Second Vatican Council: Key Texts and Impact
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65)
The Second Vatican Council, informally known as Vatican II, addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first ecumenical council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. The council formally opened under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1965.
Several changes resulted from the council, including the renewal of consecrated life with a revised charism, ecumenical efforts towards dialogue with other religions, and the call to holiness for everyone, including the laity. According to Pope Paul VI, the “most characteristic and ultimate purpose of the teachings of the Council” was this call to holiness. Pope Benedict XVI stated that its most important essential idea is “Paschal Mystery as the centre of what it is to be Christian and therefore of the Christian life, the Christian year, the Christian seasons.”
Main Texts of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65)
1. Lumen Gentium
Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, is one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council. This dogmatic constitution was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964. As is customary with significant Roman Catholic Church documents, it is known by its first words, “Lumen Gentium”, Latin for “Light of the People”. This constitution develops and completes the doctrine about the church which the First Vatican Council commenced but was interrupted in 1869. The text is partially inspired by the encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, promulgated by Pius XII in June 1943, which refers to the Church as the mystical body of Christ.
2. Dei Verbum
Dei Verbum (official title: Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation – Dei Verbum) was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965. It is one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council, indeed their very foundation in the view of one of the leading Council Fathers, Bishop Christopher Butler. The phrase “Dei Verbum” is Latin for “Word of God”. The difficult issue for the Vatican Two fathers in laying out this document rested in resolving the relationship of Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and reconciling that there was no error of God’s self-revelation to the world. The fathers made it clear in this document that God reveals truth through Scripture and the Church. The ultimate purpose of this document is to help people in search of truth to strengthen their faith. It is in hearing the message of Christ that people believe, and in believing, we hope, and through hope, we learn to love more perfectly.
3. Sacrosanctum Concilium
Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on December 4, 1963. The main aim was to achieve greater lay participation in the Catholic Church’s liturgy.
The very first line of Sacrosanctum Concilium quantifies the main goals of the Council: reinvigorate Catholics, modernize the Church in a meaningful way, promote unity of all Christian denominations, and reach out to the whole world. This document reveals that God’s love created a perfect way for us to worship God by divine means, all for our good. If we know what true liturgy is and participate fully in it, liturgy allows us to be drawn closely to God’s love.
4. Gaudium et Spes
Gaudium et Spes (Ecclesiastical Latin: Joy and Hope), the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, was one of the four Apostolic Constitutions resulting from the Second Vatican Council. The document is an overview of the Catholic Church’s teachings about humanity’s relationship to society, especially in reference to economics, poverty, social justice, culture, science, technology, and ecumenism.