Second Vatican Council on Original sin & the human will
Nature wounded but not destroyed; grace perfects it
Since man's freedom has been damaged by sin, only by the aid of God's grace can he bring such a relationship with God into full flower.
THE POSITION
Gaudium et Spes 13 says that though made in holiness, man "abused his liberty" from the start of his history, and so finds in himself "inclinations toward evil too": "Therefore man is split within himself." Section 17 says freedom has been damaged by sin and needs grace to reach its fullness. The council restates; it does not define.
8 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Met in St Peter's Basilica in four autumn sessions, opened by John XXIII and closed under Paul VI. It issued sixteen documents (four constitutions, nine decrees and three declarations) on revelation, the church, the liturgy, ecumenism, religious freedom and the church in the modern world. It set out to renew how the church teaches rather than to define new dogma, and issued no anathemas. The Catholic Church counts it the twenty-first ecumenical council. Quoted from the English translations on vatican.va; the official text is Latin.
Cite this page
"Second Vatican Council on Original sin & the human will", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/vatican-2/original-sin (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/vatican-2/original-sin).