UD Commemorates 50th Anniversary of Vatican II

On Oct. 11, 50 years to the day of the opening session of the Second Vatican Council,
the Department of Theology and the School of Ministry will present the first of two
events held in honor of Vatican II. Mark Goodwin, chair of theology and interim dean
of the School of Ministry (SOM), will moderate an opening discussion with Abbot Denis
Farkasfalvy, O. Cist. (pictured at right), who is a current member of the Pontifical
Biblical Commission, and Fr. Roch Kereszty, O.Cist (pictured at left).
Fr. Kereszty and Fr. Farkasfalvy were young priests in Rome at the time and were able
to attend the first session of the Second Vatican Council. Both will speak from their
deep experience and memory of the conciliar times about the need for the Council and
what the Council was meant to accomplish. Opened under Pope John XXIII and concluded
five years later under Pope Paul VI, Vatican II sought to recover and renew the foundational
sources of Catholic tradition in a variety of areas, including liturgy, revelation
and the Church.
Then, on Thursday, Oct. 18, three UD theological thinkersMsgr. Michael Olson, rector
of Holy Trinity Seminary, Marti Jewell, assistant professor of theology in the SOM,
and Ron Rombs, associate professor of theologywill explore the on-going significance
of the Council as part of a panel discussion moderated by John Norris, associate professor
of theology. Both events will be held in the Art History Auditorium from 7-8:30 p.m.