Vatican II - The Council That Changed The Church
Episode 4 - The Unexpected Pope & the Call of an Unexpected Council
Throughout the history of the Catholic Church, every one of the twenty Ecumenical Councils held before Vatican II, was convened either to confront a major crisis of faith or to solemnly define a doctrine of the Church. Strangely, Vatican II was different. It was called in the absence of either of these two circumstances. Instead, it was Pope John XXIII’s intense desire of aggiornamento—an Italian expression commonly translated as “bringing the Church up to date”—that became the principal reason for convening the Council – a Council that will ultimately go head to head; in rebellion against the teachings of Christ as we shall soon see in subsequent episodes.
REFERENCES
Sacred Scripture
- The Holy Bible (Douay–Rheims Version)
Sacred Tradition       Â
- The writings of the Apostolic Fathers
- The Fathers of the Church
- The Doctors of the Church
- The decrees and canons of the Ecumenical Councils
The Roman Magisterium
- Papal Bulls
- Apostolic Constitutions
- Encyclicals
- Apostolic Exhortations
- Official Vatican publications
The official texts of the Second Vatican Council have been consulted through the Vatican’s published editions and official archives.
- Sacrosanctum Concilium
- Lumen Gentium
- Dei Verbum
- Gaudium et Spes
- Dignitatis Humanae
- Unitatis Redintegratio
- Nostra Aetate
- Christus Dominus
- Optatam Totius
- Apostolicam Actuositatem
- Ad Gentes