ROME, OCT. 13, 2002 (Zenit.org).- The effects of the Second Vatican Council are still sinking in, 40 years after the historic event began, says a university rector in Rome.
The council still has «much to say,» according to Bishop Rino Fisichella, rector of the Lateran University. Forty years are not enough «for its application and, therefore, there is still a long way to go in the reception of the council,» he added.
The Lateran held a congress last week to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 11, 1963, opening of Vatican II.
In an interview with Vatican Radio today, Bishop Fisichella spoke about the council and its teachings.
«Today we are able to understand the sources much better, to study with greater consistency the documents that resulted beyond the immediate interpretations that were given in the period immediately following the council,» he said.
«Hence, we can have a view of the documents and of the council as an event in a much more global and consistent reading,» the rector said.
The international congress at the Lateran concluded that Vatican II is «a council that must still be received,» Bishop Fisichella said.
And it’s too early to call a new council, he said. «If we reckon that 90 years passed between Vatican I and Vatican II, we realize that we still have to study and evaluate much more what Vatican II was.»
