VATICAN IIConcilium Oecumenicum Vaticanum Secundum

• Vatican II became the Twenty first Ecumenical Council. • The council opened the Vatican II  pontificate of Pope John XXIII on

11 October 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1965.

• The second vatican council was given birth by what most theologians such as Karl Rahner, SJ, Michael Herbert, and John Courtney Murray, SJ who looked to integrate modern human experience with church principles based on Jesus Christ.

• During these times the Bishops had a difficulty on governing the church due to many lacking of the Vatican Council I. What is lacking is the pastoral issues concerning the church.

• Pope John XXIII gave his attention to this issue, hence just after he became a pope he pushed through the SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL.

POPE JOHN III

• It was at his time as a Pope when we called to convene at the Council on 25 January 1959 less than three months after his election on1958.

• Council was formally summoned by the apostolic constitution Humanae Salutis on 25 December 1961.

Preparations

First Period:• Pope John XXII opened the Council on 11 October 1962 in a public

session and read the declaration Gaudet Mater Ecclesia before the Council Fathers.

• October 11 1962-Pope John XXII opened the Council.• 13 October 1962- start the initial working of the session for

VATICAN II.– To elect members for 10 counciliar commission.– Each council would have 16 elected and 8 appointed members.

• Senior French Cardinal Achille Liénart-asked to post pone the election since bishops can not vote for strangers. It was a time for them to make a list.

Second Period:1963• Pope Paul VI- correct some mistakes of the former period.• 29 September 1963 Pope Paul VI opening stressed the need of pastoral nature of council.• These are some of the ideas he stressed.

– to define more the fully the nature of the church and the role of bishop.– To renew the church – To restore unity among the Christians, including those seeking pardon.– To start the dialogue with the contemporary world.

• During this period is when they approved the constitution of liturgy( (Sacrosanctum Concilium) and the decree on the media of social communication (Inter Mirifica).

The Dogmatic Constitution of the Church(Lumen Gentium)

• Approved on Nov 21, 1964• Set the new major focus of the church.• Church:

– The church is in Christ; it is a sacrament of Christ, a mystery of depth. (1)– It is the Body of Christ. (3, 7)– It is led by the bishops, bound as a college, in unity with the pope, in a bond of charity and peace. (Ch 3) – It is led by the bishops, bound as a college, in unity with the pope, in a bond of charity and peace. (Ch 3) – We are part of the great “communion of saints” bound together in God’s love. (47-

51) – Those in other Christian churches are also related to us. (15)– The call to holiness is universal, and the way to holiness is love. (Ch 5)

• Bishop– The primary role of the bishop is to shepherd God’s people. (21) – The ministry of the bishop is that of a servant to the people of God. (24)

Dogmatic Constitution of Divine Revelation(Dei Verbum)

• It states that the church must move with time.• Nov. 8, 1965• All revelation is complete in Jesus Christ. He is the source of all

revelation. The foundation from revelations are brought out is in the Scriptures. (4)

• The eternal truth will not falter though Doctrine and dogma may be expressed in different generations.( 5-6)

• Our response to God’s love is Faith. Faith is expressed through traditions and is handed from one generation to the next.(8)

• Revelation is handed to us by the church.• God wants us to know Him fully.• Over time there must be a growth of our understanding of what God

desires. This growth is expressed in the sacred Tradition.(8)

Constitution on Sacred Liturgy( Sacrosanctum Concilium)

• A document that changes the Liturgy.• Approved on Dec. 4 1963.• Bishops desired:

– To give vigor to the Christian life of the faithful.– To adapt what is changeable to the needs today.– To promote the union among all who believe in Christ.– Strengthen the church’s mission to all mankind.

• It established that the Mass or liturgy is the source and summit of the Christian life.(10)

• The effectiveness of liturgy:– The faithful must be well disposed– Know what they are doing– Participate.

• Some elements are changeable like language or music but some are not like Scripture and Communion.(21)

• It restored the Eucharist as an act than a static devotional object. his meant a down playing of devotions outside of Mass (rosary, benediction, and so forth) in order to focus on the liturgical year and rites. (48)

• Baptism and Eucharist became primary among the sacraments.• reforms

– Simpler rites( 50)– More use of the Bible(51)– Prayer of the faithul(52)– Roles of the Laity(30)

Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.(Gadium et Spes)

• historic document speaking to the church and to all people about the hopes and dreams of the human family.

• "The joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ." (1)

• All human persons have dignity and are our responsibility. (Ch 1) • Everyone must consider his or her neighbor as “another self.” (27) • We should have respect and love for those who think differently than we

do. (28) • God’s voice echoes in our very depths and is called “conscience.” (16)• Treated problems of “special urgency”: Households of faith, culture,

economics, • politics, & war and peace. Called all to support and seek the common

good. (Part 2)• We have an inborn hunger for God. (21)

Decree on Communications

• It is a seldom read document. • It is addressed to the media and those who control it.• Out of touch with overall theology of the council.• Approved on 1963

Decree on Ecumenism(UNITATIS REDINTEGRATIO)

• Approved on Nov. 21 1964• Seeks restoration of ties not return to Rome. • Admits blame for separation was on both sides. • Calls for a change of heart to make ecumenism possible. • Says that sharing in worship may at times be necessary for gaining

of the grace of unity. (8) • Encouraged dialogue and calls for the Roman Church to • reform itself as part of the process of reunion.

