Now, within the context of worldwide Roman Catholicism, Vatican II is such a stunning and sweeping development that we can speak of the pre-Vatican II church and of the still emerging Vatican II church.
However, within the context of American culture, the 1960s also brought us the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Senator Robert F. Kennedy; the Cuban missile crisis, the black civil rights movement, the passage of landmark civil rights legislation, the Vietnam War, protests against the Vietnam War, the police riot in Chicago at the time of the Democratic National Convention in 1968, and the election of President Richard Nixon in 1968.
Today many of Trump's supporters, including many practicing American Catholics who fantasize about the pre-Vatican II church, idealize the postwar 1950s in American culture - when America was "great" after emerging victorious in World War II.
Now, Vatican II's still emerging significance is explored in the 80 essays in the 800-page 2023 book The Oxford Handbook of Vatican II, edited by the lay Catholic scholars Catherine E. Clifford of Saint Paul University in Ottawa and Massimo Faggioli of Villanova University in Philadelphia. It includes three indexes: (1) "Index of Names" (pp. 755-766); (2) "Index of Subjects" (pp. 767-772); and (3) "Index of Vatican II Documents" (pp. 773-777). However, I am sorry to report that the term conscience does not appear in the "Index of Subjects."
For the table of contents and author information, see the Oxford University Press website:
Recently the Canadian Catholic theologian Professor Clifford published the article "[Pope] Francis' synod reforms show voices of Catholic laity can no longer be ignored" (dated May 10, 2023) at the National Catholic Reporter website:
Recently the Italian-born Catholic church historian Professor Faggioli published the article "[Pope] Francis & the 'Elitist' German synod: Why the pope's criticism is so strong" (dated February 22, 2023) at the Commonweal magazine website:
Now, the lay American Catholic journalist and columnist Michael Seen Winters has ably reviewed The Oxford Handbook of Vatican II in two recent columns at the National Catholic Reporter website:
(1) "'Oxford Handbook of Vatican II' is, pun intended, magisterial" (dated May 5, 2023):
(2) "'Oxford Handbook of Vatican II' comprehensively covers the council and its reception" (dated May 8, 2023):
I commend Michael Sean Winters for reading the 777-page text and writing such a thorough review of the book. I doubt if another reviewer will write a more thorough review of the book. In the first part of his thorough review, Michael Sean Winters details the late American Jesuit church historian John W. O'Malley's Chapter 1: "From Trent and Vatican I to Vatican II" (pp. 9-25).
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
