Unfinished Council

Richard R. Gaillardetz (1958-2023), held the Joseph Chair of Catholic Systematic Theology at Boston College. He published numerous articles and authored or edited twelve books, including An Unfinished Council: Vatican II, Pope Francis, and the Renewal of Catholicism and Keys to the Council: Unlocking the Teaching of Vatican II (co-authored with Catherine Clifford), both published by Liturgical Press. He was a contributor to Give Us This Day. Gaillardetz was a delegate on the US Catholic-Methodist Ecumenical Dialogue and served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America between 2013 and 2014.

In An Unfinished Council, Richard R. Gaillardetz extends a compelling invitation to the Roman Catholic Church to take the next steps in its faithful pilgrimage. Beginning with an exploration of the theological principles and historical realities operative before, during, and after Vatican II, Gaillardetz proceeds to highlight humility and magnanimity as essential ecclesial virtues that develop authentic self-understanding and create collaboration rather than competition. By examining Pope Francis's reception of Vatican II, Gaillardetz encourages his readers to be architects of the church's communion and mission who engage the periphery through listening and subsidiarity. An Unfinished Council is an accessible, insightful, and timely call for the church to engage today in ongoing reform through critical reception of the past and with hope for the future.Amanda C. Osheim, Assistant Professor of Practical Theology,Loras College

• ContentsPreface   ixChapter 1:  The Council in Context: Responding to the Hierocratic Form of the Church   1Chapter 2:  The Council That Almost Failed   29Chapter 3:  Toward a New Ecclesial Form: The Pillars of Vatican II’s Ecclesial Vision   49Chapter 4:  Vatican II and the Humility of the Church   73Chapter 5:  A Noncompetitive Theology of the Church   91Chapter 6:  Pope Francis and the Reception of Vatican II   115Chapter 7:  From a Pastoral Council to a Pastoral Renewal   137Bibliography   159Index   167