After fifty years and tremendous theological reflection, the study of Vatican II is entering a new phase. Until recently, scholarship on the council has been dominated by commentaries on individual documents. While much has been learned from this genre, there is a growing awareness that such isolated examinations frustrate efforts to understand the council as a whole. John O'Malley, SJ has led the way toward this new stage by arguing that all of Vatican II's documents are interdependent and mutually illuminating. After Vatican II is a collection of essays by a group of scholars who were invited to meet with O'Malley to discuss how his influential book, What Happened at Vatican II, relates to their research; this collection seeks to identify lines of convergence that advance understanding of the council and its ongoing significance. While O'Malley's scholarship underscores the need to interpret Vatican II in light of what happened in the century before the council, the contributions to this volume emphasize the way in which what transpired after the council also informs the meaning of the conciliar texts.
The essays in this excellent volume are linked not only by their consideration of key themes of Vatican II, but also by their focus on O'Malley's approach and, in particular, on his identification of three “issues under the issues” shaping the conciliar documents: continuity and change, center and periphery, and rhetoric and style. Francis Sullivan, SJ, highlights Vatican II's intertextual character by demonstrating that its treatment of non-Christian religions cuts across several documents. His essay breaks new ground in understanding the church's role in the salvation of non-Christians and the way in which the council's teaching on this topic involves elements of continuity and change. John Connelly's essay also probes the issue of continuity and change by providing a close study of the manner in which the council fathers root their engagement with Judaism in Scripture and tradition while moving beyond certain polemics of the past. Both Darlene Fozard Weaver and M. Cathleen Kaveny examine Vatican II's impact on the development of moral theology, even though the council “did not produce a distinct text on the subject” (24). Kaveny focuses on issues of rhetoric and style, noting that because Vatican II said so little about moral theology, Catholic moralists have to look at all the conciliar documents and turn to “the spirit of the council” rather than any one particular text. Robin Darling Young examines the underexplored issue of Henri de Lubac's influence on the council, including the ways in which his efforts at ressourcement shaped the council's development as well as its eventual reception. Her essay touches on the dynamic between center and periphery as she traces the theologian's move from exile to embrace. Finally, contributions by O'Malley, Joseph Komonchak, and Massimo Faggioli all provide key insights for understanding the council holistically and for moving toward what Karl Rahner called “a fundamental theological interpretation of Vatican II.”
After Vatican II is an excellent resource for those who wish to engage this new phase of Vatican II study. It introduces readers to the council's main themes and orientations and shows how each of its teachings can best be understood as an expression of those themes and orientations. Students and scholars alike will benefit from examining these trajectories, which continue to shape the church today.
