Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Postconciliar Documents

Documents of the Second Vatican Council

by Austin Flannery (Editor)

Revised to a larger size, Volume I includes the 16 original constitutions and decrees and 49 documents issued after the close of the Council; Volume II contains 56 additional documents. Both volumes are generously indexed.

Genres: Theology, Reference, Religion, Catholic, Church History, Christian, Christianity

1060 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Liam Flannery was born in Rear Cross, Co Tipperary. When he joined the Dominican Order in 1943 he was given the name Austin, by which he was known for the rest of his life. First profession as a Dominican, in September 1944, led to studies in theology at St Mary's Priory, Tallaght, and then at Blackfriars, Oxford, before he was ordained a priest in 1950. After further studies at the Angelicum in Rome, he was sent to teach theology at Glenstal Abbey, Co Limerick.

In August 1957, he began what was to prove his life's work when he was appointed editor of the monthly magazine Doctrine and Life. During the years of Vatican Council II (1962-1965) he focused on the council documents and how its decisions were to be implemented. Since then, the magazine retains an interest in the need for reform. Over the years, Fr Flannery founded three other magazines, Religious Life Review (1962), Scripture in Church (1970), and Spirituality (1994). His Vatican Council II: Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations is now the standard English-language version, often cited in footnotes simply as 'Flannery'.

Reviews

[Ramón S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not easy to read but worthy of deep study. Fundamental to know the Catholic Church. Fully inspired and inspiring

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Minus some docs but all the other readings for the class make up for it)

[Michael Medlen · Rating 5 out of 5]

reference book

[Russell Dyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was at Loyola University in New Orleans, studying religion -- at a time when I was active in the Catholic Church, which included teaching RCIA, a ten-month course for people converting to Catholicism -- I decided that there were three sets of text I needed to read and know well: the Bible, including the apocryphal gospels and related text; the then new Catechism which had been released in 1992; and the Vatican II council documents and related encyclicals. All three of those included reading commentaries and analyses of each to understand them better and to be familiar with various positions on them.

For the third task, I spent a Summer in a self-study course at Loyola, directed by a friend, Marianist Brother Ed Kiefer, who was an adjunct professor at Loyola and also the director of the Office of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. I used this book, this particular volume and edition as the main text for that course. I learned so much about Vatican II and the hierarchical culture of the Church, as well as the religion -- from decades and centuries before Vatican II, from the years of Vatican II, as well as a better understanding of how the Church and its culture have developed since. If you're willing to dedicate yourself to it, this is an excellent book to read and study.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of conciliar and post-conciliar documents of Vatican II certain contains a wealth of valuable information. Reading this book was at times very enlightening. At other times, things were repetitive, as certain documents referenced others in the book. This is due to the separation they have temporally in how they were written, and should not be seen as a negative aspect of the documents themselves.

I encourage all the Catholic faithful and those who want a deeper understanding of the Catholic Church to take up the challenge of reading these documents, so as to better understand the mind and heart of the Church. :)

[John]

religion,reference,nonfiction

[Bmankiewicz]

This copy is paperback 962 pages. Somewhat worn. Sewn paperback printed in Bombay.. Includes table of contents and extensive index. St. Paul publications.

[Tom Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is too big. It does not need to include the post-conciliar documents. It's odd too that it includes the first post-conciliar GIRM, because that is regularly updated. A lot of these secondary documents would be interesting only to a very very very small group of V2 scholars.