Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) — Index of the Sixteen Documents
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) issued 16 documents: 4 constitutions, 9 decrees, 3 declarations. This volume is an index only: each document is dated, summarized in the site's own words, and linked to the official English text on vatican.va. The official English translations are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Works in this volume — 17
- Second Vatican Council (1962–1965): Index of the Sixteen Documents
- Sacrosanctum Concilium — Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
- Lumen Gentium — Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
- Inter Mirifica — Decree on the Media of Social Communication
- Orientalium Ecclesiarum — Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches
- Unitatis Redintegratio — Decree on Ecumenism
- Christus Dominus — Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops
- Perfectae Caritatis — Decree on the Renewal of Religious Life
- Optatam Totius — Decree on Priestly Formation
- Gravissimum Educationis — Declaration on Christian Education
- Nostra Aetate — Declaration on the Church's Relations with Non-Christian Religions
- Apostolicam Actuositatem — Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity
- Dei Verbum — Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation
- Ad Gentes — Decree on Missionary Activity
- Presbyterorum Ordinis — Decree on the Life and Ministry of Priests
- Dignitatis Humanae — Declaration on Religious Freedom
- Gaudium et Spes — Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Second Vatican Council (1962–1965): Index of the Sixteen Documents
Second Vatican Council (1962–1965): Index of the Sixteen Documents
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), convoked by Pope John XXIII and concluded under Pope Paul VI, issued sixteen documents. The four constitutions are Sacrosanctum Concilium on the liturgy (1963), Lumen Gentium on the Church (1964), Dei Verbum on divine revelation (1965), and Gaudium et Spes on the Church in the modern world (1965). The nine decrees are Inter Mirifica on social communication (1963), Orientalium Ecclesiarum on the Eastern Catholic Churches (1964), Unitatis Redintegratio on ecumenism (1964), Christus Dominus on bishops, Perfectae Caritatis on religious life, and Optatam Totius on priestly formation (all 1965), Apostolicam Actuositatem on the laity (1965), Ad Gentes on missionary activity (1965), and Presbyterorum Ordinis on priests (1965). The three declarations are Gravissimum Educationis on Christian education (1965), Nostra Aetate on relations with non-Christian religions (1965), and Dignitatis Humanae on religious freedom (1965). Each document below is indexed with its own entry linking to the official text.
The full official English texts of the council's documents are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are NOT reproduced in this library; they await permission. Use the source links to read the official texts on vatican.va, beginning with the Vatican's own index of the council's documents.
Sacrosanctum Concilium — Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
Sacrosanctum Concilium, 4 December 1963
The constitution on the sacred liturgy, and the first document the council promulgated. It teaches that the liturgy, above all the Eucharist, is the summit and the source of the Church's whole life, and calls for the full, conscious, and active participation of all the faithful in it. The constitution permits a measured use of the vernacular languages alongside Latin, orders the revision of the rites of Mass, the sacraments, the Divine Office, and the liturgical year for greater clarity and simplicity, and gives directives on sacred music, art, and church architecture as servants of worship.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Lumen Gentium — Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
Lumen Gentium, 21 November 1964
The dogmatic constitution on the Church. It presents the Church as a mystery — the People of God, the Body of Christ, and a sacrament of the union of humanity with God — rather than as a merely juridical institution. It teaches the universal call to holiness, binding on every Christian; restates the office of pope and bishops acting in collegial communion; and treats in turn the laity, religious life, the eschatological character of the pilgrim Church, and the Blessed Virgin Mary as Mother of God and figure of the Church.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Inter Mirifica — Decree on the Media of Social Communication
Inter Mirifica, 4 December 1963
The decree on the media of social communication — the press, cinema, radio, and television — promulgated on the same day as the liturgy constitution. It recognizes these instruments as powerful means that can serve truth and human fellowship or work great harm; affirms the right to information; instructs pastors and all the faithful to use the media with moral responsibility and to support the Church's own media undertakings; and establishes a yearly day on which the faithful are taught their duties in this matter.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Orientalium Ecclesiarum — Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches
Orientalium Ecclesiarum, 21 November 1964
The decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches. It honors the liturgical, theological, and disciplinary patrimony of the Eastern Churches as equal in dignity to that of the Latin Church, safeguards the autonomy of each Eastern Church in its own governance and rites, and exhorts Eastern Catholics to preserve, cherish, and hand on their venerable traditions rather than abandoning them.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Unitatis Redintegratio — Decree on Ecumenism
Unitatis Redintegratio, 21 November 1964
The decree on ecumenism. It declares the restoration of unity among all Christians a principal concern of the council, acknowledges that many elements of sanctification and truth exist outside the visible bounds of the Catholic Church, distinguishes the situation of the separated Eastern Churches from that of the communities born of the Reformation in the West, and sets out principles for dialogue, theological conversation, and common prayer in the service of full communion.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Christus Dominus — Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops
Christus Dominus, 28 October 1965
The decree on the pastoral office of bishops in the Church. It describes bishops as true shepherds who, in collegial communion with the pope, share in the care of the universal Church; defines their threefold ministry of teaching, sanctifying, and governing; treats the ordering of dioceses, the relations of bishops with the Roman Curia, and the cooperation of bishops with priests, religious, and laity in each local church.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Perfectae Caritatis — Decree on the Renewal of Religious Life
Perfectae Caritatis, 28 October 1965
The decree on the renewal of religious life. It calls religious orders and congregations to return to the sources — the Gospel as the supreme rule and the spirit of their founders — while at the same time adapting their disciplines, formation, community life, and apostolic works to the changed conditions of the modern world.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Optatam Totius — Decree on Priestly Formation
Optatam Totius, 28 October 1965
The decree on the formation of priests. It lays down principles for seminary education as a single whole: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation together. It requires solid study in philosophy and theology, practical training in preaching and pastoral care, and the adaptation of formation to the circumstances and needs of each nation.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Gravissimum Educationis — Declaration on Christian Education
Gravissimum Educationis, 28 October 1965
The declaration on Christian education. It asserts the right of every person to an education directed to the full development of the human person; the primary duty and right of parents in the education of their children; the right and duty of the Church to maintain schools of every grade; and the obligation of Catholic schools to form their pupils in both sound learning and Christian virtue.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Nostra Aetate — Declaration on the Church's Relations with Non-Christian Religions
Nostra Aetate, 28 October 1965
The declaration on the Church's relations with non-Christian religions. It looks with sincere reverence on what is true and holy in the great religions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism — and urges mutual understanding and esteem. Its most widely noted passage treats the spiritual bond between Christians and Jews, deplores hatreds, persecutions, and displays of antisemitism directed against Jews at any time and by anyone, and calls for fraternal dialogue.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Apostolicam Actuositatem — Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity
Apostolicam Actuositatem, 18 November 1965
The decree on the apostolate of the laity. It teaches that lay men and women, by baptism and confirmation, share in Christ's priestly, prophetic, and kingly mission and are called to sanctify the temporal order from within — in the family, in professional life, in culture, and in public affairs. It encourages organized lay associations and movements, working in communion with the hierarchy.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Dei Verbum — Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation
Dei Verbum, 18 November 1965
The dogmatic constitution on divine revelation. It teaches that God reveals himself through deeds and words across salvation history, culminating in Christ, and that this revelation reaches the Church through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition together, as a single sacred deposit entrusted to the teaching office of the Church. It affirms both the divine authorship of Scripture and its genuinely human character, calls the study of Scripture the soul of theology, and urges every Christian to read, meditate on, and learn from the Bible.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Ad Gentes — Decree on Missionary Activity
Ad Gentes, 7 December 1965
The decree on the missionary activity of the Church. It declares the evangelization of the non-Christian world an essential duty of the entire Church, not of missionary orders alone; describes the stages of mission work from witness and proclamation to the planting and maturing of young churches; and calls for missionaries carefully trained in the languages, cultures, and customs of the peoples among whom they labor.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Presbyterorum Ordinis — Decree on the Life and Ministry of Priests
Presbyterorum Ordinis, 7 December 1965
The decree on the life and ministry of priests. It presents the dignity of the priesthood and the priest's configuration to Christ the head and shepherd; treats the worldwide distribution of priests, their just support, and the fostering of vocations; and gives directives on priestly spirituality — obedience, celibacy, poverty in spirit, and pastoral charity — and on the cooperation of priests with bishops and with the laity.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Dignitatis Humanae — Declaration on Religious Freedom
Dignitatis Humanae, 7 December 1965
The declaration on religious freedom. It teaches that every human person has the right to religious liberty: immunity from coercion in religious matters, whether by individuals, groups, or any human power. The right rests on the dignity of the human person and on the moral obligation to seek the truth and adhere to it; the declaration also affirms the duty of civil authority to protect this freedom for all within the just requirements of public order.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.
Gaudium et Spes — Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Gaudium et Spes, 7 December 1965
The pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world, the longest of the council's sixteen documents and the most outward-facing: it addresses itself to all people of good will, not Catholics alone. It proposes to read the signs of the times and to enter into dialogue with the contemporary age, reflecting on human dignity, the human community, culture, the economic and political order, and the building of peace — declaring that the Church shares the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the men and women of this age.
Read the official English text at vatican.va. Full texts are copyrighted by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and are not reproduced here; full texts await permission.