The true appreciation of the Second Vaticanum requires an analysis of the action of various forces, distinguishing between inner forces (the Pope, the Roman Curia, the legislative assembly, the assembly of bishops, the Officials of the Church Council, informal groups, Council theologians etc.), and externat forces (political powers, means of communication etc.). The important event in the Second Vaticanum in Autumn 1962 was the fact that bishops from all parts of the world very quickly became conscious of their unity and fellow feeling. Thus it was made possible that the issue of the First Vaticanum dealing with the supremacy of the Pope was supple mented at the Second Vaticanum by the theology of the Church and the Episcopate. Starting from the basis of self-understanding the Council strove towards an understanding of the Church in the modern world. The Council declared that the Church does not play the part of a mere ob server outside the world. Neither does the Church carry on a mere dialogue with the world. No, the Church is present within the world, though she is not of this world. As to the relation of the Church with the world, the Council showed four perspectives: 1. As modern mankind is getting more and more conscious of its own solidarity, its strive for a unity in the religious sphere is obvious."

Modern civilization is characteristically industrial and technical. Spreading as it has from Europe throughout the world, it has brought continual religious crises in its wake. The present study is confined to an examination of the religious conduct of Catholics in the industrial society, and is based on recent religio-sociological studies carried out in Germany and France. The following state of affairs is shown to exist 1) In large cities and industrial districts the number of practising Catholics is well below the national average. 2) It seems probable that the domestic environment has a greater effect on religious conduct than the work environment. 3) Women and children generally maintain relatively regular church attendance, while in the case of men religious apathy becomes apparent soon after leaving school, and reaches a peak in the years of maturity. 4) Analysis of church attendances shows that the workers are particularly affected by the religious crises. 5) The effectiveness of education and training in maintaining religious interest was demonstrated. Any attempt to analyse the religious crisis must take into consideration the fact that the subjective factors, i. e. failure of Christians themselves and attacks on Christianity by antagonists, are not in themselves a sufficient explanation. A vital part is also played by the objective factors associated with the social environment of the industrial age; the environment is predominantly secular and tends towards a basic pluralism of out look."