Emmanuel
FROM THE EDITOR
I grew up in the pre-Vatican II church of the 1960s and felt the first
pull toward a church vocation in its embrace. As a young novice and
seminarian, I experienced the energy and exhilaration the council
unleashed among many, as well as the confusion and pain of others
who believed the council betrayed everything they loved and held
true as Catholics.
The council that Good Pope John called has impacted my life and
ministry in every imaginable way. I count it a blessing to serve the
Catholic Church at this particular moment in its long and illustrious
history. As the late scripture scholar Father Raymond Brown once
remarked at the start of a lecture he was giving, “What interesting
times we live in as Catholics!”
“Ecumenical councils, whenever they are assembled, are a solemn
celebration of the union of Christ and his church and hence lead to
the universal radiation of truth, to the proper guidance of individuals
in domestic and social life, to the strengthening of spiritual energies
for a perennial uplift toward real and everlasting goodness.”
These words come from the address of John XXIII to the assembled
bishops and invited guests at the opening of the Second Vatican
Council on October 11, 1962.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the close of the council
and the promulgation of its decrees, Emmanuel has invited a number
of authors from various backgrounds to examine seven of its major
documents. Our request was “simple”: touch on the principal teachings
and themes of the document; speak to things that might have been
said and weren’t; and explore its implications for a church that places
the Eucharist at the center of its life and mission.
In the process, we hope to see how the work of the council has
promoted “the union of Christ and his church,” radiated “universal
truth” to the world around us, offered guidance to the people of