Research guides: Vatican II: Texts and English Translations

Texts and English Tranlations

The Second Vatican Council met from 1962 to 1965 in four sessions (October-December 1962, September-December 1963, September-November 1964, and September-December 1965). Sixteen major documents were produced: two dogmatic and pastoral constitutions, nine decrees and three declarations. The authoritative Latin text of each of these documents can be found in Tanner’s Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils or on the Vatican website (listed below).

There are at least five English translations of the sixteen documents; in addition there are other English translations of individual documents. The variety of ways in which the documents have been dealt with by translators shows the necessity of referring to the authoritative Latin text.

Documents of the II Vatican Council.
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Vatican website.
The official Latin text with translations into English and other major languages. The English translations are those prepared by the National Catholic Welfare Conference (the predecessor body to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops).
Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents.
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New revised edition by Austin Flannery.
Boston, MA: St. Paul, 1992.
For print version locations, see the UofT Library Catalogue
Vatican Council II Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations: A Completely Revised Translation in Inclusive Language.
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Edited by Austin Flannery.
Northport, NY: Costello, 1996.
For print version locations, see the UofT Library Catalogue.
Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils.
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Edited by Norman P. Tanner.
Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1990. Latin text and English translation.
The Sixteen Documents of Vatican II.
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Boston, MA: St. Paul Editions, 1965.
For print version locations, see the UofT Library Catalogue.
Uses the English-language translation prepared by the National Catholic Welfare Conference (the precursor of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops).
The online version is available on the Internet Archive, a trusted source, but one for which it is necessary to create a free account and login.
The Documents of Vatican II.
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Edited by Walter M. Abbott.
New York: Herder and Herder, 1966.
For print version locations, see the UofT Library Catalogue.
The online version is available on the Internet Archive, a trusted source, but one for which it is necessary to create a free account and login.