FIFTY YEARS AGO THERE WAS A COUNCIL… THE MEANING OF VATICAN II

Víctor Codina

1. I NTRODUCTION ...... 3 2. THE PRE -COUNCIL ERA ...... 4 3. THE COUNCIL ...... 8 4. PERSONAL INTERLUDE : MY OWN EXPERIENCES OF THE COUNCIL ...... 17 5. AFTER THE COUNCIL ...... 19 6. CONCLUSION : FROM CHAOS TO KAIROS ...... 30 NOTES ...... 32 Víctor Codina, sj. has a doctorate in theology. Since 1982 he has lived in Bolivia, where he has been working with people´s organizations and assisting with the formation of lay people in Oruro and Santa Cruz. He is a professor of theology at the Universidad Católica Bolivia in Co - chabamba and also does pastoral ministry in working-class neighborhoods. His publications for Cristianisme i Justícia include: Lluis Espinal (Cuaderno 64), Acoger o rechazar el clamor del explotado [Accepting or Rejecting the Cry of the Exploited] (Cuaderno 23), and L. Espinal, un catalán mártir de justicia [L. Espinal, a Catalonian Martyr for Justice] (Cuaderno 2).

CRISTIANISME I JUSTÍCIA Edition, Roger de Llúria, 13 - 08010 Barcelona Tel. 93 317 23 38 - [email protected] - www.cristianismeijusticia.net Printed by: Ediciones Rondas S.L. - Legal deposit: B-27.529-2013 ISBN: 978-84-9730-325-5 - ISSN: 2014-6566 - ISSN (virtual edition): 2014-6574 Translated by Joseph Owens - Cover illustration: Roger Torres Printed on ecological paper and recycled cardboard December 2013

The Fundació Lluís Espinal lets it be known that its data are registered in a file under the name BDGACIJ, legal title of the Fundació Lluís Espinal. These are used only for providing the services we render you and for keeping you in form ed of our activities. You may exercise your rights of access, rectification, cancelation or opposition by writing to the Fundació in Barcelona, c/Roger de Llúria, 13. 1. INTRODUCTION

We live our lives at such an accelerated pace that an event of 50 years ago can easily be buried in oblivion if we make no effort to recover the memory of our past. And such recovery is not easy when the direct witnesses of the event are gradually disappearing. This is what is happening with the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).

Slowly but surely the great prota gonists of But the problem is not simply gene- Vatican II have been vanishing from our rational or chronological because there midst: the Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul are sectors of the today’s Church that are VI and the great majority of the bishops, interested in forgetting Vatican II. They both the renewers (such Suenens, Alfrink, wish to bury its «dangerous memo ry» or Frings, Döpfner, König, Máxi mos IV, Ler - at least offer a minimalist, «lite» reading caro, Helder Cámara) and the con ser va - of the Council. tives (such as Ottaviani and the great What was the real meaning of Vati can an tago nist Lefèbvre). Of the great theolo - II? Different people have described it as gians of the Council (Rahner, Con gar, De the major event of the 20th century (De Lubac, Schillebeeckx, Jung mann, Häring, Murray, etc.), there survive only Küng and Gaulle), a prophetic council for our days Ratzinger, who were then quite young. (Chenu), or a great grace the Spirit gave the Church (John Paul II). It signaled a Deceased also are the Taizé monks change from anathema to dialogue (Ga - (Roger Schutz and Max Thurian) and the raudy) and a shift from a western Church Orthodox observers such as Evdokimov and the Patriarch Athenagoras of Cons - to a universal Church (Rahner). For others tantinople, whom Paul VI embraced as a the Council was a kind of nightmare or sign of ecumenical recon ciliation. even «a sewer», as a Lefèbvre follower claim ed. How can we now recover the Even the historians of Vatican II (such as G. Albrigo and E. Vilanova) have been memory of Vatican II in such a way that slowly leaving the scene. The Christians its message is good news for the world of who had some direct ex perience of the today? Coun cil are now persons retired from There is no better way to do this than active life. How are we to transmit to to recall what the pre-Vatican II era was today’s younger generation the meaning like, what happened during the Council of an event whose main protagonists have itself, and what changes have taken place almost all disappeared? since then. 3 2. THE PRE-COUNCIL ERA

Instead of beginning with generic pronouncements about the pre-conciliar Church, let us recall what the Eucharist was like before Vatican II.

