Valuing Vatican II
The renowned Vatican historian John O’Malley SJ addressed a large audience in Belvedere College, on Friday 9 Sept. In his lecture, ‘Interpreting Vatican II: The Controversy and Its Solution’, he said that if we are to truly understand what happened at that Council then we must examine carefully three documents: the Constitution on the Church, the Declaration On Religious Liberty and the Declaration on Non-Christian Religions. “These were topics that were hotly contested,” said O’Malley, “and that was because there were deep values at stake, like collegiality and papal primacy.” He contends that those documents can tell us much about what Vatican II really meant. You can get a CD of his talk from the Jesuit Communication Centre (€5). Also available, signed hardback copies of his book What Happened at Vatican II, special price €15 + p&p. Phone: 01 4987370. Photos of lecture here.