Mallari, Jannelle Mae D.

12 St. Amalberga

Vatican II
The Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II as it is often called, was an Ecumenical
Council, (which means it affected the worldwide Christian community) of the Roman
Catholic Church. It began on October 11, 1962 under, Pope John XXIII with over two
thousand attendants (Hollis 23). The council ended on December 8, 1965, with Pope Paul
VI presiding over the council due to the death of Pope John XXIII in 1963. The council
consisted of four different sessions convening in the fall of the four years during which the
council took place. Topics discussed and debated throughout the council were issues
concerning the church, the liturgy, revelation and scripture, and the clergy.
The Council was instrumental for renewal in the self-understanding of the Church,
its inner life and its relationship to other Christian traditions, other religions and the world.
Those participating in or who lived through the time of the Council felt a profound,
exhilarating sense of renewal and virtually experienced a new Pentecost. Pope John XXIII
set the tone when opening the Council:
The Church should never depart from the sacred treasure of truth inherited from
the Fathers. But at the same time, she must ever look to the present, to the new
conditions and the new forms of life introduced into the modern world.
Until Vatican II the Church was split into many different factions and each was set
in its own belief that they were the ‘one’ true church. After the council however,
compromises and cooperation began to develop between the many denominations
toward building the Christian community as a whole.
Now, more than fifty years after the Council, there is a renewed interested in the
Council’s teachings, assisted by Pope Francis’ evident concern for all the People of God,
and his actions that reflect the Council’s teachings on the governance of the Church. At
times over the past half-century even to speak positively about the Council was to incur
suspicion in some quarters. With the many concerns facing the Church, it would be well
to recall the words of Blessed Pope Paul VI, speaking soon after the close of the Council
to establish its status:
Whatever were our opinions about the Council's various doctrines before its
conclusions were promulgated, today our adherence to the decisions of the
Council must be whole hearted and without reserve; it must be willing and prepared
to give them the service of our thought, action and conduct. The Council was
something very new: not all were prepared to understand and accept it. But now
the conciliar doctrine must be seen as belonging to the magisterium of the Church
and, indeed, be attributed to the breath of the Holy Spirit. (Paul VI to the Roman
Curia, 23 April, 1966)