Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
	St. Peter's Basilica, venue of the council
Date	1 October 1962 – 8 December 1965
Previous council	First Vatican Council
Convoked by	Pope John XXIII
President	Pope John XXIII; Pope Paul VI;
Attendance	Up to 2,625
Topics	Complete unfinished task of Vatican I, ecumenical outreach to address needs of modern world
Documents and statements	Four constitutions: Sacrosanctum Concilium (Sacred liturgy); Lumen gentium (Catholic Church); Dei verbum (Divine revelation); Gaudium et spes (Modern world); Nine decrees: Inter mirifica (Media); Orientalium Ecclesiarum (Eastern Catholics); Unitatis redintegratio (Ecumenism); Christus Dominus (Role of bishops); Perfectae caritatis (Religious life); Optatam totius (Priestly training); Apostolicam actuositatem (Role of the laity); Ad gentes (Mission activity); Presbyterorum ordinis (Role of priests); Three declarations: Gravissimum educationis (Education); Nostra aetate (Non-Christian religions); Dignitatis humanae (Religious freedom);
	Chronological list of ecumenical councils

The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II, was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for sessions of 8 and 12 weeks.^[2]

Pope John XXIII convened the council because he felt the Church needed "updating" (in Italian: aggiornamento). He believed that to better connect with people in an increasingly secularized world, some of the Church's practices needed to be improved and presented in a more understandable and relevant way.

Support for aggiornamento won out over resistance to change, and as a result 16 magisterial documents were produced by the council, including four "constitutions":

Dei verbum, the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation emphasized the study of scripture as "the soul of theology".
Gaudium et spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, concerned the promotion of peace, the gift of self, and the Church's mission to non-Catholics.
Lumen gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church on "the universal call to holiness"
Sacrosanctum concilium
, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy to restore "the full and active participation by all the people".

Other decrees and declarations included:

Apostolicam actuositatem
, a decree on The Apostolate of the Laity
Dignitatis humanae, a declaration on religious freedom
Nostra aetate, a declaration about non-Christian religions
Orientalium Ecclesiarum, a decree On Eastern Catholic Churches
Unitatis redintegratio, a decree on Christian ecumenism

The documents proposed a wide variety of changes to doctrine and practice that would change the life of the Church.^[3] Some of the most notable were in performance of the Mass, including that vernacular languages could be authorized as well as Latin.

Background

Biblical movement

Pope Pius XII's 1943 encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu^[4] gave a renewed impetus to Catholic Bible studies and encouraged the production of new Bible translations from the original languages. This led to a pastoral attempt to get ordinary Catholics to re-discover the Bible, to read it and to make it a source of their spiritual life. This found a response in very limited circles. By 1960, the movement was still progressing slowly.^[5]^[6]

Ressourcement and Nouvelle théologie

By the 1930s, mainstream theology based on

encyclicals was being rejected by some theologians as dry and uninspiring. Thus was the movement, called ressourcement, the return to the sources: basing theology directly on the Bible and the Church Fathers. Some theologians also began to discuss new topics, such as the history of theology, the theology of work, ecumenism, the theology of the laity, and the theology of "earthly realities".^[7]

The writings, whose new style came to be called la nouvelle théologie ('the new theology'), attracted Rome's attention, and in 1950

SJ and the young Hans Küng.^{[citation needed}

]

In addition, there was the unfinished business of the

Italian unification, the only topics that had been completed were the theology of the papacy and the relationship of faith and reason, while the theology of the episcopate and of the laity were left unaddressed.^[8]^[9] The task of the Second Vatican Council in continuing and completing the work of the first was noted by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical letter Ecclesiam Suam (1964).^[10]

^{: Paragraph 30}

At the same time, the world's

bishops were challenged by political, social, economic, and technological change. Some of those bishops^[who?

] were seeking new ways of addressing those challenges.

