Abstract
Raymond G. Helmick provides a well-balanced and historically informed account of how the current crisis of confidence in the Catholic Church has arisen. Identifying the major causes in recurring patterns of ‘clericalism and authoritarianism’ (p. 13), he argues that the way forward for the Church is through an internal renewal of its structures and for a return to real love and concern for those within the Church and for solidarity and compassion for those beyond it. Echoing the renewal called for by the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), he adopts the dual motifs of ‘aggiornamento’ (updating) and ‘ressourcement’ (return to sources), as ways to think about how the current crisis might be overcome.
Characterized by a tone of generosity, Helmick’s book uncovers sources of positive potential even in ambiguous issues within the Church, such as the interpretation of Pope Pius XII’s 1950 Encyclical Humani Generis, and develops these to renew and rebuild points of contact between the Church and the modern world. Yet, this generous spirit does not blind him to unresolved issues. In a number of places, he adverts to the tendency to overextend the deposit of the faith to contentious issues such as the ordination of women and birth control (pp. 51–2). He even suggests that while Saint Pope John Paul II may have been a good ambassador for the Church in the world, he was much less effective in the work of internally renewing the Church (p. 231).
This book is in the spirit of the best of a Vatican II view of the Church. It attempts to model such an outward looking and communal vision in arguing for a humbler and more compassionate Church. Unsurprisingly in a series dedicated to ‘Ecclesiological Investigations’ its focus is very much on the Church itself and how it can draw on its own heritage to overcome the current crisis that it now faces. This focus is, however, also its limitation. The Second Vatican Council, as theologians such as Karl Rahner noted, was very much centred on the Church even though its desire was to be outward looking. In adopting this style of the Council, Helmick’s work places much less stress on the possibility that the world outside of the Catholic Church might have resources to share with it and even correct patterns and styles of its operation.
Helmick’s approach to the Church is both positive and constructively critical. He provides a fair view of its current strengths and of the reforms now required. However, seeing such reforms as also needing to draw on sources beyond the Church would only strengthen his case for a view of the Church that is both open to and in critical dialogue with the modern world.