After almost 100 years had passed since the First Vatican Council challenges to the catholic faith began to appear once more. Amidst this challenges were the need for spiritual renewal and questions about what position did the church play in the modern world. Pope John XXIII inspired by the holy spirit, decided to take action against this challenges and called the bishops of the world to come together for the Second Vatican Council on October 1962. Unlike most of the previous Ecumenical Councils, the goal during the second Vatican council was not to respond to people who were teaching heresy. Rather, the goal during the council was for Church leaders to explore how Church teaching could be made clearer for all Catholics.
One of the most spectacular …show more content…
There was also considerable emphasis on the pastoral duties of the bishop, as distinguished from administrative duties. During the conference there was a lively debate between the people who wanted and encouraged change or the “progressive” group and the people who were against change and preferred things as they were or the “conservative” group. By the time the council had ended many different decrees, declarations, and constitutions had been issued. All of this statements were conciliatory in nature, and avoided rigid definitions and condemning …show more content…
Sadly, Pope John XXIII died in the summer of 1963 and was only able to attend the first of the Four sessions, of course, this did not stop the council from meeting under the newly elected Pope Paul VI. Session II happened on September and lasted until December 1963. During this session came the decree on the media of social communication and the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy which permitted the liturgy to be read in the vernacular language in order to bring greater participation on the ritual. Following it on September to December of 1964 started the Session III of the Second Vatican Council the Dogmatic Constitution came to be on the Church, there also came the decrees on ecumenism and on the Eastern Catholic churches, and ultimately the proclamation if the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “Mother of the Church.” Following Session III came the final session. Session IV on September to December 1965, and with it the announcement that Pope Paul VI was going to establish an episcopal synod which would assist the pope in governing the church. During this session the Dogmatic Constitution on Pastoral Constitution and Divine Revelation on the modern world came into the church; The bishop’s pastoral office decrees on the appropriate renewal of the religious life, on the church’s missionary activity, on the apostolate of the laity, declarations on Christian education, on