Beginnings

Announcement and expectations

cardinals present.^[14]

He had tested the idea only ten days before with one of them, his Cardinal Secretary of State Domenico Tardini, who gave enthusiastic support to the idea.^[15] Although the pope later said the idea came to him in a flash in his conversation with Tardini, two cardinals had earlier attempted to interest him in the idea. They were two of the most conservative, Ernesto Ruffini and Alfredo Ottaviani, who had already in 1948 proposed the idea to Pius XII and who put it before John XXIII on 27 October 1958.^[16]

Over the next 3 years, the Pope would make many statements describing the results he expected from the council. They formed something like 3 concentric circles:^[17]

For the Catholic Church, he expected a renewal which he described variously as a "new Pentecost", a "new Springtime", a new "blossoming", "a rejuvenation with greater vigour of the Body of Christ that is the Church".^[18] This would be achieved by the "updating" (aggiornamento) or "adapting" of Church practices to new circumstances^[19] and a restatement of her beliefs in a way that would connect with modern man.^[20]
Within the wider Christian family, he sought progress toward reunion of all Christians.^[21]
For the whole human family, he expected the council to contribute toward resolving major social and economic problems, such as war, hunger, underdevelopment.^[22]

Two less solemn statements are attributed to John XXIII about the purpose of the council. One is about opening the windows of the Church to let in some fresh air;^[23] the other about shaking off the imperial dust accumulated on the throne of St. Peter. The source for the second statement is Cardinal Léger of Montréal, as reported by Congar.^[24] The first statement has been repeated so many times as to be extremely difficult to verify.^{[citation needed]}

Once the officials of the Curia had recovered from their shock at the Pope's announcement of a Council, they realized that it could be the culmination of the Church's program of resistance to Protestantism, the Enlightenment and all the other perceived errors of the modern world. It was also seen as an opportunity to give the stamp of conciliar infallibility to the teachings of the most recent popes and to the Curia's vision of the role of the Church in the modern world, provided the Pope could be convinced to forget about aggiornamento.^{[clarification needed]}^[25]

On the other side were those theologians and bishops who had been working towards a new way of doing things, some of whom had been silenced and humiliated by the Curia in the 1940s and 1950s. For them, the council came as a "divine surprise",^[26] the opportunity to convince the bishops of the world to turn away from a fortress-like defensive attitude to the modern world and set off in a new direction towards a renewed theology of the Church and of the laity, ecumenism and the reform of the liturgy.^[27]

The council was officially summoned by the apostolic constitution Humanae Salutis on 25 December 1961.^[28]^[29]

Preparation

Preparation for the council took over three years, from the summer of 1959 to the autumn of 1962.

The first year was known officially as the "antepreparatory period". On 17 May 1959, Pope John appointed an Antepreparatory Commission to conduct a vast consultation of the Catholic world concerning topics to be examined at the council. Three groups of people were consulted: the bishops of the world, the Catholic universities and faculties of theology, and the departments of the Curia. By the following summer, 2,049 individuals and institutions had replied with 9,438 individual vota ("wishes"). Some were typical of past ways of doing things, asking for new dogmatic definitions or condemnations of errors. Others were in the spirit of aggiornamento, asking for reforms and new ways of doing things.

The next two years (known officially as the "preparatory period") were occupied with preparing the drafts, called schemas, that would be submitted to the bishops for discussion at the council. On 5 June 1960, ten Preparatory Commissions were created, to which a total of 871 bishops and experts were appointed.^[30] Each preparatory commission had the same area of responsibility as one of the main departments of the Curia and was chaired by the cardinal who headed that department. From the 9,438 proposals, a list of topics was created, and these topics were parcelled out to these commissions according to their area of competence.

Some commissions prepared a separate schema for each topic they were asked to treat, others a single schema encompassing all the topics they were handed. These were the preparatory commissions and the number of schemas they prepared:

Preparatory Commission	Schemas
Theology	9
Bishops and Dioceses	7
Discipline of Clergy and Faithful	17
Religious	1
Eastern Catholic Churches	11
Liturgy	1
Discipline of Sacraments	10
Studies and Seminaries	6
Missions	1
Apostolate of the Laity	1

Two secretariats – one the offshoot of an existing Vatican office, the other a new body – also had a part in drafting schemas:

Secretariat	Schemas
Modern Means of Communication	1
Promotion of Christian Unity	5

The total number of schemas was 70. As most of these preparatory bodies were predominantly conservative, the schemas they produced showed only modest signs of updating. The schemas drafted by the preparatory commission for theology, dominated by officials of the

Holy Office

(the curial department for theological orthodoxy) showed no signs of aggiornamento at all. The two notable exceptions were the preparatory commission for liturgy and the Secretariat for Christian unity, whose schemas were very much in the spirit of renewal.

In addition to these specialist commissions and secretariats, there was a Central Preparatory Commission, to which all the schemas had to be submitted for final approval. It was a large body of 108 members from 57 countries,^[30] including two thirds of the cardinals. As a result of its work, 22 schemas were eliminated from the conciliar agenda, mainly because they could be dealt with during a planned revision of the 1917 Code of Canon Law after the council, and a number of schemas were consolidated and merged, with the result that the total number of schemas was whittled down from 70 to 22.

