Tag: aggiornamento

Aggiornamento, literally meaning “bringing up to date,” was one of the key words used during the Second Vatican Council both by bishops and clergy attending the sessions, and by the media and Vaticanologists covering it. It was used to mean a spirit of change and open-mindedness. It was the name given to the pontifical program of John XXIII in a speech he gave on January 25, 1959.
Originally, the word referred merely to an adjournment of the Code of Canon law, as John XXIII said himself in his 1959 speech. However, the Code of canon law was only completed in 1983, after a long delay of 18 years after the end of the Council. The Canon law project was soon broadened into a larger process of Church reform.
The conciliar document most often associated with the aggiornamento is Gaudium et Spes. The document was not drafted before the council met, but arose from the floor of the council and was one of the last to be promulgated.
French theologian Yves Congar was a lead reformist during the…