Johannine Council: Witness to Unity, The by Haring, Bernard - 1963

Each dust jacket is damaged by the ravages of time; however, each book is ok. 158 pages.

This is not simply a historical report of the first session of the Second Vatican Council, nor is it a journalistic expose'. Nor is this book a plea for a particular line of thought.

Instread, The Johannine Council is a theological commentary of prophetic scope, on the ecumenical mission of the council.

The author finds the central theme of the council in its Johannine character. Haring points to the the spirit of John the Baptist, the preacher of penance and conversion. Haring speaks of St. John the Evangelist, the theologian of love and unity. Haring regards Pope John XXIII as the chief bishop of the college of bishops of the whole Church. In the light of this Johannine theme, the author interprets the first session of the Vatican Council, in the theology of the Trinity.

The author, Father Bernard Haring, was a Redemptorist priest, a peritus (theological consultant) for the council. He spent much of his life as a professor of moral theology in Rome. During the council and afterwards, he was considered the leading moral theologian in the Catholic Church.