THE SPIRIT OF VATICAN II AND THE LITURGICAL REFORM BETWEEN RECEPTION AND REJECTION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/theol.cath.latina.2025.LXX.2.02Keywords:
Vatican II, liturgical movement, liturgical reform, liturgical debates, Sacrosanctum Concilium, Summorum Pontificum, Pope Francis, Traditionis custodes, Desiderio desideraviAbstract
This study analyses the reception of the liturgical reform and the ongoing controversies surrounding its meaning and legitimacy sixty years after the Council. It highlights the deep historical roots of Sacrosanctum Concilium, shaped by decades of liturgical renewal. The liturgical reform embodied a broader ecclesiological shift, integrating aggiornamento and ressourcement to renew the Church and its relationship with the modern world. The postconciliar period, however, saw increasing polarisation, with debates framed between continuity and rupture. The Summorum Pontificum intensified the crisis by relativising the liturgical reform and empowering anti-conciliar trends. The liturgical debates reflect deeper ecclesiological tensions. The apostolic letters of Pope Francis, Traditionis custodes and Desiderio desideravi, have sought to restore unity and reaffirm the authority of Vatican II and of the liturgical reform. Francis reconfirmed the postconciliar revised Missal as the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Catholic Church and emphasised the profound need for liturgical formation. He aimed to restore thereby the unity of the Church.
Article history: Received 25.11.2025; Revised 12.11.2025; Accepted 14.11.2025.
Available online: 22.12.2025; Available print: 30.01.2026.
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