At the time when the Pontifical Council for the Laity was known as the Consilium de Laicis (1967-1976), Saint John Paul II was a consultor right from the beginning. Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was then Archbishop of Krakow, and he actively participated by offering his ideas and the fruits of his studies to the process of defining the Consilium. At the plenary assemblies, he insisted that this new dicastery of the Roman Curia that had emerged just after the Second Vatican Council must encourage lay people to take part in all kinds of apostolate.

We are happy to make available here a reflection on the nature and goal of the Consilium de Laicis written by Cardinal Karol Wojtyla.

This unpublished document entitled “Consilium de Laicis, quid dicis de te ipso” was written by Karol Wojtyla on 2 December 1968 and delivered to the secretary of the dicastery. The original Polish version and the French and English translations are kept in the historical archives of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

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