By wedding anthropological interpretation with historical critical investigation this study opens a window onto the official ecclesiastical mind stretching from Pius X back to Gregorgy XVI. More than that, however, it shows the behavior of this mind as possibly paradigmatic for the official church's behavior in similar moments of socio-cultural turbulence from the time of Christianity's immersion in empire with Constantine up to the present day.

The underlying contention of this study is that, since Catholic Modernism was defined not by the so-called modernists but by the anti-modernists, to understand it one must understand the anti-modernist (or integralist) mind. Schultenover argues that, since Catholic Modernism was defined not by modernists but by the anti-modernists, to understand it one must understand the anti-modernist (or integralist) mind.

For 40 years a battle has been waged over Vatican II between conservatives and liberals, between those who want to go "back to the sources" and those who champion "the spirit of the council." Benedict XVI is clearly one of those who started out as a liberal only to end up in the conservative camp. "Vatican II: Did Anything Happen?" is clearly on the side of those who think something unprecedented happened, that a genie was let out of the bottle that will never be stuffed back.Comprised mainly of a collection of articles, mostly but not all from Theological Studies, that are without qualification some of the best analysis of the council ever written, this book is a long overdue look at one of the most controversial and revolutionary chapters in the history of the Catholic Church.