What significant events happened at the Second Vatican Council?

Answer 1

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Catholic AnswerBlessed Pope John XXIII, of happy memory, called the Second Vatican Council to "update" the Church: NOT to change anything, such as dogma or doctrines, but to find new and more contemporary ways of presenting Our Blessed Lord's message of salvation to modern man. The Council, in its sixteen documents (see below) attempted to update the language and presentation of the faith in numerous areas. It called for greater participation of the laity in the life of the Church pointing out that every single baptized member of the Church is called to holiness, not just an elite group of clergy, nuns, sisters, and brothers. As such, the Council called for holiness of all its members. The most regrettable failure of the Council (so far) has been that its message was hijacked by those who were preaching the "Spirit of Vatican II" (as opposed to the letter). Their agenda has been shown to be an abysmal failure as witnessed by the wholesale departure of priests, brothers, nuns, and sisters from the religious life, the wholesale departure of the faithful from the Church, and the nearly complete neglect of the sacraments and ridicule of Church doctrines by those who claim to be "Catholic".

Answer 2

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An important outcome of the Second Vatican Council was to make the Mass more relevant to worshippers. For example, the mass could in future be said in the vernacular language rather than in Latin. According to Perez Zagorin (How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West) the Council was even more important for passing the Declaration on Religious Freedom in December 1965, something he considers to be an accomplishment of world importance.

The Declaration signified a complete reversal of the Catholic Church's former inimical attitude to toleration and announced its adherence to religious freedom as a universal principle and contemporary obligation and necessity. Fiercely debated and meeting with considerable resistance from some Vatican officials and a number of bishops, it states, "the human person has a right to religious freedom." It asserts that all men are to be immune from coercion by individuals, social groups, or any human power, so that "In matters religious no one is forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs. Nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits." Furthermore, "the right of parents are violated, if their children are forced to attend lessons or instructions which are not in agreement with their religious beliefs."

The Declaration also acknowledged that the Church had acted at times in ways "which were less in accord with the gospel and even opposed to it."

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AnswerThe Second Vatican Council asked if the readings, and perhaps some of the chants be put in the vernacular, the Council nowhere asked for the Mass to be put into the vernacular. The Dignitatis Humanae, (Declaration on Religious Liberty) a very minor document issued near the end of the Second Vatican Council did not call for any change in the Church whatsoever. That document was aimed at establishing the rights of the Church as opposed to the numerous governments throughout the twentieth century that had tried in various ways to suppress it, notably Nazi Germany and Communist Russia and China. You may read it at the link below.

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The Second Vatican Council was notable for many things, and it did ask that the Catholic laity get more involved in their faith. The first document that they put out was on the Sacred Liturgy and they asked that some of the various additions to the Mass that had been added in the last several centuries be simplified. They asked that the Liturgy be made truly noble, and return as much as possible to the essentials.

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The Second Vatican Council also asked for everyone, clergy, religious, and laity to concentrate on what Our Blessed Lord asked them to do, to take up their cross daily and follow Him. They revised the lectionary, and recommended meditative reading of the Sacred Scriptures to everyone. The Council asked for a genuine effort to reunite Christendom by extending our hand to the various Orthodox Churches and end the scandalous thousand year split. It also recognizes the dignity of all the baptized who had been born in the ecclesial communities which were a result of the unfortunate protestant revolt and promoted ecumenism to them as well. I am attaching a link to all the Council documents below, as they are well worth reading.

Answer 3

A:Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council, but he died before it ended, and it was left to his successor Pope Paul VI to reconvene the council and see it concluded. The brief for the Council was to update the Catholic Church for the modern era. It introduced liturgical changes to the mass, defined the roles of the bishops and, most importantly of all, changed the Catholic Church's teaching on the dignity of man and the absolute right of all to religious freedom, unhindered by state or Church. The Council's most important outcome, the Declaration on Religious Freedompassed by the Council in December 1965 was an accomplishment of world importance.

The previous declarations on these issues were contained in the Syllabus of Errors, issued by Pius IX in 1864. It condemned as false statements requiring separation of Church and state, as well as all statements in support of religious freedom. In states where Catholics are in the minority, they have the right to public worship. In states where others faiths are in the minority, they have no right to public worship because only the true faith has the right to public worship. The Syllabus was considered by Catholic theologians as having binding force, although opinion was divided as to whether each and every statement defined in it as false was infallibly false.

The Declaration on Religious Freedom signified a complete reversal of the Catholic Church's former attitude to toleration and announced its adherence to religious freedom as a universal principle, contemporary obligation and necessity. Fiercely debated and meeting with considerable resistance from some Vatican officials and a number of bishops, it states, "the human person has a right to religious freedom." It asserts that all men are to be immune from coercion by individuals, social groups, or any human power, so that "In matters religious no one is forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs. Nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits." Furthermore, "the right of parents are violated, if their children are forced to attend lessons or instructions which are not in agreement with their religious beliefs."

The Declaration also acknowledged that the Church had acted at times in ways "which were less in accord with the gospel and even opposed to it," but does not express any contrition or apology for the Church's record of religious persecution. In practice, the Church had already undergone change and was no longer the bitterly intolerant organisation that existed before the Enlightenment and even at the time of Pius IX, but the Second Vatican Council gave it a sense of humanity and formalised changes that had already been forced upon it.

Catholic AnswerWith all due respect to my esteemed colleague, I would have to say that the Dignitatis Humanae, Declaration on Religious Liberty,) a very minor document issued near the end of the Second Vatican Council, had almost no discernable impact whatsoever. That document was aimed at establishing the rights of the Church as opposed to the numerous governments throughout the twentieth century that had tried in various ways to suppress it, notably Nazi Germany and Communist Russia and China. You may read it at the link below.

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Probably most noticeable to many Catholics in the first forty years following the Second Vatican Council were things like the Sacred Eucharist and various sacraments being celebrated in the vernacular, the priest facing the people, and a HUGE drop in the participation in the sacrament of Confession, while, at the same time, a HUGE increase in people going to Holy Communion every Sunday. None of these things were a result of the Council at all. As far as vernacular is concerned the Council asked for a very restricted use of the vernacular in the Mass (The use of the Latin language, with due respect to particular law {the Eastern Rites}, is to be preserved in the Latin rites. . . . however . . . a wider use may be made of it, especially in readings, directives and in some prayers and chants." The Council NEVER called for the priest to face the people, and the Council certainly never recommended that people receive Holy Communion while not in a state of grace, while neglecting the Sacrament of Confession.

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The Council did call for an increase in ecumenism, particularly with regard to our separated brethren in the East who still maintain the priesthood and the sacraments.