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Mary Linden Sepulveda
Mary Sepulveda
Contact:
206.296.6209
Coordinator of Collection Development, Special Collections & Archives
Coordinator of Collection Development, Special Collections & Archives
Pope John XIII
Pope John XXIII was elected on the 28th of October 1958. He called the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) but did not live to see it to completion. He died in 1963 only four-and-a-half years after his election.
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI decided to continue Vatican II (canon law dictates that a council is suspended at the death of a pope), and brought it to completion in 1965. Faced with conflicting interpretations and controversies, he directed the implementation of its reform goals, which included the largest revision to the Church's Liturgy ever—and the first major revision since the Council of Trent held 400 years prior to Vatican II. Pope Paul VI died in 1978.
Papal Infallability
Lumen Gentium
The Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, which was also a document on the Church itself, explicitly reaffirmed the definition of papal infallibility, so as to avoid any doubts, expressing this in the following words:
| "This Sacred Council, following closely in the footsteps of the First Vatican Council, with that Council teaches and declares that Jesus Christ, the eternal Shepherd, established His holy Church, having sent forth the apostles as He Himself had been sent by the Father;(136) and He willed that their successors, namely the bishops, should be shepherds in His Church even to the consummation of the world. And in order that the episcopate itself might be one and undivided, He placed Blessed Peter over the other apostles, and instituted in him a permanent and visible source and foundation of unity of faith and communion. And all this teaching about the institution, the perpetuity, the meaning and reason for the sacred primacy of the Roman Pontiff and of his infallible magisterium, this Sacred Council again proposes to be firmly believed by all the faithful." |
The Cathechism of the Catholic Church
The Catechism of the Catholic Church spells out the infallibility of an ecumenical council:
"The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of the faithful - who confirms his brethren in the Faith - he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to Faith or morals.... The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium," above all in an ecumenical council. (Item 891)
Consequently, the teachings of the Second Vatican Council are the official teachings of the Church.
Biographies
- Looks for names likeHans Küng, Karl Rahner, Leo-Joseph Suenens, Christopher Butler, Henri De Lubac, Marie-Dominique Chenu, Yves Congar, Edward Schillebeeckx, Denis E Hurley, Augustin Bea, Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Remi J De Roo, Joseph Ratzinger and John Paul II.
John XXIII : pope of the century / Peter Hebblethwaite.ISBN: 0826449956
Paul VI : the first modern Pope / Peter Hebblethwaite.ISBN: 080910461X
Pope John XXIII / Thomas Cahill.ISBN: 0670030570
My struggle for freedom : memoirs / Hans KüngISBN: 0802826598
History of the Council
The Second Vatican Council: "The beginning of a beginning...." Karl Rahner
Theological highlights of Vatican II / Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI ; with an introduction by Thomas P. Rausch.ISBN: 080914610XJoseph Ratzinger's report on the debates and struggles that made up each of the four sessions of Vatican II (1962-65), along with theological commentary. At the council Ratzinger worked on the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei verbum), the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen gentium), and the Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church (Ad gentes). Here he gives special attention to the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church and to the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.The theology of Vatican II / Christopher Butler.
ISBN: 0870610627
What happened at Vatican II / John W. O'Malley.ISBN: 0674031695Fr. O'Malley provides a masterful account of the events from the 19th century which led to the call for the Council and a detailed analysis of each of the 4 sessions with a focus on the personalities, debates and issues, and how the events of Vatican II are shaping the future of the Church. Two appendices provide a Chronology of the Council and brief biographical information on over 60 participants mentioned in the text.
Vatican II : assessment and perspectives : twenty-five years after (1962-1987) / edited by Rene Latourelle.ISBN: 0809104121This 3 volume work was produced by an international team of 66 scholars, mainly Jesuits, teaching in Rome. It is divided into 10 parts with volume 1 focusing on the historical context surrounding the Council, biblical studies and ecclesiology; volume 2 focused on liturgy and sacraments, and volume 3 focused on religious life, Christian education, priestly formation, and evangelization and mission.