Organization

Paragraph numbers in this section refer to the Council Regulations published in the motu proprio Appropinquante concilio, of 6 August 1962.^[31]

Council Fathers (§1). All the bishops of the world, as well as the heads of the main religious orders of men, were entitled to be "Council Fathers", that is, full participants with the right to speak and vote. Their number was about 2,900, though some 500 of them would be unable to attend, either for reasons of health or old age, or because the Communist authorities of their country would not let them travel. The Council Fathers in attendance represented 79 countries: 38% were from Europe, 31% from the Americas, 20% from Asia & Oceania, and 10% from Africa. (At Vatican I a century earlier there were 737 Council Fathers, mostly from Europe^[32]). At Vatican II, some 250 bishops were native-born Asians and Africans, whereas at Vatican I, there were none at all.

General Congregations (§3, 20, 33, 38–39, 52–63). The Council Fathers met in daily sittings – known as General Congregations – to discuss the schemas and vote on them. These sittings took place in St. Peter's Basilica every morning until 12:30 Monday to Saturday (except Thursday). The average daily attendance was about 2,200. Stands with tiers of seats for all the Council Fathers had been built on both sides of the central nave of St. Peter's. During the first session, a council of presidents, of 10 cardinals,^[33] was responsible for presiding over the general assemblies, its members taking turns chairing each day's sitting (§4). During the later sessions, this task belonged to a council of 4 Moderators.^[31]

All votes required a two-thirds majority. For each schema, after a preliminary discussion there was a vote whether it was considered acceptable in principle, or rejected. If acceptable, debate continued with votes on individual chapters and paragraphs. Bishops could submit amendments, which were then written into the schema if they were requested by many bishops. Votes continued in this way until wide agreement was reached, after which there was a final vote on a document. This was followed some days later by a public session where the Pope promulgated the document as the official teaching of the council, following another, ceremonial, vote of the Council Fathers. There was an unwritten rule that, in order to be considered official Church teaching, a document had to receive an overwhelming majority of votes, somewhere in the area of 90%. This led to many compromises, as well as formulations that were broad enough to be acceptable by people on either side of an issue.^[31]

All General Congregations were closed to the public. Council Fathers were under an obligation not to reveal anything that went on in the daily sittings (§26).^[31] Secrecy soon broke down, and much information about the daily General Congregations was leaked to the press.

The Pope did not attend General Congregations, but followed the deliberations on closed-circuit television.

Public Sessions (§2, 44–51). These were similar to General Congregations, except that they were open to the press and television, and the Pope was present. There were 10 public sessions in the course of the council: the opening day of each of the council's four periods, 5 days when the Pope promulgated Council documents, and the final day of the council.^[31]

Commissions (§5–6, 64–70). Much of the detailed work of the council was done in these commissions.^[34]^[35]^[36]^[37]^[38] Like the preparatory commissions during the preparatory period, they were 10 in number, each covering the same area of Church life as a particular curial department and chaired by the cardinal who headed that department:^[31]

Commission on the Doctrine of Faith and Morals: president Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani;
Commission on Bishops and the Governance of Dioceses: president Cardinal Paolo Marella;
Commission on the Eastern Churches: president Cardinal Amleto Giovanni Cicognani;
Commission on the Discipline of the Sacraments: president Cardinal Benedetto Aloisi Masella;
Commission for the Discipline of the Clergy and the Christian People: president Cardinal Pietro Ciriaci;
Commission for Religious: president Cardinal Ildebrando Antoniutti;
Commission on the Sacred Liturgy: president Cardinal Arcadio Larraona;
Commission for the Missions: president Cardinal
Gregorio Pietro XV Agagianian
;
Commission on Seminaries, Studies, and Catholic Education: president Cardinal Giuseppe Pizzardo;
Commission for the Lay Apostolate and for the Media: president Cardinal Fernando Cento.

Each commission included 25 Council Fathers (16 elected by the council and 9 appointed by the Pope) as well as consultors (official periti appointed by the pope). In addition, the

Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, appointed during the preparatory period, continued to exist under its president Cardinal Augustin Bea

throughout the 4 years of the council, with the same powers as a commission. The commissions were tasked with revising the schemas as Council Fathers submitted amendments. They met in the afternoons or evenings. Procedure was more informal than in the general assemblies: there was spontaneous debate, sometimes heated, and Latin was not the only language used. Like the General Congregations, they were closed to the public and subject to the same rules of secrecy.

