The Austin Flannery Translation of Vatican II Documents

As Pope Francis leads the worldwide church wholly within and from the teachings 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.

This volume contains the sixteen official documents—constitutions, decrees, and declarations—of the Second Vatican Council in the most popular and widely used inclusive-language edition translated by Irish Dominican Austin Flannery (+2008). This edition is also presented with a larger, more readable font than previous editions.

Table of Contents:

• Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium
• Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum
• Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilum
• Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes
• Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, Christus Dominus
• Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, Presbyterorum Ordinis
• Decree on the Training of Priests, Optatam Totius
• Decree on the Up-to-Date Renewal of Religious Life, Perfectae Caritatis
• Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People, Apostolicam Actuositatem
• Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, Ad Gentes Divinitus
• Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio
• Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches, Orientalium Ecclesiarum
• Decree on the Mass Media, Inter Mirifica
• Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae
• Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate
• Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum Educationis
  

This study edition of Irish Dominican Austin Flannery’s (+2008) earlier translation contains all sixteen documents of the Second Vatican Council, plus the forty-nine later documents from popes and Vatican congregations that implemented the details of the Council's decisions. Flannery attempted to include all documents of general interest that form part of the postconciliar process—documents which might be described as organically linked with the conciliar process.

This is the translation used in The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the text that both students of the Council and students of the Catechism will want for the complete reference of the Council and its decisions.

Special features of this study edition:

• Larger page size, with larger print and more generous margins
• Focus questions after each Council document help the reader comprehend the main points
• Creative questions assist the reader in applying the content of the Council documents to personal experience or to future development in the Church