"In 2012, the Catholic Church marks a major anniversary of one of its more strictly pastoral councils, one that singled out for comment the importance of preaching and the need for its renewal. Its deliberations extended several years–making it the third longest in Church history. In its span, the Council saw the death of one pope a little less than a year after it opened and the election of his successor. Despite the fact that most of the Council’s attention had been devoted to pastoral issues, there were many who thought the Council Fathers did not go far enough in their reforms. As history can well attest, this Council was shortly followed by a massive upheaval and many defections from the Church. It was a time of great upheaval not only in the Church, but seemingly the whole world. In some sense, the pastoral challenges facing the Church were far graver after this Council than they were before. Many even believed the Council was a failure. Yet, none of this affects the validity of the Council’s teaching or its contributions to the pastoral life of the Church. Even though the world has changed greatly since the time the Council was called, the Church still does well and can benefit from re-familiarizing herself with its teaching."
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