The Spirit of Vatican II: Western European Progressive Catholicism in the Long SixtiesVatican II profoundly changed the outlook and the message of the Catholic Church. After decades, if not centuries, in which Catholic public opinion appeared to be primarily oriented towards the distant past and bygone societal models, suddenly the Catholic Church embraced the world as it was, and it joined in the struggle to create a radiant future. The Sixties were a time of great socio cultural and political ferment in Europe as a whole. Especially