Catholic History for Today's Church: How Our Past Illuminates Our Present

by John W. O'Malley

We can't understand the issues swirling in today's Catholic church without understanding the past. In Catholic History for Today's Church acclaimed historian John W. O'Malley, SJ, illuminates some of today's most contentious issues--from celibacy to the role of the pope--through their history. In his characteristically engaging style, O'Malley's essays provide readers with an overview of each theme in history then explore how that past connects with life today. Many of the essays highlight his expertise on the papacy and the papal curia, as well as the significance and legacies of the Council of Trent and Vatican II. By taking a historical approach, O'Malley shows how contemporary issues arose, assesses where they are today, and suggests how they might be changed for the better. Catholic History for Today's Church takes an invaluable long view on topics that too often find us shortsighted.

Genres: Religion, Catholic

248 pages, Hardcover

First published August 6, 2015

About the author

Rev. Father John W. O’Malley, SJ, PhD was a professor of theology at the University of Detroit, Weston Jesuit School of Theology, and Georgetown University. His specialty was the history of religious culture in early modern Europe, especially Italy. He received best-book prizes from the American Historical Association, the American Philosophical Society, the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, the American Catholic Historical Association, and from the Alpha Sigma Nu fraternity. His best known books are The First Jesuits (Harvard University Press, 1993), which has been translated into twelve languages, What Happened at Vatican II (Harvard, 2008), now in six languages, and The Jesuits: A History from Ignatius to the Present (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), now in seven languages. A companion to the book on Vatican II is his Trent: What Happened at the Council (Harvard, 2012), in five languages. He has edited or co-edited a number of volumes, including three in the Collected Works of Erasmus series, University of Toronto Press. Of special significance is The Jesuits and the Arts, (Saint Joseph’s University Press, 2005), co-edited with Gauvin Alexander Bailey, and Art, Culture, and the Jesuits: The Imago primi saeculi, 1640) (Saint Joseph's University Press, 2015). In 2015 he also published Catholic History for Today's Church: How Our Past Illuminates Our Present (Rowman & Littlefield). He edited a series with Saint Joseph's University Press entitled Early Modern Catholicism and the Visual Arts, in which thirteen titles have appeared to date.

John O’Malley lectured widely in North America and Europe to both professional and general audiences. He held a number of fellowships, from the American Academy in Rome (Prix de Rome), the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and other academic organizations. He was a past president of the Renaissance Society of America and of the American Catholic Historical Association. In 1995 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in 1997 to the American Philosophical Society, and in 2001 to the Accademia di san Carlo, Ambrosian Library, Milan, Italy. He held the Johannes Quasten Medal from The Catholic University of America for distinguished achievement in Religious Studies, and he holds a number of honorary degrees. In 2002 he received the lifetime achievement award from the Society for Italian Historical Studies, in 2005 the corresponding award from the Renaissance Society of America, and in 2012 the corresponding award from the American Catholic Historical Association. He was a Roman Catholic priest and a member of the Society of Jesus.

Reviews

[Janka H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays on history of the Catholic Church and how the history is involved in shaping the church's present.
The author, who is Jesuit priest and church historian, is presenting the historical backgrounds (mostly European, as the history of the church is based mostly there) and how the roots of some decisions were shaped. In this book he is concerned mostly with the biggest church events - the councils, namely the Trent Council and the second Vatican council, about their differences, similarities, results and consequences.

I am a Catholic from the European country with both the ling Catholic tradition and the post-communist reality. In this context the reading was bith very interesting (mind you, I am not church historian. But also mind you, I am walking around the medieval churches when going to work, so I am also a bit more connected with the culture that non-Europeans (no offense, just stating the facts)) as it was a bit disturbing, to be honest. Not given the facts, per se. Any Catholic these days is confronted with the painful failures of the individuals and maybe even the institutional ones to have his faith and Catholic identity evaluated and re-evaluated and even confronted. But I also see the beauty, the service, the love. And the spirit, or Spirit involved. In this context I was able to identify some personal opinions/inclinations of the author, his "trying to shake things a bit". Nothing wrong with that! But when one is saying A, they shoud say B, too (as the saying goes in my country).

Having said all that, I still consider the book an interesting and useful read. One should really know their past to understand their present -and to be able to evaluate and shape (if needed) accordingly. And, most importantly, one should listen to God who knows the past, the present and the future the best. This I am saying in accordance with Socrates and his 'I know I know nothing'.

[Dana Kraft · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, short intro that delivers on the title.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book of essays and talks. It was a bit beyond me at times, referencing events I had to look up. And then some of the words I also had to learn. I still found it interesting though.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

elegant essays from a superb jesuit historian.