Vatican II studies have entered a new phase. It is characterized by enhanced efforts to consult a broad range of historical and archival resources, increased attention to the council’s prehistory and global reception, and commitment to recognizing limitations within the conciliar documents themselves as well as their ability to speak to contemporary issues. Vatican II After Sixty Years stands at the cutting edge of these efforts. It grows out of an international academic project envisioned by leading scholars dedicated to advancing Vatican II studies in these directions. This bilingual volume arrives as the first volume in an envisioned four-volume series examining the council’s prehistory, its deliberations, the development of its 16 documents, and its global reception. In this examination of the conciliar developments, special attention is given to four topics: revelation, church, ecumenism, and education.

This initial volume focuses on the council’s preparatory phase. Ormond Rush notes in his chapter on the pre-conciliar background to Dei Verbum that Vatican II “was an event of re-interpreting, within a new framework, Catholic teaching on faith, scripture, and tradition and their interrelation” (47). The recognition of the need for re-interpretation, and the act of reinterpreting itself, did not emerge in a vacuum; rather, preceding ressourcement scholarship, historical developments, ecumenical conversations, and pastoral experience constituted a lively context for its development. The authors in this volume take seriously the charge to probe those contextual events for the way in which they shed new light on the council’s interpretation. Each chapter breaks new ground in this regard, whether by studying the vota of bishops from various regions of the world, examining various strands of the manualist tradition, considering the writings of ressourcement thinkers, or presenting archival material related to the work of a preparatory commission. In each chapter, readers encounter an expert capable of introducing new information and methodological insight. Vatican II After Sixty Years provides readers with the chance to learn more about an event that continues to shape every aspect of the church’s life. In this way, it is not only a study of the council’s prehistory, but also the church’s present and future.