Review: "What Went Wrong with Vatican II: The Catholic Crisis Explained"

In this sophisticated yet accessible take on the situation surrounding Vatican II (on which many Catholic's blame the crisis of the Church), Ralph M. McInerny defends the Church and Her council without compromising what abuses have followed it. As a professor of philosophy at Notre Dame, the author has spent much of his life in the trenches, so to speak, of the Catholic world and what the reactions and teachings following the council entailed. "What Went Wrong with Vatican II: The Catholic Crisis Explained" offers a picture of the Church from the perspective of someone who has both lived and studied the Church before, during, and after the first modern council, which rocked the Church violently.

McInerny is fast to point out that Vatican II, nor its documents, are the problem with Vatican II. In fact, it is on authority of the Pope and the bishops together with him that make every part of the council as valid and essential to Catholicism than any other council before. Rather, it was the sociopolitical climate that led to such seemingly disastrous effects in the Church following and even during the council.

Here are some interesting points that I found in this gem of a book:

• In the US, many theologians PRIOR to the council were beginning to advocate the use of birth control for married Catholic couples. In anticipation of what they presumed would be something that was looked at by the council and previous teaching would be reversed in light of modern scientific advances, these theologians told Catholics they could use birth control and it would just be a matter of time before the Vatican followed suit. When before the council ended Pope Paul VI wrote the encyclical Humane Vitae, which clearly and definitively bars Catholic couples from using artificial birth control for family planning, many theologians began to openly dissent the teaching of the Magisterium.

• Rather than weakening it, as I have heard in my local parish (*Pax Christi*, ahem), the second Vatican council actually strengthened and reinstated the place of the Pope, bishops, and Magisterium within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.

• Vatican II is mainly the backdrop of what was going on outside of it, but it was with the "anti-spirit of the council," as then-Cardinal Ratzinger dubbed it, that the rogue Catholic theologians infected the teaching body of the Church in the US and throughout Europe as well

• The greatest way to get the Church back on track, as she is currently heading, is through prayer and fasting (just as Our Lady has given us messages through Fatima, etc, time and time again)

The book was written in 1998, so one might imagine there could be a lot added to this saga ten years later. Still, the thoughtful consideration of the texts of the council and the news and proclamations of both followers and dissenters leads to an exceptional discussion of the Church and her teachings as followed by the faithful.

"What Went Wrong with Vatican II" is a great read for anyone who would like to consider the implications and future of a post-conciliar Church. A small warning: this book does discuss some nuances of Catholic teaching that may not be as apparent to a reader less familiar with Catholic doctrine. McInerny does, however, write fluidly at a level accessible to many, which should ease any tension one might have with the actual content of the book.

Rating: Recommended