AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION : CENTRE D’ÉTUDES VATICAN II

Comité d'organisation de AAR: 2022

Dries Bosschaert, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

dries.bosschaert@kuleuven.be

1/1/2022 - 12/31/2027

Kristin Colberg, College of Saint Benedict, Saint John's University

kcolberg@csbsju.edu

1/1/2018 - 12/31/2023

Membres de Comité d'organisation

Catherine E. Clifford, Saint Paul University

cclifford@ustpaul.ca

1/1/2017 - 12/31/2022

Peter De Mey, University of Leuven

peter.demey@theo.kuleuven.be

1/1/2017 - 12/31/2022

Massimo Faggioli, Villanova University

massimo.faggioli@gmail.com

1/1/2018 - 12/31/2023

Richard Gaillardetz, Boston College

richard@gaillardetz.com

1/1/2017 - 12/31/2022

Mary Kate Holman, Benedictine University

mholman@ben.edu

1/1/2022 - 12/31/2027

Jaisy Joseph, Seattle University

josephjaisy@seattleu.edu

1/1/2022 - 12/31/2027

Ormond Rush, Australian Catholic University

orm.rush@acu.edu.au

1/1/2017 - 12/31/2022

SESSIONS DE CONFÉRENCE ET DOCUMENTS DE CONFÉRENCE PRÉSENTÉS AU CENTRE D’ÉTUDES VATICAN II

“How (Not) to Organize an Ecumenical Council: The Learning Process of Year One” (Chicago, 2012).

Présidé par : Peter De Mey

• Ahern, Kevin. “Ecclesial Renewal from Below: International Catholic Organizations and the Council.”
• Arenas, Sandra. “Fifty Years Forgotten: The Doctrine of Elementa Ecclesiae at the Core of the Conciliar Understanding of Church Membership.”
• Cadeddu, Francesca. “John Courtney Murray and the Shaping of the Religious Freedom Debate.”
• Melloni, Alberto. “Fortune of a Caricature: The ‘Bologna’ School.” 
• Rober, Daniel. “Ressourcement or Aggiornamento, Reform or Rupture? How the Council’s Theological Context Shed Light on Its Interpretation.”

“History, Hermeneutics, and the Legacy of the Second Vatican Council” (Chicago, 2012).

Présidé par : Catherine Clifford et Angela Berlis

• Kaplan, Grant. “Beyond Continuity versus Rupture: Vatican II as a Constitutional Text of Faith.”
• Mazzolini, Sandra. “Which Theology? The Work of the Theological Commission according to the Conciliar Diaries of Congar and de Lubac.”
• Osheim, Amanda. “The Vulnerability of Kenosis: Two Visions of the Church in the (Post)modern World.”
• Zordan, Davide. “Be Kind, Rewind: The Role of Reception in Christoph Theobald’s Reading of the Second Vatican Council.”

Présidé par : Massimo Faggioli

• Denysenko, Nicholas. “Sacrosanctum Concilium and Liturgical Ressourcement in the Orthodox Church.”
• Keigthley, Georgia M. “Sacrosanctum Concilium’s Incarnational Ecclesiology.”
• Osborne, Catherine. “I Fear the Fixed Point of View: Sacrosanctum Concilium and the Flexible Worship Space in the United States.”
• Pierson, Shaw. “Sacrosanctum Concilium’s Call for Liturgical Renewal: New Tensions Raised by the Apostolic Tradition.”
• Tan, Jonathan. “The Impact of Sacrosanctum Concilium on Liturgical Renewal in Asia.”

Présidé par : Bradford E. Hinze

• Doyle, Dennis. “The 1963 Draft of Lumen Gentium in the Light of Semmelroth’s Contributions and Commentaries: What Was There and What Was Still to Come?”
• Gaillardetz, Richard. “Vatican II and the Emergence of a Noncompetitive Theology of the Church.”
• Gruber, Judith. “Re-Reading the Council’s Ecclesiology after the Cultural Turn.”
• Jacobs, Brianne. “That All Might Be Subjects: Hierarchical Authority after Vatican II.”

“Vatican II Studies Unit: “The Church and the Churches: The Legacy of Lumen Gentium” (San Diego, 2014).

