Love, mission and morality: a century of Eucharistic theology

The International Eucharistic Congress: A Spiritual Odyssey
By John F Allen
Gracewing, 383pp, £20/$27.50

In this book Mgr John Allen, who has attended all 12 International Eucharistic Congresses since 1973, offers a masterly account of these events for the general reader. Those seeking rich Eucharistic theology will find it in Allen’s able summaries of the talks, including extended quotations: these could be read systematically or in bite-size chunks, as in lectio divina. The historical material is also interesting, and can be enjoyed as a sort of travelogue.