2.1. The pre-conciliar Eucharist The people are passive; they attend Mass as if at a spectacle; they do not The priest celebrates with his back to the understand the Latin; they pray the rosary people; he is the mediator of the sacred, the one who stands between God and or novenas; the more adept follow the human beings, the other Christ; he is liturgy with a bilingual missal; the faithful separated from the people even by his are kneeling down almost all the time; dress: habit, clerics, tonsure; he adminis - communion is taken kneeling and in the ters the sacraments in the name of Christ; mouth; it is offered in just one species; he prays and reads the word of God in people have been fasting since midnight; Latin. There is no concele bration; often many do not dare to receive communion simultaneous Masses are celebrated on without confessing beforehand; other at - side altars; sometimes Mass is celebrated tend Mass without receiving communion; with the Blessed Sacrament exposed, or at sometimes communion is given before the end of Mass there is exposition and and after Mass or in a side chapel. Many bene dic tion. The tabernacle presides over people attend Mass simply to fulfill the the church. The central act is the narrative Sunday obligation since otherwise they of the consecration and the elevation of would be sinning mortally; in order for the the host and chalice (with bells ringings). Mass to count they must reach the church Adoration appears to be more important at least by the time of the Gospel. than communion. The liturgy is an action The Eucharist is not understood or of the priest alone. The Roman canon is appreciated as a community celebration the only one that exists. of the paschal mystery; there is no prayer 4 of the faithful and no kiss of peace; the Church was the pope, the bishop, the Credo and the Our Father are prayed in priest. It was a Church in which the priests Latin; most of the hymns are in Latin and and religious were called to holiness by sung as Gregorian chant; at the end of the evangelical counsels while lay people Mass the prologue to John’s Gospel is had to be satisfied with obeying the com- read, and then everyone prays three Hail mandments in order to be saved. It was a Marys and a Latin prayer to Saint Michael Church united to the state, which protec- asking him to defend the Church and cast ted her and assisted her; the citizens of a the devil into hell. country were automatically members of The sermon or homily, when there was the Church. Baptism of children was the one, was in the vernacular; it summed common practice; Christianity was some- up the Gospel interpreted in very little thing socio-cultural; people were Chris- fashion; the preaching was often very tian more by tradition than by conviction. moralistic. What little knowledge people Outside the Catholic Church there was no had of the Bible was gained through the salvation, which explains the missionary preaching they heard and through their zeal to save souls from perdition, the study of the catechism with its questions condemnation of non-Christian religions and answers; the Bible itself was hardly as diabolical, and the denunciation of non- read. Catholic Christians as heretics and schis- matics. There was no religious liberty because error has no rights. The Church 2.2. What was behind this liturgy? was a perfect society like the state; it pos- The liturgical celebration is not something sessed not only spiritual power but also accidental in the Church; it ex presses the temporal power (the Papal States…); the Church’s faith, her theology, her way pope could assign newly discovered ter- of being Church. 1 What lay behind this ritories to the Catholic monarchs; he could pre-conciliar Tridentine liturgy was the consecrate and depose emperors and Church of Christendom which originated kings. The Church was the Kingdom of in the 4 th century with Constantine and God on earth. Theodosius and which was reinforced in The Church of Christendom, also the 9 th century by the reforms of Gregory called the Church of the Second Millen - VII which es tab lish ed the model for a nium, certainly made a great effort to be - centralized Church until Vatican II. That come incarnate in society. It was a source model was a pyramidal Church at whose of humanization at critical mo ments of summit was the Pope, the bishops, and the history; it kept the faith united; it brought priests and at whose base were the laity. It the Gospel to other continents; it struggled was an unequal Church: a few persons for liberty; it produced many fruits of taught, commanded, and celebrated; the extraordinary holiness; it built cathedrals rest obeyed, learned, prayed, kept quiet, and published theological mas terpieces. and paid tithes. It was a clerical Church But all this came at a great cost: the that had the power to consecrate, pardon, separation of the Eastern Churches, the and baptize; it possessed the Spirit. The Reformation, the Cru sades, the reli gious 5 wars, anti-Semitism , rejection of the divorced from history and modern cul- modern world of the Enlightenment, ture. It was what Rahner called «Den- oppo sition to the French revolution and zinger theology», that is, theology based Latin American independence, neglect of principally on the documents of the modern science and technology, and the councils and the magisterium. 2 departure from the Church of many Meanwhile, modernity was advancing: intellectuals, workers, politicians. It is no the Enlightenment brought science and wonder, then, that during the Jubilee Year progress; the Russian revolution of 1917 celebration of 2000 John Paul II asked spread through eastern Europe and part of pardon for these sins and errors of the Asia; the two world wars caused massive Church of the Second Millennium. bloodshed; the countries of the so-called The two major councils of modern Third World attained autonomy and inde- Christendom, Trent in the 16 th century and pendence and made their voices heard. Vatican I in the 19 th century, reinforced the New philosophies and new ways of think- institutional ecclesiology. They were on ing became ever more estranged from the defensive against Protestants and the traditional Christian ways of thinking. modern world, and they identified the But not all was tranquility in the Church with the hierarchy, above all the bosom of the Catholic Church. Between papacy. In the 19 th and 20 th centuries, with the First and the Second World Wars, a Popes Pius IX, Pius X, Pius XI, and Pius series of theological movements arose, XII (the «piano» epoch, to use Rahner’s above all in Central Europe, and they expression), this church of Christendom sowed a crop that would later be reaped reached its peak. The Church became a by Vatican II. This aspect has been widely legalist, triumphalist, clericalist institu - studied, 3 and it will suffice here to outline tion far removed from the Church that its principal components. Jesus wanted and from the Church of the The biblical movement (the Biblical first centuries. The Church of the First School in Jerusalem, the Biblical Institute Millennium was a Church of communion in Rome, etc.) approached the Bible with and fraternity; it was a Church of the Spirit new perspectives and fresh historical and structured in the image of the trinitarian critical methodologies. The patristic move - community. ment (DeLubac, Daniélou, etc.) redis - covered the importance of the Latin and Greek Fathers, and it brought a new 2.3. Something was moving richness to theology, spirituality, and in the Church pastoral work with its new editions of The theology of the pre-conciliar years the works of the Fathers ( Sources chré - was scholasticism or, in the best of cases, tiennes, Patrologia Graeca, etc.). The neo-scholasticism, in accord with the liturgical movement (the monasteries of norms laid down by Leo XIII in the en - Solesmes, Maria Laach, Montserrat, etc.) cyclical Aeterni Patris . Its deductive placed special value on the liturgical method was built around Latin theses of assembly and focused espe cially on the great logical rigor, but it was completely celebration of the paschal mystery. The 6 ecumenical movement (Couturier, Congar, lastic theology with a theology that was etc.) entered into dialogue with Protes- more biblical, historical, and anthropolo- tants, Anglicans, and the Orthodox, thus gical. These theologians not only knew putting an end to a long epoch of con- well the sources of Church tradition, but frontation and apologetics. Pastoral min- they were also in dialogue with the istry was also opening up new paths, modern world. Some of them had direct above all in reaching out to young people, experience of the World Wars and even workers, and the secularized sectors of the suffered imprisonment; they participated population. This was the age of worker in ecumenical meetings, and they were in priests, and questions were raised as to contact with worker priests, with scien- whether the so-called Christian countries tists, with Marxists, and with others were not now themselves mission lands. outside the Church. A new social sensibility was born, result- This «new theology» was censured by ing both from a deepened Christology that Pius XII in his encyclical Humani generis emphasized the life of Jesus of Nazareth (1950), but the same theologians who were (Cardjin, Abbé Pierre, Gauthier, Voillau- then sanctioned and in some case removed me, the biblical studies of Dupont and from their uni versity posts would later Gelin, etc.) and from earnest dialogue become the star theologians of Vatican II. with the social sciences, especially Marx- The groundwork was also being laid ism. There also appeared the so-called for the ecclesiology that would emerge «theology of earthly realities», which stressed the importance of the sciences, from Vatican II. Theologians like Cerfaux economics, history, politics, progress, the and Koster were developing the biblical body, and sex (Thils). Finally, Teilhard concept of the people of God, and others de Chardin opened up new theological like Mersch and Tromp contributed to the perspectives through his evolutionary dogmatic development of the concept. vision of the cosmos. Their efforts resulted in the encyclical All of these innovative movements Mystici corporis of Pius XII (1943), centered around European theological which presented a vision of the Church faculties at places like Lyon-Fourvière, that was less juridical and more mystical. Louvain, Le Saulchoir-Paris, Innsbruck, But all this theological and ecclesias- Munich, and Tübingen. Prominent theo- tical renewal arising from the bases of the logians like Rahner, Balthasar, Chenu, Church found its catalyzer in John XXIII. Congar, Daniélou, and Schillebeeckx Without taking him into account there is sought to replace the then dominant scho- no way to understand the council.

7 3. THE COUNCIL

What one analyst has called the «Roncalli mystery» can be in part clarified if we recall something of the life of the man who would become John XXIII.

