Second Vatican Council

Biblical movement Pope Pius XII's 1943 encyclical 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. and By the 1930s, mainstream theology based on neo-scholasticism and papal encyclicals was being rejected by some theologians as dry and uninspiring. Thus was the movement, called , 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". The writings, whose new style came to be called ('the new theology'), attracted Rome's attention, and in 1950 Pius XII published , an encyclical "concerning some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundations of Catholic doctrine". Without citing specific people, he criticized those who advocated new schools of theology. It was generally understood that the encyclical was directly against the as well as developments in ecumenism and Bible studies. Some works were placed on the Index of Prohibited Books, and some of the authors were forbidden to teach or to publish. Those who suffered most were Henri de Lubac and Yves Congar , who were unable to teach or publish until the death of Pius XII in 1958. By the early 1960s, other theologians under suspicion included Karl Rahner and the young Hans Küng. In addition, there was the unfinished business of the First Vatican Council (1869–70). When it had been cut short by the Italian Army's entry into Rome at the end of 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. 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 (1964). At the same time, the world's bishops were challenged by political, social, economic, and technological change. Some of those bishops were seeking new ways of addressing those challenges. == Beginnings ==

Announcement and expectations Pope John XXIII gave notice of his intention to convene a diocesan synod for Rome and an ecumenical council for the universal church on 25 January 1959, less than three months after his election in October 1958. His announcement, in the chapter hall of the Benedictine monastery attached to the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, came as a surprise to the cardinals present. 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. 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 traditional, 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. 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: • 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". This would be achieved by the "updating" (aggiornamento) or "adapting" of Church practices to new circumstances and a restatement of her beliefs in a way that would connect with modern man. • Within the wider Christian family, he sought progress toward reunion of all Christians. • For the whole human family, he expected the council to contribute toward resolving major social and economic problems, such as war, hunger, underdevelopment. 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; 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. The first statement has been repeated so many times as to be extremely difficult to verify. 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 . 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", 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. The council was officially summoned by the apostolic constitution on 25 December 1961. 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 "ante-preparatory period" or "ante-preparatory phase". 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. 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: Two secretariats – one the offshoot of an existing Vatican office, the other a new body – also had a part in drafting schemas: The total number of schemas was 70. As most of these preparatory bodies were predominantly traditional, 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, 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. 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 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. 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: In addition to popes John XXIII and Paul VI, these were the prominent contributors at the council: Prominent Traditional Bishops at the Council • Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani: secretary of the Holy Office • Cardinal Michael Browne : professor at the Angelicum and consultor for the 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 traditional Council Fathers Prominent Reformist Bishops at the Council • Cardinal Augustin Bea : president of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity • Patriarch Maximos IV Sayegh: patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church • Cardinal Achille Liénart: bishop of Lille (France), the senior French bishop • Cardinal Josef Frings: archbishop of Cologne (Germany), the senior German bishop • Cardinal Bernardus Alfrink: archbishop of Utrecht (Netherlands), the senior Dutch bishop • Cardinal Leo Jozef Suenens: archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels (Belgium), the senior Belgian bishop • Cardinal Franz König, archbishop of Vienna (Austria), the senior Austrian bishop • Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro: archbishop of Bologna (Italy) • Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger: archbishop of Montreal (Canada) • Cardinal Julius Döpfner: 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 • Marie-Dominique Chenu : private peritus • Henri de Lubac : official peritus • Yves Congar : official peritus • Karl Rahner : official peritus • John Courtney Murray : official peritus • Bernhard Häring : official