Why Did the Second Vatican Council Stress the Apostolate of the Laity? How Has This Developed Since Vatican Ii? How Do You See It Developing in the Future?

The Second Vatican Council began in 1962 and ended in 1965. For the first year Pope John XXIII opened the council, he unfortunately died in 1963. Pope Paul VI then took over and closed the council in 1965. “A combined total of 2,865 bishops and prelates attended the council, which issued sixteen formal documents” (John and Hardon, 2000). The second Vatican promulgated some of the most important documents present in the Catholic religion. They also changed the way the Laity were involved in the church.

A Lay apostle is someone who has committed to God (through baptism and confirmation) and strives to deliver the divine message of salvation to others throughout the world. “The need for the apostolate is shown by the manifest action of the Holy Spirit moving laymen today to a deeper and deeper awareness of their responsibility and urging them on everywhere to the service of Christ and the Church.” (Jackson, 2010). Therefore the statement suggests that the Holy Spirit is the one to give us a deeper understanding of what we as Catholics must do to become a good lay apostle, and that our responsibilities are within the church and our beliefs in Christ. Nazzaro (2010) states “A Lay apostle walks closely with Jesus throughout each day… We serve Jesus through service to others.” In order to become a good lay apostle we must be close to the Lord daily whether saying prayers or attending church, and in order to serve him we must spread the word of God to everyone that would be interested in following Christ.

The Second Vatican Council made the dogmatic constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium). This was a set of rules in which Catholic must abide by. The constitution of the church states that everyone is part of the church and therefore everyone has a responsibility for its growth and the spread of the kingdom of God throughout the world. Due to this responsibility the council recognised the need for the role of the laity to cease from being passive and instead

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