MALE and female, ordained and lay, religious and secular, the 19 contributors to Synodality and the Recovery of Vatican II: A new way for Catholics (Messenger, £23 (£20.70); 978-1-78812-672-4) reflect diversely on Rome’s current process at the invitation of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain. Subjects of these accessible essays include the Council of Jerusalem; the Synod of Whitby; a Presbyterian perspective; what the religious life can impart on the subject; experience of marginalisation; “revolutionary theology”; theological renewal; “euphemistic theology”; the eucharist and the Spirit; the Pope’s teaching; a fresh approach from regional synodality; what “synod” means for RCs (“puzzling . . . as it is associated with High Anglican discourse on contemporary political and moral issues, which concludes with a demo­cratic vote on the best way forward”); the Instrumentum Laboris; the Armenian example; and localism. The editors are Stephen J. McKinney, Thomas O’Loughlin, and Beáta Tóth. Other contributors are Vivian Boland OP, Doug Gay, Anne Inman, Michael Kirwan SJ, Thomas O’Loughlin, Jacob Phillips, John Sullivan, Clare Watkins, Ashley Beck, Sean E. Hall, David Jackson, Tom Magill, Jos Moons, Jan Nowotnik, Jens van Rompaey, Gregory Shokhikyan, and Bridie Stringer.