peritus • Edward Schillebeeckx : 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 Pope John XXIII with his opening address Gaudet Mater Ecclesia ("Mother Church Rejoices") at St. Peter's Basilica. The next few days, from 13 October to 16 October, saw the election of the members of the 10 conciliar commissions, with candidates being drawn from national groups. The first schema was discussed on 22 October, involving liturgy, and debate lasted for 15 days before being accepted in principle and returned to the commission. The schema on revelation was debated for six days before being put to a vote on 20 November, where 62% of the participants voted to reject the schema, yet this was short of the two-thirds majority needed. The schema was resolved on the next day when Pope John announced that it would undergo revision by a special joint commission representing the traditional and renewal tendencies. The schema on the modern means of communication was accepted in principle on 27 November, and was returned to the commission to only pertain to essential principles. The schema on unity with the 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. Discussion of the schema on the church began on 1 December, with only a week left before the end of the scheduled first session, 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. 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: four constitutions, nine decrees, and three 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". 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: this was "basically ceremonial", 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 six cases were the negative votes in the triple digits. In three 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 two other cases (on the means of social communication and on Christian Education), the negative votes mostly expressed disappointment with a bland text rather than any actual opposition. Much of the documents' theology, particularly on the development of doctrine, was influenced by the work of John Henry Newman, causing Pope Paul VI to call Vatican II "Newman's Council". Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Virgin Mary is an example of changes in the 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: • 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. The Eucharist is both the sacrifice of Christ's body and blood and a paschal banquet (SC 47). In addition to repeating the need for active participation (SC 47), simplification of the rites (SC 50) and a greater variety of Scripture readings (SC 51), the chapter decrees that certain practices that had disappeared, such as the 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. The rite of each sacrament is to be simplified in order to make its meaning clear (SC 62); the catechumenate is to be restored for adult baptism (SC 64); the link between confirmation and baptism is to be made clear (SC 71); the sacrament then called 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 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. 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. Pope Francis referred to a turn away from clericalism toward a new age of the laity. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, (), gave direction to several of the documents that followed it, including those on Ecumenism, Non-Christian Religions, Religious Life, Religious Freedom, and The Church in the Modern World (see below). According to Paul VI, "the most characteristic and ultimate purpose of the teachings of the Council" is the universal call to holiness. John Paul II calls this "an intrinsic and essential aspect of [the council Fathers'] teaching on the Church", where "all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity" (Lumen gentium, 40). Francis, in his apostolic letter Evangelii Gaudium (17) which laid out the programmatic for his pontificate, said that "on the basis of the teaching of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium" he would discuss the entire People of God which evangelizes, missionary outreach, the inclusion of the poor in society, and peace and dialogue within society. Francis has also followed the council's call for a more collegial style of leadership, through synods of bishops and through his personal use of a worldwide advisory council of eight cardinals. rather than relying solely on devotional writings, booklets and the lives of the Catholic saints, as had the Council of Trent and the First Vatican Council. A most contentious conclusion that seems to follow from the Bishops' teaching in the decree is that while "in some sense other Christian communities are institutionally defective", these communities can "in some cases be more effective as vehicles of grace". Belgian Bishop Emil de Smedt, commenting on institutional defects that had crept into the Catholic church, "contrasted the hierarchical model of the church that embodied the triad of 'clericalism, legalism, and triumphalism' with one that emphasized the 'people of God', filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and radically equal in grace", that was extolled in Lumen Gentium. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation The council's document Dei Verbum ("The Word of God") states the principle active in the other council documents that "The study of the sacred page is, as it were, the soul of sacred theology". It is said of Dei Verbum that "arguably it is the most seminal of all the conciliar documents," with the fruits of a return to the Bible as the foundation of Christian life and teaching, evident in the other council documents. Joseph Ratzinger, who would become Benedict XVI, said of the emphasis on the Bible in the council that prior to Vatican II the theology manuals continued to confuse "propositions about revelation with the content of revelation. It represented not abiding truths of faith, but rather the peculiar characteristics of post-Reformation polemic." In spite of the guarded approval of biblical scholarship under Pius XII, scholars suspected of Modernism were silenced right up to Vatican II. The council brought a definitive end to the Counter-Reformation and, in a spirit of aggiornamento, reached back "behind St. Thomas himself and the Fathers, to the biblical theology which governs the first two chapters of the Constitution on the Church." "The documents of the Second Vatican Council are shot through with the language of the Bible. ...The church's historical journey away from its earlier focus upon these sources was reversed at Vatican II." For instance, the council's document on the liturgy called for a broader use of liturgical texts, which would now be in the vernacular, along with more enlightened preaching on the Bible explaining "the love affair between God and humankind". The translation of liturgical texts into vernacular languages, the allowance of communion under both kinds for the laity, and the expansion of Scripture readings during the Mass was resonant with the sensibilities of other Christian denominations, thus making the Second Vatican Council "a milestone for Catholic, Protestants, [and] the Orthodox". discusses the importance of education (GE 1), of Christian education (GE 2-7), of Catholic schools (GE 8-9) and of Catholic colleges and universities (GE 10-12). Most everything in the declaration had been said many times before: the Church has the right to establish Catholic schools; parents have the right to choose the education they want for their children, governments have a duty to fund Catholic schools; and Catholics have a duty to support Catholic schools. Many observers found the declaration disappointing: "Even at the last minute, dissatisfaction with the text was widespread and wide-ranging". It was called "probably the most inferior document produced by the Council". But as it was late in the 4th session when everyone was under pressure to bring the Council's business to a close, most bishops chose to vote for the text, though close to 9% rejected it. Decrees and declarations on the Church in the world These 5 documents address the Church's relationship with the surrounding world: other religious groups (non-Catholic Christians and non–Christians), missionary outreach, religious freedom, and the media. Three of them – on ecumenism, non-Christian religions, and religious freedom – were important advances in the Church's teaching. Mission Activity – The decree Ad gentes ("To the Nations", 1965) treats evangelization as the fundamental mission of the Catholic Church, "to bring good news to the poor." It includes sections on training missionaries and on forming communities. Ecumenism – The decree Unitatis redintegratio ("Restoration of Unity", 1964) opens with the statement: "The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council." This was a reversal of the Church's previous position, one of hostility or, at best, indifference to the ecumenical movement, because the Church claimed that unity could come about only if non-Catholics returned to the true Church. The text produced by the Secretariat for Christian Unity said many things Catholics had not heard before: Instead of showing hostility or indifference to the ecumenical movement, a movement which originated among Protestant and Orthodox Christians, the decree states it was fostered by the Holy Spirit. Instead of repeating the previous prohibition on Catholics taking part in ecumenical activities, the decree states that a concern for unity is an obligation for all Catholics. Instead of claiming that disunity is the fault of non-Catholic Christians, the decree states that the Catholic Church must accept its share of the blame and ask for forgiveness. Instead of claiming that the Catholic Church is in no need of reform, the decree states that all Christians, including Catholics, must examine their own faithfulness to Christ's will, and undertake whatever internal reforms are called for. Ecumenism requires a new attitude, a "change of heart" (UR 7), an interior conversion, on the part of Catholics. Instead of claiming that only the Catholic Church has the means of salvation, the decree states that non-Catholic Christians have many of the elements of the true Church and, thanks to these, they can achieve salvation. All baptized are members of Christ's body. Catholics must get rid of false images of non-Catholics and come to appreciate the riches of their traditions. Theological experts from both sides should enter into dialogue, in which each side sets out clearly its understanding of the Gospel. It should be remembered that there is a hierarchy of truths, that not all teachings are equally central to the faith. Christians of various traditions should pray together, though intercommunion is still not possible, and undertake actions for the common good of humanity. The last chapter addresses the situation of the Eastern Orthodox and of Protestants. The Orthodox are very close to the Catholic Church: they have valid sacraments and a valid priesthood, and though their customs and liturgical practices