Vatican ii what is it

On May 17, , the feast of Pentecost, he instituted the anti-preparatory commission, with the aim of soliciting a vast consultation, in order to determine the themes to study. After exploring the copious material received, on June 15th, feast of the Pentecost, the Pope, with the Superno Dei nutu , traced the complex outlines of the preparatory apparatus. In two years of intense work, the technical organisms set up, in the Vatican basilica, the grand Counciliary Hall 3 , and the preparatory commissions elaborated the plans that would be examined by the Council.

There were multiple difficulties, and that first group was not immune to limits and flaws, which were then, in part, remedied by the submission of the mixed subjects and that of the amendments. According to the indications of the central commission, they amended the plans and unified those that dealt with analogous arguments. During the night, it had continuously rained, but in the morning, the sky was again serene and the long cortege of 2, Priests in Saint Peter's Square entered the basilica.

The eighty-year-old Pontiff was absorbed and moved; often he had tears in his eyes. His face transformed when he read the "admirable" 4 discourse. The long walk took off with so much hope in the hearts of everyone! Some worried, others hoped for the postponement of the beginning of the Council.

To put aside any uncertainty, on June 27, the new Pope confirmed the start of the Council for September, with the beginning of the second phase starting on the 29th of that same month 6. The Council continued with multiple difficulties of various kinds. Firstly, the themes of the day were numerous and complex; the dealt with the life of the Church, separated brothers, non-Christian religions, humanity in general; and some of these were discussed for the first time in the Council.

And, in the discussions, different formations, mentalities and experiences were confronted. The debate, therefore, had vivacious tones, but it was always animated by the faith of the Fathers and by the common desire to find the truth and express it in the most suitable form.

In the ardor of the discussions, there were also attitudes that were not very serene and there were diverging opinions, but it cannot be said that the Council was a place of arguments between conservative and progressive tendencies.

John Paul II, who was one of the Council Fathers and actively participated in the work affirms: "In truth, it would be very unjust to the entire work of the Council, for some to reduce that historic event to a similar opposition between rival groups.

The internal truth of the Council is very different" 7. The road was long and not without difficulty, but it lead, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to the light of the truth. On December 8, , on a freezing morning, but with a sunny sky, Paul VI, in the courtyard of Saint Peter's Basilica, after having delivered seven messages, for world leaders, the men of thought and science, the artists, women, workers, the poor the sick and the suffering, young people , closed Vatican II 8.

He communicated the difficult and delicate phase of fulfilling it. This thought of his was by some people interpreted a distorted and limited sense.

In his first encyclical Ad Petri Cathedram , June 29, , he stressed that the Council was meant primarily to promote the increasing of the faith, the renewal of traditions, and the updating of ecclesiastic discipline. This would have constituted a spectacle of truth, unity and charity, and it would have been for the separated brothers an invitation to the unity wanted by Christ 9. In the meeting of the antipreparatory commission, on June 30, , the Pope repeated: "The Council is convoked, first of all because the Catholic Church [ Perennially faithful to the sacred principles on which it stands and to the immutable doctrine entrusted by the Divine Founder, the Church [ Therefore, in front of the whole world, it will appear in its splendor.

The Pope, therefore elevated the prayer to the Lord, so that in front of the new bubbling of fervor and of works in the Catholic Church, even the separated brothers would feel a new call to unity The Church is still in the midst of that adaptation process, which is supposed to aim at integrating the documents and approaches of the Second Vatican Council into the ordinary life of the Church. That process has not always gone smoothly, and has involved to serious disagreement about what the Second Vatican Council means, or how it relates to the teachings and life of the Church which came before it.

Many of those debates have centered acutely around liturgy and worship, but they impact numerous other areas of the Church. Differing readings of the Second Vatican Council are often part of the backdrop and context among bishops in disagreement over contemporary pastoral issues. It has been the project of the last three popes — Pope St. While the last five decades have involved debate and disagreement about what the Second Vatican Council means for the Church, the process of unpacking most ecumenical councils has taken more than one lifetime — and unpacking Vatican II may still have a long way to go.

Click the link we sent to , or click here to log in. The biggest issues with Vatican II seem to have been church leaders and church scholars reading the Vatican II documents in the "spirit of the age" which remember, was the '60s rather than what the documents actually said. For example, devotees of the traditional pre-Vatican II Mass will complain that the post-sVatican II liturgy went well beyond the directives of "Sacrosanctum concilium" which called for much more gradual reforms.

I tend to think they have a point. A confusing analysis. As I read the constitutional documents I could find nothing to take exception to but then "the devil is in the details" as always, is it not? What came after is more telling.

My reaction to the changes brought about in the name of Vatican II is that they seem to have been unnecessary. It addressed a problem some have described -convincingly- as nonexistent.

Thus, Carroll College aspires to produce graduates ready to engage with and transform the culture. Bishop John Carroll recognized the importance of the laity as far back as by declaring the twentieth century to be "the century of the laity.

For the impact of its ecumenical vision on Carroll College, see here. This pilgrimage includes cultivating the memory of those who have gone before us and have marked the way for us. This powerful image of the Church reminds us that our students come to us as pilgrims on a journey of discovery.

The post-war cultural change saw migrants from America, Europe and South America travelling to new places and influencing social change. The Church now appeared too strict and unforgiving for a world tarnished by war, leaving it unfit to rule a modernised society.

When going forward with the council meetings they strove to focus on the theme of reconciliation. In keeping with this, they allowed Catholics to pray with other Christian denominations, encouraged friendship with other non-Christian faiths, and opened the door for languages besides Latin to be used during Mass. Prior to this, the church was seen as a fortress, very much concerned with its own stability and only engaging with the outside world on a missionary basis.