As part of our preparations for the Jubilee Year 2025, we were asked to re-visit Vatican II.
The second Vatican Council, or Vatican II was the most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. It ran from 1962 to 1965, with the ambition of completing the unfinished task of Vatican I (1869-1870) and ecumenical outreach to the Modern World.
There were four constitutions – Sacronsanctum Concilium, Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum and
Gaudiem et spes – and nine decrees: Inter mirifica, Orientalium Ecclesaiarum, Unitatis redintegratio,
Christus Dominus, Perfectae caritatis, Optatam totius, Apostpolicam actuositatem, Ad gentes and
Presbyterorum ordinis – and three declarations – Gravissimum Educationis, Nostra Aetate, Dignitatis
Humanae.
"The four Constitutions of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, together with the Magisterium of these recent decades, will continue to provide direction and guidance to God's holy people, so that it can press forward in it's mission of bringing the joyful proclamation of the Gospel to everyone." Pope Francis - 2024 Letter for Year of Prayer.
You can view these documents below.
Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, a priest of the Archdiocese of Liverpool currently based in Rome, has
authored a paper called The Year of Council: Sharing Faith in the Diocese of Westminster. We thank
the Diocese of Westminster for sharing this with us!
Archbishop John Wilson has released a book called Pondering and Praying Vatican II in February 2024.
The book acts as an introduction to Vatican II, explaining the basic concepts in an easy-to-understand way.
He launched the book in Liverpool, at Pauline Books and Media. You can buy the book below.
In 2023, in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Liverpool, Liverpool Hope University organised a series of lectures and seminars, exploring the four Constitutions of Vatican II.
The dates and speakers were as follows:
You can view more about the lectures and speakers below.
Speaker: Prof. Em. Reimund Bieringer (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium)
"Toward the fullness of divine truth" (DV 8):
Turning Points and Surprises in the Event of the Composition and of the Interpretation of the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum (1965)
The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum (1965) of the Second Vatican Council played a decisive role in developing the theology of the Council. Yet,it has sometimes been called the "problem child" of the Council - especially on account of the complex process by which it was written. That process involved no fewer than seven successive drafts, passionate plenary discussions, countless proposals for amendment and direct interventions by the Pope. With hindsight, however, the preparation of this Constitution not only illustrates the Council’s dialogical theology in action, but is also clear proof of how much was (is) at stake in this document for the future of the Church. The theological shifts that we can recognise in the development of the Constitution form the foundation of conciliar theology as a whole.
In this lecture we shall demonstrate how both the process of composition and the theological content of Dei Verbum are promising openings to the future which even today, almost 60 years after its promulgation continue to be the decisive hot irons of the Roman-Catholic Church's struggle of dialogue with a changing context.
Reimund Bieringer is a priest of the diocese of Speyer, Germany, and is Emeritus Professor of New Testament Exegesis at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
From 2012 to 2015 he served as the president of the European Association of Biblical Studies, Europe’s largest biblical scholarly association, and is currently the chair of the Flemish Bible Society. Reimund's research focuses on the Letters of the Apostle Paul, especially the Second Letter to the Corinthians, and the Gospel of John, in particular the figure of Mary Magdalene and the question of anti-Judaism.
He brings a future-oriented hermeneutic to the historical-critical study of the Bible. Having authored and served as editor of numerous publications, in May this year he was presented with a collected volume published in his honour,edited by Ma Marilou S. Ibita, Dominika Kurek-Chomycz, Bénédicte Lemmelijn,Sarah Whitear, Kindness, Courage, and Integrity in Biblical Texts and in the Politics of Biblical Interpretation:Festschrift Reimund Bieringer (BETL, 333), Leuven - Paris - Bristol, CT,Peeters, 2023.
Speaker: Prof. Paul McPartlan (Catholic University of America)
Vatican II reinvigorated the Church for its mission today. Gaudium et Spes set the scene and Lumen Gentium worked out the details. Instead of the long-standing institutional understanding of the Church as a pyramid, it used biblical images: people of God, body of Christ, and the profound idea of the Church as a communion, rooted in the Trinity.
The Church itself is a sacrament, and the heart of its life is the Eucharist, where the faithful join their own sacrifices to the one sacrifice of Christ. That is the path to holiness and the way that the world is consecrated.
Mgr Paul McPartlan is a priest of the diocese of Westminster and Carl J. Peter Professor of Systematic Theology and Ecumenism at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He read Mathematics at Cambridge, trained for the priesthood at the English College in Rome, and then did his doctorate in theology at Oxford.
He specialises in ecclesiology, ecumenism, and the Second Vatican Council, and has written many articles and several books, e.g. The Eucharist Makes the Church: Henri de Lubac and John Zizioulas inDialogue (1993), Sacrament of Salvation: An Introduction to Eucharistic Ecclesiology (1995), and A Service of Love: Papal Primacy, the Eucharist, and Church Unity (2016).
Paul was a member of the International Theological Commission for ten years, and of the international Catholic-Methodist dialogue also for ten years. Since 2005, he has been a member of the international Catholic-Orthodox theological dialogue. Recently, heco-edited The Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies (2021).
Speaker: Prof. Peter McGrail (Liverpool Hope University)
"Summit and source" (SC 10)
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963) of the Second Vatican Council was the first document to be promulgated by the Council. Building on the liturgical reforms of early 20th-century Popes and the historic Liturgical Movement, it set in motion the wholescale reform of the liturgy of the Catholic Church. This lecture focuses on the opening section of Chapter One of the Constitution, in which the Council set out a succinct theological understanding of Catholic worship. Making particular reference to the drafting process for the Constitution and the debates on the floor of the Council, the lecture will draw out the ‘big’ theological themes that undergird our celebration of the liturgy today.
Peter McGrail is a priest of the Archdiocese of Liverpool and is Professor of Liturgical Theology at Liverpool Hope University, where he is Subject lead for Theology, Philosophy and Religious Studies and Deputy Head of the School of Humanities.
He chairs the Liturgical Formation Sub-Committee of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. Peter's research brings a social-scientific approach to the study of the Catholic community in England - particularly with regard to liturgy and religious education.
He has published widely in his field, and most recently he co-led the production of a Directory for Liturgy and Worship for Catholic schools in England and Wales.
Speaker: Dr Patricia Jones (Durham University)
Gaudium et Spes, approved on the last day of the Second Vatican Council in December 1965, continues to inspire the life of the Church in every context and time. It sets out constructive theological horizons and crucial tools for engaging with the world around us in search of God’s Kingdom.Continually debated since 1965, the text still resonates as we find ourselves always in need of a new discernment of our mission. What is asked of us in a world where ‘joys and hopes’ are taken from so many by violence, injustice, poverty and environmental degradation?
Dr Pat Jones is a research associate in the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University, currently completing a four year project which examines cultural and systemic aspects of the child abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. Previously she completed a doctorate on the relationship between Catholic charities’ identities and practices and Catholic social teaching (CST) and did initial post-doctoral work on how CST could listen to, and learn from, the experience of women affected by prostitution.
Earlier, she began her career as a parish youth worker in this archdiocese, and then worked for ten years in the Pastoral Formation Team, latterly as Director of Adult Christian Education. She then moved to be the first female assistant general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference, and afterwards, deputy director of CAFOD.
She has also worked in senior roles or in consultancy with other faith-based charities including Depaul International. She grew up in Liverpool and now lives in Nottingham.
