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The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) |
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Background: Vat. I had been interrupted by Franco-Prussian War. Vat. I had defined the position of the Pope in the Church. But another council had to complete its labors by defining the position of the bishops, the clergy and the laity. Moreover the complexity and the profundity of the changes which had overtaken the world and the Church in the first decades of the 2oth century demanded the attention and consultation of all the bishops of the Catholic world. Pope John XXIII (1958-1963), a few months after his election as Pope, announced his intention in January 1959 to convene the Second Vatican Council to renew the Church and further the cause of Christian unity. The for Pope renewal meant new energy for the apostolate, a new impulse to Christian living, new forms adapted to modern circumstances, the presentation of the Church’s teaching in more intelligible terms, and more vigorous service the mankind. The Pope saw in the projected council a striking manifestation of the Church’s unity. The full council met for two or three months in the fall of each year from 1962 to 1965. Some sessions of the council were attended by more than 2,500 bishops representing the largest part of the Catholic episcopacy. Anglican, Orthodox and Protestant observers were invited to be present. Each of the 16 documents published by the council was approved by an overwhelming majority of those voting. The documents embody the contribution of both conservative and liberal churchmen, the conservatives being intent on preserving the gains of the past while the liberals were anxious to introduce necessary changes. The objectives of both groups were by no means incompatible, and it is the task of theologians to integrate the doctrinal elements introduced by both groups. To implement the conciliar documents, the Pope established several commissions. The council itself described the contemporaneous situation. The world is changing rapidly. Change has brought serious difficulties in its wake. The result is an anomalous state of affairs: abundance of wealth, resources and economic power but yet a huge proportion of the world’s citizens are still tormented by hunger and poverty, illiteracy. Keen understanding of freedom, yet new forms of social and psychological slavery. Very vivid awareness of its unity and dependence on one another in needful solidarity, yet torn into opposing camps and conflicting forces. Political, social, economic, racial and ideological disputes, peril of war. Growing exchange of ideas but the very words by which key concepts are expressed take on quite different meanings in diverse ideological systems. Man searches for a better world without a corresponding spiritual advancement. The changes of which the council spoke are part of a revolution. Mathematics, natural science, technology, biology, psychology, and the social sciences are shaping man’s point of view in an increasing measure. The human race has passed from a rather static concept of reality to a more dynamic, evolutionary one. Society is becoming industrialized, urbanized, and socialized. The media of communication are being perfected. These changes have had the effect of calling accepted values and even religion into question especially in the minds of young people. Changes have created imbalance and contradiction – among nations and classes. Many people call for, and even demand, the redress of this imbalance. At the root of this demand is the desire for a full and free life worthy of a man. According to the council, atheism is one of the most serious problems of the age. One sector of modern atheists denies the existence of a God because recognition of such a God would restrict man’ freedom to be the sole artisan and creator of his own history. Another sector (Marxists) rejects the existence of God because recognition of God diverts man’s energy from striving for economic and social emancipation by the promise of a better future life. Three months before Vat. II published its constitution on the Church, Pope Paul VI published his encyclical Ecclesiam Suam (1964). The Pope had three reasons for writing the encyclical: 1) to reflect upon the mystery of the Church; 2) to find the way to renewal of the Churn, and 3) to discuss the relationship between the Church and the world. The Church needs to reflect upon herself. She must learn to know herself better if she wishes to be faithful to her mission. The Church has roots deep in mankind for she is part of it. The changes which mankind is undergoing at the present time make a restudy of the Church’s role mandatory. This restudy must be undertaken according to the mind of Christ as it is revealed in the NT and tradition. The Pope desired the Church to be faithful as possible to the pattern set by Christ. To achieve this ideal, the Pope enumerated certain norms for the reform of the Church. Reform cannot touch either the essential concept of the Church or its basic structure. But there is need for new forms which are commonly acceptable and suited to the character of the times. It is the task of the council to decide specifically what new forms are to be introduced. 2 needs at the moment: the spirit of poverty and the spirit of charity. Relationship between the Church and the world. The Church must recognize the existence of sin in the world. The Church must speak to the world about problems that concern it and in terms which the world understands. The Church speaks to men in imitation of God who has spoken to them through revelation in the course of salvation history. The dialogue which the Church wishes to initiate with the world must be characterized by clarity, meekness, trust and prudence on the part of the Church. For this dialogue the Church must seek identification with those who are to be evangelized and try to understand their position. The Church ought to dialogue with the whole of mankind, atheists, Jews, Moslems, and separated Christians. Stress what is common rather than what divides us. The Pope expressed the hope that dialogue between the Church and the world would be a pattern for dialogue among men and lead to peace.
