faith, but rather the peculiar characteristics of post-Reformation polemic." In spite of the guarded approval of biblical scholarship under Pius XII, scholars suspected of Modernism were silenced right up to Vatican II. The council brought a definitive end to the Counter-Reformation and, in a spirit of aggiornamento, reached back "behind St. Thomas himself and the Fathers, to the biblical theology which governs the first two chapters of the Constitution on the Church." "The documents of the Second Vatican Council are shot through with the language of the Bible. ...The church's historical journey away from its earlier focus upon these sources was reversed at Vatican II." For instance, the council's document on the liturgy called for a broader use of liturgical texts, which would now be in the vernacular, along with more enlightened preaching on the Bible explaining "the love affair between God and humankind". The translation of liturgical texts into vernacular languages, the allowance of communion under both kinds for the laity, and the expansion of Scripture readings during the Mass was resonant with the sensibilities of other Christian denominations, thus making the Second Vatican Council "a milestone for Catholic, Protestants, [and] the Orthodox". Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World This document, named for its first words Gaudium et Spes ("Joy and Hope"), built on Lumen Gentiums understanding of the Church as the “pilgrim people of God” and as “communion”, aware of the long history of the Church's teaching and in touch with what it calls the “signs of the times”. It reflects the understanding that Baptism confers on all the task that Jesus entrusted to the Church, to be on mission to the world in ways that the present age can understand, in cooperation with the ongoing work of the Spirit. Decrees and declarations on the Church as People of God These 7 documents apply the teaching contained in the Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium to the various categories of people in the Church – bishops, priests, religious, laity, Eastern Catholics – and to Christian education.The Pastoral Office of Bishops – The decree Christus Dominus ("Christ the Lord", 1965) deals with practical matters concerning bishops and dioceses, on the basis of the theology of the episcopate found in chapter 3 of Lumen gentium, including collegiality. It deals with the 3 levels where a bishop exercises his ministry: the universal Church, his own diocese and the