Reviews on Vatican II Books

Originally published in Italian in 1985, this is a often referenced work in ultraconservative circles. It is a nearly 800 page brick of complaints and gripes with the modern Catholic Church. The author Amerio worked as a consultant for Vatican II during the preparatory phase. He traces out many criticisms of modern Catholicism and Vatican II. 

The entire project is however doomed from the start since he focuses his attention so much on the radical progressives that he identifies the movement of the whole Church with them. Modernism has won and polluted the Church's doctrines in every way conceivable, that is his core message. It is telling that Marcel Lefebvre described this book as the "most perfect book" on Vatican II. 

Yves Congar's Journal chronicles his participation in the Council. Congar participated in the drafting of the preparatory documents and later helped drafted several of the Council's documents. He was one of the most influential theologians at the Council. Congar's Journal hence is an intimate portrayal of a theologian at the service of the Church. 

In Pope John's Council, the second volume of a three volume set, Michael Davies sets out to explain how Vatican II fell into error. He attempts to defend and promote the metanarrative of Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the schismatic SSPX movement. The book describes Vatican II as a hostile takeover by "liberal shock troops" who blitzkrieged through all opposition by the conservatives. Vatican II is hence the triumph of modernism. There are many common motiffs in the book found among ultraconservative thinkers such as the ambiguity of Vatican II and the corruption of the liturgy. 

This book gives very insightful essays on the sixteen conciliar documents making it a great resource for finding quality scholarly work on the different documents. The articles are based on a hermeneutic of continuity and give in depth theological reflection on the texts. In some respect, this book is a sequel to Vatican II: Renewal within Tradition. 

Vatican II: Renewal within Tradition is a powerful book on Vatican II. It begins by citing the Benedict XVI address in which the Pope examines the hermeneutics of continuity and rupture. The contributing authors of this volume follow the Pope's call for implementing the Council as an act of faith in continuity with Sacred Tradition, and the result is a work of impressive theological depth and inquiry. This volume contains several essays on the conciliar texts making it an essential contribution to our understanding of Vatican II. 

The Ratzinger Report is an interview between Cardinal Ratzinger and Vittorio Messori on the crisis of the modern Church. Chapter two is on Vatican II. In it he makes several well aimed criticisms of both the radical progressive and ultraconservative interpretations. We have quoted extensively from this book across our articles on Vatican II. 

In summary, his basic thesis is that the crisis of Vatican II arose due to a lack of genuine catechesis and implementation of the Council. The solutions presented by the progressives and ultraconservatives are nonsolutions because they both betray the Council in their own ways. Vatican II remains the path forward for the Church and hence Catholics have the duty to understand its teachings and to defend them. 

Ratzinger's Theological Highlights of Vatican II was originally reports about the four different sessions of Vatican II, one chapter for each session. Ratzinger comments on the great themes of each session, such as the debates on the liturgy, the Council's "rebellion" against the Roman Curia's preparatory schemas, Gaudium et Spes, collegiality, divine revelation, and more. It is of particular historical interest itself since we get the impressions of a young Ratzinger who in the future became Pope Benedict XVI.

Robert Royal's book A Deeper Vision is not a book about Vatican II per se, but an intellectual history of 20th century Catholicism. This makes it a great reference for understanding the intellectual development leading up to Vatican II and the postconciliar period. 

Ormond Rush has been working on Vatican II hermeneutics for decades. The Vision of Vatican II is his magnum opus on this theme. He breaks Vatican II down into 24 hermeneutical principles that spans 500 pages. It is a remarkable achievement in Vatican II studies and has been a reference source for our work here. 

Schindler and Healy have put together a remarkable study on Dignitatis Humanae, Vatican II's declaration on religious freedom. This book contains a new, academically rigorous English transation of Dignitatis Humanae with the Latin parallel to it. Healy's essay presents the history of the drafting of the text. Schindler's essay is a Thomistic inspired interpretation of the text. Their methodology is faithful to Vatican II and the Magisterium. As if this weren't enough, Freedom, Truth, and Human Dignity also contains every version of the text which became Dignitatis Humanae and the interventions of Karol Wojtyla and Alfred Ancel, both of whom gave important contributions to the drafing of the document.