The Second Vatican Council marked the beginning of the New Evangelization. It sought to communicate the Gospel's perennial newness to the contemporary world in a spirit of joy and hope. Yet despite the exhortations of Paul VI and John Paul II, a number of ecclesial and cultural factors deflected the church's evangelical energies, so that the council's radiant Christocentric vision faded in an increasingly polarized church.

In this important new work, Robert Imbelli probes the council's comprehensive Christocentric vision and its evangelical imperative. It maintains that Jesus Christ...