Presider: 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.”

Presiders:Catherine Clifford and 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.”

Presider: 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.”

Presider: 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.”

Presider: 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.”

Response: Peter De Mey

Presider: 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.”

• 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.”

Response: Massimo Faggioli

Presider: 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.”

Response: John T. Pawlikowski

Presider: 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.”

Response: Catherine E. Clifford

Presider: 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.”

• 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.”

Response: 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.” 

Response: Richard R. Gaillardetz

Presider: 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.”

Presider: 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).”

Presider: Richard Gaillardetz

• Slattery, John. “Before Gaudium et Spes, Fides et Ratio, or Laudato Si: The Importance of Vatican I’s Dei Filius in Contemporary Conversations of Theology and Science.”
• De May, Peter. “The Difficult Search for an Adequate Biblical Basis of Episcopal Collegiality at Vatican II: The Clash between Astute Defenders of Vatican I and Advocates for a Better Balance between Pope and Bishops.”
• Trang, Dung. “Primacy and Synodality: From Vatican II to Pope Francis’ Vision of Eccesial Renewal in ‘Evangelii Gaudium’.”

Presider: Catherine E. Clifford

• de Roest, Hendrik Pieter. “Sexual Abuse in Pastoral Relationships and the Relational Dynamics in the Parish in the Aftermath.”
• Faggioli, Massimo. “Apparent Victory, Actual Defeat? Vatican II Ecclesiology of the Episcopate and the Catholic Sexual Abuse Crisis.”
• Mannion, Gerard. “From Social Sin and Institutional Malaise to a Culture of Truthfulness, Accountability and Co-Responsibility: Steps to Move beyond Ecclesial Crisis Mode.”

Presider: 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.”

Presider: 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

Presider: Dries Bosschaert, KU Leuven

Dries.bosschaert@kuleuven.be

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

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

Presider: Massimo Faggioli, Villanova University

Massimo.faggioli@villanova.edu

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

Presider: Richard R. Gaillardetz, Boston College

Richard.gaillardetz@bc.edu

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

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

• 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.

Co-Chairs (2012–2016)

• Faggioli, Massimo. Villanova University
• Mey, Peter De. Catholic University Leuven

Steering Committee (2012–2016)

• Clifford, Catherine. Saint Paul University, Ottawa
• Cummings, Kathleen Sprows. University of Notre Dame
• Lamberigts, Mathijs. Catholic University Leuven
• Mannion, Gerard. Georgetown University
• Schultenover, David. Marquette University 

Co-Chairs (2017–Present)

• Clifford, Catherine. Saint Paul University, Ottawa 
• Colberg, Kristin. St John’s University

Steering Committee (2017–Present)

• Bosschaert, Dries. Catholic University, Leuven (2021-)
• Crowley, Paul. Santa Clara University (+2020)
• Faggioli, Massimo. Villanova University
• Gaillardetz, Richard R. Boston College
• Mey, Peter De. Catholic University Leuven
• Rush, Ormond. Australian Catholic University, Brisbane