sample Rev. Valentine J. Peter An inventory of Val J. Peter's collection at The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives Finding aid prepared by Vanessa Taylor. The American Catholic Research Center and University Archives December 2011
101 LifeCycle InstituteThe Catholic University of AmericaWashington, D.C. 20064
 Finding aid encoded by Vanessa Taylor on December 2011 English Descriptive Summary The American Catholic Research Center and University Archives 1958-1965 Rev. Valentine J. Peter, 1934 - Present The Rev. Val J. Peter - Vatican Council II Collection 3 linear feet; 7 boxes The Val J. Peter - Vatican Council II Collection contains published and non-published documents associated with Peter's involvement in the Second Vatican Council, including schema from various commissions, as well as information about some of the efforts taken by the Council to reach out to the laity. 315 Primarily English and Latin, with some French, Italian Biographical Note

Father Valentine "Val" Peter was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on November 20, 1934. He earned doctorate degrees in both canon law and theology from Gregorian University, University of St. Thomas, and Lateran University, all in Rome. He was ordained in 1959, and attended the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. After returning to America, by 1969, he was building homes in the Johnson War on Poverty under Section 234 and 235 of the Great Poverty Act with HUD (Housing and Urban Development) funds. He then became involved with Boys Town, an orphanage that promoted "help, hope and healing" for abused, abandoned, and neglected children. During his tenure, he expanded the mission to be called Boys and Girls Town and helped 43,000 children at 19 sites in 15 states, as well as Washington, DC.

In 1984, he received The Archbishop Daniel E. Sheehan award, which recognizes priests and brothers who have been outstanding leaders in their communities in Nebraska. Some of his other awards and distinctions include: Who's Who in America; presidential award from the National Association of Homes and Services for Children in 1999; Nebraska Foundation's 2007 Nebraskalander of the Year, and the 2000 Wallenberg Humanitarian Award (New York Chapter). He also served as the associate pastor of Dowd Chapel, Boys Town, NE, He served as the fourth Executive Director of Boys Town, from June 15, 1985, until his retirement on July 1, 2005. Peter also served on the boards or committees of more than 20 national and local organizations. In 2009, he was banned from visiting inmate Tracey Dyess in a women's prison in Iowa. He had been counseling her since her imprisonment in 2005 for killing her sister and brother in a fire, which intended to kill her step-father, who allegedly abused the children. Peter was banned from counseling her after he refused to surrender notes from a visit, and then ate part of his notes and shredded the rest. Since his retirement, he continues to write for a number of publications, as well as contributes to some online editorials.

Scope and Contents

The Val J. Peter - Vatican II collection consists of the documents he acquired during the preparation for and convening of the Second Vatican Council. Peter's collection includes the public documents from a variety of the commissions, including on ecumenism, the role of the laity, and the Church in the Modern World. His collection also reveals more about what it entailed to stay in Rome during the Council. He kept hotel information, newspapers from Vatican City, and the contact information to reach other participants. Peter also kept programs from various masses he attended, as well as encyclicals and sermons, and even a program from an opera that participants of the Council attended. Those particular materials iterate that the Council was more than solely focused on clarifying church doctrine; it was about building a community among the participants. He also kept pamphlets concerning the use of communication - which was one of the major legacies of the Council. It became increasingly evident that in order to reach out to the laity, it was necessary to turn to effective and popular forms of media, such as the radio. The National Catholic Welfare Conference convened and received literature on effective broadcasting. Other notes show that the National Catholic Welfare Conference also convened to discuss several schemata, and admitted several new countries to the International Committee. Rev. Val Peter also kept some blank copies of emendation forms: these would have been circulated among participants when discussing various schema and proposed changes.

Arrangement

The Val J. Peter collection consists of 4 series:

Series 1: Life at Vatican II outside of the Congregation,1958-1965, Box 1Series 2: Publications, Drafts and Bound Official Vatican Documents, 1962-1965, Boxes 2-6Series 3: Miscellaneous, 1962-1965, Box 7 Series 4: Photograph, 1962, Box 7 None

Related Material

At the American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives:

 Index Terms

This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.