CONSTITUION ON THE CHURCH Lumen Gentium reflected on the mystery of the Church more deeply and extensively. The Church is a mystery because it is part of God’s hidden plan of salvation which was revealed in Jesus Christ. The Church is an essentially transcendent, supernatural entity. The origin and continued existence of the Church is bound up with the inner life of the Blessed Trinity. The Church receives its mission from Jesus himself. Scriptures use various metaphors – sheepfold, piece of land, temple, holy city, etc. – to explain the nature of the Church. Also body of Christ, compared to the incarnate Word. Visible social structure. This Church subsists (fully) in the Roman Catholic Church although many elements of sanctification and truth are found outside its visible structure. The Church is called to follow Christ in humility and self-sacrifice. God has chosen to bring men to himself not as isolated individuals, but as a people. He chose Israel as a people to prefigure the new covenant. The new messianic people has Christ for its head and it is the Church. Christ made the new people of God as a race of priests, prophets and kings. They exercised their priesthood by offering themselves as living sacrifices to God and through the sacraments. They exercise the prophetic role by giving witness through a life of faith, charity and praise. The entire body of the faithful cannot err in matters of belief. The Holy Spirit also gives special graces or charisms to the faithful. The people of God is destined to embrace all people; and all men are called to belong to it. Full incorporation in the Church, the people of God, is a matter of visible communion with the Pope and bishops. The Church undertakes missionary activity to bring unbelievers to the knowledge of Christ. Particular groups within the Church. Hierachy. Reaffirnmed Vat. I on the Roman Pontiff. Bishops. By divine institution they have succeeded to the place of the apostles. The Roman Pontiff and the bishops constitute the apostolic college which is the subject of supreme and full authority. This college exercise its authority in an ecumenical council. Bishops are teachers, priests, and shepherds. As a group, the whole body of bishops is infallible when they teach the faithful with one voice about matters of faith and morals. As individuals, bishops are not infallible, nevertheless they speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to adhere to their teaching with a religious assent. Bishops are the high priests of the local liturgy. As vicars and ambassadors of Chits, they govern the particular churches entrusted to them, exercising their pastoral office after the manner of the Good Shepherd. Priests are the helpers of bishops in their magisterial, sacerdotal and pastoral responsibilities. At a lower level, deacons are ordained to a ministry of service. Laity. They are all the faithful except those in holy orders or a state of religious life especially approved by the Church. The laity seek the kingdom of God by engaging in secular professions and occupations. They are to apply the principles of the Gospel to those situations accessible to them alone. As a priestly people, they can offer all their works as spiritual sacrifices to God. As a prophetic people, they can give testimony to the faith by word and deed. Christ has communicated His royal power to the laity that they might be established in royal freedom, conquer sin, and lead other to that King whom to serve is to rule. The laity ought to learn the meaning and value of all creation and strive to remedy the customs and conditions of the world. The laity have the right to receive the spiritual goods of the Church from their pastors, and they should openly reveal their needs to them. The Church is indefectibly holy. Each member of the Church is called to holiness – the love of God and neighbor. Each one can cultivate holiness in the state to which he is called, the ministers of the Church by fidelity to their ministry, the laity by their secular occupations and responsibilities. Holiness is fostered by reception of the sacraments, liturgical worship, prayer, self-denial, and the observance of the evangelical counsels, poverty, chastity and obedience. Religious practice the evangelical counsels in a state especially approved by the Church. The religious state manifests clearly that the kingdom of God surpasses all earthly considerations. The Church will attain its full perfection only in the glory of heaven. The profound restoration has already begun in Christ. Joined with Christ in the Church we are sons of God but we have not yet appeared with Christ in Glory. There is a union of charity and a communion of spiritual goods between the saints in heaven, the dead who are being purified and those who are exiled on earth. The Virgin Mary is the mother of God. She is the mother of men in the order of grace. She cooperated with her divine Son in the work of saving men and she continues to intercede for them in heaven. Mary is a type of the Church inasmuch as she is a mother and a virgin. Because she is the mother of God, she is justly venerated by the Church. Veneration of Mary is simply the recognition and approbation of God’s work in her and through her.
