The Preconciliar Schema On The Lay Apostolate – An Historical Critical Investigation

This research project carried out within the context of the Leuven Centre for the Study of the Second Vatican Council will concentrate on the genesis of the decree of the Lay Apostolate, the first such document in the history of the Roman-Catholic Church, which is evaluated as sometimes unclear, leaving out important aspects of Christian life and the like. Following the Leuven historical-critical method, the project intendsto first carefully study the preconciliar bishops vota. Next, the redactional itinerary of the schema on the Laity as proposed to the Council will be carefully retraced and investigated. We will examine the tendencies appearing during the conciliar debate, with particular attention to the follow research questions: Who are the main actors (protagonists and antagonists) at play? Which are the main lines of argument perused? What is the profile of the lay people who only since 1964 were invited at the Council and therefore become involved in a later phase of the documents drafting? How is the relationship between personal responsibility and adherence to the hierarchy developed? From a methodological point of view, it should be underlined that due to the transfer to and therefore the current availability of archive documentation onthe Vatican II in the Archivio Segreto Vaticano, researchers know have acces to an abundant amount of sources that have not yet been consulted.The present research will undoubtedly benefit from a prolonged period of archive study in Rome.