Persons: Val J. Peter Organizations: National Catholic Welfare Conference Second Vatican Council Places: Rome Subjects: Declaration on Christian Education Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions Decree on Ecumenism Decree on the Media Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops Decree on the Renewal of Religious Life Decree on the Training of Priests Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Acquisition Information

The American participants who attended the Second Vatican Council met shortly before its conclusion in 1965 at the North American College in Rome. In this meeting, presided over by Cardinal Joseph Ritter, they authorized a centralized depository. These papers and publications were then shipped to CUA in 1971. The Val Peter papers were then created as a separate collection in February 2009.

 Processing Information

Processing completed in December 2011 by Vanessa Taylor. EAD markup completed in December 2011 by Vanessa Taylor.

Bibliography Rynne, Xavier. Vatican Council II. New York: Orbis Books, 1999.

 Detailed Description of the Collection Series 1: Life at Vatican II outside of the Congregation, 1958-1965, Box 1

The first series of the Val Peter collection shows what life was like in Rome on the eve of and during the Second Vatican Council. This includes newspapers from Vatican City, hotel information, as well as some of the correspondence that took place among the American participants, such as notes from the National Catholic Welfare Conference. The languages of the materials in this series include English, Italian, and Latin.

1 1 Ordines (Mass Programs) from Vatican II, 1964-1965

Documents in Latin

 1 2 Newspapers from Vatican City concerning the election of Pope John XXIII, Vatican II, TIME Magazine on Christian Renewal, 1958-1965

Documents in English, Italian

 1 3 Logistical information concerning the participants of Vatican II and hotel information , c.1961-1965

Documents in English, Italian

 1 4 Blank copies of forms for editing schema and decreta, Program from Domenico Bartolucci's Opera Peter and Paul - performed for the Council, Prayerbook issued by L.U.C.E. (Universal Catholic League of Educators), New Documents from Ecumenical Councils (Fourth Lateran Council to First Vatican Council), c.1958-1965

Documents in English, Italian

 1 5 National Catholic Welfare Conference - Research on Effective Broadcasting, Budget, Biographies of Committee Members, Pamphlets on the use of radio in American homes, Latin schema on the Instruments of Social Communication, 1963-1965

Documents in English, Latin

 1 6 Report to the U.S. Hierarchy on the Meeting of the International Committee, misc. stationary of Val. Peter, 1964

Documents in English

 1 7 Correspondence to Most. Rev. Gerald T. Bergan, 1963

Documents in English

 Series 2: Publications, Drafts and Bound Official Vatican Documents, 1962-1965, Boxes 2-6

This second series contains a number of preliminary council documents on the various commissions (Val Peter possessed a notably diverse collection of commission materials). These include drafts, schemata, emendations, and final bounded copies. The majority of these documents were written in Latin, though this series also includes some drafts and publications in English.

 2 1 Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 1963

Documents in Latin

 2 2 Declaration on Christian Education, 1963-1965

Documents in Latin, English

 2 3 Documents on the Decree on the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite, 1963-1964

Documents in Latin

 2 4 On The Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religious (Statement made by the Most Reverend Francis P. Leipzig), Guidelines in Relations with the Jews, 1964-1965

Documents in Latin, English

 2 5 Emmendations and Schemata on Dogmatic Constitution on The Church, 1963-1964

Documents in Latin

 2 6 Documents concerning The Church and the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life, 1964-1965

Documents in Latin

 2 7 Declaration of Religious Freedom, 1965

Documents in English

 2 8 Documents on the Declaration Religious Freedom, 1965

Documents in Latin

 3 1 Outline of the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World and Letters Concerning War, 1965

Documents in English

 3 2 Draft and Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World: a N.C.W.C. translation endorsed by the Bishops of the United States, 1965

Documents in English

 3 3 Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World and Textus Recognitus et Relationes Partes I and II, 1965

Documents in Latin

 3 4 Relatio and Translated Schema on the Church in the Modern World including Schema by Most Reverend Marcos McGrath, C.S.C., Bishop of Santiago de Varaguas Panama and Circulated Suggestions for Changes, 1964-1965

Documents in Latin, English

 3 5 Schema on the Church in the Modern World, 1964-1965

Documents in Latin

 3 6 Documentary Report concerning the Church in the Modern World - From Fr. James Stewart to Most Rev. Gerald T. Bergan, 1965

