Sign of the times (Catholic Church)

For other uses see Sign of the times (disambiguation).

Sign of the times is a phrase strongly associated with Roman Catholicism in the era of the Second Vatican Council. It was taken to mean that the Church should listen to, and learn from, the world around it. In other words it should learn to read the 'sign(s) of the times'.

The phrase dropped out of use in the 1970s. It was particularly used during the Council by Aggiornamentos, one of the two rival groups of clergy attending the Council. Aggiornamentos argued that the Church should be guided by working with, and learning from, the world around it.