are different, this is not an obstacle to unity. Protestants comprise many denominations, and their closeness to the Catholic Church varies by denomination; however, all share with Catholics the belief in Jesus as saviour, the Bible, baptism, worship, and the effort to lead a moral life. In circa 1960-1962, preparatory work for draft texts of Second Vatican Council documents "report urged respectful use of the terms dissidents or separated brethren, in place of heretics and schismatics." After the Council, however, "that habit of unthinkingly hurling accusations of heresy at Protestants pretty much died out" in some contexts to avoid offense. Since at least the mid-1990s, the term has often been replaced by Catholics with phrases such as "other Christians". This new way of considering the issue of Church unity met with great approval at the council and was adopted with very few dissenting voices. Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions – The declaration Nostra aetate ("In our time", 1965), the shortest of Vatican II's documents, is a brief commentary on non-Christian religions, with a special section on the Jews. Pope John wanted the council to condemn antisemitism, including any Catholic teaching that might encourage antisemitism. It was felt that the way to avoid stirring up trouble in the Middle East was to include the passage on the Jews within a broader document about non-Christian religions. Avoiding argument or criticism, the declaration highlights some positive features of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. "The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is holy and true in these religions"; they often "reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men and women". As for the Jews, the declaration says they are very dear to God: "God does not take back the gifts He bestowed or the choice He made" (NA 4). Jews are not rejected or cursed by God because of the death of Jesus: neither all Jews then, nor any Jew today, can be blamed for the death of Jesus. The Church deplores all hatred and antisemitism." And the declaration ends with a condemnation of all forms of discrimination based on religion or ethnicity. Better Jewish-Catholic relations have been emphasized since the council. Religious Freedom – The declaration Dignitatis humanae ("Of the Dignity of the Human Person", 1965), "on the right of the person and of communities to social and civil freedom in matters religious", is the most striking instance of the council's staking out a new position. Traditional Catholic teaching rejected freedom of religion as a basic human right. The argument: only Catholics have the truth, and so they alone are entitled to freedom of belief and of practice. All other religions are in error and, since "error has no rights", other religions have no right to freedom of belief and practice, and Catholic states have the right to suppress them. While it may be prudent to tolerate the existence of other religions in order to avoid civil unrest, this is merely a favour extended to them, not a matter of right. This double standard became increasingly intolerable to many Catholics. Furthermore, Protestants would not believe in the sincerity of Catholics' involvement in ecumenism if they continued to support this double standard. Pope John's last encyclical, Pacem in terris (April 1963), listed freedom of religion among the basic human rights – the first papal document to support freedom of religion – and he wanted Vatican II to address the issue. Dignitatis humanae broke with the traditional position and asserted that every human being was entitled to religious freedom. The argument: belief cannot be coerced. Since the Church wants people's religious beliefs to be genuine, people must be left free to see the truth of what is preached. The declaration also appealed to revelation: Jesus did not coerce people to accept his teaching, but invited them to believe, and so did his immediate followers. Most Council Fathers supported this position, but 11% of them rejected it on the day of the final vote. If this position were true, they said, then the Church's previous teaching was wrong, and this was a conclusion they could not accept. The council's position on religious freedom raised in an acute way the issue of the development of doctrine: how can later teachings develop out of earlier ones? And how to tell whether a new position is a legitimate development of previous teaching or is heresy? The Means of Social Communication – The decree Inter mirifica ("Among the wonderful [discoveries]", 1963) addresses issues concerning the press, cinema, television, and other media of communication. Chapter 1 is concerned with the dangers presented by the media and insists that media producers ensure the media offer moral content, that media consumers avoid media whose content is not moral, and that parents supervise their children's media consumption. Chapter 2 discusses the usefulness of the media for the Church's mission: Catholic press and cinema should be promoted, and suitable persons within the Church should be trained in the use of the media. This decree is "generally considered to be one of the weakest of the Council". Rather than improve it, most Council Fathers preferred approving it as it was and moving on to more important matters. ==Impact of Vatican II==

