Cardinal Grocholewski addresses Vatican II conference in Bangalore

February 01, 2013 - An international conference on the 50 years of the Second Vatican Council got under way on Thursday at the Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (DVK), the pontifical university of the Catholic Church for higher learning and formation in southern India’s Bangalore city. Participants from around the world are discussing the theme, “Revisiting Vatican II: 50 Years of Renewal”, January 31 – February 3. Chief guest, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education addressed the gathering on Thursday, urging participants to learn at the school of the Holy Spirit in discerning the signs of the times, as Vatican II meant it. “Discerning the signs of the times and acting according to the subjective desires, hopes and fears cannot serve as a compass in order to understand the teachings of the Council,” the cardinal warned. Rather than being overwhelmed by the great challenges of the signs of the times and abandoning the boat of Christ, believers instead, as witnesses of divine providence and hope, must, first of all, discern the signs of Christ's presence in the world and in world events, and listen to the words of the true Shepherd. In this changing reality that obscures the hopes and dreams of man, Cardinal Grocholewski said, the Church has never stopped offering the light of Christ. In this regard, as Popes John XXII and Paul VI declared, it was Vatican II’s intention that "the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more efficaciously." Since the teachings of the Council “touches the various fields of human activity that affect individuals, families and social life, it is necessary, that the Church never removes its gaze from the sacred patrimony of truth received from ancient times” and plans new forms of apostolate. The Bangalore conference is taking place during the Catholic Church’s is current Year of Faith, which Pope Benedict declared from last Oct. 11 to Nov. 24, this year, to mark 50 years of the start of Vatican II and 20 years of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.