CONSTITUTION ON THE SACRED LITURGY. Sacrosanctum Concilium reaffirmed the teaching of Pius XII’s Mediator Dei. Christ is always present in His Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. In the liturgy the whole public worship is performed by the mystical body of Christ, that is, by the head and His members. Every liturgical celebration is a sacred action surpassing all others. Men can come to the liturgy because they are called to faith and conversion. The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed. The Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to full, conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations. Some elements of the liturgy are divine in origin; they are immutable. Other elements are human in origin; they are subject to change. When liturgical changes are made certain norms must be observed. Regulation of the sacred liturgy depends solely on the authority of the Church, that is, the Holy See and the bishop because of doctrinal, liturgical and pastoral responsibility. A second norm of liturgical revision is based upon the variety of offices which exists within the Church as a worshipping community. Liturgical services should involve the whole local community, each member actively participating according to his specific role. A third norm has to do with didactic and pastoral purposes of the liturgy. The rites of the Church should be simple, short, clear, and without repetition so that the faithful may be instructed and edified. Finally, liturgical rites should make provision for cultural adaptations in accordance with the needs of different national and racial groups. The remaining paragraphs of the constitution are devoted to the practical application of these principles to the Holy Eucharist, the other sacraments and sacramentals, the divine office, the liturgical year, sacred music, art and furnishings.
CONSTITUTION ON DIVINE REVELATION Dei Verbum teaches that God has chosen to reveal Himself by deeds and words in the history of salvation. (to the fathers by the prophets, last of all to us by His Son). The obedience of faith is appropriate response to God who has revealed Himself. What the apostles learned from Christ they handed on by preaching, example, and writing. The apostolic preaching is expressed in a special way in the inspired books of the NT. The tradition which comes from the apostles developed in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit through a growth in understanding. The ask of interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on, has been entrusted exclusively to the living, teaching office of the Church. Sacred tradition, Sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church are so linked together that one cannot stand without the others and each in its own way contribute effectively to the salvation of souls. The books of both the Old and the New Testament were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The have God as their author who employed men in writing them. The Scriptures teach without error that truth that God wishes to communicate for the salvation of men. The interpreter must discover the meaning the sacr3ed writers really intended. The interpretation of the Scriptures is subject finally to the judgment of the Church to whom they have been entrusted. The Church must be nourished and guided by Sacred Scripture which is employed so widely in the liturgy. Easy access to the Scriptures should be provided to all the faithful. The study of the sacred page must be the soul of theology. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.
CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH IN THE MODERN WORLD Gaudium et Spes described in some detail the effects of change upon the world. It reaffirmed the dignity of the human persons. The human person was created in the image of God. He is capable of knowing and loving his creator. He is the master of all earthly creatures. Though made of body and soul, he is one. In his heart he has a law written by God. He is free and only in freedom can he direct himself toward goodness. He is called to communion with God. It is the incarnate Son of God who fully reveals man to himself. Conclusions. There must be made available to all men everything necessary for leading a life truly human, such as food, clothing, and shelter; the right to choose a state of life freely and to found a family, the right to education, to employment, to a good reputation, to respect, to appropriate information, to activity in accord with the upright norm of one’s own conscience, to protection of privacy and to rightful freedom, even in matters religious. All men are basically equal. Every type of discrimination whether social or cultural, whether based on sex, race, color, social condition, language or religion, is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God’s intent. The equal dignity of persons demands that a more humane and just condition of life be brought about. Excessive economic and social differences among men violate the dignity of the human persons. Dignity of human activity. Mankind has received a mandate from the creator to subject the earth and all it contains to himself (man). By his labor he implements the plan of his creator. The marvelous achievements of human activity are not opposed to the works of God. Theses advancements are the fulfillment of God’s design. But human activity must contribute to the genuine good of the human race and enables men, as individuals and members of society, to attain their purpose in life. Thus it is good and praiseworthy. The things of this world are regulated by their own principles which man must discover and utilize. The Church has no fear that the discovery of these principles will be harmful to religion, for both the world and religion are derived from the same God. The creature may never be totally divorced from the creator. These remarks about the dignity of the human person and his activity clarify the relationship between the Church and the world. The purpose of the Church can be realized fully only in the future world; but the Church serves as a leaven in this world by sustaining human dignity and revealing the total dimensions of human activity. In its discussion of the place of the Church in the modern world, Vatican II singled out a number of subjects for particular consideration: marriage and the family, human culture, the social, economic and political dimensions of modern life, the relationship between nations and peace. The council examined each of these subjects in the light of the gospel and human experience.
DECREE ON ECUMENISM Unitatis Redintegratio reiterates the restoration of unity among Christians which was one of the principal objectives of Vatican II. Divisions among Christians are opposed to the will of Christ and scandalize the world. The ecumenical movement aims at healing these divisions. It is only through Christ’s Catholic Church, committed to Peter, the apostolic college and their successors that one can benefit fully from the means of salvation. All should be fully incorporated in this Church; nevertheless, those who are members of separated Churches but believe in Christ and have been truly baptized are in communion with the Catholic Church even though this communion is imperfect. An important means for promoting the ecumenical movement is dialogue. The purpose of dialogue is to give experts from different Churches the opportunity to explain teaching of their communion in greater depth. The Church can foster Christian unity by renewing herself. Christ summons the Church to constant renewal. There can be no ecumenism without a change of heart. Change of heart along with public and private prayer is the soul of the ecumenical movement. There is danger however that they may belie their disunity. When Catholics engage in dialogue with non-Catholics, they may present the Catholic faith without equivocation, remembering though that there is hierarchy of truths. Cooperation in a social apostolate can bring Catholics and non-Catholics together. The ecumenical activity must take into consideration two major divisions that now rend Christendom – the division between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Churches and the division between the Catholic Church and the Christian Churches and communities of the West. The dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Christian Churches of the East and West is subject to certain dangers. One is superficiality that fails to disclose accurately the positions of the parties involved. Another is the possibility of raising needless obstacles by preconceived judgments. Despite these dangers, and notwithstanding the very serious differences that now divide Christians, they will not be dismayed in their quest for unity. They will be encouraged by the prayer of Jesus “that all may be one.”
