As the sixtieth anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council approaches (December 2025), both academic interest in the council and debates about its ongoing impact on the life of the Roman Catholic Church remain vigorous. Indeed, the papacy of Pope Francis (elected in 2013) has stoked yet another round of reflection on Vatican II. Francis, unlike his two predecessors (John Paul II and Benedict XVI), did not participate in the council but he has shaped his ministry around what he names often as core contributions of Vatican II. Clifford and Faggioli, both highly regarded scholars of the council and the contemporary church have brought together a fine array of contributors to present an overarching view of Vatican II that aligns well with the priorities of Pope Francis.
Various approaches to the interpretation of the council have been evident in the history of reflection on Vatican II. The five-volume commentary that Herbert Vorgrimler edited between 1966 and 1968 focused exclusively on the evolution of the council’s texts, exegeting them in a detailed manner aimed primarily at theologians. Later efforts, especially the five-volume set edited by Giuseppe Alberigo and Joseph Komonchak between 1995 and 2006 broadened the focus markedly. Resonant with Albreigo’s emphasis on the “event” of Vatican II and John O’Malley’s stress on the “style” of the council, the Alberigo-Komonchak volumes brought the council alive as more than a collection of texts. The volume under review continues along the trajectory of the Alberigo–Komonchak collaboration. It presents both the human struggles inseparable from the progress of the council and the creativity that produced the documents, while also bringing into relief the inescapable complexity attendant on the continuing reception of the council around the world.
The first of the volume’s five sections begins with the “pre-history” of Vatican II, including its place in the church’s wider conciliar history and its location in the rapidly changing world of the 1960s. Chapters on English translations of the council’s texts and the efforts to gather all the conciliar material into an archive reveal that both issues were the source of significant drama, adding to the “event” nature of the council. Part Two provides a theological analysis of issues arising from the conciliar texts. The caliber of scholars presenting these assessments ensures that this section of the volume offers a fine resource for those interested in deepening their appreciation of the council’s teachings.
The second half of the book, its final three sections, all concentrate in specific ways on the reception of the council. Even though “reception” is far from being a new category in the life of the church, there can be little that there is today greater awareness of the need for it and of the challenges requiring negotiation along the path to authentic reception. In this volume, the focus is on three contexts of reception: within the life of the Catholic Church as a whole; among the wider Christian community and non-Christians; in particular Catholic communities spread throughout the world.
Consistent with the approach of the whole volume, the section on Catholic reception begins with a helpful overview of the concept and a survey of processes of reception in the history of the Catholic community, including the response to Vatican II among groups opposed to the council. What emerges clearly in this section, which follows its historical survey with assessments of reception by the papacy, theology in its various forms, canon law, and feminist thought, is the unfinished – indeed, unfinishable – character of reception.
The material on other Christians represented at the council and the reception of Vatican II in their communities is yet another snapshot of work begun but far from completed. The views of those who participated in the council make clear that Vatican II’s approach and texts broke open attitudes and stances that had dominated Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant worldviews from the time of the split between Rome and Constantinople and then the Reformation. The council, of course, did not fix everything that had broken during those long years of division but it did lay the foundations for new possibilities, as it did for relationships with the Jewish people and believers of other faiths.
The final section of the book – “Global Reception” – picks up one of the features directly attributable to Vatican II itself: the recognition that the Catholic Church exists as a “world church.” Such a church is vastly different from what the theologian Karl Rahner, himself a notable contributor to the council, referred to as a “export firm” sending around the world a single model of how every church should be ordered and function irrespective of local conditions and needs. Since the church in Asia, Africa, and Oceania has a different history from the church in Europe and the Americas, it is unsurprising that the reception of the council in the former has had specific dimensions and attributes that diverged from what is evident in the latter. While this realization makes perfect sense, living the implications of it while preserving the church’s unity and catholicity is no small task. Similarly, this section addresses also the challenges the Catholic Church faces as it proclaims the gospel in the wider world; it is this emphasis that Pope Francis has made central to his ministry.
Taken as a whole, this volume is engaging, beautifully produced, and accessible for the general reader as much as for scholars looking to deepen their understanding of the council and its place in the life of the contemporary church. The volume may not be the last word on Vatican II but it is a very welcome contribution to illuminating an event that remains a principal influence on the life of the Catholic Church.
