The Documents of Vatican II With Notes and Comments By Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Authorities

Highly acclaimed as the definitive reference work on Vatican II, The Documents of Vatican II features eminently readable translations of all sixteen council documents in English, together with introductions and commentaries by noted Roman Catholic bishops and Council experts and essays by Protestant and Orthodox clergy and scholars. Among the distinguished contributors are Avery Dulles, S.J., Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan, Robert McAfee Brown, John Courtney Murray, S.J., William A. Norgren, R.A.F. MacKenzie, S.J., Clement J. McNaspy, Bishop G. Emmett Carter and Bishop Robert H. Mueller.


The Second Vatican Council—1962-1965—remains a watershed event in the history of the Catholic Church. In 2012, as the church celebrates the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Council, Catholics and many other Christians will want to return to the source documents to better understand the church of tradition and build a more responsive community of believers for the present and future. 


"We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to America Press for this new release of the Abbott edition of the Documents of Vatican II. For those who serve the vision of Vatican II, we now, once again, have at our disposal a helpful translation of the documents accompanied by commentaries and notes from leading Catholic scholars and ecumenists that can lead to a more profound appropriation of the council's teaching. These tools, along with important supporting documentation of the council, now available in a Kindle version, are a great gift to the church today."


Richard R. Gaillardetz

co-author, Keys to the Council: Unlocking the Teaching of Vatican II