Keys to the Council

As the church marks the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, too few Catholics have an adequate grasp of what the council contributed to the life of the church. The problem is understandable. The Second Vatican Council produced, by far, more document pages than any other council. Consequently, any attempt to master its core teachings can be daunting. There is a danger of missing the forest for the trees. With this in mind, Keys to the Council identifies twenty key conciliar passages, central texts that help us appreciate the Vision of the council fathers. Each chapter places the given passage in its larger historical context, explores its fundamental meaning and significance, and finally considers its larger significance for the life of the church today. Chapters include exploration of Sacrosanctum Concilium's demand for full, conscious, and active participation" in the liturgy; Lumen Gentium's eucharistic ecclesiology; Gaudium et Spes's Vision of marriage as an intimate partnership of life and love; Nostra Aetate's approach to non-Christian religions; and more. Richard R. Gaillardetz is the Joseph McCarthy Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology at Boston College. He holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame in systematic theology. He is the author of seven previous books, including By What Authority? A Primer on Scripture, the Magisterium, and the Sense of the Faithful (2003) and editor of When the Magisterium Intervenes: The Magisterium and Theologians in Today's Church (2012), both from Liturgical Press. He is presently the vice-president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. Catherine E. Clifford is associate professor of theology at St. Paul University in Ontario. She received an STL from the University? de Fribourg and a PhD in theology from the University of St. Michal's College, Toronto. She is coeditor of Vatican II: Canadian Experiences (University of Ottawa Press, 2011). "