Perfectae Caritatis: Decree on the Up-to-Date Renewal of Religious Life

Documents of the Second Vatican Council

by Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI (Promulgated by), Austin Flannery (Editor)

The sixteen official documents—constitutions, decrees, and declarations—of the Second Vatican Council are now available from Liturgical Press in the most popular and widely used inclusive-language edition translated by Irish Dominican Austin Flannery (+October 21, 2008).

As the worldwide Church continues to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Council (1962–65), there is a great need in college classrooms and parish faith formation groups—as well as for individuals—to again have access to these documents in contemporary English. As Flannery wrote in his introduction to the 1996 edition, “The translation of the texts of the Vatican documents in the present volume differs from that in the previous publication in two respects. It has been very considerably revised and, in place, corrected. It is also, to a very large extent, in inclusive language.

“I say ‘to a very large extent,’ because we have used inclusive language in passages about men and women but not, however, in passages about God, except where the use of the masculine pronoun was easily avoidable.”

19 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2014

About the author

The Second Vatican Council (Latin: Concilium Oecumenicum Vaticanum Secundum, informally known as Vatican II) addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first ecumenical council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The council, through the Holy See, formally opened under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on 8th December 1965.

Several changes resulted from the council, including the renewal of consecrated life with a revised charism, ecumenical efforts towards dialogue with other religions, and the call to holiness for everyone including the laity, according to Pope Paul VI "the most characteristic and ultimate purpose of the teachings of the Council".

According to Pope Benedict XVI, the most important and essential message of the council is "the Paschal Mystery as the center of what it is to be Christian and therefore of the Christian life, the Christian year, the Christian seasons". Other changes which followed the council included the widespread use of vernacular languages in the Mass instead of Latin, the subtle disuse of ornate clerical regalia, the revision of Eucharistic prayers, the abbreviation of the liturgical calendar, the ability to celebrate the Mass versus populum (with the officiant facing the congregation), as well as ad orientem (facing the "East" and the Crucifix), and modern aesthetic changes encompassing contemporary Catholic liturgical music and artwork, many of which remain divisive among the Catholic faithful.

Reviews

[Samantha B]

Excellent. I appreciated the focus on the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, as well as the part that emphasized that even cloistered nuns have a SUPER important apostolate.

(But y'all, it says that habits can be MODIFIED for circumstances, not ABROGATED. *facepalm*)

[John Sester, LC]

Short and simple. Plenty of references to help one understand the beauty of religious life in the Catholic Church.

[Br. John Mary Lauderdale OFM Cap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent document, highly recommend for all religious.

[Bernard Brodeur · Rating 4 out of 5]

A succient, easy-to-read magisterial document on the renewal of religious life after Vatican 2. I appreciate the call to go back to our roots and rediscover the heart of the Gospel and of our founder's mission. Vita Consecrata is perhaps a more thorough document.

[Filip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfectae Caritatis is document of Vatican 2 more oriented to friars, monks and nuns and their role in life of the Church. It reafirms all of the teachings from before and give religius orders a new ways of duing bussines in modern age. Good document.