Awards

• Winner of 2016 CPA Book Awards - First place in History.

Overview

We can’t understand the issues swirling in today’s Catholic church without understanding the past. In Catholic History for Today’s Church acclaimed historian John W. O’Malley, SJ, illuminates some of today’s most contentious issues—from celibacy to the role of the pope—through their history. In his characteristically engaging style, O’Malley’s essays provide readers with an overview of each theme in history then explore how that past connects with life today. Many of the essays highlight his expertise on the papacy and the papal curia, as well as the significance and legacies of the Council of Trent and Vatican II. By taking a historical approach, O’Malley shows how contemporary issues arose, assesses where they are today, and suggests how they might be changed for the better. Catholic History for Today’s Church takes an invaluable long view on topics that too often find us shortsighted.

Full Product Details

9781442250024

Table of Contents

Reviews

John O'Malley, SJ, is the uncontested dean of Catholic historians in this country. Like everything he writes, his new book, a collection of superb essays, is based on his vast learning and written in sparkling prose. I cannot recommend his scholarship or his writing highly enough. -- James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage Only the best historians, who have spent a lifetime at their craft, can compass their learning into the brief scope of an essay. In the present volume, John O'Malley has done this time and time again to stunning effect on a range of topics in Catholic Church history where he is the consummate guide. The elegance of expression in these essays is the direct consequence of his mastery of the subject. -- Jeffrey von Arx, SJ, president and professor of history, Fairfield University In this superb book, O'Malley makes clear that nothing sheds more light on the present than a firm grasp of the past. -- James L. Heft, SM, president, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, University of Southern California

John O'Malley, SJ, is the uncontested dean of Catholic historians in this country. Like everything he writes, his new book, a collection of superb essays, is based on his vast learning and written in sparkling prose. I cannot recommend his scholarship or his writing highly enough. -- James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage Only the best historians, who have spent a lifetime at their craft, can compass their learning into the brief scope of an essay. In the present volume, John O'Malley has done this time and time again to stunning effect on a range of topics in Catholic Church history, where he is the consummate guide. The elegance of expression in these essays is the direct consequence of his mastery of the subject. -- Jeffrey von Arx, SJ, president and professor of history, Fairfield University Immensely learned and deeply humane, O'Malley demonstrates how Catholics cannot understand their present without understanding their past. His sparkling prose and acute insights are not to be missed by anyone concerned about the state of Roman Catholicism today. -- M. Cathleen Kaveny, Darald and Juliet Libby Professor of Law and Theology, Boston College; author of Law's Virtues In this superb book, O'Malley makes clear that nothing sheds more light on the present than a firm grasp of the past. -- James L. Heft, SM, president, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, University of Southern California A wide array of topics are covered here, including the fascinating stories of a number of the popes, the origins of priestly celibacy, as well as a summary of the great councils of the Church and what they did and did not decide. O'Malley is a masterful writer and elucidates complex ideas in a way that the average lay person can not only understand, but also appreciate. A key highlight is the chapter from an address the author delivered about his own life of learning and navigating academia. It is humble, encouraging, and filled with quite a bit of history itself from the author's multiple decades of experience as a student, priest, scholar, and teacher. As is the case with most of O'Malley's corpus of work, this collection will please even the most cursory student of history and whet readers' appetites for more. Publishers Weekly

John O'Malley, SJ, is the uncontested dean of Catholic historians in this country. Like everything he writes, his new book, a collection of superb essays, is based on his vast learning and written in sparkling prose. I cannot recommend his scholarship or his writing highly enough. -- James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage Only the best historians, who have spent a lifetime at their craft, can compass their learning into the brief scope of an essay. In the present volume, John O'Malley has done this time and time again to stunning effect on a range of topics in Catholic Church history, where he is the consummate guide. The elegance of expression in these essays is the direct consequence of his mastery of the subject. -- Jeffrey von Arx, SJ, president and professor of history, Fairfield University Immensely learned and deeply humane, O'Malley demonstrates how Catholics cannot understand their present without understanding their past. His sparkling prose and acute insights are not to be missed by anyone concerned about the state of Roman Catholicism today. -- M. Cathleen Kaveny, Darald and Juliet Libby Professor of Law and Theology, Boston College; author of Law's Virtues In this superb book, O'Malley makes clear that nothing sheds more light on the present than a firm grasp of the past. -- James L. Heft, SM, president, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, University of Southern California

Author Information

John W. O’Malley, SJ, is a Roman Catholic priest and professor in the department of theology at Georgetown University. He is the author of a number of books, including A History of the Popes, The First Jesuits, What Happened at Vatican II, and The Jesuits: A History from Ignatius to the Present. Besides other honors he has received six best book awards as well as lifetime achievement awards from the Society for Italian Historical Studies, the Renaissance Society of America, and the American Catholic Historical Association. In 1995 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he is past president of the American Catholic Historical Association and the Renaissance Society of America.

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