The task of Vatican II: Regnum Dei

In a radio address he delivered on 11 September 1962, Bl. Pope John XXIII, discussing the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, which was to begin in exactly one month, said, "The phrase Regnum Dei (The Kingdom of God)- expresses fully and precisely the tasks of the council. Regnum Dei signifies and is in reality the Church of Christ: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic." To extend this excerpt a bit, he went to say,

"Just as Jesus, the Word of God made man, founded her, for twenty centuries He has preserved her, and still today vivifies her by His presence and His grace. Through her, He is continually renewing the ancient miracle which during successive ages, at times harsh and difficult, bore her in adversity and in prosperity, thus multiplying the victories of the spirit: Victories of truth over error, of good over evil, of love and peace over divisions and opposition.

"Good and evil are with us still and will remain with us in the future. This is because the free will of man will always have the freedom to express itself and the possibility of going astray. But the final and eternal victory will be with Christ and His Church in every chosen soul and in the chosen souls of every people" (Vatican II, Sessions 1 and 2, edited by Floyd Anderson and published by the Press Dept. of the Natn'l Catholic Welfare Conference)

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17).