Paul Sabatier's biography of the revered St. Francis of Assisi is written with passion and detail, examining and drawing upon many writings and texts concerning the great friar's life. In Life of St. Francis of Assisi we find a superbly researched account of the venerated saint. Himself a clergyman, Paul Sabatier was able to access the archives of the Franciscan monastic order together with diplomatic accounts of Francis and his activities. Writings attributed to St. Francis himself are also included, as are miscellaneous chronicles from elsewhere. Sabatier is keen to identify sources which are legendary or mythic, and those attributed directly to authors. Voracious in his examinations, even obscure fragments concerning the saint's life come into purview. Moreover, this edition contains all the original notes appended at the conclusion of each respective chapter.

While belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is at the very core of the Christian faith, the significance of the Spirit in particular is sometimes overlooked in faith practice and theological reflection, resulting in what theologians call Geistvergessenheit. In this context, Lumen Gentium, one of the most important documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), is usually praised for its pneumatological renewal. The current volume, however, argues that this renewal is no more than modest. The Holy Spirit is still conceived of predominantly as an adjunct to Christ. To substantiate that claim, Jos Moons has developed a novel method of close reading on the basis of which he compares Lumen gentium's conception of the Spirit to that of Mystici corporis (1943). He also analyses the redaction-historical development of the former and concludes with a plea to envisage the Spirit more boldly: as actively guiding the church, especially by means of the sensus fidelium, its charisms and the discernment of spirits.

Independent Catholics are not formally connected to the pope in Rome. They practice apostolic succession, seven sacraments, and devotion to the saints. But without a pope, they can change quickly and experiment freely, with some affirming communion for the divorced, women's ordination, clerical marriage, and same-sex marriage. From their early modern origins in the Netherlands to their contemporary proliferation in the United States, these "other Catholics" represent an unusually liberal, mobile, and creative version of America's largest religion. In The Other Catholics, Julie Byrne shares the remarkable history and current activity of independent Catholics, who number at least two hundred communities and a million members across the United States. She focuses in particular on the Church of Antioch, one of the first Catholic groups to ordain women in modern times. Through archival documents and interviews, Byrne tells the story of the unforgettable leaders and surprising influence of these understudied churches, which, when included in Catholic history, change the narrative arc and total shape of modern Catholicism. As Pope Francis fights to soften Roman doctrines with a pastoral touch and his fellow Roman bishops push back with equal passion, independent Catholics continue to leap ahead of Roman reform, keeping key Catholic traditions but adding a progressive difference.

Catholicism is generally over-institutionalized and over-centralized in comparison to other religions. However, it finds itself in an increasingly interrelated and globalized world and is therefore immersed in a great plurality of social realities. The Changing Faces of Catholicism assembles an international cast of contributors to explore the consequent decline of powerful Catholic organisations as well as to address the responses and resistance efforts that specific countries have taken to counteract the secularization crisis in both Europe and the Americas. It reveals some of the strategies of the Catholic Church as a whole, and of the Vatican centre in particular, to address problems of the global era through the dissemination of spiritually progressive writing, World Youth Days, and the transformation of Catholic education to become a forum for intercultural and interreligious dialogue. The volume also reflects on the adaptation of Catholic institutions and missions as sponsored by religious communities and monastic orders.