Présidé par : Massimo Faggioli

• Butcher, Brian A. “Orientalium Ecclesiarum through the Lens of the Pontificate of Pope (St.) Johan Paul II: Interpretation, Implementation, and Reception.”
• Flanagan, Brian. “Communion: The Central Idea of the Council’s Documents?”
• Mannion, Gerard. “A Circle that still Cannot Be Squared: Lumen Gentium’s Mixed Messages on Magisterium and a Lesson for Pope Francis’s Pontificate.”
• Nutt, Aurica. “The “Body of Christ”: Rise and Fall of an Ecclesiological Concept and Its Context in Lumen Gentium.”
• Senander, Angela. “Faith, Politics, and Episcopal Conferences: Interpreting Lumen Gentium in Light of Gaudium et Spes.”

Réponse : Peter De Mey

“Ecclesiological Investigations Unit and Vatican II Studies Unit: The Ecumenical Impact of Unitatis Redintegratio Fifty Years after Vatican II” (San Diego, 2014).

Présidé par : Peter De Mey

• Chapman, Mark. “An Anglican Perspective on the Future of Unitatis Redintegratio.”
• Clifford, Catherine E. “Ecclesiality Then and Now: The Recognition of Other Christian Communities after Fifty Years.”
• Hietamäki, Minna. “Roman Catholic Influences on the Idea of Ecumenical Recognition.”
• Wooden, Anastacia. “Limits of the Church in Unitatis Redintegratio.”

“Vatican II Studies Unit: Catholicism vis-à-vis Modernity and Beyond: Religious Liberty, Other Faiths and Signs of the Times” (Atlanta, 2015).

• Bosschaert, Dries. “Beyond Meeting the Modern World: The Diffusion of Louvain Christian Anthropology between Malines and Zürich (September 1963 – February 1964).” 
• Cadeddu, Francesca. “Debate on Religious Freedom in the Light of Dignitatis Humanae and Its Reception.”
• Dallavalle, Nancy. “The Risk of Catholicity: Dignitatis Humanae Comes to the Synod of the Family.”
• Schlesinger, Eugene. “Saecula Saeculorum: Church and World in Gaudium et Spes.”
• Sperber, Jutta. “The Debate on Religious Liberty in the Context of Catholic-Muslim Dialogue.”

Réponse : Massimo Faggioli

“Inter-Religious Dialogue in Our Times: The Legacy of Nostra Aetate” (Atlanta, 2015) [Interfaith and Interreligious Studies Unit; Ecclesiological Investigations Unit; Jewish-Christian Dialogue and Sacred Texts Unit (SBL)].

Présidé par : Homayra Ziad

• Gottstein, Thérèse Martine Andrevon. “To What Extent Did the Shoah really Influence the Redaction of Nostra Aetate 4?”
• Gregerman, Adam. “Not All Blessings Are Equal: Post-Nostra Aetate Catholic Interpretations of the Biblical Blessings to the Jews and to the Nations.”
• Kellenbach, Katharina von. “Nostra Aetate’s Urgent Call to Forget the Past.”
• Denny, Christopher. “Religiones Antiquae: Reviving Nostrae Aetate to Expand the Scope of Salvation History.”

Réponse : John T. Pawlikowski

“Vatican II Studies Unit: Church-State Relations, Liturgy, and Moral Theology: Catholicism Redefined Fifty Years after Vatican II” (San Antonio, 2016).

Présidé par: Massimo Faggioli

• Bretzke, James. “Conscience and Magisterium in the Next Half-Century: An Emerging Quaestio Disputata.”
• Joseph, Jaisy. “Catholicity Changed: Orientalism and Uniatism at Vatican II.”
• Klose, Francis. “Rigid Uniformity and Full, Conscious, and Active Participation: The Challenge of Music in the American Roman Catholic Liturgy.”
• Kuivala, Petra. “The Second Vatican Council as a Key to Church-State Dialogue for the Catholic Church in Revolutionary Cuba.”
• Werner, Gunda. “Confessional on Fire-Tourists Extinguish Fire with Holy Water: Reflections on the Relevance and Promise of Forgiveness in the Sacrament after Vatican II.”

Réponse : Catherine E. Clifford

“The Reception of Vatican II by Non-Roman Catholic Denominations” (San Antonio, 2016) [Ecclesiological Investigations Unit].

Présidé par : Brian Flanagan

• Fannin, Coleman. “Becoming Separated Brethren, Practicing Ecumenical Theology: Unitatis Redintegratio and the Future of Baptist Identity.”
• Sours, Stephen. “An Olive Branch to the Methodists: Vatican II as a Cataclyst for Dogmatic Renewal.”
• Wooden, Anastacia. “Roman Catholic Church and Russian Orthodox Church after Vatican II: Political Maneuvering or Mutual Learning?”
• Zitting, Heidi. “The Turning Point of Lutheran Anti-Catholicism: The Reception of the Second Vatican Council in Finland.”

