Vatican II: Reception and Implementation in the Australian Church

When the Australian bishops joined the Catholic bishops from around the world in Rome for the start of the Second Vatican Council in 1962, they may never have imagined the immediate or the lasting impact that their contribution would have on the lives of the Catholic community back home in Australia.

This book marks the 50th anniversary of the convening of that council. The result is a fascinating examination of not only how Australian Catholics responded to the changes and challenges of the council upon the way that they worshipped, but also how their personal relationship with their God was refashioned; not only for clergy and religious, but also for the laity.

Neil Ormerod is joined by emeritus scholars, theologians and historians from around Australia to not only look at the council and who from Australia participated, but also the attitudes and expectations of Catholics here towards the council in 1962. Furthermore, the writers provide a review of the experience and the reception of Vatican II, its implications for how Catholics now worship in Australia, and even how young Catholics today, whose experience of church is not coloured by the pre-Vatican II church, see their role in the greater Catholic community of faith.

Other contributors include Ruth Powell, Robert Dixon, Clare Johnson, Joel Hodge, David Pascoe, Orm Rush, Gerard Kelly, David Ranson, Margaret Beirne, Peta Goldburg, Matt Digges, Vicki Clarke, Richard Lennan, Francis J Moloney, Anthony Kelly and Therese D’Orsa

Includes a preface by Gerald O’Collins SJ and a foreword by Archbishop Philip Wilson.

"This is a timely and, I think, an essential book for the whole Australian Church. Fifty years after the Second Vatican Council, it is time for us all to ask how the great council has been received in our land. The contributors to this volume include some of Australia’s best theologians as well as skilled analysts from other disciplines. Their insights, conclusions, questions and suggestions are stimulating, searching and thought-provoking and make this book a wonderfully rich resource."

Denis Edwards
Department of Theology,
Flinders University