VATICAN II – COUNCIL OF REFORM AND RENEWAL

This article first appeared as part of a series three articles to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the Second Vatican Council for the newsletter of a Pastoral Council in Portsmouth Diocese. It was written by Paul Paniccia we hope to publish the other articles in the series in due course.

VATICAN II – COUNCIL OF REFORM AND RENEWAL

October 2012 marks the 50^th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), the 21^st such General Council of the Catholic Church. This Council (1962—65) is widely regarded as the most significant event for the Catholic Church since the Reformation in the 16th century. Pope John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council to update the Church and restore the unity of all Christians. He did not want to change the essential beliefs of the Catholic Church, but new ways of expressing the faith, such as in the liturgy, and communicating its teaching to the modern world. He believed his action in calling a Council was a consequence of a prompting of the Holy Spirit and, as the Council progressed, many of the participating bishops genuinely sensed the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit to such an extent that they thought of the Council event as a New Pentecost. Pope Benedict XVI, a young theological consultor at the Council, has spoken of the Council in recent times as one of reform and renewal within the continuity of two thousand years of Catholic Tradition.

Pope Benedict XVl and the 2nd Vatican Council

This article first appeared in “Portsmouth People” the Diocesan Magazine of Portsmouth Diocese.

Pope Benedict XVl and the 2^nd Vatican Council

Pope Benedict XV1 has announced that he is to launch a Year of Faith in October 2012, to mark the 50^th anniversary of the opening of the 2^nd Vatican Council.

From what we can deduce so far, the aims for this Year of Faith will include:

• to re-educate Catholics in the authentic message of the Catholic Church through a corrected interpretation of the teachings of the Council
• to challenge the hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture emerging from incorrect interpretations of the teachings of the Council and to establish a correct hermeneutic of reform
• to challenge the view, held by some, that calls for married priests, expanded ministerial roles for women, acceptance of homosexuality, and sacraments for the divorced and re-married, represent examples of the  unfulfilled vision of the Council.
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50th Anniversary Flyer

We are offering a free one-page leaflet to mark the start of 2012, which is the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Council. The leaflet is especially designed for those who are too young to have lived through the Council. We hope it will help rekindle the hope and promise felt by those who did live during the times of Vatican II.  50th Anniversary Flyer