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Document Details :

Title: Le texte de Hasselt
Subtitle: Une étape méconnue de l'histoire du De matrimonia (schéma XIII)
Author(s): LAMBERIGTS, Mathijs , DECLERCK, Leo
Journal: Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses
Volume: 80    Issue: 4   Date: December 2004   
Pages: 485-505
DOI: 10.2143/ETL.80.4.542110

Abstract :
During the third session of the Second Vatican Council, serious critiques were expressed in relation to the text on marriage in schema XIII. In response to the said critiques, a working group was formed under the chair of Msgr. Heuschen with a view to thoroughly revising the text in question. This working group came together in Hasselt, hence the name “Hasselt text”. Partially based on hitherto unpublished archive material, the present study provides the Hasselt text in full and in the form that emerged in January 1965. The remainder of the study endeavours to trace the evolution of the text during the meetings held in Ariccia (February 1 to 6) and Rome (February 8 to 13) and to focus on the document’s reception during the plenary meeting of the Commissio mixta (Rome, March 29 to April 6). It will become evident that, for the most part at least, the Hasselt text survived the various discussions intact. In light of the new schema XIII, approved by Paul VI on May 28 and distributed among the Council Fathers the following June, it will likewise become apparent that the Hasselt text continued to serve as the primary text on the question of marriage. The Hasselt text represents an excellent example of the way in which Belgian and Dutch theologians were able to co-operate with one another in an efficient and constructive manner on an important yet sensitive theme.

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