Catholic History For Today's Church: How Our Past Illuminates Our Present by John W O'Malley SJ

Hardback: The past is not dead. It's not even past. - William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun

We cannot understand the issues swirling in today’s Catholic church without understanding the past. 

In Catholic History for Today’s Church (2015), acclaimed historian John W O’Malley, SJ, illuminates some of today’s most contentious issues - from celibacy to the role of the pope - through their history. 

In his characteristically engaging style, O’Malley’s essays provide readers with an overview of each theme in history then explore how that past connects with life today. Many of the essays highlight his expertise on the papacy and the papal curia, as well as the significance and legacies of the Council of Trent and Vatican II. 

By taking a historical approach, O’Malley shows how contemporary issues arose, assesses where they are today, and suggests how they might be changed for the better. 

Catholic History for Today’s Church takes an invaluable long view on topics that too often find us shortsighted. 

About the author: John W O’Malley, SJ, is a Roman Catholic priest and professor in the department of theology at Georgetown University. He is the author of a number of books, including A History of the Popes, The First Jesuits, What Happened at Vatican II, and The Jesuits: A History from Ignatius to the Present. 

Besides other honours, he has received six best book awards as well as lifetime achievement awards from the Society for Italian Historical Studies, the Renaissance Society of America, and the American Catholic Historical Association. In 1995, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he is past president of the American Catholic Historical Association and the Renaissance Society of America.