antecedent in the Roman Catholic Church. Each chapter contextualizes Vatican II teachings within that rich tradition. The resulting book is an indispensable and accessible companion to the Council's developments, one that focuses on theology and transcends the mass-media storyline of "liberal" versus "conservative."

The Second Vatican Council ended in December 1965, but Vatican II is still happening in the global church. Catholicism has always had a universal claim, but the globalization of Catholicism as a truly "world church" became part of Catholic theology only thanks to that gathering—decided by St. John XXIII—of bishops, theologians, lay observers, ecumenical representatives, and journalists. Vatican II is the most important event in church history after the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, and it is the key to understanding Catholicism and its inner tensions today.

This study edition of Irish Dominican Austin Flannery’s (+2008) earlier translation contains all sixteen documents of the Second Vatican Council, plus the forty-nine later documents from popes and Vatican congregations that implemented the details of the Council's decisions. Flannery attempted to include all documents of general interest that form part of the postconciliar process—documents which might be described as organically linked with the conciliar process. This is the translation used in The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the text that both students of the Council and students of the Catechism will want for the complete reference of the Council and its decisions. Special features of the study edition: Larger page size, with larger print and more generous margins Focus questions after each Council document help the reader comprehend the main points Creative questions assist the reader in applying the content of the Council documents to personal experience or to future development in the Church

"This book presents and explores Vatican II's developments in doctrine about divine revelation; the nature, mission, and collegialilty of the Church; religious freedom; and the divine grace that reaches all human beings. It takes up the profound significance of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, which opened the way for the Council's subsequent teaching." -- back cover.