by Mary Cullen

‘We are dealing here with a prophecy of the Second Vatican Council that the church has yet to absorb in all its profundity and develop in its daily implications’. (Final document on the synod on young people, 2018)

One of the most profound shifts in the ecclesiology of Vatican II was in its understanding of the role of lay people in the church. We can track the shift in the drafting process of Lumen Gentium, the Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.

With thanks to Fr Kenny Campbell and the parishioners of St Barbara’s, Muirhead, for a lively discussion on women and hopes for the synod. For the Good of the Church is reviewed in this issue of Open House.

Mary Cullen is editor of Open House.