ABSTRACT
In a recent interview with the Italian atheist Eugenio Scalfari, Pope Francis spoke of the vision of his predecessors Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI in the Second Vatican Council. Here, in a Church still coming to terms with the social and technological impact of world war, the Roman Catholic Church sought to look afresh at the modern world and seek how to engage with it. The documents of the Second Vatican Council were on our Church, ministry and sacraments syllabus when the author was a student in Durham. In response to Pope Francis and his affirmation of this vision of the Council, Scalfari made a significant observation: Modern society throughout the world is going through a period of deep crisis, not only economic but also social and spiritual Even we non-believers feel this almost anthropological weight. The context in which we undertake this apologetics is complex.