3.1. There was a man sent by God, Bergamo. Being unjustly accused at that named John… time of modernism, he was later able to Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born in understand well the situation of theolo - 1881 in the small Italian town of Sotto il gians who had been removed from their Monte. His family was poor and lived university positions by Pius XII. from farming, but they were very Chris - Roncalli was named apostolic delegate tian and never ashamed of their peasant in Bulgaria and then in Turkey and roots; they remained faithful to the wis - Greece, nations belonging to the Ortho - dom and simplicity of country folk. dox Christian tradition. Working in those Angelo studied Church history, especially countries, he experienced the tragedy of the epochs of Gregory the Great and of the divisions within Chris tianity and came Charles Borromeo, the great Tridentine to appreciate the im portance of ecume - reformer of Milan. These studies helped nism. He consid ered it important to high - him develop a dynamic, historical vision light what unites the different traditions of the Church. During the First World War rather than dwell on what divides them. he served as a chaplain, ministering to the During the Second World War he helped wounded soldiers who were recovering in with the evacu a tion of the persecuted a military hospital. After the war he was Jewish population and of the prisoners of made secretary to Radini Tedeschi, the war. His years as papal nuncio in Paris progressive bishop of Bergamo, and also (1944-52) opened him up to modernity. taught for some years in the semi nary of These were the years of the worker 8 priests, of Teilhard de Chardin, and of the maybe, they thought, the old man was French theol ogical renewal ( the nouvelle losing it. Nevertheless, the idea provoked théologie ). During years France faced great enthusiasm in all the theological and great pastoral challenges as a «mission ecclesial move ments of the time. It had a land». Finally, his years as archbishop of tremendous ecumenical impact and in - Venice (1953-58) helped him understand spired much hope throughout the Chris- the difficulties of proclaiming the Gospel tian world. John XXIII in effect shifted the in modern society. trajectory of Pius XII, whose ideal had been the Church of Christen dom. John XXIII proposed a new model of Church, 3.2. A transitional Pope? one that returned to the sources of the faith When Pius XII died in 1958, Roncalli was and responded to the signs of the times. elected as a transitional Pope since the The new Pope sought what he called conclave considered it as difficult for the aggiornamento of the Church; he anyone to follow up on the extraordinary wanted to bring the Church up to date. pontificate of the noble, cultivated figure This updating would involve dialogue of Pope Eugenio Pacelli. with the modern world, engagement with Once elected, Roncalli demonstrated the new culture forces, return to the living a different human and ecclesial style. He sources of Christian tradition, and doctri- was a short, plump peasant Pope, good- nal and pastoral renewal. The goal of the humored and astute. He began his pon- Council was to take a leap forward by tificate with a historical wink of the eye strengthening the faith, renewing the by taking the name John XXIII, since the customs of the Christian faithful, and previous John had been an anti-Pope updating Church discipline. When an deposed by the Council of Constance. African bishop asked the Pope what he Although he was 77 years old, he sur - was hoping to achieve, he responded that prised everybody in 1959 by convoking he was «opening the window» so that an ecumenical council. His idea was that fresh air would enter the Church and carry it should complete the work the First off the dust that had accumulated during Vatican Council (1870) had left unfin- centuries. ished, but it was not to be a simple con- Little by little the goals of the Counc il tinuation of Vatican I; rather it was to be became more concrete: dialogue with the a new council, Vatican II. He recognized modern world, renewal of Christian life, himself that this idea «sprang from his ecumenism, and making the Church once heart and onto his lips as a grace of God, again the Church of the poor. as a light from on high, with great fervor There began four years of preparation. and gen tle ness of soul and vision». Consultations were held with all sectors of Many Church leaders were left speech- the Church, and from these consultations less. They thought that the Pope was naïve, came all sorts of petitions, ranging from precipitous, and impulsive, completely condemnation of commu nism to promo - unaware of the difficulties he would have tion of devotion to Saint Joseph to ob- to face, even with the Roman curia. Or servance of morality on the beaches. 9 The Pope’s inaugural discourse to the commissions were created which includ- Council on October 11, 1962, caused even ed many bishops of the «periphery», as greater surprise. The Church, said John those from outside the Vatican were XXIII, does not want to condemn anyone; called. she prefers to practice com pas sion and This buoyant atmosphere dissipated, mercy; she desires to be open to the however, at the end of the first session of modern world and to all Chris tians and to the Council when rumors spread of the offer them a renewed proclamation of the Pope’s illness. When John XXIII died Gospel. In contrast to the «prophets of serenely on June 3, 1963, his passing doom», John XXIII professed a hopeful deep ly moved not only the Church but the optimism based on God’s action in his- whole world. And questions about the tory. He was also careful to distinguish future of Vatican II were left floating in between the essen tial content of the faith the air. and the adap tations that could be made in The new Pope Paul VI, Cardinal Gio- the light of the changing times and new vanni Battista Montini, assured people cultural circumstances. that the Council would continue to move This speech, according to the historian forward. Montini had a char acter rather Alberigo, was the most significant act of different from that of John XXIII. He was Roncalli’s pontificate; it challenged the less charismatic and less intuitive; he was Church to confront the modern age. And a Vatican insider and an intellectual with as the Pope had hoped, it was a major leap good knowledge of theology, especially forward. French theology. He was hesitant –they In the evening of that historic day, the called him Hamlet– but he primary Pope, although weary from the long concern was the welfare and unity of the inaugural ceremony, appeared in Saint Church. He brought the Council to a Peter’s Square where many people were successful end, but after it was over he still gathered. Pondering the full moon in suffered greatly, going so far as to say that 4 the sky, he greeted everybody and asked the devil had entered the Church. all the parents to embrace their children on his part as soon as they reached home. Something was clearly changing in the 3.3. Keys for understanding Church. The «little flowers» of Pope John Vatican II were reflecting this new style. Rather than give detailed explanations of Once the Council was underway, it the 16 documents of the Council (4 consti - was quickly seen that the bishops arriving tutions, 9 decrees, and 3 declarations) in Rome from all over the globe were not along with their context, their genesis, and going to let themselves be limited to their interpretation, we prefer to provide a simply approving documents elaborated few keys that will help us to understand by the commissions of the Vatican curia. all the documents. In this way we will be Due to the interventions in the Council able to discern the underlying constants hall of Cardinals Joseph Frings of Ger - that reveal the spirit of John XXIII’s many and Achille Liénart of France, new conciliar aggiornamento. 10 3.3.1. A new stance toward the world: human reality. Vatican II was also a the «legitimate autonomy of creation» pastoral council and so gave birth to a This new stance reflects the goodness and pastoral theology that was not simply the the realism of John XXIII and his application of dogma to practice; rather, it openness to the whole world. He viewed saw pastoral work as constitutive of all people with compassion and sought to theology of itself. Pastoral work was both do good by all. He wanted people to be the start ing point and the end point for optimistic and merciful, not prophets of theology. doom. Concretely speaking, Vatican II ex - The earlier theology was profoundly pressed its positive regard for the human dualist (body and soul, heaven and earth, person [GS 12-17], for labor [GS 33-36], world and Church, profane and sacred, for culture [GS 53-62]. and for all of nature and grace). Vatican II departed creation. It reaffirmed that the goods of from this worldview, especially in Gau- the earth exist for the benefit of everybody dium et Spes , the Pastoral Constitution on [GS 69]. In expressing its appreciation for the Church in the Modern World. It the human person, the Council especially affirmed that God and world are not stressed respect for religious liberty. This rivals. Rather, the world is the work of was something new because in 1832 God; God is the ultimate mystery of the Pope Gregory XVI in Mirari Vos called world; the world is a sacrament of God; religious liberty a pestilent error and worldly reality is constitutive of the delusion, and in 1864 Pope Pius IX Church and of Chris tian life. Therefore, condemned it in the Syllabus of Errors. there exists only one history, the history Vatican II’s document Dignitatis Huma- of salvation. The Church does not con- nae is dedicated to the defense of religious sider itself superior to the world or op- liberty; it states that every person has the posed to the modern world. Rather, it is right to follow his or her own conscience part of the world and of history. Vatican II in religious matters. moved from anathema to dialogue; it took But the Council was not naïve; it human progress seriously and recognized recognized the presence of sin and evil in the autonomy of creation [GS 36]. For this the world, and it realized that there was a reason, said the Council, the Church not constant struggle between the light and only gives to the world but receives from the shadows [GS 13]. Accord ingly, it the world [GS 44], and the Church’s denounced all that destroys the dignity of pastors do not always have answers to creation, and it condemned all sin that every question [GS 43]. enslaves the human person [GS 13-14]. In this way Vatican II inaugurated a More concretely, it condemned atheism new, more inductive theological method, [GS 19-21]; racial, sexual, and cultural the so-called doctrine of the signs of the discrimination [GS 29]; degradation of times [GS 4:11,44]. This method, recog - human labor [GS 37] and culture [GS 56]; nizing that the Spirit of the Lord directs economic inequality [GS 66]; totali - history and sows the seeds of God’s Word tarianism and dictator ship [GS 75]; tor - in all cultures, seeks to discover God in ture and war [GS 82]. It sought to found 11 human dignity on Christ, the new man Church in terms more characteristic of the [GS 22,45]. Christendom of pre-Reformation times. In the Council’s vision, the mission of A new document was drawn up which the Church is not just religious and spiri - defined the Church as a community united tualist but involves the whole hu man by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [LG person; it preaches the Gospel to the whole 4]; it is the People of God [LG II] moving of society insofar as it looks out for the toward eschatological fulfillment [LG welfare of human beings [GS 76]. VII]; it is the mystery and sacrament of salvation [LG I]; it is a com munity born 3.3.2. Rediscovering community: of baptism and responding to the plan of «the Lord established a people» God, who wants to save humankind not as isolated individuals but as a united people The importance of the Church’s com - who knows him and serves him in munal dimension was rediscovered as the holiness [LG 9]. Council responded to