“The Catholic Vision on Education and Formation before, during and after Vatican II: The Redaction and Reception History of Gravissimum Educationis (1965)”

The decree Gravissimum Educationis (GE), promulgated on October 28, 1965, deals with the issue of Catholic education and formation of the faithful, both lay and clergy. The final text does not aim to offer a detailed view on education and formation (for no agreement could be found on this matter) but offers general guidelines about education and the role of the parents, the parishes, the (non-)catholic schools, the church, and society as a whole. GE was written by the same commission that was involved in the formation of the seminarians and the document was also drafted in the context of Lumen Gentium, Apostolicam Actuositatem and Gaudium et Spes. Nonetheless, GE has not received the same attention as other documents of Vatican II. This project therefore investigates the genesis of GE which takes together the expectations of the bishops on education and formation in the pre-Vatican II period, the complex text-history of GE, the intra- and intertextuality of GE and its place within Vatican II and Catholic ecclesiology, and the reception of GE post-Vatican II. This project brings these various aspects together into a whole, and deals with each one of them in a coherent, structured and novel way.