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CHOICE Review

Beginning with Benedict XIV, who revived the encyclical, Carlen has listed and summarized those pronouncements, fomal and informal, that have emanated from the popes. This excludes the decrees of the two Vatican councils and the decisions of curial congregations and tribunals, but it includes numerous addresses. Some papal pronouncements concerning WW II have been omitted. Citations to places where documents have been printed are provided, and any translations into English have been noted. Each entry is numbered sequentially within a pontificate. The editor has provided an invaluable guide to terminology and there are indexes both by title and by subject, including mention of earlier pronouncements in later ones. The largest portion of the material derives from the reign of Paul VI, which skews the balance of the set, but no important document is absent. This set may prove to be too expensive for some libraries, but it will be invaluable to historians and theologians concerned with Roman Catholicism, especially those concerned with the prominence of the papacy in this century. Recommended for all research libraries and for any library with a strong collection in religion. Where else can one find both Benedict XIV's condemnation of slavery (1:13) and the Syllabus of Errors (9:44). -T. M. Izbicki, The Johns Hopkins University