Official Periti (§9–10). These experts in theology, canon law and other areas were appointed by the Pope to advise the Council Fathers, and were assigned as consultors to the commissions, where they were an important part in re-writing the council documents. At the beginning of the council, there were 224 official periti, but their number would eventually rise to 480. They could attend the debates in the General Congregations, but could not speak. The theologians who had been silenced during the 1940s and 1950s, such as Yves Congar and Henri de Lubac, and some theologians who were under suspicion in Roman circles at the beginning of the 1960s, such as Karl Rahner and Hans Küng, were appointed periti because of their expertise. Their appointment served to vindicate their ideas and gave them a platform from which they could work to further their views.[31]

Private Periti (§11). Each bishop was allowed to bring along a personal theological adviser of his choice. Known as "private periti", they were not official Council participants and could not attend General Congregations or commission meetings. But like the official periti, they gave informal teachings to groups of bishops, bringing them up to date on developments in their particular area of expertise.

Joseph Ratzinger and Hans Küng first went to the council as some bishop's personal theologian, and were later appointed official periti. Some notable theologians, such as Edward Schillebeeckx

, remained private periti for the whole duration of the council.

Observers (§18) . An important innovation was the invitation by Pope John to Orthodox and Protestant Churches to send observers to the council. Eventually 21 denominations or bodies such as the World Council of Churches were represented.^[39]^[32]^[40]^[b] The observers were entitled to sit in on all general assemblies (but not the commissions) and they mingled with the Council Fathers during the breaks and let them know their reactions to speeches or to schemas. Pope Paul VI welcomed their participation "with gratitude and respect".^[10]^{: Paragraph 112} Their presence helped to break down centuries of mistrust.^{[citation needed]}

Lay auditors. While not provided for in the Official Regulations, a small number of lay people were invited to attend as "auditors" beginning with the Second Session. While not allowed to take part in debate, a few of them were asked to address the council about their concerns as lay people. The first auditors were all male, but beginning with the third session, a number of women were also appointed.

Catholic priest celebrating Tridentine Mass

, the form of the Mass prevalent until after the council, showing the chalice after the consecration.

Main caucuses

In the very first weeks of the council proceedings, it became clear to the participants that there were two "tendencies" among the Council Fathers, those who were supporters of aggiornamento and renewal, and those who were not.[42]^[43] The two tendencies had already appeared in the deliberations of the Central Preparatory Commission before the opening of the council.^[44]

In addition to popes

Paul VI

, these were the prominent contributors at the council:

Prominent Conservative Bishops at the Council^[45]

Cardinal
Holy Office
Cardinal
Holy Office
.
Cardinal Giuseppe Siri: archbishop of Genoa, president of the Italian Bishops' Conference.
Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini: archbishop of Palermo.
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre : superior-general of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit; at the council, president of the Coetus Internationalis Patrum ("International Group of Fathers"), the bloc of conservative Council Fathers

Prominent Reformist Bishops at the Council^[46]

Cardinal
Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity
Patriarch Maximos IV Sayegh: patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Cardinal
bishop of Lille
(France), the senior French bishop
Cardinal Josef Frings: archbishop of Cologne (Germany), the senior German bishop
Cardinal
archbishop of Utrecht
(Netherlands), the senior Dutch bishop
Cardinal
archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels
(Belgium), the senior Belgian bishop
Cardinal Franz König, archbishop of Vienna (Austria), the senior Austrian bishop
Cardinal
archbishop of Bologna
(Italy)
Cardinal
archbishop of Montreal
(Canada)
Cardinal
archbishop of Munich and Freising
(Germany)
Archbishop Pietro Sfair: titular archbishop of Nisibis dei Maroniti (Lebanon), the senior Maronite bishop

Prominent reformist theologians at the Council^[47]

OP
: private peritus
SJ
: official peritus
OP
: official peritus
SJ
: official peritus
SJ
: official peritus
Bernhard Häring : official peritus
OP
: private peritus
Joseph Ratzinger
(later Pope Benedict XVI): official peritus
Hans Küng: official peritus

Chronology of the council

The council was opened on 11 October 1962 by

Eastern Orthodox, one of three that were on ecumenism, was ordered to be merged with two other documents on Christian unity by the Council Fathers.^[58] Discussion of the schema on the church began on 1 December, with only a week left before the end of the scheduled first session,^[59] but on the day before the scheduled vote on acceptance in principle, Pope John appointed a special commission to rewrite the schemas to more closely resemble his outlined vision from his opening address.^[60]

With only 5 of the 22 schemas having been reviewed up to this point, the first period of the council ended on 8 December.

