It was not a defensive style. Not once in the Council documents do the words anathema sit appear. This dialogue was not intended to be limited to Christians alone. It was meant to be open to non-Christian religions, and to reach the whole modern world, including those who do not believe. Truth, in fact, cannot be confined.
Truth is for one and for all.
This was the style of the Second Vatican Council and the spirit in which it took place. In this spirit the Second Vatican Council will continue to be a challenge for all Churches and a duty for each person for a long time to come. In the decades that have passed since the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, we have been able to see how this challenge and this duty have been received under various conditions and at various levels. I know from experience how this synodal approach responds to expectations of various groups and what it can achieve. I think of the diocesan synods which almost spontaneously got rid of the old unilateral emphasis on clergy and became a means for expressing the responsibility of each person toward the Church.