Over the last five decades, the Second Vatican Council has been lauded and derided for its alleged break with tradition and embrace of the modern world. But what if we're completely wrong? Have Catholics—both those who support the spirit of Vatican II and those who oppose it—misunderstood what the council was all about?
Fr. Blake Britton discovered the council's truth and beauty while in seminary, and he has seen firsthand the power of its teachings in the life of his own parish. Britton pushes beyond the political narrative foisted on the post-conciliar Church in Reclaiming Vatican II, a collaboration between Ave Maria Press and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, to argue that Vatican II was something much more beautiful and challenging.
Fr. Blake Britton in Reclaiming Vatican II dispels myths about the council and demonstrates how, when properly understood and applied, it fosters a richer experience of being in the Church. According to Britton, Vatican II promotes a radical return to the Church Fathers and the Scriptures, holding both a commitment to tradition and the need for constant renewal in life-giving balance, recenters the Church on sacred liturgy and encourages both active participation and genuine encounter with transcendence, charts a clear path for the Church's renewal, and empowers it for evangelization and transformative engagement with the world.
Britton invites all Catholics to move beyond the polarization and embrace Vatican II as one of our most valuable resources for being faithful, engaged, and effective members of the Church if we respond to its radical call to worship and renewal.
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