Documents of the council

Vatican II's teaching is contained in sixteen documents: 4 constitutions, 9 decrees and 3 declarations. While the constitutions are clearly the documents of the highest importance, "the distinction between decrees and declarations, no matter what it originally meant, has become meaningless".^[61]

For each document, approval of the final text was followed a few days later by the pope's promulgation of the document as the Church's official teaching. On the day of promulgation, there was a second vote of approval by the Council Fathers: it was "basically ceremonial"^[62] since the document's final text had already been approved a few days earlier. It is this earlier vote that best indicates the degree of support for, or opposition to, the document. Most documents were approved by overwhelming margins. In only 6 cases were the negative votes in the triple digits. In 3 of these cases (Church and Modern World, Non-Christian Religions and Religious Freedom), 10% to 12% of the Fathers rejected the document on theological grounds. In 2 other cases (Media and Christian Education), the negative votes mostly expressed disappointment in a bland text, rather than opposition.

Approval of documents
Document	Date of approval of final text	Vote on final text	Date of promulgation	Vote preceding promulgation
Constitutions
Church	1964-Nov-19^[63]	2,134 to 10^[63]	1964-Nov-21^[64]	2,151 to 5^[64]
Revelation	1965-Oct-29^[65]	2,081 to 27^[65]	1965-Nov-18^[66]	2,344 to 6^[66]
Liturgy	1963-Nov-22^[67]	2,159 to 19^[67]	1963-Dec-04^[68]	2,147 to 4^[68]
Church and Modern World	1965-Dec-06^[69]	2,111 to 251^[69]	1965-Dec-07^[70]	2,309 to 75^[70]
Decrees
Bishops	1965-Oct-06^[71]	2,167 to 14^[71]	1965-Oct-28^[72]	2,319 to 2^[72]
Priestly Ministry	1965-Dec-04^[73]	2,243 to 11^[73]	1965-Dec-07^[70]	2,390 to 4^[70]
Priestly Formation	1965-Oct-13^[74]	2,196 to 15^[74]	1965-Oct-28^[75]	2,318 to 3^[75]
Religious Life	1965-Oct-11^[76]	2,126 to 13^[76]	1965-Oct-28^[75]	2,321 to 4^[75]
Lay Apostolate	1965-Nov-10^[77]	2,201 to 2^[77]	1965-Nov-18^[66]	2,305 to 2^[66]
Eastern Churches	1964-Nov-20^[78]	1,964 to 135^[78]	1964-Nov-21^[64]	2,110 to 39^[64]
Ecumenism	1964-Nov-20^[79]	2,054 to 64^[79]	1964-Nov-21^[64]	2,137 to 11^[64]
Missions	1965-Dec-02^[80]	2,162 to 18^[80]	1965-Dec-07^[70]	2,394 to 5^[70]
Media	1963-Nov-24^[81]	1,598 to 503^[81]	1963-Dec-04^[82]	1,960 to 164^[82]
Declarations
Non-Christian Religions	1965-Oct-15^[83]	1,763 to 250^[83]	1965-Oct-28^[75]	2,221 to 88^[75]
Religious Freedom	1965-Nov-19^[84]	1,954 to 249^[84]	1965-Dec-07^[85]	2,308 to 70^[85]
Christian Education	1965-Oct-14^[86]	1,912 to 183^[86]	1965-Oct-28^[75]	2,290 to 35^[75]

Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy

Liturgical Calendar after the council. The Virgin of Hope of Macarena

, Spain.

Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, was the blueprint for an extensive reform of the Western liturgy.

Chapter 1 of the Constitution set out principles to guide this reform:^[87]

The Paschal mystery of Christ's death and resurrection is made present to us through the liturgy, which is a communal celebration and not just the action of the priest (SC 7). Each person present participates in it according to his/her role (SC 28, 29).
Christ is present to us not only under the appearance of bread and wine, but also in the Word of God, in the person of the priest and in the gathered assembly (SC 7).
"The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows" (SC 10).
"In the restoration and promotion of the sacred liturgy, [...] full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else" (SC 14).
In order to be better understood, the rites should be simplified and a limited use of the vernacular is permitted, but the use of Latin is to be preserved (SC 36).
There needs to be more reading from holy scripture, and it is to be more varied and suitable (SC 35).
A certain degree of local adaptation is permissible (SC 37-40).

