An introduction to the three great assemblies that shaped the Catholic Church

When Bishops Meet: An Essay Comparing Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II
JOHN W. O’MALLEY
(harvard university press, 240 PP, £19.95)
Tablet bookshop price £17.95 • Tel 020 7799 4064

Semper eadem: always the same. Roman Catholics have often laboured under or taken comfort in the mistaken assumption that the Church does not change. Borrowing from the English philosopher of history R. G. Collingwood (1889-1943), John O’Malley calls this historical, or rather, ­ahistorical, outlook “substantialism”. Ancient Roman historians treated Rome as a ­substance or reality that did not change over time. Catholic apologists asserted the enduring sameness of the Church as they defended Catholic belief and practice against Protestant critics. In his newest book, O’Malley makes church history historical, identifying novelty and change alongside continuity.

When Bishops Meet comes a decade after the publication by O’Malley of separate illuminating books on the three great councils that shaped the modern Catholic Church: Trent, Vatican I and Vatican II. Newcomers to Catholic history may profitably read the Essay without reading the three books. Those who have already read them will reap a harvest of historical reflection, encountering insight more than restatement.