The reception of the Church in Malta to the Second Vatican Council

Abstract

The 1960s were an epoch of sweeping political, social and cultural change. The Cold War, the students’ revolts and the political upheavals erupting from Chicago to Prague, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War were some of the main events that occurred during that decade. Such winds of change also reached Malta notwithstanding the fact that the island was geographically cut off from the rest of the European mainland. As a result of the Second Vatican Council held between 1962 and 1965, the Roman Catholic Church experienced renewal and reform. This study intends to assess how the teachings and reforms emanating from the Second Vatican Council were implemented by the Malta Church led by Archbishop Michael Gonzi who had been in office since 1944 bearing in mind that in 1965, Archbishop Gonzi was eighty years old. Before exploring the theme proposed here, it is necessary to understand the context of the given period.