The Council of Trent at the Second Vatican Council

Abstract This chapter explores what the Council of Trent meant at Vatican II. It studies both the explicit references to Trent made in the text and footnotes of Vatican II and certain points in debates at which what Trent had done or said entered into the deliberations and decisions of the fathers of Vatican II. It is shown that on the level of Church practice, Vatican II reversed some decisions of Trent, most notably permitting the vernacular to be used in the liturgy, broadening occasions for receiving the Eucharist under both kinds, dethroning the Vulgate as the normative biblical text, and encouraging a wide reading. One of the main differences between Vatican II and Trent was that while Trent sought to identify and clarify the respects the doctrines of the Reformers departed from those of the Catholic Church, Vatican II sought to identify and to express those elements of faith that Catholics and non-Catholics had in common.