He explores the work of some institutions in Rome and elsewhere towards implementing the teaching and decisions of Vatican II; the guidelines provided by a fourth-century example of creative fidelity in receiving conciliar teaching; the liturgical renewal after Vatican II; the reception of the Council's moral teaching; his own postconciliar relations with other Christians and with other believers; and the impact of Vatican II on theology. Finally, O'Collins offers suggestions about the future of the Church.
"But what did the Council do for me personally--as a Catholic Christian and a Jesuit priest? The author's highly personal approach in answering this and other questions makes for a compulsively readable book that illuminates the workings of the Church as as the mind of one of the leading theologians of the 20th century.