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Convened by Pope John XXIII, the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) profoundly changed the self-image and life of the Catholic Church. Butunderstanding, interpreting, and implementing Vatican II still remain a task far fromcompleted. Pope Francis has given fresh impetus toward practicing the Council’s teaching about a humble, servant Church that pursues justice and peace for the whole world.
This book explores and presents Vatican II’s developments in doctrine about divine revelation; the nature, mission, and collegiality of the Church; religious freedom; and the divine grace that reaches all human beings. It takes up the profound significance of the liturgy constitution, which opened the way for the Council’s subsequent teaching.
In documenting the renewal and reform conveyed by the message and meaning of Vatican II, this book illustrates the scholarship and accessible style forwhich Gerald O’Collins has become renowned.
Gerald O’Collins, SJ, is an adjunct professor at Australian Catholic University and a research fellow at the University of Divinity in Melbourne. He taught at the Gregorian University in Rome for thirty-three years and is well known as a lecturer and broadcaster around the world. Fr. O’Collins has had hundreds of articles published in professional and popular journals and authored or co-authored sixty-two books.