Decree on Eastern Catholic Churches(ORIENTALIUM ECCLESIARUM)

• Approve d on Nov. 21 1964• A minor document giving Rome ‘s perspective on the 6 main

Eastern Rite churches: Chaldean, Syrian, Maronite, Coptic, Armenian, and Byzantine.

• It does, however, state an ardent desire for reconciliation and clearly proclaims the equality of the Eastern and Western traditions.

Decree on The Bishops Pastoral Office

• Approved on Oct 28, 1965• Gives a job description for bishop and stresses the need for shared

decision making (collegiality). • Calls for bishops to be servant leaders. • Established diocesan pastoral councils.• “The exercise of this collegiate power in union with the pope is

possible although the bishops are stationed all over the world, provided that the head of the college gives them a call to collegiate action, or, at least, gives the unified action of the dispersed bishops such approval, or such unconstrained acceptance, that it becomes truly collegiate action.”

Decree on Priestly Formation(OPTATAM TOTIUS)

• Approved on Oct 28, 1965.• Allows for local training guidelines to produce priests more ready to

deal with local pastoral realities.• A document calling for training in Scripture, pastoral counselling,

ecumenism and others.

Decree on Apostolate of the Laity(APOSTOLICAM ACTUOSITATEM )

• Approve on Nov. 18,1965• Declares that the laity have a ministry by virtue of their baptisms, not

merely a sharing in the ministry of the ordained. • It is the first document in the history of ecumenical councils to

address itself to anyone other than the church’s own clergy.• “addresses itself to the laity, whose proper and indispensable role in

the mission of the Church has already been dealt with in other documents”

Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priest(PRESBYTERORUM ORDINIS)

• Approved on Dec 7, 1965.• A last minute document which failed to deal with celibacy and left

the priesthood un-renewed in an otherwise largely renewed Catholic Church. A synod later (1970) tried to fix this.

• Calls on priests to support the laity. • Reaffirmed celibacy for priests of the Latin Rite, while • saying that celibacy is not demanded by the very • nature of the priesthood but seems "suitable."

Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priest(PERFECTAE CARITATIS )

• 16. (Celibacy is to be embraced and esteemed as a gift). Perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, commended by Christ the Lord(33) and through the course of time as well as in our own days freely accepted and observed in a praiseworthy manner by many of the faithful, is held by the Church to be of great value in a special manner for the priestly life. It is at the same time a sign and a stimulus for pastoral charity and a special source of spiritual fecundity in the world.(34) Indeed, it is not demanded by the very nature of the priesthood, as is apparent from the practice of the early Church(35) and from the traditions of the Eastern Churches. where, besides those who with all the bishops, by a gift of grace, choose to observe celibacy, there are also married priests of highest merit.... to persevere in their holy vocation so that they may fully and generously continue to expend themselves for the sake of the flock commended to them.(36)

Decree on Missionary Activity(AD GENTES)

• Approved on Dec 7, 1965• Encouraged retaining local, "pagan" religious customs and

incorporating the gospel into them, a radical idea. • Also states that the whole church is missionary.• “The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from

the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father.(1)”

• “The Apostles themselves, on whom the Church was founded, following in the footsteps of Christ, "preached the word of truth and begot churches."(2) It is the duty of their successors to make this task endure "so that the word of God may run and be glorified (2 Thess. 3:1) and the kingdom of God be proclaimed and established throughout the world.”

Decree on The Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life(PERFECTAE CARITATIS )

• Approved Oct 28, 1965• Urged religious women and men to:

– return to their roots, their reasons for being founded– adjust to the needs of changing times in the modern church.

• “The adaptation and renewal of the religious life includes both the constant return to the sources of all Christian life and to the original spirit of the institutes and their adaptation to the changed conditions of our time. ”

• “Therefore let constitutions, directories, custom books, books of prayers and ceremonies and such like be suitably re-edited and, obsolete laws being suppressed, be adapted to the decrees of this sacred synod.”

Declaration on Christian Education(GRAVISSIMUM EDUCATIONIS )

• A weak document which left most of the work to post-conciliar development. Still under study today.

• Approved on Oct.28, 1965. • “Since all Christians have become by rebirth of water and the Holy

Spirit a new creature(8) so that they should be called and should be children of God, they have a right to a Christian education”

Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non- Christians

(Nostra Aetate)

• “ earth shaking document”• Approved on Oct 28, 1965• Began as a statement only about our relations with the Jews but

was widened to say that "the truth" is present outside the Body of Christ and is to be respected

• wherever it is found, mentioning in particular Hinduism, Buddhism, & Islam, as well as Judaism

• The Catholic Church, it states, encourages dialogue and opens itself to the contributions of these others.

• Most importantly, it states that the Jews cannot be blamed as a race for the death of Jesus; they are loved by God and every form of persecution or discrimination is condemned!

• “In our time, when day by day mankind is being drawn closer together, and the ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the Church examines more closely her relationship to non-Christian religions.”

• “No foundation therefore remains for any theory or practice that leads to discrimination between man and man or people and people, so far as their human dignity and the rights flowing from it are concerned”

Declaration on Religious Freedom( DIGNITATIS HUMANAE )

• The most controversial of the Council• Approved on Dec 7, 1965.• Allows for the development of doctrine. • Says that the freedom of persons requires that no one ever be

forced to join the church. • The church claimed freedom for itself in this document, but also for

all religious practice of every kind everywhere.

• This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a 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 of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.