Vatican II at 50

I had been hoping for a way to observe the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council on October 11, 1962.  So October 11-12, I went to Georgetown University in D.C. for a conference, "Vatican II After Fifty Years: Dialogue and Catholic Identity."  It was excellent.
There were six speakers who presented different aspects of the Council.  Threading through all was a common theme that because of the Vatican Council dialogue has become an essential part of Catholic identity.  Jesuit John O'Malley gave the opening talk, describing dialogue and tracing its development.  A few years ago I had read his book, "What Happened at Vatican II?" and found it extremely enlightening.
Massimo Faggioli, a young Italian layman, now living in the United States, gave the most fascinating talk, "The Battle Over Gaudium et Spes - Dialogue with the Modern World."  The Latin name of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World means "Joy and Hope."  The document shows a clear openness to the 20th century, to the dimensions of human culture opened up by advances in the historical, social, and psychological sciences.  He pointed out that there were some present who were not as open to the 20th century as the document was, but it was still accepted by more than 2,000 of the 2,500  bishops present.  He ended by saying that if we ignore Gaudium et Spes, we will have neither joy nor hope.
I found the conference hope-filled and energizing.
(The picture above is of the intricate ceiling of one of the rooms in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, one the the places I visited on my recent trip to England.)