Beyond Secrecy The untold story of Canada and the Second Vatican Council.Beyond Secrecy The untold story of Canada and the Second Vatican Council Noun 1. Second Vatican Council - the Vatican Council in 1962-1965 that abandoned the universal Latin liturgy and acknowledged ecumenism and made other reforms Vatican II Vatican Council - each of two councils of the Roman Catholic Church Written by Bernard M. Daly Published by Novalis, Ottawa, 2003, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m : 2895074062, Softcover soft·cov·er adj. Not bound between hard covers: softcover books; a softcover edition. , pp. 247, $24.95 CAN The Second Vatican Council remains a vital part of the modern Church. Daly, a journalist from Saskatoon Saskatoon (săskət  n`), city (1991 pop. 186,058), S central Sask., Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. who joined the staff of the Canadian Bishops' Conference as communications officer, attended all four sessions held in Rome during the fall of the four years between 1962 and 1965. He had, therefore, first-hand knowledge of the activities of the Canadian bishops in Rome. In more recent years he was able to consult the private papers of the leading bishops, together with those of their principal advisors. Adding this material to the texts of all Canadian "interventions" (i.e., speeches) already in the public domain, he provides us with a solid history in explaining the Canadian contribution. There is a downside to this national approach in understanding the council. The contribution of some 60 Canadian bishops, many of whom never spoke, or if so, perhaps only once or twice, was by its nature very limited among the 2400 bishops in attendance. If there was no Canadian on a particular committee or if no Canadian spoke on a particular schema, Daly does not discuss the subject. A note on page 218 tells us that, of the 2205 oral interventions, 63 were by the Canadians. The contributions of Canadians varied greatly, with those of the French-speaking bishops Leger, Roy, Charbonneau, Coderre from Quebec, and Beaudoux of St. Boniface Boniface (bŏn`əfās), d. 432, Roman general. He defended (413) Marseilles against the Visigoths under Ataulf. Having supported Galla Placidia in her struggle with her brother, Emperor Honorius, Boniface fled to Africa in 422. , Man, far outpacing those from the English-speaking bishops with the exception of the much-involved Ukrainian Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk Maxim Hermaniuk, O.C., S.T.D., c.ss.r. (30 October 1911 – 3 May 1996) was the Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop of Winnipeg. Born in Nove Selo near Horodok in western Ukraine, he was ordained a Priest of Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1938. . Needless to say, there were no "Canadian" subjects. What evolves is a rather dry but workman-like book of summations of Canadians in Rome, without the intimacy that a personal memoir of a participant would have conveyed. It restricts the readership pretty well to professional students of the Vatican Council Vatican Council n. Either of two ecumenical councils of the Roman Catholic Church, the First Vatican Council (1869-1870) and the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), convoked by Pius IX and John XXIII, respectively. . BOOK REVIEWED BY FR. ALPHONSE DE VALK, C.S.B. |
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