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pastoral planning, lay review boards, finance councils, and canonical services continues. A handbook for these accomplishments has yet to be written. Patrick J. Hayes, Ph.D. Department of Theology and Religious Studies St. John’s University Staten Island, NewYork SYNOD AND SYNODALITY: THEOLOGY, HISTORY, CANON LAW AND ECUMENISM IN NEW CONTACT. INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM BRUGES 2005. Edited by Alberto Melloni and Silvia Scatena. Münster: LIT Verlag, 2005. This ambitious work is the first volume of the Christianity and History Series of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies in Bologna. It deals with the important issue of synod and synodality or, in other words, withcouncilandconciliarity.Itexaminesthisbroadtopicfromavarietyof perspectives.The book has thirty articles of varying lengths and in several languages: fifteen in English, seven in French, seven in Italian, and one in Spanish. In addition, it contains abstracts in English of all the articles. The breadth of this work is impressive. It has many characteristics: it is interdisciplinary dealing with theology, Church history, and canon law; it is interconfessional with its discussion of synodality in Roman Catholicism , Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, the Reformation communions, and the World Council of Churches; it is international in its references to Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, and Asia; and, finally, it is multidimensional addressing synod and synodality at the local, regional, national , supranational, and global levels. Even with the wide variety of ecclesial structures, some form of collective governance can be found in all Christian communions. Several articles are particularly noteworthy: Routhier on the various dimensions necessary for a fruitful study of synodality;Albergio on conciliarity ; Wiljens, Faggioli, and Noël on episcopal conferences; Indelicato onthesynodofbishops;andVischeronworldcommunionsandtheWorld Council of Churches. The article by Flanagan on Tillard’s understanding of communion is very helpful, since the concept of communion is a necessary theological aspect of synodality. book reviews 545 546 the jurist Some suggestions, however, are in order. First, the existing index of names is necessary, but a subject index would also have been beneficial. Second, a list of the contributors with their institutional affiliations and brief bibliographical references would have served to introduce, particularly to NorthAmerican readers, authors who may not have been known. Third, although the existing preface is useful, perhaps a longer and more analytic article of concluding remarks could have synthesized the major conclusions and noted the unresolved issues. Fourth, the discussion of concrete examples of synodal expressions is valuable, but still too limited . There are detailed descriptions of the contemporary expressions of synodality in many European countries and in Canada, India, and West Africa, but nothing on the role of synods in the United States. An assessment of the history and theology of the seven provincial and three plenary councils of Baltimore in the nineteenth century and the episcopal conferences in the United States before and after Vatican II would have been a genuine contribution to this book. Notwithstanding these suggestions, this book can be recommended to anyone with a serious interest in theology, canon law, Church history, or ecumenism. It is a rich source of information on an important contemporary issue. Patrick Granfield, O.S.B. The Catholic University of America Washington, D.C. OPUS DEI.AN OBJECTIVE LOOK BEHIND THE MYTHSAND REALITY OF THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL FORCE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH by John. L. Allen, Jr. New York/London/ Toronto/Sydney/Auckland: Doubleday, 2005. John L.Allen, Jr., a well known journalist once based in Rome, covers the “Vatican” news for the National Catholic Reporter (NCR). In this capacity , he used to write a weekly column, The Word from Rome, now for NCR, All Things Catholic. In addition, Allen is an author and publishes books based on his work as a journalist in Rome. Until recently, he exclusively dealt with the papacy and related topics: his book, Conclave (Doubleday, 2002), reveals the procedures of a conclave and gives his view on the possible succession of John Paul II; All the Pope’s Men (Doubleday, 2004), addresses the Roman Curia. Two slightly different ...

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