Vatican II was a great revolutionary moment in the history of the Catholic church, when the windows were thrown open and the modern world let in. With sessions running between October 1962 and December 1965, it brought together around 3,000 bishops from all corners of the world, and changed every aspect of church life-including a new emphasis on the role of the laity, and a new spirit of dialogue with other churches and the secular world. (The Religion Report, 2002)
             Vatican II served, in many ways as a catalyst to change within the Catholic church and Catholic education. The demonstrative focus of the faith, during the 1962-1965 meetings of the church was specifically associated with a new ecumenical standard, as the church vowed to demonstrate greater responsibility for its place within the world, as a point of historical standards but more importantly as a newly invigorated center of faith and hope in a changing world. The world in which Vatican II firmly placed the Roman Catholic Church is one of postmodern expression of individual rights and free expression of religious belief and practices (Hughes, 2001, pp. 30-31) (Tinsey, 1997, pp. 1-3) as well as the church as the defender of all mankind, rather than as the defender of Catholics alone. (Rossiter, 1988, p. 264) For this reason and those specifically focused on Catholic Education Vatican II served as a guiding light for a new way in which to approach education, as a place where standards of a new world would be respected and would be issued in accordance with changing beliefs and practices.
             Another sign of hope and life for Catholic education ...in the world was the Second Vatican Council in which from 1962 to 1965 the Roman Catholic bishops of the world participated at Rome in decision-making on all aspects of Catholic life. (Buetow, 1970, p. 302)
             As Buetow notes there are limited direct references in the works of Vatican II to education, those that exist engender the deve...