For 40 years a battle has been waged over Vatican II between conservatives and liberals, between those who want to go "back to the sources" and those who champion "the spirit of the council." Benedict XVI is clearly one of those who started out as a liberal only to end up in the conservative camp. "Vatican II: Did Anything Happen?" is clearly on the side of those who think something unprecedented happened, that a genie was let out of the bottle that will never be stuffed back.Comprised mainly of a collection of articles, mostly but not all from Theological Studies, that are without qualification some of the best analysis of the council ever written, this book is a long overdue look at one of the most controversial and revolutionary chapters in the history of the Catholic Church.

Author Biography

John W. O'Malley, SJ, is one of the most highly respected and widely read Roman Catholic historians in the United States. He is the author of Four Cultures of the West (Harvard University Press) and The First Jesuits (Harvard University Press), among others. Stephen Schloesser, S.J., is associate professor of history at Boston College, USA. Joseph A. Komonchak holds the John and Gertrude Hubbard Chair in Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America, USA. Neil J. Ormerod is professor of theology at Australian Catholic University, Strathfield, N.S.W, Australia. David G. Schultenover, S.J., is professor of theology at Marquette University and editor-in-chief of Theological Studies.