Vatican II: Documentation of Bishops’ Voting on its Documents

Ranked in Order from Most Dissenting Votes to Least Dissenting Votes

I am drawing this from: Vatican II — Voice of the Church: The Sixteen Documents and their Consequences. My interjections will be in blue.

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DECREE ON THE MEDIA OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION: December 4 [1963]: Solemn final voting (1960 for, 164 against) [7.7% dissenting or a 12-to-one ratio in favor]

DECLARATION ON NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS: October 28 [1965]: Solemn final voting (2221 for, 88 against) [3.8% dissenting or a 25-to-one ratio in favor]

PASTORAL CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: December 7 [1965]: Solemn final voting (2309 for, 75 against) [3.1% dissenting or a 31-to-one ratio in favor]

DECLARATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: December 7 [1965]: Solemn final voting (2308 for, 70 against) [2.9% dissenting or a 33-to-one ratio in favor]

DECREE ON EASTERN CATHOLIC CHURCHES: November 21 [1964]: Solemn final voting (2110 for, 39 against) [1.8% dissenting or a 54-to-one ratio in favor]

DECLARATION ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION: October 28 [1965]: Solemn final voting (2290 for, 35 against) [1.5% dissenting or a 65-to-one ratio in favor]

DECREE ON ECUMENISM: November 21 [1964]: Solemn final voting (2137 for, 11 against) [0.51% dissenting or a 194-to-one ratio in favor]

DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON DIVINE REVELATION: November 18 [1965]: Solemn final voting (2344 for, 6 against) [o.26% dissenting or a 391-to-one ratio in favor]

DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH: November 21 [1964]: Solemn final voting (2151 for, 5 against) [0.23% dissenting or a 430-to-one ratio in favor]

DECREE ON THE MISSIONARY ACTIVITY OF THE CHURCH: December 7 [1965]: Solemn final voting (2394 for, 5 against) [0.21% dissenting or a 479-to-one ratio in favor]

CONSTITUTION ON THE LITURGY: December 4 [1963]: Solemn final voting (2147 for, 4 against) [0.19% dissenting or a 537-to-one ratio in favor]

DECREE ON THE CONTEMPORARY RENEWAL OF RELIGIOUS LIFE: October 28 [1965]: Solemn final voting (2321 for, 4 against) [0.17% dissenting or a 580-to-one ratio in favor]

DECREE ON PRIESTLY LIFE AND MINISTRY: December 4 [1965]: Solemn final voting (2390 for, 4 against) [0.17% dissenting or a 598-to-one ratio in favor]

DECREE ON PRIESTLY FORMATION: October 28 [1965]: Solemn final voting (2318 for, 3 against) [0.13% dissenting or a 773-to-one ratio in favor]

DECREE ON THE LAY APOSTOLATE: November 18 [1965]: Solemn final voting (2305 for, 2 against) [0.087% dissenting or an 1153-to-one ratio in favor]

DECREE ON THE PASTORAL OFFICE OF BISHOPS: October 28 [1965]: Solemn final voting (2319 for, 2 against) [0.086% dissenting or an 1160-to-one ratio in favor] 

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Related Reading

See many related articles by searching “Vatican II” on my Catholic Church and Ecclesiology web page.

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Photo credit: manhhai (9-20-12). Pope John XXIII leads the opening session of the Second Vatican Council in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 11, 1962 [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license]

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Summary: The bishops of Vatican II (over 2000 in number) overwhelmingly agreed on the documents passed. The highest dissent was only 7.7% & 10 of 16 had less than 0.51% dissent.