Welcome to The Canadian Forum on Theology and Education 2012

Vatican II: 50 years on: The New Evangelization

The Church is the “people of God” and most of God’s people are laity. Our parishes, our schools of mostly lay communities.
In coming to discern its role in the world, the Church has learned the importance of critical dialogue with modernity. The Second Vatican Council urged the Church to recognize itself in the achievements of society, such as human rights, democracy and religious pluralism. At the same time the Council urges us to resist the dark side of progress: individualism, instrumental thinking, the unregulated market system, and the neo-colonial exploitation of the Third World. Social solidarity is in decline, while indifference to the common good grows.

We are in dialogue with modernity, but in critical fashion, learning from certain aspects, and rejecting others. In the words of John Paul II: In the Council we find a sure compass by which to take our bearings in the century now beginning

Vatican Council II was a new way of thinking and a new way of being for the Church. It showed that the Church can and must be part of the world for which Jesus died and to do this is must embrace what John XXIII called aggiornamento (or catching up with today).

Vatican II, fifty years on, is more relevant today than ever. Its meaning is urgent and essential. It summons us to reflect on its message and help Tomorrow’s Catholics answer the question, “How do I live the Jesus life in the 21st century?”