History of Vatican II, vol. 2, Formation of the Council’s Identity, October 1962–September 1963 ed. by Giuseppe Alberigo, Joseph A. Komonchak (review)

142 BOOK REVIEWS O'Meara is right to see the goal of reading Aquinas as twofold: (1) to acknowledge, in the words of Pesch, the "basic distance" between Aquinas's thought and that of our time-not just in terms of conclusions but in terms of the kinds of questions posed and the shape of the inquiry itself; and (2) to find in Thomas a way of addressing contemporary issues and concerns. Without the former, we will have only superficial, fashionable applications of Aquinas to contemporary problems; without the latter, Thomas ceases to be a living interlocutor. The supposition of all serious reading of old books is that by underscoring their otherness we allow them to put into question the unreflective dogmas of our time. Thus we may be freed from the tyranny of the present. When O'Meara turns to the present, his Aquinas too often speaks in terms that confirm rather than unsettle current assumptions. This is especially true when it comes to ethical and political matters. At times we are given platitudes about the need to embrace "process, historicity, and individuality" (249) and bland descriptions of postmodernism as seeking a "union of theory and life" and as respecting "past cultures and present diversity." O'Meara aptly notes the complexity of the political world of Aquinas's time and of Aquinas's own political thought, which distinguishes between faith and politics, law and morality (221). While he notes that not freedom of choice but the common good (219) is the ultimate standard of good government, the tenor of the discussion leads the reader to see Aquinas as an anticipation of modern political insights, albeit one whose thought might help temper certain of its excesses. Nowhere do we get the sense that modern conceptions of the common good, be they conservative or liberal, are diametrically opposed to that of Aquinas. If O'Meara's book does not quite fulfill the twofold task, this is sobering testimony to how difficult that accomplishment is. But O'Meara is right. We must do both. We cannot settle for less. THOMAS S. HIBBS Boston College Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts History of Vatican II, vol. 2, Formation of the Council's Identity, October 1962-September 1963. Edited by GIUSEPPE ALBERIGO and JOSEPH A. KOMONCHAK. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1997. Pp. 654. $80.00 (cloth). ISBN 1-57075-147-1. I have previously written an extended reflection on the first volume of this series under the title "Vatican II as a Program in Applied Philosophy" (The Modern Schoolman 75:4 [May. 1998] 315-27). Even though the council is a BOOK REVIEWS 143 religious event, I agree with Rocco Buttiglione's statement: "To interpret the Council is par excellence to do the work of Christian philosophy. But that does not imply an effort only of aggiornamento of Christian culture but much more progress in the general self-understanding of man, a step forward in the philosophical consciousness of all humanity" (emphasis added). However, as Alberigo makes clear, any discernment of the metamorphosis that took place in the ecclesial consciousness at Vatican II is no easy matter. In introducing this second volume Alberigo points out that the historiographical and literary norms shaping the first volume had to be radically changed for this second one. The work of the central and preparatory commissions (1959-62), described in volume 1, organized the preconciliar schemata along generally accepted neo-Scholastic (conceptualistic) lines. This second volume, however, narrates the maelstrom of the bishops' abreaction to such unimaginative thinking. One of the simpler ways to cope with this complex chaos would have been to tease out various issues from the first session's controversies and treat them thematically. The editorial board voted against this and decided to follow historical-critical method in a professional way. In this process priority has been given to the concrete development of the conciliar undertaking in all its twists and turns. The editors have made every effort to move beyond mere chronicle in order to achieve a multidimensional understanding of the conciliar event at its various levels. Let it be known from the start that the crux of this investigation is the council as event. The...