According to theologian Adrian Hastings, the key theological and practical developments due to Vatican II can be grouped into three types: • New general orientations and basic themes found throughout the documents: • The Church defined as People of God • The Eucharist as centre of the Church and its unity • The primacy of Scripture in theory and in practice • The beneficial nature of diversity: ecclesial (the Church as a communion of "churches"), liturgical, and theological (diversity "even in the theological elaborations of revealed truth") • Other Christians understood as being in [imperfect] communion with the Church • The concern for secular human values, with justice and peace. • Specific texts that contain a recognizable shift from pre-conciliar teaching: • The text on the collegiality of bishops (Lumen Gentium 22) • The statement that the unique Church of Christ "subsists" in the Catholic Church (Lumen Gentium 8) • The statement that "the Churches of the East, as much as those of the West, fully enjoy the right to rule themselves" (Orientalium Ecclesiarum 5 and Unitatis Redintegratio 16) • The recognition and commendation of the ministry of married priests in the Eastern Churches (Presbyterorum Ordinis 16) • The recognition that every person has the right to religious freedom (Dignitatis humanae 2) • The condemnation of anti-Semitism (Nostra aetate 4) • The condemnation of mass destruction in war (Gaudium et spes 80) • The statement that "parents themselves should ultimately make the judgment" as to the size of their family (Gaudium et Spes 50). • Practical decisions requiring new institutions or new behaviour: • The use of the vernacular in the liturgy • The restoration of communion under both kinds for the laity • The restoration of concelebration • The restoration of the diaconate as a permanent order open to married men • The [limited] possibility of sharing in the worship (including communion) of a Church other than one's own • The instruction to establish national or regional Episcopal Conferences with authority and responsibilities • The recommendation to establish an agency of the universal Church to "foster progress in needy regions and social justice on the international scene". Changes resulting from Vatican II The council addressed relations between the Catholic Church and the modern world. Several changes resulting from the council include the renewal of consecrated life with a revised charism, ecumenical efforts with other Christian denominations, interfaith dialogue with other religions, and the universal call to holiness, which according to Paul VI was "the most characteristic and ultimate purpose of the teachings of the Council". According to Pope Benedict XVI, the most important and essential message of the council was "the Paschal Mystery as the center of what it is to be Christian and therefore of the Christian life, the Christian year, the Christian seasons". Other changes that followed the council included the widespread use of vernacular languages in the Mass instead of Latin, the allowance of communion under both kinds for the laity, the subtle disuse of ornate clerical regalia, the revision of Eucharistic (liturgical) prayers, the abbreviation of the liturgical calendar, the ability to celebrate the Mass (with the officiant facing the congregation), as well as (facing the "East" and the Crucifix), and modern aesthetic changes encompassing contemporary Catholic liturgical music and artwork. remain divisive among those identifying as traditionalist Catholics. Dignitatis humanae, authored largely by United States theologian John Courtney Murray, challenged the council fathers to find "reasons for religious freedom" in which they believed, and drew from scripture scholar John L. McKenzie the comment: "The Church can survive the disorder of development better than she can stand the living death of organized immobility." == Controversies ==

reprint from its 1884 edition Validity of the Council Some Traditionalist Catholics claim that several council statements conflict with established teaching regarding faith, morals and doctrine, and are therefore in error. As a result, some traditionalists say, Vatican II is invalid. The largest of the traditionalist groups rejecting the validity of Vatican II is the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), which recognizes the authority of the Pope but rejects the validity of the Second Vatican Council. In 1988, the SSPX faced a conflict with Pope John Paul II over the consecration of bishops (Écône consecrations), which led to canonical sanctions (although the SSPX rejected the validity of them). This event has been a subject of ongoing debate within the Catholic community regarding the validity of any purported excommunications. Other groups have gone further than the SSPX and have declared that the Holy See has been vacant since the death of Pope Pius XII (sedevacantism) or that all the Pontiffs since Pope John XXIII are popes materially but not formally (sedeprivationism). The most notable of these groups are the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen and the Institute Mater Boni Consilii. Authority of the council's teaching Since Vatican II issued no dogmatic definitions or anathemas, in accordance with the wishes of Pope John XXIII expressed particularly in his opening address to the Council, There are those who ask what is the authority, the theological qualification, that the Council wished to attribute to its teachings, knowing that it avoided giving solemn dogmatic definitions engaging the infallibility of the ecclesiastical magisterium. And the answer is known to those who recall the conciliar declaration of March 6, 1964, repeated on