'Res Opportunae Nostrae Aetatis'

The Second Vatican Council is one of the central themes in the research of Mathijs Lamberigts. He contributed to the study of the redaction history of many Council documents and highlighted the role of individual participants at the Council. As director of the Centre for the Study of the Second Vatican Council, he took great care in preserving and making accessible the archives of conciliar participants, especially those of the squadra belga As a scholar and supervisor, he promoted the spirit and the letter of the Council as an ongoing commitment to many. The twenty-three contributions in this volume all bear witness to the same commitment to study the history and texts of the Council. The articles in the first part focus on the work of Albert Prignon, Edward Schillebeeckx, Emiel-Jozef De Smedt, Henri de Lubac, Remi Hoeckman, Joseph Neuner, Peter Maan and many others. They show how the Council was rooted in early twentieth-century discussions and publications, how it was shaped by Catholics and non-Catholics, and how it affected the thinking and acting of individuals and groups. The contributions in the second part focus on the Council as an unfolding event. They pay attention to the redaction history of Lumen gentium, Unitatis redintegratio, Nostra aetate, and Presbyterorum ordinis. They analyse the positions of the Secretariat for Christian Unity, the Coetus Internationalis Patrum, and the European bishops, or emphasise the development of key concepts, including the In quibus et ex quibus, Mary as the Mater Ecclesiae, or the (in)famous subsistit in. The third part deals with the lasting significance of the Council. With articles on revelation, ecclesiology, liturgy, and interreligious dialogue, the authors in this part creatively explore the (un)contested aspects of the Council's legacy and the horizon it projects. With these contributions Mathijs Lamberigts' former students and colleagues wish to honour and continue his research on the Second Vatican Council.