A Holy Year with Vatican II
Often more than a few steps ahead of us, Pope Francis has surprised us again. Still in the thick of the Synod on Synodality, which will conclude in 2023, in February he announced a Holy Year for 2025. Themed “Pilgrims of Hope,” it calls Catholics to prayer and penance, pilgrimages and works of mercy. One of the year’s special features will be an emphasis on the study of four documents of the Second Vatican Council: the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium, the first Vatican II document, promulgated in 1963); the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium, 1964); the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum, 1965); and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes, 1965, among the last of the council texts). Coinciding with the culmination of the Synod on Synodality in 2023, all Catholics are asked to begin careful study of the constitutions in the run-up to 2025.
Why a Holy Year?
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