The Function of Speech Acts in a Vatican II Declaration: Gravissimum Educationis

This paper provides an analysis of Gravissimum Educationis, the Vatican II declaration on Christian Education. The paper focusses on speech acts as text signals for an ideal reader within the declaration’s communication framework. To date, speech acts have not been scrutinized in Vatican II constitutions, decrees, or declarations. An analysis of performative utterances in Gravissimum Educationis is presented on the basis of J.R. Searle’s taxonomy on speech acts. The major finding is that in its speech acts, Gravissimum Educationis, as a Vatican II declaration, stands out from previous ecclesiastical documents. As a new form of Church language, it is innovative and, as such, may fit in well with the panegyric literary genre.