ROAD TO RENEWAL: Perspectives of Vatican II

Father Haring's latest book provides a panoramic view of the achievements of Vatican II. Its obvious audience is the literate Catholic; its secondary one is the informed non-Catholic who remains, not unreasonably, somewhat skeptical about the long-range effects which the much heralded reforms are expected to have in practice. Among Haring's most provocative chapters are those dealing with subjects on which there has hitherto been little official clarification: the missionary role of the Church in relation to the dialogue with non-Christian religions, marriage and the family in the modern world, the function of the priest, religious freedom, and the relations of Christianity with Communism. Such treatments suggest only a section of the scope of this work and of the author's competence; in eighteen chapters, Haring manages to cover, comprehensively and concisely, the range of conciliar action from beginning to end, explaining, illustrating, elucidating, and applying the documents in the light of current doubts and problems. If Road to Renewal has a defect, it is that the book, which is a translation from the Italian, is quite obviously a translation from the Italian --i.e., it tends to read, in parts, like the translation of a papal encyclical and that is hardly Haring's style, either of writing or of thinking. Nonetheless, the obvious worth of the book, and the author's authority as one of Christianity's most formidable and respected theologians, will insure the popularity of this work.