We just finished John McGreevy’s Catholicism: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis. It makes for a good table reading narrative, and while some of the material is quite familiar, other is not. For example, I had never heard of the term “liberal ultramontanes” (e.g., Félicité Robert de La Mennais). I also had never come across this great description of John Paul II, “He was comfortable on every stage.”
McGreevy must have some background in the writings of Jacques Maritain as he comes up in a number of chapters on the twentieth century. Given most people’s familiarity with the post Vatican II era, the more recent material is not as captivating, and, no suprise, more likely to provoke disagreement.
One last perk: In 30 years of listening to table reading my alma mater has never been referenced, until now. McGreevy mentions the Antigonish movement of cooperatives with a shout-out to St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia.
brotherisaac 