The Church We Want: African Catholics Look to Vatican III.

• Author: Admirand, Peter
• Position: AFRICA - Book review

Orobator, Agbonkhianmeghe E., ed. The Church We Want: African Catholics Look to Vatican III. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2016.

The world is a very different place since Vatican II (1962-65), the last global ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. That council, in part, was meant to modernize the Church, opening it up to the world through deeper dialogue and partnership, ecumenically in terms of other Christians, and those of other or no faiths. Despite ongoing evaluation of its actual aims or successes (and failures), Vatican II helped fashion a Catholic ethos and culture that today is more engaged in dialogue with all peoples and cultures; it promotes human dignity and human rights; and it is more attuned to the political and economic engagement that springs from such truths. Also essential in reading "the signs of the times" was its call for the development and maturity of local churches, especially in the so-called third...