The Second Vatican Council

The Pope is the head of the Church: he represents the ultimate religious authority. However, as a Bishop of Rome, the Pope is also in command of certain secular affairs, including some military aspects. Certainly, the Pope is a link between the earthly and the divine realms. Problems arise when the imperfect world the Pope physically lives in interferes with his heavenly objectives. Taking Pope Gregory I as an example, I am going to look at his letters to analyze how he reconciled his political and spiritual goals, whether he valued one category over the other, and how he justified it.

This was agreed on the 20th July through the Concordat agreement between state and Vatican. Their actions in the end, regarding the Church, proved to be effective indeed for he obtained his ultimate goal – eliminate political opposition – by granting something that didn’t carry substantial drawbacks itself.

church should rest with a church council and not the pope and that the church was

The contribution of Pope John XXIII has been profound, as many of his initiatives and actions are still resonating today. His acceptance of Jesus’ words “I came to save all nations.” Represented his motivation to do well and bring peace upon the world. He was an advocate of Christian unity, social justice, human rights and the promotion of world peace. It is through his development of the Second Vatican Council, his contribution to ecumenism and his empathy for humanity that Pope John XXIII made a significant impact upon the development and expression of Christianity.

During his Papacy, Pope John XXIII published several encyclicals promoting world peace(Pacem in Terris) and increasing the consciousness of one’s dignity and rights of workers, women and newly independent nations (Mater et Magisterum). Pacem in Terris was addressed to the whole world and received warmly by Christians and non-Christians alike. It altered thinking about the Cold War and initiated the resurgence of Catholic social teaching.

In October 1962, Wojtyla was one of many bishops to participate in the Second Vatican Council. Due to his great speaking skills, he was chosen to make a presentation. Wojtyla addressed relations and conflicts between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. Two points of focus were: 1) the Decree on Religious Freedom, and 2) the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.

When the Roman Empire collapsed, the Catholic Church was the only powerful authority not complete disrupted by the attack by barbarians. In fact, the work of great Popes is what helped their power increase even more. The newly christened barbarians, done by the Pope Gregory the Great, inaugurated a new age in Jesus Christ called Christendom. All culture in Christendom conformed to that of the Church’s, and, with its headquarters in Rome, the powerful “papal monarchs”, as they were called, controlled the machine that was the Catholic Church.

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.

The Second Vatican Council contributed many changes to the Catholic Church in order to freshen and modernise their thinking and practices. One notable change being the contribution of the lay people in the celebration of the mass. All baptised Catholics have a purpose to fulfil therefore have the authority to contribute through responses, hymns and prayers. Each church formed lay ministers to assist in the clergy and further the involvement of the congregation. Another significant change was the removal of the Latin language in the mass. So that people could understand and interpret the teachings of the scriptures the mass was said in vernacular languages which were coherent to society and people could now act out Jesus’ teachings in their

Most italians belong to a catholic church. The roman catholic church was formed when Roman Emperor Constantine declared a transition to Christianity. Now the early roman christians were just like their brothers following in the footsteps as jesus christ. He issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which granted freedom of worship throughout the Roman empire. The term Roman Catholic was defined by Emperor Theodosius on February 27, 380. With the fall of the Roman Empire began the rise of the Catholic Church. Which basically meant that the power was transferred from one entity to the other. From this time on, the church and state were fully intertwined as the Holy Roman Empire, with the pope exercising authority over kings and emperors.

In the eyes from the pope, he thought of the church threatened both its political and religious unity. Now the cardinals that were representing both popes convinced another council on their own authority in Pisa in the year 1409. There is when they deposed both the Roman and the Avignon popes and elected a singular pope, Alexander V. Then the council said that neither pope accepted its action, and Christendom suddenly faced the spectacle of three contending popes. This Pisan successor John XXIII, the popes from Rome and Avignon refused to step down from the

We called to dismiss the word Pope and look at the broader influence and work this man did for the church. Where protestants would argue with Pope Gregory in regard to the Sacraments and the works being aspect of salvation the focus needs to be on what he did for the larger church. Thus, the conclusion of this paper is the Pope Gregory is truly sitting in the presence of our Lord because of the work and faith he displayed on earth. Therefore, we will move past the argument of the Protestant and Catholic positions and look at the Gregory’s record in helping strengthen and solidify a heterogeneous church during great upheaval, and

Success of the Council of Trent in the years 1545-1563 in Tackling the Problems Confronting the Catholic Church

Fr R. Cantalamessa pointed out, “The prophetic intuition of Pope Paul VI had a determining role in this (recognition of the CCR by the Church). In that, on Pentecost of 1975 at a meeting with its leaders, he defined the Charismatic Renewal as a ‘chance’ for the Church.” Cardinal L.J. Suenens, a protagonist of CCR, recognized it as “a current of grace” and convinced Pope Paul VI of the need for the Church to accept and encourage the Renewal in order that it should not grow in isolation. In the summer of 1975, some 10,000 Catholic charismatics gathered in the Catacombs of St. Callistus in Rome for the Second International Congress. A special Mass was celebrated with singing in tongues and prophecies at the Papal Altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome followed by the historic special audience with Pope Paul VI.