Legacy and Limits of Vatican II in an Age of Crisis

Catherine E. Clifford is professor of systematic and historical theology at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada. She is presently vice president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and serves as a North American delegate to the XVI General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality. Among her recent publications are The Oxford Handbook on Vatican II (2023), co-edited with Massimo Faggioli, and Vatican II at 60: Re-Energizing the Renewal (Orbis, 2024). Kristin M. Colberg is associate professor of theology at Saint John's University and School of Theology and the College of Saint Benedict, and the sole U.S. member to serve on the theological commission for the Synod on Synodality. She received her doctorate at the University of Notre Dame in systematic theology. She is the co-author with Jos Moons, SJ, of The Future of Synodality: How We Move Forward from Here (Liturgical Press, 2025), author of Vatican I and Vatican II: Councils in the Living Tradition (Liturgical Press, 2016), and the co-editor of Speaking Truth in Love, a festschrift in honor of Cardinal Walter Kasper (Liturgical Press, 2014). Colberg also serves as a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). Massimo Faggioli is professor in the department of theology and religious studies at Villanova University. He is an internationally established scholar in the area of Vatican II and the papacy especially, and a renowned public commentator on church affairs. He is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Vatican II (edited with Catherine Clifford, 2023). Among his books with Liturgical Press are The Legacy and Limits of Vatican II in an Age of Crisis (2025); Catholicism and Citizenship: Political Cultures of the Church in the Twenty-First Century (2017); Sorting Out Catholicism: A Brief History of the New Ecclesial Movements (2014); Pope John XXIII: The Medicine of Mercy (2014); and True Reform: Liturgy and Ecclesiology in Sacrosanctum Concilium (2012). Edward P. Hahnenberg is the Breen Chair in Catholic Theology at John Carroll University. He is the author or co-editor of seven books—including Theodore Hesburgh, CSC: Bridge Builder (2020); Theology for Ministry: An Introduction for Lay Ministers (2014) published by Liturgical Press. He is a past delegate to the U.S. Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue and former theological consultant to the U.S. Bishops’ Subcommittee on Lay Ministry.

"This welcome collection aims to bridge the distance between Vatican II and the diverse contexts in which the council unfolded and continues to be received. The essays engage critically with the council as part of the church’s living tradition, which contributes to pastoral, ethical, and ecclesiological questions while also being notably, even disastrously, silent on issues the church continues to face today. The volume insightfully highlights the need to learn from Vatican II’s contributions as well as its lacunae in the hope of responding more actively to concerns such as racism, colonialism, sexual abuse, and misogyny in the church and world today."Amanda C. Osheim, PhD, Professor of Practical Theology, Loras College

• ContentsIntroduction: Legacy and Limits of Vatican II in Our Present Ecclesial Crisis   ixCatherine E. Clifford, Kristin M. Colberg, Massimo Faggioli, Edward P. HahnenbergPart One: Hermeneutics of the Council in an Age of CrisisChapter 1: A Further Reception of Vatican II: Interim Report from the Synod on Synodality   3Catherine E. CliffordChapter 2. The “Spirit of Vatican II” and the Legacy of the Council Today   21Martin MadarChapter 3. Integralism and the Reception(s) of Dignitatis Humanae   37Daniel A. RoberChapter 4. Lumen Gentium and Doctrinal Ambivalence: Abel and the Interpretative Task of Filling the Gaps   53Florian KlugChapter 5. A Unity Beyond the Human? Legacy and Limits of Vatican II in an Age of Ecological Crisis   73William G. KunckenPart Two: Contemporary Crises and the Limits of Vatican IISexual AbuseChapter 6. Vatican II’s Silence on Child Sex Abuse: Challenges and Limits of a “Pastoral” Agenda   93Agnès DesmazièresChapter 7. The Limits and Legacy of Vatican II’s Teaching on Priesthood: The Bishops’ Responses to Clerical Sexual Abuse in Australia   109Josephine LaffinChapter 8. Jointly Committed: Examining the Sexual Abuse Scandal as a Case of Institutional Vice in Post-Vatican II Catholicism   129Bernard G. Prusak SexismChapter 9. Glorified and Liberated? Toward a Feminist Ecclesiology of Vatican II   147Mary Kate HolmanChapter 10. The “Synodal Process” and the North American Reception of Vatican II on Women in the Church   163Theresa Gardner Racism and ColonialismChapter 11. Disrupting the Idolatry of Blood: Catholic Antiracism as a Necessary Expression of the Council’s Renewed Soteriology   181Jaisy A. JosephChapter 12. Conciliar, Postconciliar, and Postcolonial: Vatican II, Paul VI, and the Church in South Vietnam   201Tuan HoangChapter 13. Vatican II and Caste in Postcolonial India: Brahminization of the Catholic Church or Catholicization of Brahminical Power?   219Evgeniia MuzychenkoChapter 14. Vatican II and the African Catholic Church: A Decolonial Critique 235William I. OrbihChapter 15. Becoming Antiracist: Post-Vatican II Catholicism and the “Sin of Racism”   253Matteo Caponi Part Three: Ecclesial ResponsesChapter 16. Discerning Disciples: Lay Agency Sixty Years After Vatican II   275Edward P. HahnenbergChapter 17. Catholic Higher Education at Our Lord’s Tomb: Toward a Pedagogy of Holy Saturday in Our Age of Contempt   295Timothy HanchinAbout the Authors   313Index of Names   317