DOCUMENTS OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The sixteen documents of the Second Vatican Council are available online at the Vatican web site. Keep in mind only the original Latin versions of the documents are definitive; all the translations must defer to the Latin text. Several English translations of the documents are available.

Translations of the Documents of the Second Vatican Council

• Abbott, Walter M., ed. The Documents of Vatican II. New York: Herder & Herder, 1966, etc. One of the first to rush to publish a translation of the conciliar documents, Abbot's initial translation was flawed. The footnotes and commentaries ought to be avoided.

• Flannery, Austin, ed. Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents . Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 1975, etc. As with Abbot, Flannery's initial translation was rushed. Subsequent editions were better, but the beginning student should still avoid the footnotes and commentaries.

• Tanner, Norman P., ed. and trans. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. 2 vols. Washington DC: Sheed & Ward, Georgetown University Press, 1990.

The second volume of this set contains a fresh translation of the documents of the council into English alongside the Latin version on the opposite page.

• Trouvé, Marianne Lorraine, ed. The Sixteen Documents of Vatican II. Boston: Pauline Books & Media, 1999. This volume, containing the translations of the conciliar documents produced by the Daughters of St Paul, is the best available. The introductions by Douglas G. Bushman are excellent. If it were not out of print, it would be required for this course.

Official Versions of Vatican II Documents for the Serious Researcher (in case you were wondering)

• Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. Series I, Antepraeparatoria. Cura et studio Secretariae Pontificiae Commissionis Centralis Praeparatoriae Concilii Vaticani II. 10 vols. Civitas Vaticana: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1960-1961.These are the documents that prepared the way for the Second Vatican Council.

• Acta Synodalia Sacrosancti Concilii Oecumenici Vaticani Secundi. 10 vols. Civitas Vaticana: Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1970. This set of volumes contains the acts of the Second Vatican Council itself, including the interventions of various fathers of the council as well as working documents.  

Worth Knowing About

• Rynne, Xavier.Vatican Council II. Orbis Books, 1999. This pseudonymous work reproduces the sensationalist essays or letters portraying "the inside story" on the council that were first published in The New Yorker while the council was in session. Rynne's overly-simplistic presentation of a liberal v. conservative political division at the council has proved immensely influential. The author's real name is Francis X. Murphy (1915-2002).

• Huebsch, Bill. Vatican II in Plain English: The Collection. Thomas Moore Association/Ave Maria Press, 1997.

• Alberigo, Giuseppe, and Joseph A. Komonchak, eds. History of Vatican II. 5 vols. Orbis Books, 1996-2006. This more recent five-volume set is informative and less passionate than the histories of the council published earlier.

• Lamb, Matthew L. and Matthew Levering, eds. Vatican II: Renewal within Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Orbis Books, 1996-2006. This volume offers a set of reliable theological commentaries on the council's documents.

 

 

† The Professor reserves the right to make substitutions, deletions, or additions to the schedule of readings.

 

 

in te domine speravi non confundar in aeternum © 2009 Daniel G. Van Slyke