Documents in English

 4 1 Concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, 1962-1964

Documents in Latin

 4 2 Schema on the Sacrament of Marriage, 1963-1964

Documents in Latin, with English Draft

 4 3 Unpublished Schema on the Decree of the Lay Apostolate, 1964-1965

Documents in English

 4 4 Published Schema, decreti and collected documents on the Lay Apostolate, 1964-1965

Documents in Latin

 4 5 Drafted Schema of the Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church, 1964

Documents in English

 4 6 Schema, Decreti, Emendations on the Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church, 1964-1965

Documents in Latin, with English commentary

 5 1 Draft of Decree on Ecumenism, 1963-1964

Documents in English

 5 2 Schema, Relatio, Decretum and Constitutio on Ecumenism, 1963-1964

Documents in Latin (with some handwritten comments on the Constitutio)

 5 3 Documents concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church: drafts, emendations, schema, 1964-1965

Documents in Latin, English

 5 4 Concerning the Institution of the Priesthood: Schema, Relatio, Emendationes, 1964-1965

Documents in Latin, English

 5 5 On The Priest's Ministry and Life: Textus Emendatus, Relationes, Decreti, Relationes, Quaestita, Schema, 1965

Documents in Latin, English

 6 1 Copies of Intimatio Per Cursores Facienda, Domi Dimisso Exemplari - A Papal Mandate (Pope Paul VI), 1965

Documents in Latin

 6 2 Emendations Concerning Constitution the Sacred Liturgy, 1962

Documents in Latin

 6 3 Schemata on the Care of Souls, 1963

Documents in Latin

 6 4 Relatio, Emendations of De Episcopis ac de Diocesium Regimine, 1963

Documents in Latin

 6 5 Quaesitum, Schema, Textus Emendatus on De Ecclesia, 1963-1964

Documents in Latin

 6 6 Disputed Schemata and Elenchus, 1964

Documents in Latin

 6 7 Miscellaneous Schema, 1961-1965

Documents in Latin

 6 8 Revised Draft of the Constitution on the Church, 1965

Documents in English

 6 9 Documents on the Recognition of Indulgences, 1965

Documents in Latin

 Series 3: Miscellaneous, 1962-1965, Box 7

This series contains a variety of kinds of sources: a bound book that summarizes spoken statements and voting results from the fourth session, constitutions and decrees, papal encyclicals and sermons, digests, and magazine clippings containing images from the Council.

 7 1 Council Digest of the 4th Session of Vatican II, Summary of spoken statements and voting results (Prepared for the Council Fathers of the United States), Letter Summarizing the 166th General Congregation of Vatican II, 1965

Documents in English

 7 2 Constitutions and Decrees Concerning Debates in the Sessions, 1962-1963

Documents in Latin

 7 3 Decrees and Declarations in a Public Session: On the Church in the World, on the Renovation of Religious Life, on the Institution of Marriage, on Christian Education, and on Relations with Non-Christians, 1965

Documents in Latin

 7 4 Collection of Letters from the Documentatie Centrum Concilie Concerning Mediation, Missionaries, Marriage, War, and Study on anti-Semitism among Catholics in America - By Abbè R. Laurentin, Herman and Lena Buelens, Dr. de Valk, Dr. J. Lichten, 1964

Documents in English

 7 5 Papal Encyclicals and Letters: On Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty - John XXIII, Mysterium Fidei - De Doctrina et Cultu Ss. Eucharistiae - Pope Paul VI, 1963, 1965

Documents in Latin, English

 7 6 Misc. from the Secretary General - Pericles Felici, n.d.

Documents in Italian, Latin

 7 7 Council Digests for the American Council Fathers, 1964

Documents in English

 7 8 Sermon by Pope Paul VI, Schema on the Calendar (Simple and Perpetual), 1965

Documents in Latin

 7 9 Nova et Vetera magazine (affiliated with the North American College in Rome) with images, 1965

Documents in English, Latin

 7 10 Cut-out photo of Council from "The Sign" with head circled and labeled "Me!" (Presumably Val Peter), 1965

Documents in English

 Series 4: Photograph, 1962, Box 7

This series contains one photograph from 1962 at St. Anastasia's in Rome.

 7 11 : Black and white photo - at St. Anastasia's Ash Wednesday, March 7, 1962

Caption in English