My Journal of the Council

by Yves Congar

My Journal of the Council offers a riveting first-hand assessment of the dynamics, disputes, and decisions of the Council. At the same time, this volume provides a rare glimpse into the personal and spiritual cost of Congar’s love of truth and his commitment to hand on the Church’s authentic Tradition as a living heritage of faith.” Mary Catherine Hilkert, OP Professor of Theology University of Notre Dame “Fr. Yves Congar was the most important and influential theologian at the Second Vatican Council. The journal that he wrote on the spot nearly every day provides entry not only to his ideas and feelings but to the dynamics at work as the Council accomplished a work of renewal and reform for which he had himself worked and suffered for decades before. This is indispensable reading for anyone who wishes to understand the texts, and the drama, of Vatican II.” Joseph A. Komonchak Professor Emeritus, Historical and Systematic Theology, The Catholic University of America Editor of the English version of The History of Vatican II, Giuseppe Alberigo (ed.) “Yves Congar’s diaries give us an intimate insight into the most important event in the life of the Catholic Church in the twentieth century. Having been marginalized and silenced because of his theological views, Congar was summoned to Rome to be a crucial actor in the Council. He records his views of the participants with wonderful frankness and gives us access to the dramatic negotiations and maneuvers that took place behind the scenes. It is impossible to put it down. It unveils the genesis of the Council documents that changed the Church.

Genres: Religion, History, Theology, Nonfiction, Catholic, Christianity, Biography

979 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

A French Dominican priest who become one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century on the topic of the Roman Catholic Church and ecumenism.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hard work, but it was absolutely worth it. The ups and downs of Vatican II, written in real-time. The dirty secrets on all the politics happening behind the scenes. Hilariously blunt comments from Congar. During a particularly long and boring speech, he turned to a colleague and asked "is he selling socks or braces?" He calls a number of people imbeciles. Congar has insightful observations on two future popes, Ratzinger and Wojtyla. He also makes numerous observations about the radical methodology of Hans Kung.

But among the drama also emerges the remarkable humility and patience of Congar. He was in poor health for most of these years, and often writes of being spiritually and physically tired. Yet he continued working. He had fierce opponents, but he faced all of it with patience, in the hope that given time, an open spirit would prevail. He saw other theologians trying to BE the council, and he despised this. He considered his role, the role of the theologian, to be assisting and informing the bishops, so that the bishops could make properly informed decisions. In his book, True and False Reform, Congar insisted that reform must happen, but it must happen through humility and painstaking patience. This journal showed me what that looks like in action.

[Adam DeVille, Ph.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I've noted elsewhere at length, readers coming to this book will be astonished by the details, awed by this man's bluntness (so much so that publication was embargoed until the year 2000), convulsed with laughter at some of his acerbic but accurate comments, bored by some of the tedious details of endless meetings, but delighted for hours on end with this delicious vin extraordinaire.

Further thoughts here: http://easternchristianbooks.blogspot...

And here: http://easternchristianbooks.blogspot...

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful introduction to the theology of Congar. I can’t recommend this book highly enough to those trying to gain insight to the Council.

[MargCal · Rating 5 out of 5]

"My Journal of the Council" by Yves Congar (read January-February 2013)
Trans: Mary John Ronayne OP' Mary Cecily Boulding OP
English trans editor: Dennis Minns OP
ISBN: 9780814660292

It was hard work getting through this but so worth it, reading the contemporaneous diaries of a theological expert at the Second Vatican Council. Heart-breaking though that the intent of Vatican II was thwarted at every turn and that even the compromise positions that were finally accepted have never been fully implemented and even the implementations that have made it are and have been wound back.

I was delighted to discover that the editor is an excellent lecturer I had when I studied theology many years ago.

I read this in hardback and Kindle, depending on where I was, ie the hardback always stayed at home!
When reading on Kindle, I followed footnotes on the Kindle phone app!!
Kindles are really only good for novels, they don't handle illustrations, tables, graphs, footnotes, etc well. But better than nothing as a substitute for weighty tomes such as this.