Bishops and theologians at the Council of Trent
John W. O’Malley
John W. O'Malley, S.J., the author of The First Jesuits and What Happened at Vatican II, died on Sept. 11, 2022 at the age of 95. He first began writing for America in 1972 and brought his skills as a historian to bear on topics as diverse as Vatican II, the sexual abuse scandal and the presidency of Barack Obama.
Posted inFrom Our Archives
Barack Obama and Vatican II: The president’s persona and the spirit of the council
We have a Vatican II president. Barack Obama, I am sure, does not think of himself in those terms, but when I heard his speech at Grant Park in Chicago the night he was elected, and more recently his commencement address at Notre Dame, that is what immediately struck me. On those occasions he embodi
Posted inFaith, Ideas
A Call for Collegiality
Three experts on church history and governance discuss Marco Politi’s article on episcopal collaboration.
Posted inFaith, Signs Of the Times
The Complex History of Indulgences
In the wake of Cardinal Walter Kasper’s call for a clarification of the doctrine on indulgences, John O’Malley, S.J., offers this short history.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Claiming Converts
Most people find few aspects of Jesuit history more fascinating than the mission of the Jesuits to China Matteo Ricci invariably depicted wearing Mandarin dress has assumed legendary status as a precocious herald of cultural accommodation He was succeeded by such other Jesuits of heroic stature
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
No Tradition?
The title of this book is misleading The book is not about the evolution of Christianity but about the evolution of doctrine mdash or theology as Marshall D Johnson calls it in his introduction The 12 crises therefore are crises about what Christians normatively believe The author whose prio
Posted inFrom Our Archives
What Happened at Vatican II?: From February 24, 2003
On the fortieth anniversary of its opening, two distinguished Jesuit theologians looked back on the myths and realities of Vatican II.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
The History Behind Celibacy and the Priesthood
Why and how did the celibate state became a requirement for ordination?
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
The Millennium and the Papalization of Catholicism
Everyone has been trying to see the big picture. We have been bombarded with a certain type of question. Who is the man or woman of the century—better, of the millennium? What are the happenings in the past thousand years that most changed the course of history?