The Second Vatican Council After Fifty Years: Souls Strengthened in the Well-spring of Divine Revelation in Dei Verbum

To mark the beginning of the "Year of Faith" as well as the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council this month, the editors of Ibo are launching a series of posts that return to the key documents that were the council's fruit, a "ressourcement of the council of ressourcement" if you will. Santiago Rodriguez, S.J., opens this series with his commentary on Dei Verbum, one of the four constitutions promulgated by the council. The four constitutions were the weightiest of the sixteen conciliar documents issued over the course of the council (1962-65). This week, other Jesuit writers will contribute their commentaries as well. 

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

Credit: http://www.library.yale.edu

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1: 1-5)

This October, we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. This Council was called by Pope John XXIII who stated that the main reason for it was the need for aggiornamento, a word which is usually translated as an updating. The documents of this Council reviewed, revitalized and re-presented the Church's teaching in order to strengthen the Church's mission in the world today. The Church's teaching was also expanded upon and developed in significant ways, such as in relation to ecumenism and religious freedom, as well as in many other aspects of the Church's liturgy and life.

The dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, Dei Verbum – meaning “Word of God” in Latin – is one of the four foundational documents of the Second Vatican Council. Dei Verbum intends to set forth the true doctrine on divine revelation and its transmission. The purpose is for “...the whole world to hear the summons to salvation, so that through hearing, it may believe, through belief, it may hope, through hope, it may come to love” (DV§1).