November 16, 1964: given the pastoral character of the Council, it avoided proclaiming in an extraordinary way dogmas endowed with the note of infallibility; but it nevertheless endowed its teachings with the authority of the supreme ordinary magisterium, and this ordinaryand obviously authenticmagisterium must be accepted docilely and sincerely by all the faithful, according to the mind of the Council regarding the nature and purposes of the individual documents. The issue is also addressed by the Code of Canon Law. While the 1917 Code of Canon Law, in force in the Latin Church at the time of the council, simply stated "An Ecumenical Council enjoys supreme power over the universal Church", the 1983 Code of Canon Law states that Catholics may not disregard the teaching of an ecumenical council even if it does not propose its teaching as definitive: Although not an assent of faith, a religious submission of the intellect and will must be given to a Doctrine which the Supreme Pontiff or the College of Bishops declares concerning faith or morals when they exercise the authentic Magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim it by definitive act; therefore, the Christian faithful are to take care to avoid those things which do not agree with it. "The Spirit of Vatican II" By "the spirit of Vatican II" is often meant promoting teachings and intentions attributed to the Second Vatican Council in ways not limited to literal readings of its documents, spoken of as the "letter" of the council (cf. Saint Paul's phrase, "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life"). Academic Michael Novak who had covered Vatican II as a journalist described it as a spirit that sometimes soared far beyond the actual, hard-won documents and decisions of Vatican II. ...It was as though the world (or at least the history of the Church) were now to be divided into only two periods, pre-Vatican II and post-Vatican II. Everything "pre" was then pretty much dismissed, so far as its authority mattered. For the most extreme, to be a Catholic now meant to believe more or less anything one wished to believe, or at least in the sense in which one personally interpreted it. One could be a Catholic "in spirit". One could take Catholic to mean the 'culture' in which one was born, rather than to mean a creed making objective and rigorous demands. One could imagine Rome as a distant and irrelevant anachronism, embarrassment, even adversary. Rome as "them". From another perspective, Church historian John W. O'Malley wrote: For the new churches it recommended adaptation to local cultures, including philosophical and theological adaptation. It also recommended that Catholic missionaries seek ways of cooperating with missionaries of other faiths and of fostering harmonious relations with them. It asserted that art from every race and country be given scope in the liturgy of the church. More generally, it made clear that the church was sympathetic to the way of life of different peoples and races and was ready to appropriate aspects of different cultural traditions. Though obvious-sounding, these provisions were portentous. Where would they lead? Ecumenical Controversies Some Traditional Catholics, rejecting Vatican II, have expressed criticism regarding the document Nostra aetate promulgated by Pope Paul VI on 28 October 1965. The document affirms that non-Christian faiths may and can be a path to God and may lead to eternal salvation, which traditionalists argue is a contradiction to the traditional principle Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus and the encyclical Satis cognitum promulgated by Pope Leo XIII. Furthermore, traditionalists argue that Pope Pius XII's encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi would attack Vatican II's idea of possible non-Christian salvation. SSPX, states that Vatican II and Nostra aetate undermine Matthew 28:19 and that the new motion may possibly shift the Church into apostasy. Last of the main arguments is the belief that the Jewish people, as a religion, have been revoked of their privileges as the Chosen People and that the title now belongs to the Catholic Church and its adherents. == Legacy ==

Vatican II participants who later became pope Of those who took part in the council's opening session, four later became pope: • Cardinal Giovanni Montini, who on succeeding John XXIII took the name Paul VI • Bishop Albino Luciani, the future John Paul I • Bishop Karol Wojtyła, who became John Paul II • Father Joseph Ratzinger, present as a theological consultant, who became Benedict XVI. Saints of Vatican II A number of those involved in Vatican II as pope, council father, peritus or official observer have been canonized or beatified, or are in the process of canonization. Canonized saints: • John XXIII, pope who called for the council and presided over it first (thus his feast day is the same date as the opening date of Vatican II), canonized in 2014 by Pope Francis; • Paul VI, second pope of the council, canonized in 2018 by Pope Francis; • John Paul II, council father as Bishop Karol Wojtyła, canonized in 2014 by Pope Francis. Beatified: • John Paul I, council father as Bishop Albino Luciani, beatified in 2022 by Pope Francis; • Álvaro del Portillo, council father, beatified in 2014 by Pope Francis; • Enrique Angelelli, council father, beatified in 2019 by Pope Francis. Process ongoing: • Fulton J. Sheen, council father • Terence Cooke, council father • Gregorio Pietro Agagianian, council father • Frank Duff, observer == Notes ==