The Second Vatican Council on other living faiths

Abstract

This article critically evaluates what Vatican II taught about other living faiths in four documents: the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy ( Sacrosanctum Concilium, 1963), the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church ( Lumen Gentium, 1964), the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions ( Nostra Aetate,1965) and the Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity ( Ad Gentes, 1965). Too often those who consider Vatican II’s attention to other faiths consider only Nostra Aetate. Beyond question, that declaration was central in importance and impact. Nevertheless, the three other documents just mentioned fill out the Council’s integral teaching on the religious ‘others’. The last and longest text from Vatican II, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World ( Gaudium et Spes , 1965), also adds some further, significant considerations. But space precludes examining it in this article.1