The Church Visible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church

by James Charles Noonan, Archbishop John P. Foley (Editor)

A companion volume to the best-selling Catechism of the Catholic Church offers extensive information about the ceremonies, traditions, and protocol of the Roman Catholic Church, including the changes implemented by the 1962 Vatican II Council.

Genres: Religion, Catholic, Reference, Theology, Nonfiction, History

553 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1996

Reviews

[Anna Elissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this book for my fiance but I do read some parts myself. Well, what can I say? A must-have reference for those who are really into Church rules and regulations. From special-occasion liturgies to coat of arms to how to formally address Church dignitaries in written and spoken styles, this book has it all!

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely gorgeous coffee-table, reference book on our Church's Ceremony, Traditions and protocols. Lovely to browse!

Thanks to Gary for listing it in his books--it reminded me I have it on my shelves in the back room. Time to get it out and look at it again. What a treat!

[Alexander Jolley · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were many things I feel like I didn’t understand because I did not come from a Catholic background. Some of the details are absolutely wild, and it contains a lot of great photos. I would have liked some more history in general, but this wasn’t the book for that.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a useful guide to the ceremonies, traditions, protocol, and vestments of the Catholic Church. It includes many detailed descriptions of particular rituals and masses, special vestments and which individuals have the right to wear them, honors for lay and priests alike, protocol for events, proper addresses for members of the church hierarchy, and more. An interesting feature of the book is its detailed examination of changes, particularly in ritual and vestment, since the Second Vatican Council. Also included are many very beautiful color images and photos, fully captioned in a list of illustrations at the back of the book. This would be helpful as a reference text for those who work a lot with the Church hierarchy or who are often engaged in studies of or related to the Church. However I would not recommend this book for casual reading, and I would not recommend trying to read it cover-to-cover; there is far too much information to absorb and the material can be complicated at times, especially to the uninformed reader who will need to spend much time looking up terms on their own or flipping between the text and various images to try to get a sense of what they are reading about (terms for vestments, for example, are defined but often poorly-described and seem to be written with the assumption of a certain amount of base knowledge).

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a guide to the way things are done (protocol) and not as much why. It is still interesting to read about the protocol (so much attention to meaning through beauty!) but I am wondering if it is outdated now, as it refers to St JP2's pontificate and before. Also, it is a coffee table style reference book and not a more readable book as I had hoped.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an extensive review of the Catholic Church with an emphasis on the organization and the hierarchy of the Church. Protocol and ceremonies are examined as are the Papal orders. The Knights of Columbus is considered a pious order and i the only non-papal order briefly discussed. Both oral and written communication with the hierarchy is also addressed.

[Aldean · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impressively put together volume of various protocols with the Catholic Church. This book will be ridiculous to those who scoff at the pomp and regalia of a decidedly un-modern church, but to this who revel in that solemn pageantry and ancient formulae, this book is a treasure.

[Carlos Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book, it gives a lot of insight into the catholic church and it's symbolism.

[Rhonda L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to have it..Reference. Coffee Table

[Dan Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it a while back. I found it very interesting reading.