Intercontinental Commentary to the documents of the Second Vatican Council

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Margit Eckholt, since 3/2022
• Subject Area: Roman Catholic Theology
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 437297778

As part of the research project "Vatican II - Legacy and Mandates", the Scientific Network is preparing an intercontinental commentary on the texts of the Second Vatican Council, which will be published in five volumes in English and German.The commentary of the Council documents is the core of the project, which will be published in twelve volumes. In addition to an introductory volume on the hermeneutics of the Council and a concluding volume on overarching issues, five continental groups are working on the respective receptions of the Council in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as North America and the Pacific region.The working method of commenting on the Council texts has not yet been practised in Catholic theology. It is oriented to the working method of the Council. Each document is commented on by a working group to which scientists from all continents belong. The texts are jointly developed and answered for. In order to achieve a truly intercontinental commentary, each document is edited by one person from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America/Pacific in close cooperation with the coordinating commentators.The Scientific Network to be applied for organises and accompanies three workshops for this purpose. The coordinating commentators and one person from each of the five continental groups will be invited. They discuss the existing drafts and supplement or correct them with the modes they introduce. Even though a lot of preliminary and follow-up work can be done in electronic exchange, personal contact remains indispensable. Only in this way can an understanding of the theological schools and cultural differences be achieved. On the one hand, the members of the network represent the steering group of the overall project and the majority of the coordinating commentators. On the other hand, the continental study groups are represented by at least one person in order to guarantee the intercontinentality of the project that is to be observed throughout.The Steering Group and the Scientific Network ensure the quality assurance of the overall project and the individual steps. The added value of the project lies in the cooperation across the continents and the resulting and mutually enriching interpretations of the same event and the same documents. The pontificate of Pope Francis calls for a change of perspective from a Eurocentric and North Atlantic perspective to a transnational and global reflection of the Council and its reception. Through the intercontinental commentary of the Council texts thus a new reflection takes place on the institutional form of the Catholic Church, which is becoming more and more a world church.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Joachim Schmiedl, until 3/2022 (†)