When Bishops Meet
An Essay Comparing Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II
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- 134,99 lei
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- 134,99 lei
Publisher Description
From one of our foremost church historians comes an overarching analysis of the three modern Catholic councils—an assessment of what Catholicism was and has become today.
Catholic councils are meetings of bishops. In this unprecedented comparison of the three most recent meetings, John O’Malley traverses more than 450 years of Catholic history and examines the councils’ most pressing and consistent concerns: questions of purpose, power, and relevance in a changing world. By offering new, sometimes radical, even troubling perspectives on these convocations, When Bishops Meet analyzes the evolution of the church itself.
The Catholic Church today is shaped by the historical arc starting from Trent in the sixteenth century to Vatican II. The roles of popes, the laity, theologians, and others have varied from the bishop-centered Trent, to Vatican I’s declaration of papal infallibility, to a new balance of power in the mid-twentieth century. At Trent, lay people had direct influence on proceedings. By Vatican II, their presence was token. At each gathering, fundamental issues recurred: the relationship between bishops and the papacy, the very purpose of a council, and doctrinal change. Can the teachings of the church, by definition a conservative institution, change over time?
Councils, being ecclesiastical as well as cultural institutions, have always reflected and profoundly influenced their times. Readers familiar with John O’Malley’s earlier work as well as those with no knowledge of councils will find this volume an indispensable guide for essential questions: Who is in charge of the church? What difference did the councils make, and will there be another?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
O'Malley (The First Jesuits), professor of theology at Georgetown University, compares three major Roman Catholic councils the Council of Trent (1545 63), Vatican I (1869 70), and Vatican II (1962 65) to present his findings on "councils as such" in this trenchant analysis of the changing roles of the councils' participants and the impact that the councils had on the church and the world. While the substantive doctrinal and disciplinary matters of the councils are covered, the book's strength lies in O'Malley's comparison of the organization and operation of the councils themselves. Decisions about the goals of the councils and the relative power of the participating groups were often drawn on centuries-old frameworks that could produce unexpected challenges, prompting the creation of innovative new frameworks in response. For instance, Vatican II's Gaudium et spes took so long to produce, O'Malley asserts, because "attending to the sign of the times was the point" of the document, which taught that the church must be concerned with "social justice, the destructiveness of modern war, and the need to foster respect of the Other." O'Malley's investigation into how Catholic councils changed the mission of the church over centuries will appeal to clergy in particular, but also any lay reader interested in how the Catholic church came to take its modern form.