"Father John W. O'Malley, S.J. summarizes neatly the paradox of the Catholic revolution..."American Catholics love their church, but it is the church they experience every day in the priests they know and in the other Catholics in the pew with them -- the church as the people of God , not as a hierarchical institution.... They know that the second is subordinate to the first... The church is not its ruling class. This is a distinction many Catholics could have not made before the Council,"" says Fr. Andrew Greeley in The Catholic Revolution: Old Wine, New Wineskins & the Second Vatican Council.

Father Perry led a lively panel discussion on our experiences of Vatican II on two Wednesdays in September of 2004.

The script for those two sessions is presented here on the web site for those who were not able to attend those sessions.

The panelist who joined Father Perry during those two sessions are: Bill Barrett, Deborah Tuttle, Edmund Kal, Bill Simon, Charles Lynes, Jane Worsley, Barbara Marsella, Terry Scambray, Jeannette Frye and Linda Smith. Their remarks will be posted when made available.

You are encouraged, but not required, to read Greeley's book The Catholic Revolution: Old Wine, New Wineskins & the Second Vatican Council. In the book, Father Greeley offers affirmation and constructive criticism of the post-Vatican II Church. He also addresses some areas of Catholicism which need to be reinvigorated.