The Letter and the Spirit

At the time the expectations related to the Council were rather high. At
its convocation Pope John XXIII expressed clearly that he expected
nothing less than a new Pentecost from it. In the very last speech of
the first session of the Council, Christopher Butler OSB stated: ‘the
theology of the Church is in some way being reborn’ and he reminded the
council fathers to see: ‘we have the opportunity to show to the eyes of
the whole world that are turned upon us a new vision of the unchanging
Christ’.



What has become of this vision, what has become of the spirit and the
letter of the Council more than fifty years after its closure? In this
volume we have identified several areas where the question of the
interpretation of the Council seems by no means settled. They regard
divine revelation and human freedom, mission and dialogue, education and
vocation, lay and ordained ministry in the Church. In light of the
developments since the Council which rise new questions, the
interpretation of both, the forgotten and unforgotten documents of
Vatican II continues in critical reflection and fruitful discussion of
still unresolved but all the more pressing issues.