True and false reform in the church / Yves CongarISBN: 0814656935
Vatican Council II / Xavier Rynne.ISBN: 1570752931A revised version of the author's earlier books covering the 4 sessions of Vatican Council II.
Guests in their own house : the women of Vatican II / Carmel Elizabeth McEnroyISBN: 0824515471McEnroy provides a fascinating account of the 23 women who officially observed Vatican II.
History of Vatican II / edited by Giuseppe AlberigoISBN: 1570750491The standard history of the Council produced by an international team of scholars. Volume 1 covers the announcement of the Council and the preparatory period. Volume 2 covers each session of the Council.
Doing theology / Jared Wicks.ISBN: 0809145642In this very readable work on the "how" of theology, Fr. Wicks includes examples from the Second Vatican Council to illustrate the method of theology and the role of the theologian in the Church. In particular see Appendix 5: Theologians at Vatican Council II (pp. 187-225); Appendix 1: Opening Address of the Second Vatican Council [by] Pope John XXIII, October 11, 1962; Appendix 2: Opening of the Second Period of Vatican Council II [by] Pope Paul VI, September 29, 1963; Appendix 3: Address of the Last meeting of Vatican Council II [by] Pope Paul VI, December 7, 1965; Appendix 6: Interpreting Vatican Council II [by] Pope Benedict XVI, December 22, 2005.
Letters from Vatican City / Xavier RynneXavier Rynne was the pseudonym of Fr. Francis X. Murphy, a Redemptorist priest who covered the Council as a journalist. His highly readable insider reports were first published in 13 installments in The New Yorker magazine. He created a media frenzy as readers attempted to identify the true author of "Letters from Vatican City."
Romano Guardini: A Precursor to Vatican II / Robert A. Krieg.ISBN: 0268016615Author Robert Krieg tells the story of one of the most creative theologians of the twentieth century, Romano Guardini, who anticipated Vatican II's commitment to read "the signs of the times."
The battle for the American church revisited / George A. Kelly.ISBN: 0898705320
Rediscovering Vatican II - Book SeriesISBN: 0809142767Multiple volumes in this series are available in the Lemieux Library. Search the series in the library catalog for individual titles.
A brief history of Vatican II / Giuseppe Alberigo ; translated by Matthew Sherry.ISBN: 1570756384A concise, very readable account of the Council by the director of the Institute for the Study of Religion in Bologna, Italy.
Good Websites
- Vatican II: Voice of the ChurchThe purpose of this website is to explain and promote the teachings of the Second Vatican Council during which The Church examined itself, took note of, and opened itself to a world changing at an unprecedented rate. The principal method of the website is to record the teachings and changes of Vatican II in the writings of those who were there.
- The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council Dedicated to "The Immaculate".These notes are intended as an AID to study by Catholic Students of the Second Vatican Council. (Website).
Sessions reported by Francis X. Murphy / aka Xavier Rynne (pseud.)
Letters from Vatican City by Xavier Rynne (pseud.)Under the pseudonym, Xavier Rynne, Redemptorist priest Xavier Murphy covered the Council as a journalist. His highly readable insider reports were first published in 13 installments in The New Yorker and created a sensation as people attempted to identify the true author of these letters.
Father Francis X. Murphy (1915–2002) was a Redoemptorist chaplain and theology professor. He is most known for his articles about the Second Vatican Council published under the pseudonym Xavier Rynne
- Vatican Council II / Xavier Rynne.ISBN: 1570752931A revised version of the author's earlier books covering the 4 sessions of Vatican Council II.
Sessions
Council daybook, Vatican II, session 1-4. Edited by Floyd Anderson, director.A record of what was released to the press and communicated to the public at the time that the Council was in session, including texts of speeches and all documents promulgated. Based on the press releases of the predecessor body to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Includes English translations of some speeches.