the economic, so- In treating of the People of God [LG cial, political, and religious individualism II] before the hierarchy [LG III], the laity of modern society. Human persons are [LG IV], and religious life [LG VI], this essentially social beings, and the family is ecclesiology was truly revo lutionary. The the first and most basic human commu- hierarchy and the various charisms are nity [GS 47-52]. All men and women are seen as oriented to com munity and or- called to form one great family, living in dained for the service of the People of a community modeled on the image of the God. The reaffirmation of the collegiality Trinity. They should pursue the common of all the bishops with the Pope is situated good of all [GS 23-32] in a socio-econo- within this commu nitarian and synodal mic community where material goods vision of the Church [LG 22-23]. Also, the exist for the bene fit of all [GS 63-72], in recognition of the autonomy of the local a political community that seeks the com- Churches in communion with Rome is mon good and respects the rights of all founded on a vision of the Church that is [GS 73-76], and in an international com - not pyramidal but collegial [LG 23]. The munity that works for peace, collabora - ecclesiology of Lumen Gentium is cen - tion, and justice [GS 77-91]. All this is tered on the People of God, the local founded on Christ who desires to bring Church, and episcopal collegiality; it is together the community of God’s children above all an ecclesiology of communion. [GS 32]. It conse quently brought about a transition This communitarian dimension, al - from the Christendom ecclesiology of the ready implicit in Gaudium et Spes , reaches second millennium to the communion is full ecclesial significance in Lumen ecclesiology more typical of the first Gentium , the Dogmatic Consti tu tion on millennium. the Church. The first draft of the docu - This concern for community and ment was elaborated by the Roman curia communion is what led the Council to but was rejected as excessively clerical, stress the importance of ecumenism with legalist, and triumphalist. It described the the other Christian churches [LG 15] and 12 dialogue with non-Christian religions [SC 26] participates actively in these [LG 16]. These themes are de veloped in celebrations [SC 17,18,30]. Both the greater detail in the Docu ment on Ecu - clergy and the faithful were therefore in menism ( Unitatis Redintegratio ) and in need of education regarding reform of the the Declaration on the Relation of the liturgy [SC 15-18]. The Word is what Church with Non-Christian Religions gives Spirit to the liturgy [SC 25,33]. (Nostra Aetate ), respectively. The new theological vision produced After Vatican II this communitarian sweeping liturgical reform and corre- spirit was reflected in synods, national sponding transformation of the rites. The bishops’ conferences, pastoral councils, vernacular was used; well chosen biblical concern for world peace, and dialogue readings were plentiful; the altar faced with those outside the Church. Paul VI the people; the celebrant’s seat was at the dedicated his very first encyclical, Ec - center and the tabernacle at the side; there clesia Suam , to the theme of dialogue. were also the prayer of the faithful, the One of the main places where the kiss of peace, com munion under two mystery of the Church as community and species, renewal of the sacramental communion is revealed is in litur gical rituals, etc. celebration, especially the Eucha rist. It is All these liturgical reforms were not therefore natural that the first document just a concession to modern style but a approved by the Council was the Dog- concrete expression of the Church’s iden- matic Constitution on the Liturgy ( Sa- tity as a community of baptized persons crosanctum Concilium ), which brought all of whom are equal before the Word and together and synthesized the best contri- before God. butions of the liturgical movement of the 1950s. We have already commented on how 3.3.3. Return to the sources: the preconciliar Eucharistic liturgy, which «Christ the mediator and fullness of revelation» had remained the same since the Council of Trent (1545-63), was a reflection of the John XXIII was a traditional man but old Christendom eccle siology. A change firmly rooted in the true Tradition, which in ecclesiology natu rally leads to a change sought to make the Church resemble the in liturgy since the liturgy is the com- village fountains, always ready to offer munity’s cele bration of Christ’s salvation everyone the living water of the Gospel and helps the faithful penetrate into the but without forcing anyone to drink the paschal mystery. The Eucharist is the water. source and the summit of Christian life The life the Church in Christendom [SC 10]. had been centered on laws, norms, and According to Vatican II, the liturgy is structures. In 1816 Pius VII order Bishop an action not of the priest alone but of the Mohilev to retract his state ments recom - whole assembly. Liturgical actions are not mending that all Christians read the Word private devotions but celebrations of the of God. Now Vatican II was encouraging whole Church. The entire People of God a return to the sources, to the origins of the 13 true Tradition, to Christ. That is why the of two sources of revelation, the Council Council turned again to the Word of God, stated that both Church Tradition and the above all in its Dogmatic Constitution on scriptures proceed from one and the same the Word of God ( Dei Verbum ). This source, Christ and his Spirit [DV 9]. renewed enthusiasm for the Word would For the Council the Word revealed in make it easier to engage in dialogue with scriptures [DV] is present in the Church the Reformation churches. [LG 1-2,8] and active in the liturgy [SC]. Following the lead of the biblical It should be the soul of theological study. movement, the Council restored the Word The whole Church is under the Word of to its central place in Christian living. God. This affirmation by the Council will Citing Saint Jerome, Dei Verbum stated later receive deeper treatment in the that «being ignorant of scripture is being Church and will find new expression in ignorant of Christ» [DV 25]. If traditional the post-synodal exhortation of Benedict theology had considered revelation to be XVI, Verbum Domini (2010). a parcel of truths that God had com - It is also interesting to recall that the municated (or even dic tated) to us and that Decree on Ecumenism ( Unitatis Redinte - constituted the «deposit of faith», the gratio ) affirms that there is a hierarchy of Council under stood revelation as the liv- truths and that not all truths have the same ing commu nication of God in history force and importance [UR 11]. For exam - through Jesus and the Spirit. Revelation ple, denying the divinity of Christ is not does not consist only of ideas; it com- the same as denying the primacy of Peter. municates to us the life of the Spirit in the person of Jesus. 3.3.4. Rediscovering the Spirit: Thus it becomes clear that what comes «the Spirit of the Lord fills the universe» first is not the human search for God but God’s free communication of himself to Jo hn XXIII saw Vatican II as the Spirit’s humankind in creation and in history. breathing new life into the Church, as Revelation is communicated to us not renewal and aggiornamento , as a true only through words but also through Pentecost. This breath was a wind that deeds, such as the liberation of the Exodus would renew the Church and blow away and the paschal mystery of Jesus. The God the accumulated dust of past centuries. who spoke to us in the past through his Vatican II rediscovered the Spirit, Son keeps up the dialogue now with the which had been quite forgotten by the spouse of his Son, the Church [DV8]. theology of the Latin Church. This redis - Revelation can be understood better covery was no doubt helped by the with the help of contemplation, study, presence at the Council of other Chris - preaching, and spiritual experience [DV tian observers, especially the Orthodox 8]. Revelation can be investigated scien - Chris tians of the eastern Churches who tifically with modern methods but should always criticized Catholics for lack of always be kept within the faith of the attention to the Spirit. This highlighting Church, which has the Spirit of the Lord. of the Spir it is the key to understanding In response to those who wished to speak the Coun cil documents; though silent and 14 unseen, the Spirit is present and gives life the Spirit inspired both the Decree on to the texts. The Council was truly an Ecu menism ( Unitatis Redinte gratio ) and event where the Spirit blew where she the Declaration on Relations with Non- would. Christians ( Nostra Aetate ), and it is this The Council recognized and reaffirm- same Spirit who drives the missionary ed that the Spirit has always been active activity of the Church from within (see in the world, in the Old Testa ment, in the the decree Ad Gentes ). prophets, and in Jesus. It is the Spirit who Not only does the Spirit lead the vivifies, sanctifies, guides, instructs, uni- Church to her eschatologogical fullness, fies, renews, and rejuvenates the Church but the Spirit also guides the history of [LG 4]. The Spirit inspires the scriptures, humankind, filling the universe and which need to be read in the light of the becoming visible in the signs of the time same Spirit [DV 7,9,12,18,21]. The Spir- [GS 4,11,44]. Accordingly, recognition its acts in the sacraments of the Church of religious liberty ( Dignitas Humanae ) and above all in the Eucharist [SC 6,43]. does not mean yielding to relativism or The Spirit anoints the faithful interiorly, denying Christian identity. Rather, it is a gives full meaning to their faith, and way of responding to the Spirit’s signs assures their unfailing adherence to it of the times. [LG 12]. The Spirit bestows gifts and charisms on all the baptized [LG 12], raises up voca tions to religious life [LG 3.4. The final synthesis of Paul VI: 44-45], and transfigures history and the a Samaritan spirituality world in the likeness of the eschatological In his discourse at the closing of Vatican II fullness of the Kingdom [GS 37-39]. on 8 December, 1965, Paul VI expressed Christian life is, therefore, life according all these new dimensions in synthetic to the Spirit. fashion: The Spirit is active in other Chris tian «The religion of the God who be - communities [LG 15; UR 3-4] and has comes human has encountered the given rise to the ecumenical movement of religion –for that is what it is– of recent years [UR 1,4]. Moreover, Vatican human beings who would make II was moved by the Spirit when it themselves God. What has happened? affirmed that salvation exists outside the A collision, a struggle, a condemna- Church because Provi dence does not tion? That could have happened, but it deny the assist ance needed for salvation didn’t The old story of the Samaritan to those who live righteously without has set the guidelines for the Coun- know edge of Christian revelation [LG cil’s spirituali ty. Immense sympathy 16]. In a way known only to God, the has pervaded all its proceedings. The Holy Spirit offers to all people the discovery of human needs, which possibility of being asso ciated with the grow greater even as earth’s children paschal mystery of Christ [GS 22]. The increase their power, has absorbed the myste rious but efficacious presence of atten tion of our gathering.» (no. 8) 15 The Pope later in his speech said the sees me sees the Father”, said Jesus following: (John 14:9). If we do this both the one «Let us remember how we can and and the other, then our humanism must recognize the face of Christ the becomes Christianity, and our Chris- Son of Man in the face of every per- tianity becomes theocen tric to such an son, especially those faces made extent that we can also affirm: to trans parent by their tears and their know God it is necessary to know pains (Matt 25:40); and let us human beings.» (no. 16) remember how in the face of Christ John XXIII’s spirit of aggiorna men to we can and must also recognize the pervaded the whole Council from begin- face of the heav enly Father. “Who ning to end.

16 4. PERSONAL INTERLUDE: MY OWN EXPERIENCES OF THE COUNCIL

During the years 1963-65, when the Council was in session under Paul VI, I was living in Rome and studying for my doctorate in theology. The ex- citement of the Council events was overflowing the Vatican halls and filling the streets. The whole city was vibrating with passionate enthu si asm and unprecedented joy. The debates and the voting in the Council sessions were closely followed day by day. We discussed the commen taries issued by the Vatican press office and devoured the reports of well-known journalists Like Raniero La Valle in L’Avenire d’Italia, Henri Fesquet in Le Monde, and Martín Descalzo in La Gaceta del Norte. We filled Saint Peter’s Square to watch the bishops and famous theologian entering and leaving the sessions.

Each night there were press conferences lian Helder Camara at their head, to treat in which bishops, observers, and theolo - of their specific problems. Their aim was gians commented on the progress of the a create a new face of the Church of the Council. We heard from everybody: Karl poor and to send prophetic messages to Rahner on episcopal collegiality, Jean the other Council bishops. Some of the Daniélou on religious life, Yves Congar cardinals also gave conferences. I remem - on the Church, Henri DeLubac on reve - ber especially conferences at the Grego - lation, the Protestant theologian Oskar rian in which Cardinal Franz König of Cullman on salvation history, Cardinal Vienna spoke about non-Christian reli- Augustine Bea on ecumenism, Roger gions and Cardinal Pellegrino of Turin Schutz on Taizé, Sugranyes de Franc on spoke about the signs of the times, schema XIII, etc. lamenting the fact that the Church had A number of Third World bishops met sometimes been very unaware of those together in a Roman college, with Brazi - signs. 17 Besides the ones I’ve already men- from other churches. With the help of a tioned, other more progressive bishops bishop, however, it was possible to get a were beginning to become known. I re- pass to attend a conciliar session. member that Suenens of Belgium had an Thanks to Bishop Azcárate, a Cuban important role in introducing the chapter Jesuit, I was able to attend a morning on the People of God in the Constitution session, which began with the Eucharist. on the Church. Alfrink of Holland, Döpf- Before Mass many bishops lined up to go ner of Germay, and Lercaro of Italy made to confession; this offered the world a new highly publicized interventions on the and refreshing image of a humble, sinful importance of the poor in the Church. The Church that was conscious of her need to Eastern Patriarch Maximus IV became be forgiven by God. After Mass the Book well known for his freedom of spirit, as of the Gospels was enthroned as a sign did Bettazi of Italy for the ardor with that all the discussions were nothing more which he defended episcopal collegiality. than an attempt to understand better the The more conservative prelates also be- Word of God. For DeLubac this consti- came famous in their own way, such as tuted the most impressive moment of the Cardinal Ottaviani, head of the Holy Council schedule: the Church placing Office, and Bishop Lefêbvre of France, a herself beneath the Word. fierce opponent of religious liberty who ended up provoking a schism after the Debate then began on the theme of the Council day, all in Latin. On that day it centered We should also consider other events on marriage between Catholics and Prot- that coincided with Vatican II such as Paul estants. I remember that Cardinal Heenan VI’s trip to the Holy Land, where he of London was in favor of festive cele- embraced the Patriarch Athe nagoras of brations of these matrimo nies; he was Constantinople, and his trip to Bombay, opposed to the sad sight of brides being which left him profoundly impressed with obliged to get married without flowers or the deep religious sense and the poverty music, as some bishops dictated. Halfway of India. The assassination of John F. through the morning the bishops and the Kennedy profoundly moved the members periti disappeared silently into a cafeteria of the Council, and a solemn funeral Mass situated in a side chapel, popularly known was celebrated in the Basilica of Saint as «Bar Jona». There they drank coffee or John Lateran. Meanwhile, the people of a soft drink while they shared their im - Rome were constantly visiting the tomb pressions of the session just finished. At of John XXIII with great devotion and the end of the morning session the secre - adorning it with flowers and garlands. tary of the Council, Bishop Pericles Felici, The hall of Saint Peter’s Basilica, with advised the bishops about the subsequent its immense stands for 2,000 bishops, was session in his Ciceronian Latin. for the most part reserved for the bishops, The Second Vatican Council was truly theologians, periti, and official observers a phenomenon of the Spirit.

18 5. AFTER THE COUNCIL

The prayers and the desires of John XXIII that Vatican II would be a kind of Pentecost for the Church were certainly heard by the Lord. The Council was an authentic outpouring of the Spirit onto the Church. It was a salvific event, a true kairos , a new Pentecost. Vatican II was a watershed between what came “before” and what came “after”.

5.1. Ecclesial springtime – In the area of liturgy, as we men- tioned above, there was a renewal of It was a Council of the Church about the the sacramental rituals, especially of Church; it related to the Church in herself the Eucharist. Greater emphasis was (ad intra ), and it related the Church to the placed on the Word and on preaching, modern world ( ad extra ). True re newal the laity was allowed more partici - was seen in every aspect of the Church : pation, the vernacular was used in the – In the ecumenical sphere, the mutual liturgy, etc. excommunications between Rome – More serious dialogue was under - and Constantinople were canceled, taken with the non-Christian religions and meetings were held be tween Paul and with the modern world in general, VI and Athenagoras in Jerusalem and all within an ambience of respect for Rome. Ramsay, the Primate of Eng- religious liberty previ ously unknown. land, visited the Pope, and Paul VI – As regards Church structure, there traveled to Ge neva for a meeting of were new modes of participation and the Reformed Churches. collegiality in the form of episcopal 19 conferences, bishops’ synods in Rome, Venice or the Kingdom of the Franks pastoral councils in dioceses and (according to Robert Bellarmine) to parishes, assemblies and synods at the being a Church of mystery rooted in diocesan and na tional levels, etc. the Trinity, a multitude gather together – There was theological and spiritual by the unity of the Father, the Son, and renewal in the training of priests, in the Holy Spirit [LG 4]. religious life, and among the laity, – The Church grew from being exclu- who took on a more active role in the sively Christocentric ( Christomonist in Church. the vocabulary of Eastern theologians) – In the area of theology there was to living under the Christological prin- more serious study of biblical and ciple and at the same time under the patristic sources, and in liturgical and pneumatological principle of the Spirit pastoral ministry there was greater who rejuvenates, renews, and leads her openness to modern reality and the to the fullness of union with Christ signs of the times. [LG 4]. – The Church grew from being central - In a word, there was a new mentality ist to being co-responsible and synod al that could be called «conciliar» to distin- and respectful of the local churches, in guish it from the «preconciliar» mentality which and for the sake of which the prior to Vatican II. universal Church exists [LG 23]. The following are the most significant – The Church grew from being iden - ecclesiological changes that resulted from tified with the hierarchy to being seen the Council: as the whole People of God endowed – The Church grew from a second- with diverse charisms and ministries millennium Christendom-type institu- [LG II]. tion centered on power and hierarchy – The Church grew from being a tri - into a Church of the third millennium um phalist institution that gave airs of that is seeking to restore the commun - having already reached glory to being ion ecclesiology more typical of the a Church that gets covered with dust first millennium. In doing so, the as she walks along the road of history Church seeks to open herself up to the toward eschatological times [LG VII]. chal lenges pre sented by the new signs – The Church grew from being mis- of the times [GS 4,11,44]. tress, dominating mother, and uni - – The Church grew from being versal teacher to being the servant of centered on herself to being oriented all, especially the poor, in whom she toward the Kingdom of which the recognizes the image of her poor and Church here on earth is the seed and patient founder [LG 8]. the beginning [LG 5]. – The Church grew from being allied – The Church grew for being con - with the powerful to being sent to evan - sidered a «perfect» society as visible gelized the poor, with whom she feels and historical as the Republic of herself in solidarity [GS 1; LG 8]. 20 – The Church grew from being an ark his own bishops, he was excom municated of salvation to being a sacrament of by John Paul II (1988). For the followers salvation [LG 1,9,48], engaged in dia- of Lefèbvre, the liturgical question (such logue with other churches and with as returning to the Latin liturgy of Pius V) other world religions and committed was not the most im portant one; at the to recognizing religious liberty. base of the split was a frontal attack on Vatican II, which was accused of yielding In this sense it has been said that Vati- to Protes tant ism and modernism. can II was a council of transition which helped the Church to move from a tradi- These reactionary postures were ag- tional ecclesiology to one more in keeping gravated by the tendency of some pro- 5 gressive groups to interpret Vatican II with with the times. As the Church thus moved excessive freedom and exu ber ance, as if from anathema to dialogue in a true ag- the Council had created a rupture with the gio rnamento, some overly optimistic ob- true ecclesial tradition of the past. Such a servers thought that meant the requiem of way of understanding the Council led to Constantinism, the tomb of the Church of abusive excesses in the areas of dogma, Christendom. As Joseph Comblin reports, liturgy, morals, ecumenics, the mission to however, the euphoria resulting from the non-Christians, etc. What hurt most, how- Council lasted only three or four years. ever, was that many priests and religious abandoned Church ministry. 5.2. From springtime to winter Additional problem resulted from the in the Church significant declines in Sunday church at - tendance, in reception of the sacraments, Just as springtime produces thaws which and in the number of religious and priestly can cause dangerous avalanches and vocations. Meanwhile, the divorce rate in- mudslides, so the implementation of Vati- creased, religious indifference grew, and can II after fifteen centuries of ecclesial the general ambience became highly Constantinism produced many exagger - secularized and critical of the Church. All ated reactions in the bosom of the Church. these negative de vel opments were blamed From a sociological per spective this on the Council. should not surprise us since it is only with By May of 1968 Paul VI was quite great difficulty that most of the faithful concerned about the struggles going on in change their traditional ways of thinking the Church; he feared that the documents and acting. of the Council were being interpreted in Some conservative theologians re- ways that went beyond what the texts said. sisted accepting Vatican II because they At that point he began to act more on his thought that the Church was bowing to own. Without consulting with the bishops, modernity (J. Maritain, L. Bouyer, etc.). he published the encyclical on celibacy Even more intransigent was the posture of (Sacerdotalis Coelibatus ) and the Pope’s Bishop Marcel Lefè bvre, who ended up Profession of Faith. He also published the forming a dissident group, the Fraternity encyclical against contraceptives ( Huma - of Pius X. When he proceeded to ordain nae Vitae ) even though a majority of his 21 own pontifical commission had counseled In response to Ratzinger’s critique of otherwise. the post-Council years, the Cardinal of These developments explain why Vienna, Franz König, who played a very some very responsible and representative important role in Vatican II, wrote a book 8 mem bers of the Church criticized the way titled Church, Where Are You Going? In Vati can II was implemented, if not the the book he stated that a minority of the Council itself. Especially noteworthy in Council fathers had seen Vatican II as a this regard is the interview that Cardinal threat, and they had used all their power Josef Rat zinger, then prefect of the to empty it of meaningful content. König Congregation for the Defense of the Faith, claimed that the situation of the contem- gave to the Italian journalist Vittorio porary Church with out Vatican II would Messori in 1985 .6 be catastrophic, and he viewed the resto - Ratzinger did not criticize the Council ration attempts with suspicion. itself but only the «anti-spirit» of the The change of ecclesial climate that Council that had been introduced into the had begun in the time of Paul VI got con- Church; this «anti-spirit» re sult ed from solidated in the long pontificate of John the assaults of modernity and the cultural Paul II. As we have said already, John Paul revolution on the whole of western cul- II was post-Marxist and progressive in ture. He did not advocate turning back but social concerns, but his thinking about 9 argued in favor of ec clesial restoration. He Church matters was premodern. wanted to return to the authentic texts of In 1984 John Paul II allowed dioce san the Coun cil in order to find a new balance, bishops to grant permission for Mass to be to recover the unity and integrity of Church celebrated in Latin according to the pre- life, and to restore her relation with Christ. Council rite. In 1985 he convoked an ex - In the interview he did not express much traordinary synod on the Council, which inclination to emphasize the Church’s ended up defending the integrity of Vati - historical nature, the signs of the times, or can II against those who attacked it. How - the concept of the People of God. He did ever, instead of using the concept of the not support the bishops’ conferences People of God, the synod preferred to which he thought interfered with the role speak of the Church as communion and as of the local bishop. He thought that the the Body of Christ; it was claimed that the twenty years following the Council had concept of the People of God was prone been unfavorable ones for the Church and to sociological and political misinterpre - contrary to what John XXIII had hoped tation. The synod stressed the importance for. He had no sympathy for the liberation of holiness and the cross in the Church, theology of Latin America, the non-Chris - and it also used the word «pluriformity» tian religions, or the feminist movement. instead of «pluralism». Deeming Gaudium The tone of the dia logue is rather pessi - et Spes to be excessively opti mistic and mist and somber. The sole hopeful ray of humanist, it proposed that the document light for Ratzin ger were the new lay move - be read from the perspective of Lumen ments and the charismatic renewal. 7 Gentium and not the reverse. 22 The minority who were originally controlled that colle giality becomes an «defeated» by Vatican II have little by lit- empty formality. The Roman synods are tle been winning the day as regards the only consulta tive and treat strictly intra- way the Council is interpreted and imple- ecclesial matters. There are negative mented (Alberigo). We have slowly passed responses to such pastoral demands as from springtime to winter (K. Rahner); we communion for the divorced and remar- have returned to the great discipline (J.B. ried, admis sion of women to ministry, and Libanio), to eccesial restoration (G.C. sacra mental discipline. The liturgical re- Zízola), to a dark night of the Church (J.I. form is further reformed. Church govern- González Faus). The journal Concilium ance returns to being pyramidal, clerical, featured the Council’s great theologians, and authoritarian. Everything having to but in 1972 it was joined by the journal do with base communities is watered Communio , inspired by Hans Urs von down. The phrase «option of the poor» Balthasar and following a different theo- has the adjective «preferential» added to logical line. Von Balthasar seems to have it. At the same time there is strong support become the great theological figure of the for lay movements of a traditional nature post-Council epoch, as Rahner was during with little social sensitivity or advocacy; the Council. Something is changing. these include Opus Dei, Communion and The magisterium produced a number Liberation, the Legionaries of Christ, and of ecclesiological documents during the the Neo-catechumenate. papacy of John Paul II –such as Apostolos Despite this reversals, we should Suos (1998) on bishops’ conferences, recognize that John Paul II made some Communionis Notio (1992) on the local important gestures of openness, such as churches, and the Instruction on Collabo- the meeting in Assisi with repre senta tives ration of the Faithful Laity in the Ministry of all the world religions (1986), the in- of Priests (1987)– but these clearly are a vitation for all Christians to rethink the retreat from the profound inspiration of manner in which the primacy of Peter is Vatican II. 10 exercised in the Church ( Ut Unum Sint There is talk of ending experiments, [1996]), the exhortation to the faithful to and canon law has become the norm for follow the Council teaching ( At the Begin - authentic interpretation of the Council. ning of the Third Millennium [1994]), and Dissident theologians are being censured his asking forgiveness in the jubilee year (Pohier, Schillebeeckx, Küng, Boff, 2000 for the Church’s sins during the Curran, Balasurya, De Mello, Dupuis, second millennium. Haig, etc.). Conflicts arise with some reli - Benedict XVI acceded to the pontifi- gious orders (Jesuit, Francis cans, Carmel - cate in 2005, during a time of ecclesial ites, etc.). There are attempts to reverse confrontation and conflict when there was earlier achievements through control of increasing debate about interpretation of local churches, prevalence of nuncios, and the Council. Benedict spoke of a con - selection of conservative bishops. The frontation between two hermeneutics, the practice of the bishops’ conferences are hermeneutics of dis continuity or rupture questioned, and their decisions are so and the herme neu tics of reform. 11 In 2007 23 the Pope allowed the whole Church to use history we have never seen such a repu- the Latin ritual of Pius V’s Roman Missal diation of the conclusions of a legiti mate which pre dated the reforms of 1970. In council (P. Hünermann). Every effort has 2009 he lifted the excommunication of been made to minimize the Council’s several bishops of the Lefèbvre schism. teaching and to retreat from the «great These actions have provoked considera- leap forward» that the Council made. ble consternation and even indignation Setting up an opposition between con- in many sectors of the Church. They are tinuity and novelty is faulty reasoning. No considered a pastoral error (Hünermann) serious theologian holds that Vatican II and a step backward with regard to the created a rupture with respect to the great Council. They are seen as yielding to the tradition of the Church. Rather, what it pres sures of more conservative groups brought about was in the line with New - which reject the Council’s liturgical man’s teaching on «doc trinal develop- reform and the ecclesiology of Lumen ment»: it was continuity open to novelty, Gentium, as well as the Coun cil’s posi- or novelty in profound continuity with tions on religious liberty and dialogue tradition. As John XXIII wrote in his diary 12 with non-Christian religions. a few days before his death: «It’s not as if the Gospel has changed; it’s just that we have begun to understand the Gospel 5.3. Symptoms of disquiet better». In any case, the most serious Fifty years after Vatican II convened, some rupture has been brought about not by people are asking whether anything really progressives but by the extreme right- happened at the Council. 13 In response to wing followers of Lefèbvre. those who have doubts and criticize what This involution has caused great disil- has been happening, his torians like G. lusionment among the faithful who were Alberigo and J. O’Malley have demon - hopeful that the Council would renew the strated that Vatican II was truly a «signifi- Church. Many good-willed Christians cant event». In counter-response are the have left the Church silently, especially arguments of people like Bishop A. Mar- young people and women. The Church chetto, who claims that Vatican II brought runs the risk of becoming a subculture or about no histori cal changes and that it is a ghetto, but as Rahner tells us, we should better to speak of continuity. 