When Bishops Meet: An Essay Comparing Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II by John W. O'Malley (review)

“Man of letters” is the title of chapter five, in which Newman is shown in ascending order of distinction to be a novelist, a poet, and a prose stylist. Duffy successfully includes the Anglican sermons in the latter category, as well as the Idea of a University (stressing on 85 the subtle use of irony that is often missed in Newman’s praise of “gentlemen”), and above all the Apologia. While offering some criticisms of the accuracy of the Apologia’s retelling of events, Duffy defends Newman against Frank Turner’s treatment of “the Apologia as a smokescreen,” while somewhat ducking Turner’s challenge to deal with Newman’s self-curated history by the standards of the academy and not “as one of the world’s masterpieces of confessional writing” (109; although to be fair to Duffy, he and Simon Skinner have debated this at length elsewhere). The final chapter explores Newman’s “Legacy,” both the reception of his works and of his person. With regard to the last chapter, Duffy explains that “Newman’s most significant contribution to ecumenism was himself: in becoming a Catholic, Newman repudiated none of the modes of thinking he had acquired as an Anglican, and those modes of thinking would in due course fertilize the theology of the Church into which he carried them” (116). Analyses as clear and frank as this one permeate the book, as do the jewels of Newman’s prose, making it full of fresh insight for the saint’s seasoned readers, as well as a good place for the newcomer to begin.