DECREE ON MISSION ACTIVITY Ad Gentes declares the pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature. What the Lord preached or what was accomplished in Him for the salvation of the human race must be spread abroad and published to the ends of the earth. The Church has received an express command from its founder to this effect. The missionary activity of the Church is to be distinguished from its pastoral and ecumenical activity. The pastoral activity of the Church is concerned with the faithful themselves; the ecumenical activity is directed toward the restoration of Christian unity, but the missionary activity seeks to establish the Church where it does not exist already. The nature of missionary activity and related term missions are explained in this way: Missions is the term given to those particular undertakings by which the heralds of the Gospel, sent out by the Church and going forth into the whole world, carry out the task of preaching the Gospel and planting the Church, among people or groups who do not yet believe in Christ. These undertakings are brought to completion by missionary activity and are mostly exercised in certain territories recognized by the Holy See. The proper purpose of this missionary activity is evangelization and the planting of the Church among those peoples and groups where it has not yet take4n root. By means of this activity, the Church gathers and directs its forces toward its own growth. The members of the Church are impelled to carry out such missionary activity by reason of the love with which they love God and by which they desire to share with all men the spiritual goods of both this life and the life to come. The missionary activity of the Church is committed to an enormous task, for two billion human beings have not yet heard the Christian message. T bring the Christian message to this vast number of people, the Church must rely heavily upon those Catholics who live among them or who have been sent to them. These Catholics can bear testimony to the truth by living according to the maxims of the gospel, by associating themselves with the common struggle against poverty, disease and ignorance, by identification with the people among whom they live. The work of planting the Church in a community reaches an intermediate stage of development when it achieves a certain stability. This stability is marked by the integration of the faithful into the life of the community, by the presence of native ministers and laymen, and by the existence of those institutions and activates that are necessary for the growth of the Church. Missionaries are the vanguard of the Church’s missionary activity. The Holy Spirit calls certain religious congregations and individuals to undertake missionary activity. Fruitful missionary activity requires that that missionaries be trained properly, have competent knowledge about the Catholic faith, a grasp of the universality of the Church and the diversity of peoples, an insight into the character of the people to whom he is sent, fluency in their language and skill in the art of communication. The missionary should be characterized by initiative, perseverance, an open mind and heart, flexibility and a spirit of cooperation. The missionary in the field need and, indeed are entitled to the support of the entire Church, for evangelization is the duty of every member of the Church according to his position and capacity. Individual bishops are obliged to enter into a community of work among themselves and with the successor of Peter. With all their energy, they must supply to the missions both workers for the harvest and also spiritual and material aid as well as by arousing the ardent cooperation of the faithful. Bishops, in a universal fellowship of charity, should gladly extend their fraternal aid to other churches, especially to neighboring and more needy dioceses. Priests are collaborators of the bishops; hence, they too have a responsibility toward the missions. The contributions that priests can make to the missions are as follows: stir up and preserve amid the faithful a zeal for the evangelization of the world by instructing them in sermons and Christian doctrine courses about the Church’s task of announcing Christ to all nations, by enlightening Christian families about the necessity and honor of fostering missionary vocations, by promoting missionary fervor in young people. Teach the people to pray for the missions, and ask alms of them for this purpose. Evangelization cannot go forward without the cooperation of laymen in all these matters. The mobilization of every resource within the Church is necessary to cope with the immense challenge of the missions.
DECLARATION ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Religious freedom has to do with immunity from coercion in civil society. It has nothing to do with the moral duty of men to embrace the truth and the Church of Christ. Every human person has right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and by any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his won beliefs, whether publicly or privately, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits. Religious freedom, however, is not unlimited; it is subject to certain regulatory norms. In the use of all freedoms the moral principle of personal and social responsibility is to be observed, that is, to have respect both for the right of others and for the common welfare of all. Jesus did not employ force to gain acceptance for His message. He left each man free to hear the truth and be guided by his own conscience. The apostles also acted in similar manner. They sought to convert men to Christianity, but they eschewed coercion., They preached the word of God with confidence that the word itself was capable of winning me’s hearts. If the Church is to be faithful to the example of Christ and the apostles, the Church may not force anyone to accept the Catholic religion. In turn the Church claims freedom for itself. The freedom of the Church is the fundamental principle regulating its relationship to the Sate. The Church claims freedom for herself as a spiritual society charged with the mandate of preaching the gospel to every creature. The Church also claims freedom for herself in a society of men who have the right to live in society in accordance with the precepts of the Christian faith. The Church applauds those modern States which have recognized the right to religious freedom; but the Church deplores the fact that certain governments repress religion even though the right to religious freedom is recognized in their constitutions. |
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