The Impact of the Second Vatican Council on United States Catholic Historiography

The Second Vatican Council’s impact on the historiography of U.S. Catholicism can be viewed through an evolution of topics and paradigms before and after the council. A new historical consciousness within the Catholic Church, the ecclesiology of the People of God, and the new post-conciliar ecumenical climate had a significant influence. Initially, the council and its interpretations contributed to an opening of the discipline of Church history to new currents of social and cultural history, placing Catholicism under the domain of “religious history.” Simultaneously, the Church history approach that favored institutional histories continued to be cultivated, while renewing avenues for research and analysis through the perspectives of the council’s proposals. Finally, the article suggests that in recent decades the impact of the council can be seen in historiographical developments including: 1) the quest for “continuity” in the historical narrative; 2) from a paradigm of “uniqueness” to one of “difference”; 3) a less “American” focused and more “global” Catholic outlook; 4) the exploration of a more religious “religious history”; and 5) Catholic history that contributes to a new reading of U.S. history.