Pope Pius XII’s successor, John XXIII (1958-63) announced that he would call a council. He called on non-Roman Catholics to seek "that unity for which Jesus Christ prayed". His council was to bring up to date (aggiornamento) the Roman Catholic Church itself. The council, Vatican II (1962-65) fully achieved his purpose. There were no infallible pronouncements. Instead the council worked out a whole series of advisory, pastoral, disciplinary and exemplary documents. A new climate of relationships arose, shared worship has followed, and genuine ecumenical dialogue has been joined. Intercommunion is just beginning, along with shared ministerial training, a "Common Bible", and doctrinal agreements with other denominations reached by joint commissions. It is impossible to predict where it will lead.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Jesus, John-XXIII, Pope-Pius-XII, Vatican-Council-II[/tags]