“The Contributions of John W. O’Malley SJ to the Critical Study of Vatican II” (Boston, 2017). 

• Clifford, Catherine, “Style is Substance: John W. O’Malley’s Contribution to the Study and Interpretation of Vatican II.”
• Moore, Brenna. “What happens when we see them through the lens of the Council? John W. O’Malley, parishization, and Vatican II.”
• Rush, Ormond. “Pope Francis as an Interpreter of Vatican II: On Implementing the Council’s Style and Substance.”
• Stosur, David A. “A Tale of Two Translations: Rhetorical Style and the Post-Conciliar English Translations of the Mass.”

Réponse : John O’Malley 

• Luciani, Rafael. “A Structural Option for the Poor: Geopolitics, Social movements and Evangelization.”
• Robinson, Kerry Alys. “The Creative Tension of Mercy and Reform in Francis’ Pontificate.” 

Réponse : Richard R. Gaillardetz

“Vatican II Studies Unit: 1968: Turning Point in the Reception of Vatican II?” (Denver, 2018).

Présidé par : Richard R. Gaillardetz

• Bosschaert, Dries. “Comrades in the Attainment of the Universal Common Good: The Genesis and Reception of Vatican II’s Views on Workers’ Rights in Light of the Events of 1968.”
• Dugan, Katherine. “Catholics in the Long Wake of Humanae Vitae: NFP, Life Issues, and Polarized American Catholicism.”
• Rober, Daniel. “The Communion Schools’ Failure of Nerve and the Legacy of 1968.”

“Latin-American Catholicism in the Wake of the Second Vatican Council” (Denver, 2018).

Présidé par : Peter De Mey

• Arenas, Sandra. “McGrath-Larain’s Conciliar Agenda and the Latin American Ecclesiological Arena since the Fifties.” 
• Caldeira, Rodrigo Coppe. “A Hermeneutics of the Receivers: The Vatican II Reception in Brazilian Theological Journals (1959-1979) and the Formation of Conciliar Cultures.”
• Polanco, Rodrigo. “The Formative Role of Theological Education in the Development of Medellin (1968).”

"Vatican II Studies Unit: Structural Reform for a New Epoch" (Boston, 2020)

Présidé par : Peter De May

• Folan, Peter. "Concerns About 'Sharing the Concerns': A Critical Re-Examanination of the Office of Auxiliary Bishop."
• Brumbaugh, Julia H. "Vatican II, Reform & Continuity of Tradition: As We Have [Not] Always Taught."
• Raby, Elyse. "The Missionary Body of Christ: Merleau-Ponty and Postconciliar Ecclesiology."

"Vatican II Studies Unit: Rereading Vatican II in a World Church" (Boston 2020)

Présidé par : Ormond Rush

• Gruber, Judith. "Worlding the Church. A Postcolonial Commentary on the Project 'International Commentary of the Second Vatican Council'."
• Clifford, Catherine E. "A new Intercontinental Commentary: The Differentiated Receptions of Vatican II."
• Faggioli, Massimo. "Commenting Vatican II in a Largely Post-Institutional Theological and Ecclesial Ecosystem."

Business Meeting: Kristen Colberg, College of Saint Benedict, Saint John's University, Presiding

Vatican II Studies Unit: From Vatican II to Pope Francis: Towards a Dialogical Church" (San Antonio 2021)

Presider: Dries Bosschaert, KU Leuven

Dries.bosschaert@kuleuven.be

The Innovation of the Diocesan Synod by and after the Second Vatican Council

This paper aims to contribute to the theological understanding of synodality through the study of

concrete actions of ecclesial governance through an application of the notion of religious

innovation to present post-conciliar diocesan synods in several phases: proposal, diffusion,

appropriation, adoption. The fourth and final phase of the innovation process encounters several

obstacles, which explains the partial and incomplete reception of the reform of the diocesan

synod. This will open the path to a more theological and prospective reflection, where the

ecclesiological principle of synodality emerges. The challenge, then, is to identify, characterize

and overcome the present limitations, to enable the Catholic Church to move forward with

confidence and fruitfulness on “this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the

third millennium” (Pope Francis, 17th October 2015).

