Abstract
Vatican II is the equivalent of the Council of Trent for the Catholic Church in dealing with modernity and post-modernity. The major difference between the reception of Trent and the reception of Vatican II is the “global turn” of Catholicism. The Council’s reception takes place in a Catholic Church that is no longer dominated culturally and theologically by its Euro-Mediterranean center. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the rise of international terrorism had an impact on the Catholic Church’s reception of Vatican II. The pontificate of Pope Francis means for the Catholic Church the first pope who was not at Vatican II. Part of the reception process of Vatican II during Pope Francis’ pontificate has been the re-opening of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. Under Francis, the crisis has also become a global Catholic crisis in how Catholics perceive the Vatican itself.