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  • True Reform: Liturgy and Ecclesiology in Sacrosanctum Concilium by Massimo Faggioli
  • Judith M. Kubicki
True Reform: Liturgy and Ecclesiology in Sacrosanctum Concilium. By Massimo Faggioli. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2012. 192 pp. $19.95.

Massimo Faggioli is a historian of modern Catholicism and of Vatican II, not a liturgical theologian. Yet he argues convincingly that the liturgical reform contained in Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) provides the theological core that informs and connects all the documents of Vatican II. The book is divided into six chapters, a conclusion, extensive footnotes, bibliography, and two indices.

Chapter one explores the meaning of Vatican II as it unfolds in SC. Faggioli argues that SC contains the theological seeds for the Council’s thinking on revelation, ecclesiology, ecumenism, dialogue [End Page 76] with other religions, and the church’s role in the modern world. Indeed, SC represents the outcome of a council grounded in three principles: ressourcement, the recovery of the centrality of Scripture and the Eucharist, and rapprochement.

Chapter two focuses on liturgical reform and the principle of ressourcement. While returning to the sources was the core of the liturgical reform, Faggioli claims that the most radical ressourcement was retrieving the idea that the liturgy itself is the language whereby the church expresses and communicates ad intra and ad extra.

Chapter three outlines the intrinsic link between liturgy and ecclesiology. Faggioli makes a strong argument for the fact that the reception and rejection of the liturgical reform embody in many cases the very reception and rejection of Vatican II, especially its ecclesiological change.

Chapter four considers liturgical reform and rapprochement. It is this task – resetting the relationship between Christian liturgy, the spiritual needs of the faithful, and Catholic theological reading of the modern world in its historical and social dimensions – that was the goal of SC.

Chapter five, “Reforming the Liturgy – Reforming the Church,” rebuts the argument that rejecting the liturgical reform is based on aesthetics. Rather, Faggioli interprets rejecting liturgical reform as a mind-set of personal and institutional unwillingness to walk the path of church reform.

Chapter six reviews the fifty years of conciliar reception already experienced by the reformed liturgy. His treatment of the Lefebvre case and the implications of celebrating the pre-Vatican II liturgy are particularly insightful.

Faggioli supports his thesis with convincing arguments. His evidence for the connection between liturgy and ecclesiology is compelling and may disturb those on both sides of the question. His writing is clear and well documented and his grasp of the issues is broad and deep. This is an important and valuable book because [End Page 77] Faggioli clarifies and supports with data what many have already known (and perhaps feared) about the critical link between liturgy and ecclesiology and the seminal importance of SC for the theology of Vatican II. This book should be read not only by liturgists, but also by ecclesiologists and all those interested in the legacy of Vatican II. It is an important resource for students of Vatican II, seminarians, and undergraduates and graduates of theology. The connections made are vital; the concerns raised are important, and the insights shared provide a fresh understanding of the legacy of Vatican II.

Judith M. Kubicki
Fordham University
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