Catholicism is the updated second edition of O'Collins and Farrugia's introduction to Catholic Christianity. The preface engages with reviews of the first edition (2004) and explains that the main changes have been factual: errata, statistics, and subsequent events, such as papal elections (vii). O'Collins and Farrugia aim at an accessible but academically rigorous introduction to the Catholic tradition, and at this they succeed, particularly on historical and doctrinal issues. Their stated purpose in the original preface is “to be useful not only to our fellow Catholics but also to other Christians and to interested adherents of other faiths” (xi) and “to give a certain preference to signs of grace rather than evidence of scandalous failures” (xii). The authors thus set for themselves the parameters of a critical but generally positive overview of Catholicism; the preference for “signs of grace” may run somewhat counter to broader academic approaches to theology and history (and will be analyzed further below) but is at least clearly stated.

The format of the work is topical, with two chapters of historical overview followed by thematic discussions of matters such as Christology, the sacraments, and moral theology, and concluding with a discussion of current challenges and issues. The sections dealing with classical doctrines in particular are tours de force of precision, guiding the reader through complicated Christological and other controversies in a clear yet nuanced fashion. These chapters seek not to present contemporary theological controversies, informed as they are by them, but rather to give a classical overview of Christian doctrine and moral teachings as understood today. Similarly, the chapters on ecclesiology center on the church as a theological and historical reality rather than outlining the details of church governance or daily life, which for the uninitiated reader may qualify as a weakness. The book is perhaps at its strongest in its integration of classical doctrinal discussion with the particular teachings and emphases of Vatican II. This is especially true in the discussion of Scripture, which is thoroughly grounded in Dei Verbum and warns against letting “a healthy Christocentrism lapse into a rigid Christomonism,” when it comes to interpreting revelation (123). There are thoughtful discussions of issues such as the afterlife and the relationship between grace and freedom that will be thought-provoking and refreshing for expert and nonexpert alike.

Although O'Collins and Farrugia demonstrate impressive erudition in the discussion of doctrinal issues, some critiques merit discussion. First, the book presumes a basic understanding of philosophical and theological terminology, not to mention European history, that all potential readers might not possess. More thorough footnotes or perhaps a glossary would be helpful for readers new to the subject matter, particularly undergraduates. Second, the book perhaps ought to have undergone a more thoroughgoing revision for this edition, particularly in the sections dealing with contemporary issues. While O'Collins and Farrugia attempt to answer critiques of the first edition for not covering the sexual-abuse scandal more thoroughly in the work (vi), the expansion of that controversy to Germany and Ireland (and the serious crisis of confidence in the church it has spurred in the latter) might have merited a more expansive treatment of it than theirs, which deals mostly with John Paul II's handling of the Maciel affair. Other matters that have impacted Catholicism substantially in the last decade also go un- or undertreated, particularly the increasing influence of the churches of the “Global South,” as well as the increasing and complex impact of the LGBT rights movement on the churches of Western Europe and the Americas. While the authors do not seek to engage in controversy as such (they do give nuanced presentations of issues surrounding contraception, women's ordination, and the disciplining of theologians), LGBT issues in particular have come to the fore in both the Synods on the Family—which occurred subsequent to the new edition's completion but had been announced prior to it—and the words of Pope Francis. To its credit on this front, the work does deal with pressing ecological issues. The very changing nature of these issues is also to the authors' point that Catholicism is a reality always evolving in history, and thus a work such as this is inevitably incomplete.

This book can be recommended for the well-educated general reader as well as for advanced undergraduate, graduate, and seminary students. It would probably be most effective in the classroom as a reference or textbook coupled with primary sources as well as supplemental readings dealing with some of its lacunae. It thus represents well what O'Collins in particular has achieved in numerous other works throughout his distinguished career: an accessible theological introduction to important matters in the Christian tradition (in this case, the largest single ecclesial body within that tradition) that is thoroughly imbued with the teachings of Vatican II and informed by contemporary theological inquiry.