Vatican Council Ii
Concilium Oecumenicum Vaticanum Secundum (The Vatican Council II)
The Second Vatican Council was formally opened by Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on 8 December 1965. Its aim was “...to throw open the windows of the Catholic Church so that we can see out and the people can see in.” – Pope John XXIII. T The main topics discussed were the Church itself, ecumenism and other religions, relation to the modern world and the liturgy of mass. The Catholic Church recognised the increasing rift between people and their relationship with God and the Church, and created four constitutions which addressed the issue. Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation), Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World), Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy). These documents are responses to the external issues and internal issues that impacted the Church, and are further discussed later.
The 1960’s was a huge counter-cultural movement which challenged the traditional codes of behaviour linked to sexuality and interpersonal relationships. With the sexual revolution brought the normalisation of pre-marital sex, the contraception and the pill, homosexuality and later; the legalisation of abortion. There was a rapid evolution of a youth subculture which encouraged experimentation and change, and religious values were disregarded and replaced with hedonistic attitudes. This impacted the Church because the one of the fundamental teachings of the Church is that sexual intercourse is only to express married love and for the procreation of children. The Church opposed abortion and contraception as it goes against their teachings and this caused an uproar from the feminists. Their argument was that they should have “free choice because it’s my body”. The Church until this time was also a male dominant body, and women began to fight for the right to
The Second Vatican Council was formally opened by Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on 8 December 1965. Its aim was “...to throw open the windows of the Catholic Church so that we can see out and the people can see in.” – Pope John XXIII. T The main topics discussed were the Church itself, ecumenism and other religions, relation to the modern world and the liturgy of mass. The Catholic Church recognised the increasing rift between people and their relationship with God and the Church, and created four constitutions which addressed the issue. Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation), Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World), Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy). These documents are responses to the external issues and internal issues that impacted the Church, and are further discussed later.
The 1960’s was a huge counter-cultural movement which challenged the traditional codes of behaviour linked to sexuality and interpersonal relationships. With the sexual revolution brought the normalisation of pre-marital sex, the contraception and the pill, homosexuality and later; the legalisation of abortion. There was a rapid evolution of a youth subculture which encouraged experimentation and change, and religious values were disregarded and replaced with hedonistic attitudes. This impacted the Church because the one of the fundamental teachings of the Church is that sexual intercourse is only to express married love and for the procreation of children. The Church opposed abortion and contraception as it goes against their teachings and this caused an uproar from the feminists. Their argument was that they should have “free choice because it’s my body”. The Church until this time was also a male dominant body, and women began to fight for the right to