Chapter 2: Mass.

prayer of the faithful (SC 53), concelebration (SC 57), and communion under both kinds

for the laity (SC 55), are to be restored under certain conditions, and that the homily should be a commentary on the Scripture readings (SC 52).

Chapter 3: Sacraments.

extreme unction is to become a sacrament for those who are seriously ill (anointing of the sick

) and not just of those who are on the point of death (SC 73-5); funerals are to focus on the hope of the resurrection and not on mourning (SC 81), and local cultural practices may be included in the celebration of some sacraments such as weddings (SC 63).

Chapters 4 to 7 [90] provide that the divine office (now called Liturgy of the Hours) is to be adapted to modern conditions by reducing its length for those in active ministry (SC 97), that the calendar is to be revised to give Sunday and the mysteries of Christ priority over saints' days (SC 108), and that, while traditional music forms such as Gregorian chant (SC 116) and organ music (SC 120) are to be preserved, congregational singing is to be encouraged (SC 114) and the use of other instruments is permissible (SC 120).

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy launched the most extensive revision of the liturgy in the history of the Church.^[40]

The invitation for more active, conscious participation of the laity through Mass in the vernacular did not stop with the constitution on the liturgy. It was taken up by the later documents of the council that called for a more active participation of the laity in the life of the Church.^[91] Pope Francis referred to a turn away from clericalism toward a new age of the laity.^[92]

Dogmatic Constitution on the Church

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[14] The diocesan synod was inaugurated on 24 January 1960.^[13]

[43] There has been speculation that the Vatican somehow assured the Russian Orthodox Church that communism and the Soviet State were topics that would not be raised at the council. However, J. O. Berlioz states that the real issue was the desire of the Russian Orthodox to be invited directly, instead of through the Ecumenical Patriarch.^[41]

[149] Our Mother of Perpetual Help and the celebration of Friday of Sorrows in Lent
.

[1] Cheney, David M. "Second Vatican Council". Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 18 May 2011.

[oriordan-2] ISSN 0016-3120
.

[FOOTNOTEO'Malley2008-3] O'Malley 2008.

[4] "DIVINO AFFLANTE SPIRITU ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 27 February 2023.

[5] "Biblical Scholarship 50 years After Divino Afflante Spiritu: From September 18, 1993". americamagazine.org. 18 September 1993. Retrieved 27 February 2023.

[6] "Light in our darkness – celebrating Divino Afflante Spiritu". europe-southwest.c-b-f.org. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2023.

[7] "The Second Vatican Council, by BC Butler". vatican2voice.org. Retrieved 22 May 2020.

[Back_2-8] ISBN 0-385-51613-4
.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg200744-9] Hahnenberg 2007, p. 44.

[suam-10] Pope Paul VI, Ecclesiam Suam, published on 6 August 1964, accessed on 14 August 2024

[11] Allocuzione del Santo Padre Giovanni XXIII con la Quale Annuncia il Concilio Ecumenico e L'Aggiornamento del Codice di Diritto Canonico (Speech) (in Italian). 25 January 1959. Retrieved 24 April 2025.

[Back_3-12] Alberigo 2006, p. 1

[13] Pope John XXIII, Allocuzione del Santo Padre Giovanni XXIII al Sacro Collegio, ai presuli, ai prelati, al clero secolare a religioso, al populo, 24 January 1960 (in Italian), accessed on 2 May 2025

[15] "Surprise announcement of an elderly pope continues to reverberate today". international.la-croix.com. 25 January 2019. Archived from the original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.

[FOOTNOTEO'Malley200815-16] O'Malley 2008, p. 15.

[17] ISBN 978-0-521-81500-0
.

[FOOTNOTEWenger1963284-18] Wenger 1963, p. 284.

[FOOTNOTELaurentin1962195-19] Laurentin 1962, p. 195.

[20] "appropriate adaptation of Church discipline to the needs and conditions of our times", Ad Petri cathedram (1959) 61

[21] to present the Church's teaching "in an integral vision that better corresponds to the soul of the modern era", Homily for Pentecost 1962

[22] "We must act to overcome outdated conceptions, prejudices and discourteous expressions so as to create a climate favourable to return." "Focus on what unites rather than what separates." Quoted by Laurentin 1962, p. 170

[23] "to contribute more effectively to the solution of the problems of the modern age", Humanae salutis 6

[24] Sullivan 2002, p. 17

[25] "[Cardinal Léger] also told us that he had yesterday met the new French ambassador to [Italy], who had just been received by the Pope. [...] John XXIII said to the ambassador: 'I want to shake off the imperial dust that has accumulated on the throne of St. Peter since the time of Constantine'." Congar 2012, p. 282, entry for 13 March 1963.