Arnaud Join-Lambert, Louvain-la-Neuve

arnaud.join-lambert@uclouvain.be

Between Local and Global: Fratelli Tutti, Borders, and the Search for Global Dialogue

Fratelli Tutti’s dual emphasis on global and local as complementary poles serves its outreach

to other cultures and draws upon principles perennial to Catholic moral thought. Regarding

other cultures, this global-local polarity bears affinities with the southern African notion

of ubuntu, as well as Bruno Latour’s critique of globalization. With respect to Catholic moral

thought, this polarity extends key themes found in Francis’s texts—especially Laudato

Si’ and Evangelii Gaudium—and speaks to the principle of subsidiarity as developed within the

encyclical tradition. Yet, this paper argues, Fratelli Tutti’s aim of global dialogue would benefit

from attention to the question of borders, an ineluctable political reality that represents

both challenge and opportunity. As challenge, borders intervene in and potentially obstruct

solidaristic dialogue considered horizontally in a way that risks undermining the encyclical's

harmonious ordering of global and local considered vertically. As opportunity, borders

potentially structure pluralistic local contexts in a manner presupposed in Fratelli Tutti's aim to

promote social friendship and justice amidst diversity.

Gary Slater, Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster

garyslater@uni-muenster.de

Respondent: Peter De Mey, KU Leuven

Peter.demey@kuleuven.be

Revised In-Person Sessions (2):

Rediscovering Synodality in a World Church

Presider: Massimo Faggioli, Villanova University

Massimo.faggioli@villanova.edu

Celebrating Synods: The Liturgical Foundation of Synodality

This paper explores the liturgical foundations of synodality as an act of worship-throughdeliberation

distinct from other forms of collective discernment and decision-making. It looks at

the Second Vatican Council’s revitalization of synodality in the life of the Roman Catholic

Church not only through its decrees and the institutions it created or inspired, but also as a

concrete example of the celebration of a synod, understood as an act of prayer. The

paper highlights three aspects of the daily liturgical practice of the Second Vatican Council’s

general congregation, namely, the celebration of the Eucharist, the enthronement of the Book of

Gospels in the midst of the assembly, and the Adsumus prayer invoking the help of the Holy

Spirit. From these three practices, the paper outlines three starting points for a liturgical

ecclesiology of synodality: the baptismal and eucharistic foundations for synodality in the life of

the church; the centrality of listening to the Word of God, found in the Scriptures and in the

voices of the assembly; and the pneumatological reality of synods as acts of faith in the Holy

Spirit’s guidance of the Church.

Brian Flanagan, Marymount University

brianflanagan1@gmail.com

The National Encuentros for Hispanic Ministry as Processes of Synodality

The first three National Hispanic Pastoral Encuentros are examples of processes of synodality in

the Church in the United States carried out by Hispanics in the 1970s and 80s. While debates

raged on between two camps, which in 1968 theologian Bernard Lonergan referred to as

“classist” and “historicist,” (Massa 2010) Hispanics gathered to consider the path forward given

the signs of the times, especially the Chicano Movement. With each one, in 1972, 1977, and

1985, the process of consultation of thousands of people became more efficient and a wider array

of voices was considered for the final documents. Recovering the first three Encuentros as

synodal processes helps us build out the picture of the reception of Vatican II in the United

States. In this way, is more than simply a game of memory recollection, but is instead laying the

foundation to better serve Hispanic Catholics. (Paredes 2014) In a country where Hispanics make

up, by most estimates, about 40% of the Church, this is of vital importance. (Ospino 2014) On a

global level, picking out historical examples of synodality will help us illuminate what specific

actions Francis is calling us to take.

Amirah Orozco, Boston College

amirahorozco@bc.edu

Respondent: Kristin Colberg, St John’s University, Collegeville

kcolberg@csbsju.edu

One Human Family

Presider: Richard R. Gaillardetz, Boston College

Richard.gaillardetz@bc.edu

Fratelli tutti and the Autonomy of Political Life

Pope Francis’s encyclical Fratelli tutti (4 October 2020) builds a theocentric vision that allows

him to speculate about the common ground between interreligious allies. This approach can be

compared to Gaudium et Spes (7 December 1965), which was criticized for the ambiguity of the

passage: “the autonomy of earthly affairs” (#36). Joseph Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II

voiced concerns with its theo-centrism and how some theologians interpreted “the autonomy of

earthly affairs" as an optimistic view of secular modernity. This paper asks whether or

not Fratelli tutti is susceptible to the critiques of Gaudium et Spes. Francis writes that, because

religion can open new horizons, “the Church, while respecting the autonomy of political life,

does not restrict her mission to the private sphere” (#276). Here, Francis interprets

#36 from Gaudium et Spes in one of the few ecclesiological passages in Fratelli tutti. He

maintains a clear theocentric approach, but he also does not believe that “autonomy” can be

interpreted to mean the absence of religion. His view thus avoids being fully identifiable with

either the Ratzingerian line of interpretation or the Schillebeeckxian one.

