VATICAN CITY, OCT 30, 2005 (VIS) - Prior to praying the Angelus at midday today, Benedict XVI dedicated some remarks to the anniversary of Vatican Council II, the seventh session of which was celebrated on October 28, 1965. That session was followed by another three, before the council finally closed on December 8, 1965.
Speaking from his study window to thousands of faithful filling St. Peter's Square below, the Pope recalled how "most of the conciliar documents were approved during the final phase of that historic ecclesial event, which had begun three years earlier." He remarked how all the texts "maintain their value and their contemporary significance which, in some ways, has even increased," and specifically mentioned the "Decrees 'Christus Dominus' on the pastoral office of bishops in the Church, 'Perfectae caritatis' on the renewal of religious life, and 'Optatam totius' on priestly training; and the Declarations 'Gravissimum educationis' on Christian education, and 'Nostra aetate' on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions."
He went on: "The themes of priestly formation, consecrated life and episcopal ministry have been the subject of three Ordinary Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops, held respectively in 1990, 1995 and 2001. ... The document on education is less well-known. The Church has always been committed to the education of young people." Even today, "in the age of global communications, the ecclesial community is aware of the importance of an educational system that recognizes the primacy of men and women as persons. ... The first and most important educators are parents, helped, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, by civil society. A special educational responsibility is felt by the Church, to which Christ entrusted the task of announcing 'the way of salvation'."
Benedict XVI then went on to speak of 'Nostra aetate,' highlighting its "great contemporary significance" because it concerns the attitude of the ecclesial community towards non-Christian religions. On the basis of the principle that "one is the community of all peoples," and that the Church's mission is "promoting unity and love among men," Vatican Council II "rejects 'nothing that is true and holy' in other religions and to everyone announces Christ, 'way truth and life,' in Whom all human beings 'find the fullness of religious life'."
"With the Declaration 'Nostra aetate,' the Council Fathers proposed certain fundamental truths: ... the special link binding Christians and Jews, ... esteem for Muslims and followers of other religions, ... and the spirit of universal brotherhood that prohibits any kind of discrimination or religious persecution."
ANG/VATICAN COUNCIL II/... VIS 20051031 (430)
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