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In October of 1962, Pope John XXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II as it is more commonly known. Over the course of the three years that the Council was active, they produced 16 documents that represented the largest change in polocy that Roman Catholic Church had undergone in 500 years. Previously mired in the trappings and thoughts of the medieval church, the Vatican II proclamations modernized the church and updated its practices.
This was a time up great upheaval for the people in the church itself, a time when customs and rituals that had been practiced for centuries were altered or done away with. The Brides of Christ, an Australian miniseries from 1993, looks at how the Vatican II changes affected a convent of nuns, and their pupils, living in Sydney during the early sixties.
Each episode of this six part mini-series focuses on a nun or student, and examines how the react to an aspect of the Catholic Church. The series looks at abortion, birth control, teenage sex, love and the role that dissent has in the church. The young, educated Sister Catherine (Josephine Byrnes) often questions the dogma of the church, while her superior, Sister Agnes (Brenda Fricker) takes the position that church rules and teachings should not be questioned.