Trevor Williams. Villanova University

twilli46@villanova.edu

Otra evangelización posible: Toward a Decolonial Theology of Mission

The colonial biases in the conciliar theology of mission and its curial reception keep the

missionary nature of the church in tension with Pope Francis’s vision of the human family. To,

first, uncover these biases, this paper will examine the theologies of dialogue and mission put

forward in Ad Gentes and Nostra Aetate through a decolonial lens, identifying how the

endurance of a territorial notion of mission and an incomplete characterization of indigenous and

ancestral religious traditions continues to prevent the Catholic articulation of a coherent theology

of mission today. Given these biases, the paper will then move to connect overcoming colonial

bias with Francis’s reflection on the Good Samaritan in Fratelli Tutti. Finally, the tools of

Christian comparative theology, namely epistemic humility, different kinds of learning goals,

and honesty about the limits of dialogue will be suggested as helpful for articulating the

circumscribed legitimacy of Christian evangelization among the human family.

Laurel Potter, Boston College

Laurel.marshall@bc.edu

Respondent: Massimo Faggioli, Villanova University

Massimo.faggioli@villanova.edu

PUBLICATIONS ISSUES DU CENTRE D’ÉTUDES VATICAN II

Arenas, Sandra. “Consensus Ecclesiarum Viewed in the Light of Vatican II’s Doctrines of Elementa Ecclesiae & Sensus Fidelium.” In Visions of Hope: Emerging Theologians and the Future of the Church, ed. Kevin Ahern, 109-122. New York: Orbis, 2013.

Bosschaert, Dries. “Understanding the Shift in Gaudium et Spes: From Theology of History to Christian Anthropology.” Theological Studies 78 (2017): 634-658. 

Butcher, Brian A. “‘Opening their Treasure Chests, They Offered Him Gifts’: The Liturgical Legacy of John Paul II to the Eastern Churches.” Asian Horizons: Dharmaram Journal of Theology 8 (2014): 48-62.

Cadeddu, Francesa. “A Call to Action: John Courtney Murray, S.J., and the Renewal of American Democracy.” Catholic Historical Review 101 (2015): 530-553.

Clifford, Catherine E. “Style is Substance: The Origin of John W’ O’Malley’s Contribution to the Interpretation of Vatican II.” Theological Studies 79 no. 4 (2018): 745-760.

Doyle, Dennis M. “Otto Semmelroth and the Advance of the Church as Sacrament at Vatican II.” Theological Studies 76 no. 1 (2015): 65-86.

Gaillardetz, Richard. “Vatican II’s Non-competitive Theology of the Church.” Louvain Studies 37 (2013): 3-27. 

Gruber, Judith. Theologie nach dem Cultural Turn. Interkulturalität als theologische Ressource.ReligionsKulturen 13. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2013.

Kaplan, Grant “Beyond Reform: Vatican II as a Constitutional Text of Faith.” Horizons 41 no. 1 (2014): 1-21.

Kellenbach, Katharina von. “In Our Time: Civil Rights, Women’s Liberation, and Jewish-Christian Dialogue Fifty Years after Nostra Aetate.” Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations 10 no. 2 (2015): 1-22.

Mannion, Gerard. The Art of Magisterium: A Teaching Church that Learns. Collegeville, MI: Liturgical Press, 2016.

Mazzolini, Sandra. Vaticano II in rete, Vol. 4: Una lunga preparazione andate in fumo? Bologna: Il Mulino, 2012.

Rober, Daniel. Recognizing the Gift: Toward a Renewed Theology of Nature and Grace. Fortress Press, 2016.

Schlesinger, Eugene. “Saecula Saeculorum: Missionary Ecclesiology and the Church-World Relationship.” Open Theology 2 (2016): 539-552.

Stosur, David. “A Tale of Two Translations: Rhetorical Style and the Post-Conciliar English Translation of the Mass.” Theological Studies 79.4 (2018): 761-781. 

Tan, Jonathan. “Beyond Sacrosanctum Concilium: The Future of Liturgical Renewal in the Asian Catholic Church.” Studia Liturgica 44 (2014): 277-312.