Gaudet Mater Ecclesia

Gaudet Mater Ecclesia, Latin for ("Mother Church Rejoices"), is the opening declaration of the Second Vatican Council. 
Pope John opened the Council on October 11, 1962 in a public session before the Council Fathers as well as representatives of 86 governments and international bodies. Following a Mass, the Pope read the opening declaration. 
In the speech, he rejected the thoughts of "prophets of doom who are always forecasting disaster" in the world and in the future of the Church. Pope John stressed the pastoral, not doctrinal, nature of the Council: The Church did not need to repeat or reformulate existing doctrines and dogmata but rather had to teach Christ's message in light of the modern world's ever-changing trends. 
He exhorted the Council Fathers "to use the medicine of mercy rather than the weapons of severity" in the documents they would produce.
Category:Documents of the Second Vatican Council
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