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Vatican II: Forty Personal Stories
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231 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 12, 2025
This was a good idea for a book, but I am not sure that it entirely worked.
What works well is that there is a range of contributors, including men and women and clergy and non-clergy. The contributors were probably a little ‘Americo-centric,’ which is understandable given the book’s target market. But one of the important aspects of the Council was that it was a world-wide affair for the Church. It would have been interesting to hear more from contributors about how the Council impacted upon parishes in Africa, South America and Asia (etc). One of the things that Westerners can sometimes forget is that they are a relatively small part of the global Church. A reminder of wider perspectives might have been helpful.
Some of the contributors were personally involved in the Council, and some were academics who have written about the council, or they have engaged with the Council’s documents for teaching and writing purposes. This included writers like Avery Dulles (amongst others). Their contributions typically included comments about the events of the council and the personages involved in the council. I was a little surprised that there was nothing essentially ‘new’ in most of these contributions. They trod paths which have been well trodden in the wider literature.
Perhaps, part of the reason for that is that contributors had relatively short pieces in the book. With roughly 200 (ish) pages in the main body of the book, and forty contributors, that format meant that space was relatively tight. I couldn’t help wondering if slightly fewer contributors with longer pieces wouldn’t have made some of the contributions a little more interesting.
Nevertheless, there were some particularly interesting contributions from the less well known contributors. It was thought provoking to hear, for example, about nuns taking off their habits and realising that they had absolutely no idea how to arrange their hair in the modern world. Tiny practical details like that can get lost in the grand histories.
Joan Chittister wrote particularly well about those kinds of issues, and she did well to flag up how the council was received both positively and negatively by religious sisters. Her piece ended with an excellent question. The Council left many religious feeling that nuns and lay women were now of the same status in the Church, so what was the point in continuing to be a religious sister or nun? (p.29). Readers were left to wonder whether in the rush to implement the council, there had been enough thought given to helping those in religious orders to make the transition.
Overall, the book is a very easy read, with small chapters which can be dipped into in any order. Its not entirely clear to me what its ideal audience would be. I think students of the history or theology of Vatican II would not find the book informative enough to warrant spending time on the book. General readers who know nothing about the council might find it a ‘lighter’ way into the broader issues, but its format of unconnected little stories may also mean that it could be a bit confusing.
What works well is that there is a range of contributors, including men and women and clergy and non-clergy. The contributors were probably a little ‘Americo-centric,’ which is understandable given the book’s target market. But one of the important aspects of the Council was that it was a world-wide affair for the Church. It would have been interesting to hear more from contributors about how the Council impacted upon parishes in Africa, South America and Asia (etc). One of the things that Westerners can sometimes forget is that they are a relatively small part of the global Church. A reminder of wider perspectives might have been helpful.
Some of the contributors were personally involved in the Council, and some were academics who have written about the council, or they have engaged with the Council’s documents for teaching and writing purposes. This included writers like Avery Dulles (amongst others). Their contributions typically included comments about the events of the council and the personages involved in the council. I was a little surprised that there was nothing essentially ‘new’ in most of these contributions. They trod paths which have been well trodden in the wider literature.
Perhaps, part of the reason for that is that contributors had relatively short pieces in the book. With roughly 200 (ish) pages in the main body of the book, and forty contributors, that format meant that space was relatively tight. I couldn’t help wondering if slightly fewer contributors with longer pieces wouldn’t have made some of the contributions a little more interesting.
Nevertheless, there were some particularly interesting contributions from the less well known contributors. It was thought provoking to hear, for example, about nuns taking off their habits and realising that they had absolutely no idea how to arrange their hair in the modern world. Tiny practical details like that can get lost in the grand histories.
Joan Chittister wrote particularly well about those kinds of issues, and she did well to flag up how the council was received both positively and negatively by religious sisters. Her piece ended with an excellent question. The Council left many religious feeling that nuns and lay women were now of the same status in the Church, so what was the point in continuing to be a religious sister or nun? (p.29). Readers were left to wonder whether in the rush to implement the council, there had been enough thought given to helping those in religious orders to make the transition.
Overall, the book is a very easy read, with small chapters which can be dipped into in any order. Its not entirely clear to me what its ideal audience would be. I think students of the history or theology of Vatican II would not find the book informative enough to warrant spending time on the book. General readers who know nothing about the council might find it a ‘lighter’ way into the broader issues, but its format of unconnected little stories may also mean that it could be a bit confusing.
January 30, 2013
Madges & Daley selected 40 very interesting perspectives or stories from which to view Vatican II. I have already started to read other books from some of the people whose stories are included.
The divers insights into different aspects of Vatican II, naturally complimented by the circumstances of the personal lives of the various stories provide, at least for me, an enticing panorama about one of the most spiritually intense moments that have occurred in centuries.
The divers insights into different aspects of Vatican II, naturally complimented by the circumstances of the personal lives of the various stories provide, at least for me, an enticing panorama about one of the most spiritually intense moments that have occurred in centuries.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews