DOCSLIB.ORG

Lumen Gentium Presentation Notes: 1 of 3

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Lumen Gentium Presentation Notes: 1 of 3 Lumen Gentium Presentation Notes: 1 of 3 Introduction What is Lumen Gentium? • 1 of 16 documents that were promulgated from the Second Vatican Council. • Dogmatic Constitution of the Church. Vatican II Background • Convened by Pope St. John XXIII in 1962 • Sacrosanctum Concilium: Vatican II document pertaining to worship and liturgy. “This sacred Council has several aims in view: it desires to impart an ever increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions which are subject to change; to foster whatever can promote union among all who believe in Christ; to strengthen whatever can help to call the whole of mankind into the household of the Church” (SC #1). • Pastoral council - meant to renew the church, renew her understanding of herself, and renew her vigor for living and proclaiming the Faith. The ecclesiology of communion is the central and fundamental idea of the Council's documents. Koinonia/communion, founded on the Sacred Scripture, have been held in great honor in the early Church and in the oriental churches to this day. • Lumen Gentium is the central, unifying document of Vatican II. Sources of Lumen Gentium • Tradition and dogmatic formulations of the Council of Trent and the First Vatican Council. • Resourcement Theology: utilizes sources both Biblical and patristic (Church fathers). • Was a re-articulation to make for a more effective, pastoral engagement with the world. Chapter 1: The Mystery of the Church The Visible and the Invisible • Lumen Gentium presents a shift from the primarily juridical and visibilist approach (grace trickling down through the structure of the Church) to an understanding of the Church as mysterium or sacramentum. “Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature, to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church. Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament…” (LG #1). • The things of God are beyond our reason and can only be known by revelation: because God reveals them to us, and makes them known to us. The Church as Family • The mystery of the Church is rooted in the mystery of God and his plan in creation. • The mystery of God is the mystery of the Trinity. • Out of the overflow of the mystery, who is God, comes creation. “The eternal Father, by a free and hidden plan of His own wisdom and goodness, created the whole world. His plan was to raise men to a participation of the divine life. Fallen in Adam, God the Father did not leave men to themselves, but ceaselessly offered helps to salvation, in view of Christ, the Redeemer ‘who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.’” (LG #2) • Family is a primary analogy for the Church. The Church as a Sacrament • The Church is the sign of our communion with God and the unity of all people. It is also the means by which we enter into that communion. “An efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” (CCC #1131). • The Divine Plan is to raise men to participate in divine life and manifest the image of God in the unity of all people. • The Church is an outward sign of Christ and manifests Christ in her worship and in the “love of the brethren.” • The Holy Spirit makes present in every person, in every age, the once-and-for-all saving work of God in Christ. “The Church offers herself as the place of encounter between the divine initiative and human activity. The presence of the Trinity in time and in a certain sense, of time in the Trinity, irreducible to a purely human church and yet a church of people living fully in history.” (Bruno Forte) “The Church is in history, but at the same time she transcends it. It is only ‘with the eyes of faith’ that one can see her in her visible reality and at the same time in her spiritual reality as bearer of divine life. The Church is at the same time: a ‘society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical body of Christ; the visible society and the spiritual community; the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches.’ These dimensions together constitute ‘one complex reality which comes together from a human and a divine element’” (CCC #770-771). Chapter 2: The People of God The Communal Nature of God’s Call to Holiness • God chose to save and sanctify us not as individuals, but as a people and as a community. “God, however, does not make men holy and save them merely as individuals, without bond or link between one another. Rather has it pleased Him to bring men together as one people, a people which acknowledges Him in truth and serves Him in holiness” (LG #9). • God’s plan of salvation begins with bringing together his chosen people (the Israelites), revealing himself and his will to them and establishing a ‘covenant’ with them. “For those who believe in Christ, who are reborn…through the word of the living God, not from the flesh but from water and the Holy Spirit, are finally established as ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people…who in times past were not a people, but are now the people of God’” (1 Pt 2:9-10) (LG #9). • By baptism we are all incorporated into Christ and share in His priestly, prophetic, kingly mission. • The role of Church structure, organization, and hierarchy is to serve the communion of God and the unity of all people. Christ is the source. A Universal Sacrament of Salvation • Lumen Gentium reaffirms that the Church is necessary for salvation. “Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or remain in it, could be saved” (LG #14). • Elements of the church of Christ and the means of salvation, of which the fullness is within the Catholic Church, can also be found outside of the Catholic Church. • There is only one manifestation of the church of Christ in terms of its visible form and its mystical body: the Catholic Church. “Degrees” of Membership in the Body of Christ • Those fully incorporated. • Those who have been baptized “…who, being baptized, are honored with the name of Christian, though they do not profess the faith in its entirety or do not preserve unity of communion with the successor of Peter” (LG #15). • Those who only acknowledge and worship the one true God “…those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God” (LG #16). • Those who have not heard the Gospel of Christ “…those who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience” (LG #16). • The generosity and mercy of God to save all according to his mysterious design does not relieve disciples of the obligation of spreading the faith according to one’s state in life. “’Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel’” (LG #17). .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Catholic Faith and “Once-Upon-A-Time Catholics” Deacon James H
    The Catholic Faith and “Once-Upon-a-Time Catholics” Deacon James H. Toner Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church 22 September 2011 I. Why does it matter if someone leaves [and goes elsewhere or becomes lax]? A. “Many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside [the Church]” B. The Catholic Church “is the sole Church of Christ” (Lumen Gentium #8; CCC #819, 816). C. “If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain that objectively speaking they are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation” (Dominus Iesus [6 Aug 2000] #22). D. Those who publicly reject the Lord will be rejected (Mt 10:33; cf 2 Tm 2:12). 1. “They could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it, or to remain in it” (LG #14). (Cf. “invincible ignorance”) 2. “Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart . may achieve eternal salvation” (LG #16). (Cf. “baptism of desire”). II. Four nouns (see CCC #2089) about swerving from the truth (2 Tim 2:18): A. Apostasy: total repudiation of the Christian faith (CCC #2089). B. Heresy: obstinate denial (while professing Christianity), after Baptism, of a truth which must be believed with divine and Catholic faith; denial of orthodoxy. 1. Material heretic: does not recognize Church authority and thus denies it.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecclesiastical Materialism
    ECCLESIASTICAL MATERIALISM by Most Reverend Donald J. Sanborn Introduction. From the title, one might expect Roman Catholic Church condemns as a mortal sin of that I would be writing about avarice among the sacrilege the giving the Holy Eucharist to non- clergy. I am not addressing that at all, however. Catholics. The Novus Ordo approves of it. (1983 Code Recently I received from an old friend, who is a of Canon Law) The Roman Catholic Church Novus Ordo conservative, a note in which he invited condemns the use of birth control devices as mortally me to come back “to Rome — and the true Church — sinful and intrinsically evil. The Novus Ordo permits outside of which there is no salvation.” birth control devices for prostitutes. (Ratzinger, His invitation, although made with all good “Benedict XVI,” in a published interview) intentions, nevertheless prompted me to write this What I have responded above is only a smattering response. What he means is that I should give up my of the myriad dogmatic, moral, liturgical, and repudiation of Vatican II and its subsequent reforms, disciplinary contradictions between the Roman submit to the local bishop, and be somehow Catholic Church and what we call the Novus Ordo. “regularized” within the structures of the Novus We could provide the endless list of heresies and Ordo. blasphemies of Bergoglio. But these things are well known. First response. My first response is the following. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that The four marks of the Church. I will add to there is one true Church of Christ, and only one, this first response the four marks of the Church.
    [Show full text]
  • Why the New Rite of Episcopal Consecration Is Valid Fr
    ANGELUSTHE MAGAZINE REPRINT WHY THE NEW RITE OF EPISCOPAL CONSECRATION IS VALID Fr. Pierre-Marie, O.P. This article wishes to settle a debate that has been circulating in traditional Catholic circles. Some writers have examined the new rite of episcopal consecration and concluded that it must be invalid. Since this would cause manifest prob- lems if it were true and due to the heightened awareness of such a theory, The Angelus presents (for the first time in English) a study of this question concluding that it is valid. 2 This article was translated exclusively by Angelus Press from Sel de la Terre (No.54., Autumn 2005, pp.72-129). Fr. Pierre-Marie, O.P., is a member of the traditional Dominican monastery at Avrillé, France, several of whose members were ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre and which continues to receive its priestly ordinations from the bishops serving the Society of Saint Pius X which Archbishop Lefebvre founded. He is a regular contributor to their quarterly review, Sel de la Terre (Salt of the Earth). The English translations contained in the various tables were prepared with the assistance of H.E. Bishop Richard Williamson, Dr. Andrew Senior (professor at St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s, Kansas), and Fr. Scott Gardner, SSPX. ollowing the Council, in 1968 a new rite for Orders or is merely “a sacramental,” an ecclesiastical the ordination of bishops was promulgated. ceremony wherein the powers of the episcopate, It was, in fact, the first sacrament to undergo its “bound” in the simple priest, are “freed” for the “aggiornamento,” or updating.
    [Show full text]
  • Summary of Lumen Gentium – Dogmatic Constitution of the Church By
    Summary of Lumen Gentium – Dogmatic Constitution of the Church By. Deacon Ed Sheffer October 2012 is the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Benedict XVI declared October 11, 2012 until November 24, 2013 a Year of Faith. He said: It will be a moment of grace and commitment to a more complete conversion to God, to strengthen our faith in Him and proclaim Him with joy to the people of our time. In a world becoming more and more secularized, I believe we Catholics desperately need to open our eyes and hearts. If we are to become more one with Christ, we need to see and live the great beauty and gift of Catholicism. Throughout this year I hope to provide some snippets of the richness rooted in the Second Vatican Two Documents, to the St Thomas the Apostle Life Teen Family. What follows in this issue of LT Times is a summary of Lumen Gentium. This document holds a central place among all of the other documents issued by the fathers of Vatican Two. It also holds a special place in the hearts of my personal family. My great uncle was a constant presence in our young life and he was one of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council. He was a Benedictine Abbot and was appointed by Pope John XXII to be one of his consulters of the Pontifical Theological Commission for the Preparation of the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican II. Abbot Ambrose was filled with faith, hope, and love. He never saw the conclusion to this historical Council.
    [Show full text]
  • LUMEN GENTIUM – the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
    LUMEN GENTIUM – The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church 11. Taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, the source and summit of the Christian life, they [the faithful] offer the divine victim to God and themselves along with it. And so it is that, both in the offering and in holy Communion, in their separate ways, though not of course indiscriminately, all have their own part to play in the liturgical action. Then, strengthened by the body of Christ in the Eucharistic communion, they manifest in a concrete way that unity of the people of God which this most holy sacrament aptly signifies and admirably realizes. 26. They [bishops] diligently encourage and instruct their flocks to play their part, in a spirit of faith and reverence, in the liturgy and above all in the holy sacrifice of the Mass. 50. It is especially in the sacred liturgy that our union with the heavenly Church is best realized; in the liturgy, the power of the Holy Spirit acts on us through sacramental signs; there we celebrate, rejoicing together, the praise of the divine majesty, and all who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ from every tribe and tongue and people and nation gathered together in one church glorify, in one common song of praise, the one and triune God. 51. For if we continue to love one another and to join in praising the most holy Trinity—all of us who are children of God and form one family in Christ—we will be faithful to the deepest vocation of the Church and will share in a foretaste of the liturgy of perfect glory.
    [Show full text]
  • And Post-Vatican Ii (1943-1986 American Mariology)
    FACULTAS THEOLOGICA "MARIANUM" MARIAN LffiRARY INSTITUTE (UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON) TITLE: THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF BIBLICAL MARIOLOGY PRE- AND POST-VATICAN II (1943-1986 AMERICAN MARIOLOGY) A thesis submitted to The Theological Faculty "Marianwn" In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Licentiate of Sacred Theology By: James J. Tibbetts, SFO Director: Reverend Bertrand A. Buby, SM Thesis at: Marian Library Institute Dayton, Ohio, USA 1995 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 The Question of Development I. Introduction - Status Questionis 1 II. The Question of Historical Development 2 III. The Question of Biblical Theological Development 7 Footnotes 12 Chapter 2 Historical Development of Mariology I. Historical Perspective Pre- to Post Vatican Emphasis A. Mariological Movement - Vatican I to Vatican II 14 B. Pre-Vatican Emphasis on Scripture Scholarship 16 II. Development and Decline in Mariology 19 III. Development and Controversy: Mary as Church vs. Mediatrix A. The Mary-Church Relationship at Vatican II 31 B. Mary as Mediatrix at Vatican II 37 c. Interpretations of an Undeveloped Christology 41 Footnotes 44 Chapter 3 Development of a Biblical Mariology I. Biblical Mariology A. Development towards a Biblical Theology of Mary 57 B. Developmental Shift in Mariology 63 c. Problems of a Biblical Mariology 67 D. The Place of Mariology in the Bible 75 II. Symbolism, Scripture and Marian Theology A. The Meaning of Symbol 82 B. Marian Symbolism 86 c. Structuralism and Semeiotics 94 D. The Development of Two Schools of Thought 109 Footnotes 113 Chapter 4 Comparative Development in Mariology I. Comparative Studies - Scriptural Theology 127 A. Richard Kugelman's Commentary on the Annunciation 133 B.
    [Show full text]
  • Open Letter to Catholic Family News on Sedevacantism -- PART 2
    As Received Open Letter to Catholic Family News on Sedevacantism -- PART 2 by Joseph C. Maurer [Address Withheld -- Letter used with permission] For a printable version of this letter, click here. October 31, 2005 Open Letter to Catholic Family News, Part II OPPOSITION TO THE ANTI-SEDEVACANTISTS – PART II It was a pleasure to see the many well written rebuttals to the hysterical outburst by Christopher Ferrara against sedevacantists which appeared in the August, 2005 issue of Catholic Family News (CFN). A sensible reaction by CFN to all of the negative response engendered by Ferrara and Co. would have been to drop the whole dirty business and go back to its mission of exposing and condemning modernist apostasy instead of attacking CFN’s traditionalist friends. However this anti- sedevacantist fixation gripping CFN is one groundhog that saw its shadow, signaling at least a few more months of tiresome tub-thumping against the “Enterprise” (Ferrara’s term for sedevacantists). Evidence for this is Ferrara’s second installment of Opposition to the Enterprise in the October, 2005 issue of CFN. After reading the latest attempt to discredit sedevacantism, the first impulse is to say nothing and just move on. After all, this second article by Ferrara is the same old moldy stew of truth, half truth, misdirection, irrelevance, self-delusion and illogical, agenda driven special pleading for a lost cause. Why bother with any response at all? The arguments of the anti-sedevacantists have already been convincingly demolished. Nevertheless, after wading through Ferrara’s latest effort it must be said that he artfully avoids certain issues and endlessly re-hashes threadbare overworked arguments.
    [Show full text]
  • The Theological Context of and Introduction to Chapter 8 of Lumen Gentium Frederick M
    Marian Studies Volume 37 Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh National Convention of the Mariological Society of America held Article 10 in Tampa, FLA. 1986 The Theological Context of and Introduction to Chapter 8 of Lumen Gentium Frederick M. Jelly Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Jelly, Frederick M. (1986) "The Theological Context of and Introduction to Chapter 8 of Lumen Gentium," Marian Studies: Vol. 37, Article 10. Available at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol37/iss1/10 This Front Matter is brought to you for free and open access by the Marian Library Publications at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marian Studies by an authorized editor of eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Jelly: Introduction to Chapter 8 THE THEOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF AND INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER 8 OF Lumen Gentium Although this paper presents both history and theology, it is intended to be primarily theological. Its principal purpose is to provide a theological interpretation of the main events that led to the text of chapter 8 of Lumen Gentium (LG), the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, which was issued November 21, 1964, as well as a commentary upon the introduction or preface to that chapter on Mary (LG 52-54). 1 The teaching of Vatican Council II on marian doctrine and devotion is more extensive than what is contained in chapter 8 of LG since there are many references to Mary in other conciliar documents.2 Our chief con­ cern, however, is to concentrate upon the text of the marian schema in the broader context of the real life situations that his­ torically influenced its composition as a part of the schema on the Church." 1 The translation of the text of chapter 8 of LG used in this paper is that which appears in this volume of Marian Studies and was done by F.
    [Show full text]
  • The Second Vatican Council and Lumen Gentium╦Forty Years Later
    Marian Studies Volume 55 The Immaculate Conception: Calling and Article 6 Destiny 2004 The econdS Vatican Council and Lumen Gentium…Forty Years Later Myles Murphy Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Murphy, Myles (2004) "The eS cond Vatican Council and Lumen Gentium…Forty Years Later," Marian Studies: Vol. 55, Article 6. Available at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol55/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Marian Library Publications at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marian Studies by an authorized editor of eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Murphy: Vatican II and Mary: 40 Years Later THE SECOND VATICAN CoUNcn. AND LUMEN GENTIUM FOR1Y YEARS LATER Fr. Myles Murphy, S. T.L. * On February 2, 1965, Pope Paul VI gave a talk titled "The Mind of the Council on Mary." He said the following: Shouldn't we feel glad that our attention was recently directed to this gen­ uine doctrine and worship through the authoritative, beautiful, pro­ found, and exact statement made by the Ecumenical Council when it wisely inserted the chapter on the Blessed Virgin Mary into the monu­ mental Constitution on the Church? And won't we give her the title of "Mother of the Church;' one that We recognized as due Mary Most Holy at this very moment of the maturing of the doctrine on the Church, the meaning of Mother of Christians, our spiritual Mother because she is the natural Mother of Christ, our Head and our Redeemer? We want to ex­ press the wish that along with Our Cardinal Legate there will be a great number of bishops, priests and faithful who will come with great fervor from every part of the world and especially from America to pay tribute to Mary Most Holy, and to impress upon the devotion and piety with which we want to honor her that Christocentric and ecclesiological ori­ entation that the Council intended to give to our Marian doctrine and de­ votion.
    [Show full text]
  • Lumen Gentium
    DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH LUMEN GENTIUM SOLEMNLY PROMULGATED BY HOLINESS POPE PAUL VI ON NOVEMBER 21, 1964 CHAPTER I THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH 1. Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature,1 to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church. Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race, it desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and to the whole world its own inner nature and universal mission. This it intends to do following faithfully the teaching of previous councils. The present-day conditions of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church so that all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ. 2. The eternal Father, by a free and hidden plan of His own wisdom and goodness, created the whole world. His plan was to raise men to a participation of the divine life. Fallen in Adam, God the Father did not leave men to themselves, but ceaselessly offered helps to salvation, in view of Christ, the Redeemer “who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature”.2 All the elect, before time began, the Father “foreknew and pre-destined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that he should be the firstborn among many brethren”.3 He planned to assemble in the holy Church all those who would believe in Christ.
    [Show full text]
  • Lumen Gentium 16 Anonymous Christians, Pelagianism, and Islam
    Volume 40 Number 3 Article 1 March 2012 Lumen Gentium 16 Anonymous Christians, Pelagianism, and Islam Eduardo J. Echeverria Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Echeverria, Eduardo J. (2012) "Lumen Gentium 16 Anonymous Christians, Pelagianism, and Islam," Pro Rege: Vol. 40: No. 3, 1 - 17. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege/vol40/iss3/1 This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pro Rege by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Editor’s Note: Dr. Echeverria wrote this article in response to Dr. John V. Fesko’s “Machen and the Gospel” (Pro Rege 40.1 (September 2011): 18-27). Lumen Gentium 16 Anonymous Christians, Pelagianism, and Islam about Machen, especially Fesko’s exhortation to stand with Machen against theological liberalism: “Machen’s stand against liberalism must be our stand against the same, and we must fight the battle with the same weapons: the Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.”2 Can I get a witness? I, for one, say Amen! Significantly, although Professor Fesko does not mention this fact, Machen aligns himself with Roman Catholics, finding common ground with them, in his stand against liberalism. Machen, entangled in a controversy with the Protestant liberal thought of the Presbyterianism of his day, observed, in what is rightly regarded to be a by Eduardo J. Echeverria classic of American evangelical thought, namely, Christianity and Liberalism (1923), that a wide “gulf ” existed between evangelical Protestantism and Roman Catholic thought.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Modern Catholic Reform and the Synod of Pistoia Shaun London Blanchard Marquette University
    Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects Eighteenth-Century Forerunners of Vatican II: Early Modern Catholic Reform and the Synod of Pistoia Shaun London Blanchard Marquette University Recommended Citation Blanchard, Shaun London, "Eighteenth-Century Forerunners of Vatican II: Early Modern Catholic Reform and the Synod of Pistoia" (2018). Dissertations (2009 -). 774. https://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/774 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FORERUNNERS OF VATICAN II: EARLY MODERN CATHOLIC REFORM AND THE SYNOD OF PISTOIA by Shaun L. Blanchard, B.A., MSt. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 2018 ABSTRACT EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FORERUNNERS OF VATICAN II: EARLY MODERN CATHOLIC REFORM AND THE SYNOD OF PISTOIA Shaun L. Blanchard Marquette University, 2018 This dissertation sheds further light on the nature of church reform and the roots of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65) through a study of eighteenth-century Catholic reformers who anticipated Vatican II. The most striking of these examples is the Synod of Pistoia (1786), the high-water mark of “late Jansenism.” Most of the reforms of the Synod were harshly condemned by Pope Pius VI in the Bull Auctorem fidei (1794), and late Jansenism was totally discredited in the increasingly ultramontane nineteenth-century Catholic Church. Nevertheless, many of the reforms implicit or explicit in the Pistoian agenda – such as an exaltation of the role of bishops, an emphasis on infallibility as a gift to the entire church, religious liberty, a simpler and more comprehensible liturgy that incorporates the vernacular, and the encouragement of lay Bible reading and Christocentric devotions – were officially promulgated at Vatican II.
    [Show full text]