January 10, 2013. (Romereports.com) The Second Vatican Council kicked off 50 years ago, but despite the time, the event is far from being history. For one of its witnesses, Spanish Archbishop Justo Mullor, the
Second Vatican Council is still on-going. He says even today, everyone should work to build it and live it out.
ARCH. JUSTO MULLOR
President Emeritus, Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy
“It is absurd to think about a Third Vatican Council when the Second is barely under way. The Second Vatican Council is for today, for tomorrow, and for the day after tomorrow.”
Msgr. Justo Mullor experienced in person the Second Vatican Council. Being under 30 at the time, he bore witness to the debates between the Council's participants.
ARCH. JUSTO MULLOR
President Emeritus, Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy
“I saw that the Church is alive, I saw that the conservatives were not as conservative, and the liberals were not that liberal. All the conservatives had something liberal about them, and all liberals had something conservative.”
Over the years Justo Mullor has become a diplomatic expert for the Vatican. He served as the Permanent Observer to the Council of Europe and apostolic nuncio in Mexico. John Paul II asked him the lead the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy to train the next set of diplomats for the Holy See. For him, one of the bygone achievements for the Second Vatican Council was the surge in diplomatic relations with states.
ARCH. JUSTO MULLOR
President Emeritus, Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy
“Today we have diplomatic relations with 179 countries, for the moment. Back then we had 40, and just that.”
Among the most important conclusions from the Council, Justo Mullor highlights that laymen and women can live out their faith with greater conscience. It's reflected, he adds, by the surge in Catholic movements and institutions, such as Opus Dei, the Focolares, Neocatechumenal Way, and Communion and Liberation.
ARCH. JUSTO MULLOR
President Emeritus, Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy
“The Second Vatican Council has had great effects, especially among the ecclesiastical movements that are staring to bear fruit.”
The gathering with Archbishop Mullor is part of a series of engagements organized by the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Among the participants are some of Spain's key witnesses to the start of the historic event.
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