[FOOTNOTEFouilloux1995111)-26] Fouilloux 1995, p. 111).

[FOOTNOTEFouilloux1995121)-27] Fouilloux 1995, p. 121).

[FOOTNOTEAlberigo199523–25-28] Alberigo 1995, pp. 23–25.

[29] "Vatican II: 40 years later". National Catholic Register.^{[dead link]}

[Vatican_1961-30] "l The Bull "Humanae Salutis" by John XXIII to Summon the Second Vatican Council". Archived from the original on 8 February 2006.

[FOOTNOTEWiltgen201417-31] Wiltgen 2014, p. 17.

[www.vatican.va-32] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Appropinquante concilio, Litterae Apostolicae Motu Proprio Datae normae statuuntur Concilii Oecumenici Vaticani Secundi celebrandi, d. 6 m. Augusti a. 1962, Ioannes PP. XXIII | Ioannes XXIII". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 20 February 2023.

[NCE_Prep_2-33] Sullivan 2002, p. 21.

[34] Eugène Tisserant (Roman Curia), Ignatius Gabriel I Tappouni (Syriac patriarch of Antioch) and 8 diocesan bishops: Achille Liénart of Lille (France), Josef Frings of Cologne (Germany), Bernardus Johannes Alfrink of Utrecht (Netherlands), Ernesto Ruffini of Palermo (Italy), Enrique Pla y Deniel of Toledo (Spain), Antonio Caggiano of Buenos Aires (Argentina), Francis Spellman of New York (US) and Norman Gilroy of Sydney (Australia)

[35] Stransky, T. The Vatican Council 1962. Wiseman Review, vol. CCXXXVI, n. 493, pp. 203–216, 1962. link.

[36] Kloppenburg, Boaventura. As Comissões Conciliares. In: Concílio Vaticano II: Primeira Sessão (Set.-Dez, 1962). Vol. 2, pp. 51–60. Petrópolis, Brazil: Vozes, 1963. link.

[37] L'attività della Santa Sede nel 1962. Città del Vaticano, 1963, p. 109. link.

[38] Herranz-Casado, Julián. En las afueras de Jericó: recuerdos de los años con san Josemaría y Juan Pablo II. Madrid, Rialp, 2007, pp. 48–49. link^{[permanent dead link]}.

[39] Doria, Piero. L'Archivio del Concilio Vaticano II: Storia e Sviluppo. Anuario de Historia de la Iglesia, vol. 21, pp. 135–155, 2012. link.

[FOOTNOTEHeraty1967563,_Vatican_Council_II-40] Heraty 1967, p. 563, Vatican Council II.

[Kennedy2011-41] 
ISBN 978-1-84885-383-6
. Four hundred years after the Reformation, Vatican II reversed all this and decreed that the assembled people of God celebrate the liturgy; that the texts of worship may be translated into vernacular languages; that the assembled people could drink from the communion cup; that the reading of scripture was to be an essential element of all worship; and that the Eucharist was to be regarded as the source and summit of the Church's life: Ubi Eucharistia, ibi Ecclesia – wherever the Eucharist is, there too is the Church. Such a view was entirely alien to pre-conciliar Roman theology which was more comfortable with the idea: 'Wherever the Pope is, there too is the Church.' Much of this was entirely consonant with Protestant sensibilities and explains why Vatican II was a milestone for Catholic, Protestants, the Orthodox, and all religions.

[42] Alberigo, "IV, The External Climate", The History of Vatican II, vol. 1, p. 404

[FOOTNOTERicciardi199765-44] Ricciardi 1997, p. 65.

[FOOTNOTERaguer1997168,_note_4-45] Raguer 1997, p. 168, note 4.

[46] "The deliberations in the C[entral] P[reparatory] C[ommission] [...] saw the emergence of the individuals and the groups that would appear in clearly drawn formation during the Council. Among those most critical of the prepared texts were Alfrink, Döpfner, Frings, Hurley, König, Léger, Liénart, Maximos IV, Montini and Suenens. Among the defenders of the texts Browne, Lefebvre, Ottaviani, Ruffini and Siri were the most vocal." (Komonchak 1995, 304).

