Book Review - The Making of the Pope, 2005, by Fr. Andrew M. Greeley.

Fr. Greeley is a distinguished sociologist and bestselling author; a professor of social sciences at the Universities of Chicago and of Arizona, and a research associate at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. He has done perceptive analyses of events and political forces in the Roman Catholic Church. He tells of the daunting task of selecting the next pope after the twenty-six year's leadership of the charismatic and socially conservative Pope John Paul II. The potential candidates were as many as twenty shortly before the conclave began in 2005.

American Catholics admired and loved John Paul, but were less prone to respect his authority. Following Vatican II, American Catholics were increasingly dismissive of papal authority, Europe appeared to be more and more secular, and the more conservative Catholics of the Third World were seen as the hope of the future. The Catholic Church since the Vatican Council had become destabilized, causing crises, confusion and conflicts. In analyzing the Post-Vatican Church, Fr. Greely claimed that the most serious problem was communication on every level. The new pope, along with other Church leaders, would need above all to listen. It appears that Pope Benedict XVI was considered to be the one who could best ensure stability and continuity after Vatican II and John Paul II's long term of leadership. At 78 and in poor health, he himself said his would not be a long papacy. His principal aim was to renew the faith in Europe and around the world. (He very likely did not know in those early days that he would soon resign.)

Fr. Greeley's description of the 2005 conclave is most fascinating: First ballot… black smoke; second ballot…black smoke; third ballot…black smoke; fourth ballot…jet black smoke, then turned to gray. People shout, "It is white!" Ten minutes later the bells of St. Mary's begin to ring. Way up front German Flags are waving, especially flags of Bavaria. German bands are playing. The crowd is going wild! All are sure it is Cardinal Ratzinger. He is being received wildly by some people. Some women are squealing as though he were Frank Sinatra.! (shortened version.) Why did he choose the name Benedict? An Italian became pope in 1914,a pastoral and sensible man, and he chose the name Benedict. He wanted to be known as a healer. This is what our Pope Benedict XVI wants to be.

Fr. Greeley says Pope Benedict is misunderstood by many. He gave a brilliant homily in the Mass that ended the conclave, filled with grace and charm….and copied in full in this book. In his Concluding Reflections Greeley adds ten revealing quotes from our Pope Benedict on key concepts; and while John Paul II was still in office, the official survey center in Chicago asked a series of seven questions of the laity in 7 countries..Italy, Poland, Cermany, Spain, Ireland and the United States.

Vatican II, We've Only Just Begun, by M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O.

Book Review -

On October 12, 1962, over 2,000 Bishops, the largest assembly of bishops the world has ever seen, entered the largest church in Christendom, convened by the elderly Vicar of Christ on Earth, to begin Vatican II, a Church Council during which God would send the Spirit to the Council Fathers-- to listen to what the Spirit had to say to the churches today. They were men of every tribe and nation --men of great learning and little learning, pastors, thinkers, pragmatists, forward thinking and traditionalists, men who had very different ideas as to what the Spirit would be telling them.

The author assumed everyone knew who the convener was. It was "the old man who had ended up on top of the heap" as Venerable John XXIII called himself. And they soon knew that it was he who would be not only the convener, but also the inspiration of the Council --even though he was to die within the first year. The 4th morning Cardinal Lienart of Lille, whom Fr. Pennington called "a true Council Father", got up and declared his conviction that the Council would be these men assembled, who would tell the Church what the Spirit of God told them to say.

They worked hard, long hours, for four years .. 1962 to 1965 … honestly trying to discern the voice of the Spirit. As Christ, their Head, had become Incarnate, so this body of the Council Founders, were men, incarnate, with differences, insecurities and weaknesses as were the apostles they represented. Many became well-known in the course of time, but Cardinal Lienart was the only Father mentioned by name, (except for Pope John Paul II and a small number of other popes.) One other, not a Council Father, Thomas Merton, was given special mention as the person, more than anyone else, who inspired the faithful to a higher life in the Spirit during those four years.

Of all the documents of Vatican II, Fr Pennington highlights the following as of particular significance: The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy was one of the first document promulgated, --the first self-conscious statement of the council fathers as to " what they saw themselves to be about." Of The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, along with the Dogmatic Constitution concerning Church is " one of the foundational pronouncements of Vatican II." He calls The Pastoral Constitution on Church in the Modern World "the document that most properly belongs to Vatican II." -- It "consummates and completes" the work of the Father s." --" a very explicit call of the work of the Council to go on."

In the 30 years since Vatican II, some have said "Vatican II is dead." Others say "Vatican II is alive," but perhaps the truest evaluation is that this magnificent Council is not yet finished. As Fr. Pennington says in the title of his book, "We've Only Just Begun."