Taking a Look at Vatican II

Vatican City was formed on February 11, 1929 following the signing of the Treaty of Conciliation by Benito Mussolini and the cardinal Pietro Gasparri, the State Secretary of Pius XI. While the signing of the Lateran Pacts between Italy and the Holy See paved way for the formation of this city, the pacts were ratified on June 7, 1929 ("Vatican City in the Past", n.d.). Since then, the nature of the Vatican City as a sovereign State that is different from the Holy See is widely recognized under

The essence of the contribution made by Pope John XXIII was his calling together of the Second Vatican Council that aimed to address modernisation of the Catholic Church,

The Catholic Church's response to the Western Schism was vastly important to its respectability and authority in regards to the faithful of that time. "The Western Schism was only a temporary misunderstanding, even though it compelled the Church for forty years to seek its true head; it was fed by politics and passions, and was terminated by the assembling of the councils of Pisa and Constance."1 After the Avignon Papacy, the Catholic Church had three men claiming to be pope. One man elected in Rome, one in Avignon, France, and one elected by the Council of Pisa. This was very detrimental to the Catholic theology which states that it can trace every pope back to St. Peter, the first pope. The Catholic faithful were not sure which of the three men was the true pope and which, if any of them, they should listen to. It was a very confusing time for all the faithful living in this time, and a very annoying situation for the true pope who was now seen by many to be as questionable as the other two in regards to not being the true pope. The three men knew what a mess this situation was and two of them wanted to deal with the situation, so as to reduce confusion among the faithful. The anti-pope John XXIII called the Council of Constance to deal with this situation. He offered to resign from the papacy, that he was never in possession of, if the other two men would as well. The council met to depose of the two anti-popes, to deal with heretical teachings, and to protect the succession of the papacy. This council is one of the most important ecumenical councils, as it helped to affirm the succession of the pope and to help to resolve the confusion caused by these anti-popes.

As means to start such reform, Pope Paul III, initiated The Council of Trent. The gathering amongst high-ranking churchmen took place from 1545-1563 and was held for two primary purposes. The council was mustered to determine a plan to combat Protestantism and how Catholics would compromise with them and to reform the Catholic Church by clarification of the doctrine and define the central articles of faith. Through The Council of Trent, the strength of the Catholic doctrine increased, and there became a higher stress placed on the importance of the visual arts. The council was successful in developing a doctrine that outlined the difference between Protestantism and Catholicism and created

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.

As time constantly presses forward and the earth continues to revolve, the world will never stop progressing and adapting to better suit the needs of mankind. The evolution of religion has greatly enhanced the quality of life for humanity by providing individuals with a strong belief system that is now the foundation of many peoples’ core values. One universal religion that has undergone extensive amounts of reform is Christianity. In particular, the Catholic church is well-known for the development of their famous ecumenical council meetings that help determine the future of the church. Numerous Councils have been conducted throughout the course of history, but none more significant than the most recent, the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II. The Catholic church was operating as if it was still the medieval period and desperately needed to be modernized. As a result, every Roman Catholic Church official was gathered to meet and devise a plan for how to introduce the church to the modern world. Consequently, the following will reveal the Second Vatican Council and the ramifications of the agenda, history and theology evolution, significant texts, and new developments.

sessions of the Second Vatican Council. This term was intended to signify “in the spirit

Pope Pius IX called the First Vatican Council in 1868. It was the Roman Catholic Church’s twentieth ecumenical council. It was held in the Vatican City. The purpose of this council was to attend to issues such as secularism, rationalism, and materialism. This council explored the principle of papal infallibility as well.

The differences made it difficult to consolidate the church into a central body of power of Christianity. In addition to the problem of what the core message of the religion was and who the leaders should be preaching to, there was the argument of who should be head of the church (219). Several candidates were nominated for this position, including the bishop of Rome who believed he had the right to rule as a successor of the primary apostle, Peter; though this had no avail at the time, this argument would later become important in the formation of the Catholic Church.

The Second Vatican Council lasted from 1962-1965 and it was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. This council was called together by Pope John XXII and it was continued under the lead of Pope Paul VI. The Council was important for renewal in the understanding of the Church. The Second Vatican Council needed to figure out how to bring its inner life and its relationship to other Christian traditions, other religions and most importantly, the world. The council also wanted to discuss principles from the Council of Trent and Vatican I that were supposed to happen, but never took place. These principles were taken back from old traditions, practices, and teachings that had often been neglected and forgotten. The second

It took about four years of secret planning with Bishops and Cardinals before the Council assembled in 1869. For the first time, Bishops from countries outside Europe joined European Bishops at Vatican I. The main purpose of Vatican I was to define the Catholic doctrine, establish the Church beliefs and Papal infallibility, and denounce new ideas of the time such as rationalism, liberalism and materialism. Pope Pius IX called for an Ecumenical Council to implement papal authority and make clear Catholic beliefs which had come under attack by Enlightenment thinkers, for example, the first Vatican Council (Vatican I) began in 1869 at Saint Peter’s Basilica and was attended by almost seven hundred bishops and other church leaders. At Vatican I, the bishops officially proclaimed Papal infallibility, and raised the question of the authority of the bishops. Interruption by Italian troops meant that the authority of the bishops was not finalised until Vatican II in the

The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), in an effort to reacquaint the faithful to their three-fold dignity of priest, prophet and king received during their baptism, reaffirmed in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, also known as the ad intra (“Church within”) conciliar document Lumen Gentium, that, “…all the faithful, that is, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ…have been made sharers in their own way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ and play their part in carrying out the mission of the whole Christian people in the church and in the world” (48). Since the laity, religious, and clergy now had a shared responsibility as the People of God in bringing about the Kingdom of God, no longer would they be as

The Second Vatican Council was held during a time were the world was truly changing. Technology was growing at an extremely fast pace and all the radical changes to social order, roles and society. Especially since the events of World War I and II, which no longer painted war as an illustrious heroic thing. It was to address the Churches relation to the modern world.

Shaw, Russell. "Did We Really Need Vatican II?" Did We Really Need Vatican II? | Catholic

From the second half of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century, many Popes before John XXIII continued and upheld the tradition of the Trento Convention and criticized the modern trend of thought and the secular social system. They stood on a conservative standpoint, viewed their era in a pessimistic manner, and denounced modern society as a "scourge". “When Pope John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council in1962, in one dramatic gesture he sought to reverse the more than four centuries of church attempts to reject the emerging modern world.” As a result, the second Vatican Council’s meetings has made a new orientation to the Catholic Church, that is, from a multi-angle perspective on man's position in the changing times and the various difficulties that people face in the modern world. Finally, the second Vatican Council’s meetings has enabled the Catholic Church to fully intervene in the modern world in an open manner. This meeting provided the theoretical basis for the church to care for the worldly affairs.