[FOOTNOTEO'Malley2008108–114-47] O'Malley 2008, pp. 108–114.

[FOOTNOTEO'Malley2008114–118,_121-48] O'Malley 2008, pp. 114–118, 121.

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[FOOTNOTEO'Malley2008132–133,_138-55] O'Malley 2008, pp. 132–133, 138.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg200716-56] Hahnenberg 2007, p. 16.

[FOOTNOTEO'Malley2008149–150-57] O'Malley 2008, pp. 149–150.

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[FOOTNOTEO'Malley2008156-61] O'Malley 2008, p. 156.

[FOOTNOTEO'Malley2008159-62] O'Malley 2008, p. 159.

[FOOTNOTEO'Malley20083-63] O'Malley 2008, p. 3.

[FOOTNOTEO'Malley2008210-64] O'Malley 2008, p. 210.

[Acta_synodalia-65] Acta synodalia. Vol. III/8. p. 407.

[ReferenceC-66] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Acta synodalia. Vol. III/8. p. 782.

[ReferenceD-67] Acta synodalia. Vol. IV/5. p. 753.

[ReferenceE-68] Acta synodalia. Vol. IV/6. p. 687.

[ReferenceF-69] Acta synodalia. Vol. II/5. p. 767.

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[ReferenceH-71] Acta synodalia. Vol. IV/7. p. 641.

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[ReferenceR-81] Acta synodalia. Vol. III/8. pp. 636–7.

[ReferenceS-82] Acta synodalia. Vol. IV/7. p. 105.

[ReferenceT-83] Acta synodalia. Vol. II/6. p. 49.

[ReferenceU-84] Acta synodalia. Vol. II/6. pp. 408–9.

[ReferenceV-85] Acta synodalia. Vol. IV/4. p. 824.

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[ReferenceX-87] Acta synodalia. Vol. IV/7. pp. 859–60.

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[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg200719–20-90] Hahnenberg 2007, pp. 19–20.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg200720-91] Hahnenberg 2007, pp. 20.

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[101] [Dei verbum, 24]

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[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg200796-112] Hahnenberg 2007, p. 96.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg200797-113] Hahnenberg 2007, p. 97.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg200797–98-114] Hahnenberg 2007, pp. 97–98.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg200798-115] Hahnenberg 2007, p. 98.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg2007122-116] Hahnenberg 2007, p. 122.

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[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg2007125-118] Hahnenberg 2007, p. 125.

[119] "Documents of the Second Vatican Council". www.vatican.va.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg2007142–143-120] Hahnenberg 2007, pp. 142–143.

[FOOTNOTEO'Malley2008279-121] O'Malley 2008, p. 279.

[FOOTNOTERynne1991534–535-122] Rynne 1991, pp. 534–535.

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[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg2007113-131] Hahnenberg 2007, p. 113.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg2007156–158-132] Hahnenberg 2007, pp. 156–158.

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[nostra-135] David Rosen. ""Nostra aetate", Forty Years After Vatican II. Present & Future Perspectives". Retrieved 28 April 2014.

[136] "Dabru Emet – A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity". www.jcrelations.net. Retrieved 24 May 2020.

[137] Pope Gregory XVI called freedom of conscience "absurd and erroneous" (Encyclical Mirari vos, 1832) and pope Pius IX included freedom of religion among the errors of the modern era (Syllabus of Errors, 1864).

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg2007148-138] Hahnenberg 2007, p. 148.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg2007151–153-139] Hahnenberg 2007, pp. 151–153.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg2007149-140] Hahnenberg 2007, p. 149.

[FOOTNOTEHahnenberg2007130-141] Hahnenberg 2007, p. 130.

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[FOOTNOTEHastings1991-143] Hastings 1991.

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[159] Canon 228 § 1

[160] Canon 752: https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib3-cann747-755_en.html#BOOK_III.

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Second Vatican Council

Background

Biblical movement

Ressourcement and Nouvelle théologie

Beginnings

Announcement and expectations

Preparation

Organization

Main caucuses

Chronology of the council

Documents of the council

Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy

Dogmatic Constitution on the Church

Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation

Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World

Decrees and declarations on the Church as People of God

Decrees and declarations on the Church in the world

Impact of Vatican II

Changes resulting from Vatican II

Controversies

Validity of the Council

Authority of the council's teaching

"The Spirit of Vatican II"

Legacy

Vatican II participants who later became pope

Saints of Vatican II

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

External links