Abstract
The Second Vatican Council was an event of conversion for the participating bishops, and the council's documents propose a vision for the conversion of the Catholic ecclesial imagination. The author argues that this ecclesial conversion entails a refashioning of the Catholic Church's understanding of the divine-human relationship in history. This relationship includes the divine-ecclesial relationship and, consequently, relationships within the Church. The article concludes by examining two particular dimensions of the council's call for ongoing ecclesial conversion that remain unfulfilled.
Highlights
Conversion for the individual Christian is a constant calling, embedded in the tug of faith itself
As Pope John Paul II later saw it, in Ut Unum Sint: “In the teaching of the Second Vatican Council there is a clear connection between renewal, conversion and reform.” 1 he says: “The council calls for personal conversion as well as for communal conversion.”[2]. According to Ladislas Örsy, the council meeting was “an event of conversion.”[3]. Joseph Ratzinger called it a “spiritual awakening” for the church
4 This conversion event and the call to ecclesial conversion, which its documents encapsulate, continue to challenge us. In my paper this morning, I propose that Vatican II, in turning anew to God, marks a conversion of the Catholic ecclesial imagination
Summary
Conversion for the individual Christian is a constant calling, embedded in the tug of faith itself. Like other councils before it, the Second Vatican Council set out to reform the Catholic Church. 4 This conversion event and the call to ecclesial conversion, which its documents encapsulate, continue to challenge us. In my paper this morning, I propose that Vatican II, in turning anew to God, marks a conversion of the Catholic ecclesial imagination. I argue this entails a refashioning of the church’s understanding of the divine-human relationship in history. This includes the divine-ecclesial relationship and, relationships within the church. I will select just two particular dimensions of the council’s call for ongoing ecclesial conversion that remain unfulfilled
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