Was Vatican II right to downgrade the Virgin Mary? This fall marks the fortieth anniversary of the final session of Vatican II (1962-65) at which the Roman Catholic Church brought itself ''up to date''--and, asserts Spretnak, fired the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven, demoting her to being ''just like us,'' merely the first Christian. Spretnak, a liberal Catholic who agrees with 95% of Vatican II's decisions, cuts across the battle lines of a polarized American Catholic Church, challenging Catholic progressives not to acquiesce to the Catholic Right's claiming of the Virgin Mary as emblematic of their political positions. This is a book about religion and modernity that has reframed the thinking about Mary in our times.