Iota Unum

SKU: 6700 | ISBN: 9780963903211

$28.95

A Study of the Changes in the Catholic Church in the 20th Century.
by Professor Romano Amerio.

Romano Amerio, Italian by nationality, was a man of broad and classical erudition, who taught philosophy, Greek and Latin at the Academy of Lugano, Switzerland from 1928 to 1970. He was an episcopal consultant to the Central Preparatory Commission of Vatican II and was a peritus for the Bishop of Lugano during the Council. A true insider to the Council's activities. He was a friend of the late Cardinal Siri of Genoa and died in 1997.

Archbishop Lefebvre had this to say of Iota Unum: "A book has just appeared, Iota Unum, written by Professor Romano Amerio, who lives in the north of Italy. In my opinion, it is the most perfect book that has been written since the Council on the Council, its consequences, and everything that has been happening in the Church since. He examines every subject with a truly remarkable perfection. I was stupefied to see with what serenity he discusses everything, without the passion of polemics, but with untouchable arguments. I do not see how the current attitudes of Rome can still persist after the appearance of such a book. They are radically, definitively condemned, and with such precision, for he only uses their own texts, citations from Osservatore Romano. The whole is absolutely magnificent.
"One could base an entire course on this book, on the pre-Council, the Council, and post-Council. I assure you that not much is left standing. The Popes take a licking; he is not at all soft on the Popes, but he recounts their deeds, their words, everything. They stand condemned. In his epilogue he shows how the consequence is the dissolution of the Catholic religion. Nothing is left. But he says that since the Church is not going to perish ... there must be a remnant; after all, the good God said that the Church will not perish, therefore there must be a witness or the witness of a remnant that will keep the faith and tradition."

"You must read. You must nourish your souls. You must enlighten your spirit. You must enkindle your hearts, your charity. You must inform yourselves! There is a .. book, a very thick book, which was published relatively recently [in English]. It would not be for everybody - Iota Unum. It is not an easy book, but it is a very informative book. Excellent! Archbishop Lefebvre wished ... that it would be the book every seminarian had in his hands" - Fr. Franz Schmidberger

334 topic-sections in forty-two chapters covering, among many other things:

The Crisis, The Crises of the Church, The Council: Before, During and After, Paul VI, The Priesthood, Youth, Women, Somatolatry, Penance, Religious and Social Movements, Schools, Catechetics, Religious Orders, Pyrrhonism, Dialogue, Mobilism, Faith, Hope and Charity, Natural Law, Divorce, Sodomy, Abortion, Suicide, Death Penalty, War, Situation Ethics, Globality and Graduality, The Autonomy of Values, Work, Technology and Contemplation, Civilization and Secondary Christianity, Democracy in the Church, Theology and Philosophy, Ecumenism, Baptism, Eucharist, Liturgical Reform, Matrimony, Theodicy, Eschatology, and MUCH MUCH more!

816pp, softcover, multiple indices.

Case Quantity = 20
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Romano Amerio's 'Iota Unum' explains the crisis in the Church for the university educated laity

The great strength of his book is its use of high level Church sources. Romano Amerio himself affirms a deliberate intent to present a highly authoritative history of the last forty years:

To avoid possible accusations of over-selectivity regarding the great mass of evidence and documentation available, we have adopted the following criterion. Having to demonstrate the changes in the Church, we have not based our argument on random parts of the almost infinite material relating to it, but have relied on documents which illustrate the mind of the Church in a relatively authoritative manner. The evidence we will produce consists of conciliar texts, acts of the Holy See, papal allocutions, statements by cardinals and bishops, declarations of episcopal conferences and articles in the Osservatore Romano [the official Vatican newspaper]. Our book consists of official and semi-official declarations of the thinking of the hierarchical Church.
Romano Amerio, Iota Unum, Sarto House, 1996, p. 2.

Using the official sources, he shows how a modern bishop or priest can preach vigorously for years without speaking an explicit heresy, but without conveying many fundamental truths either. This has come to be known as "cafeteria Catholicism" a narrowly selective religion that is often even more harmful than explicit heresy. For while explicit heresy can at least be easily recognised and condemned, Romano Amerio shows how the forgetfulness of certain doctrines can cause the shipwreck of faith in an ocean of "politically correct" truths:

All the changes, and their consequences, considered throughout this book investigating what has occurred in Catholicism in the twentieth century, are a kind of forgetfulness, a sort of Augustinian inadvertentia ["Lack of attention"]. The new emphases at Vatican II are a highlighting of parts of Catholic doctrine, with a corresponding obscuring of other complementary parts. This forgetfulness veils the doctrine of predestination with the truth of a universal offer of grace; it veils Hell with the truth of divine mercy; the Real Presence with the truth of Christ's spiritual presence in the congregation; absolute obedience to the divine law with the truth that personal perfection is its result; it veils man's eschatological destiny with the truth of his duties in this life; the infallibility of Peter with the truth of the collegial teaching authority of the bishops; the unchanging character of the moral law with the truth of the historical changes in its application; the ministerial priesthood with the truth of the priesthood of all the baptised; the dogmatic character of the truth with the truth that there is value in investigative discussion. [...]
Any genuine renewal of the contemporary Church must consist of a restoration of memory, always of course retaining the distinction between that essential remembering which is identical with the very being of the Church [Apostolic Tradition], and the remembering of its changing historical expressions that is necessary only to the well-being of that same Church [ecclesial traditions].
Romano Amerio, Iota Unum, Sarto House, Kansas City, 1996, p. 751.

Profound Guide to 20th Century Changes

This was one of the most profound books I've ever read. I'm fairly new to Traditional Catholicism, and the book served both to provide me a more solid foundation in traditional Church teaching as well as the changes that have occurred in the 20th century. And note that the book covers the changes from the entire 20th century, not only those that occurred during and after Vatican Council 2. While reading the book, I was filled with awe of the learning of Ameriio and was amazed that one man could hold all this knowledge in his head. I read somewhere else that he spent 50 years writing the book and that seems about right. It's a treasure. May God reward him for his service to the Church.

Excellent

I read this book from cover to cover. in 2003. I could not put it down. I had just recently returned to the practice of my Faith and was voraciously reading everything trying to “catch up.” This book explained many questions with answers I felt rang true in my heart. I enthusiastically recommend it.

Iota Unum

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