The Modern Catholic Encyclopedia (revised and expanded edition)

The introduction gives the clue to the book. A generation has passed since Vatican II, many new pastoral challenges have arisen to change Catholic attitudes, and the Church has continued to oscillate between an ethic of control and of responsibility. There are calls for structural changes in the Church, not least over women in the priesthood, and for “wider and more open discussion of ideas”. There has also, it says, been a shift of scriptural and theological studies from Europe to America, and growing involvement by laymen and women in such issues.

So, times of and for change, and this...