14 not confuse the «small flock» with a sect. We are in fact witnessing a slow but There has recently been a growing outcry 15 steady regression to pre-conciliar times. against the movement toward a ghetto. A counter-reformation is attempting to We are face to face with an ecclesial crisis reform the Council’s reforms. Rome has which some people compare to the crisis continued to function the same as before that preceded the Reformation of the 16th the Council; the Curia has overwhelmed century. the forces for renewal; centralism has won The Church has lost its credibility, and out over local church autonomy. In a it has great difficulty situating itself in the word, the Council has been dismantled contemporary social and cultural context. piece by piece (E. Biser). In all of Church It is a clerical organization in a society that 24 is often anticlerical; it is vertically struc- Moreover, the Council failed to treat tured in a democratic society; it silences some of the more controversial topics women even a femi nism grows stronger such as priestly celibacy, the decrease in throughout the world; and it subordinates the number of ordained ministers, the lay people in a lay-run society. Once again ordination of married men ( viri probati ), the Church has become infused with anti- the role of women in society and the 16 modern features. Church, sexuality and birth control, the discipline of matrimony, the func tion of the Roman curia, the relation between 5.4. Causes of the ecclesial civil laws and moral precepts, and the involution ecclesiological status of auxiliary bishops, The Second Vatican Council was defi cient nuncios, and cardinals. in ways that have thwarted its posi tive Anxious to avoid division in the elements and overshadowed them. Church, Pope Paul VI himself ordered In order to obtain a larger consensus that a Nota previa be introduced at the end of the bishops, the Council had to approve of Lumen Gentium. He seemed to fear that a series of amendments pro posed by the episcopal collegiality would diminish the more conservative groups. As a result, the papal power proclaimed at Vatican I; he Council’s ecclesiology contains a certain wanted it to be perfectly clear that the ambiguous duality, as the Italian theolo- Pope maintained his primacy in the gian L. Acerbi has pointed out: on the one episcopal college. hand, there is the juridical stress of In addition to all this, Vatican II failed traditional ecclesiolo gy, and on the other there is the more affirmative quality of an to realize the prophetic dream of John ecclesiology of communion. XXIII that the Church would truly become the Church of the poor. Apart Another deficiency is that Vatican II from a brief allusion to the topic in Lumen was not able to spell out the concrete application of some of the major themes it Gentium 8 and Gaudium et Spes 1, the discussed; general pronouncements were Council documents, which were drawn up left without specification of practical meas - mainly by bishops and theologians from ures. In many cases the Council formulated the North, place little importance on the only theoretical princi ples and underes - role of the poor. In 1968 it was the Latin timated the difficulty of putting the reforms American Church that took up the theme it proposed into practice. The Council’s when it spoke of the option for the poor documents were never truly institu tion - and condemned the unjust structures of alized. No concrete proposals were made sin that oppress the people. regarding topics such as the election of As a result of these lacunae, Vatican II’s bishops, the election of the Pope, the im - magnificent ecclesiology of communion portance of the bishops’ conferences, the has been only half realized in practical authority of the Roman synods, the relation terms. After the Council, during the papa - of laity to ordained ministers, or the power cy of Paul VI, many of these topics gave of lay people in the Church. rise not only to discussion but to conflict. 25 Think for example of the polemics that seriously hindered the imple mentation arose around Humanae Vitae. of the Council’s decrees and has The Roman curia under Ottaviani’s obstructed the relations between the leadership always viewed the Council Pope and the bishops. There is a need with suspicion. If the Council’s decrees to revise the whole question of «sacred were given practical application, the curia power» in the Church. would lose power. As a result, implemen- – Revision of structures relating to tation was impeded, and barriers were cardinals and nuncios as diplomatic often set up between the Pope and the bishops, since they are positions that bishops of the world. The Council docu- correspond more to a Christendom- ments were interpreted in a literalist, style of Church than to Vatican II. minimalist manner, that is, according to – Participation of the Christian people the norms of Christendom, Trent, and in the election of their bishops. Vatican I. Clear examples of this involu- tion are the new Code of Canon Law – Making episcopal collegiality more (1983) and the Catechism of the Catholic effective by granting greater autono- Church (1992). my to the local churches as regards doctrines of faith, law, and liturgy. The Church’s magisterium was be - sieged by traditionalist bishops and theo- – Making the Roman synods delib- logians who were terrified at the thought erative and not just consultative. of the Council’s possible consequences. – Improving relations between the Acceding to the petitions of conservatives, Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith the curia put the brake on reforms and and theologians by creating a climate censured prophetic positions that were of sincere dialogue, respect ing human considered dangerous. rights, and doing away with humili- ating secret processes that violate human dignity. 5.5. Outstanding matters – Being open to other forms of or- There are a number of themes which the dained ministry, which can include Council could not treat or which it treated ordination of married men who are inadequately. We offer here a long list of mature in their faith ( viri probati ). the principal ones. – No longer considering celibacy as an – Reform of the Petrine ministry in obligatory condition for ordained accord with the desire John Paul II ministry in the Latin Church. expressed in his encyclical Ut Unum – Reevaluation of the role of women Sint , so that the exercise of the papacy in the Church and elimination of all ceases to be a major obstacle to the forms of chauvinist patriarchy. Recon- union of Christians. It has been sidering whether excluding women proposed that the Pope no longer be a from ordained ministry should be head of state and that the curia be considered something «definite» and thoroughly reformed since it has truly undebatable, especially since this 26 exclusion seems to have no foundation present language tends to be «anach- in scripture or tradition. ronistic, boring, repetitive, moraliz - – Promoting the role of the laity and ing, and ill-adapted to today’s world» their ministries; improving their (Boulad). training; giving them full confidence – Last but not least, we must take very and autonomy; listening to them and seriously the initial proposal of John seeking their advice in matters of their XXIII that the Church, while certainly competency such as marriage and the universal, but above all be the Church family, economics, politics, science, of the poor. culture, etc. No doubt there are other themes that – Greater respect for the charisms Vatican II could not foresee. Two exam- of religious life and for the role of ples are the insertion of the new lay ec- women religious and brothers, which clesial movements in the local church and means not using them to make up for the challenge of the environment and the lack of clergy and giving them respect for the natural world. parish jobs indiscriminately. – Thorough revision of the official doctrine on birth control and con- 5.6. Change of emphases traceptives; renewed consideration Keeping in mind the diverse ways Vatican of homosexuality, prematrimonial II has been interpreted and implemented, relations, communion for remarried if we examine the new socio-ecclesial divorced persons; these should be context in which we live, we will come to seriously rethought on the basis of realize that in these 50 years there has anthropology, psychology, and mod- been a steady shift in accents and interest ern science. regarding the relevance of the council – Greater dialogue with the fields of documents. medicine and genetics about many To take one example, while the ec cle - topics of bioethics. siology of Vatican II, expressed prin - cipally in Lumen Gentium ,was that of an – Relaunching ecumenical efforts already constituted Church, nowadays we which are now being restrained, and see that the decree Ad Gentes on the greater openness to inter-religious Church’s missionary activity takes on dialogue. great urgency and significance. This is so – Continuation of liturgical reform, not only for the so-called «mission lands» permitting greater freedom to bishops’ but also and perhaps especially for the conferences and allowing greater traditionally Catholic countries which space for variation of forms according have today become truly mission terri - to different cultures and traditions. tories badly in need of a new evan ge - – Renewal of ecclesial language in lization. Was it any accident that the synod theology and catechetics as well as in of bishops in 2012 was about the new the magisterium and the liturgy. The evangelization? 27 Furthermore, the Council’s ecume- well. We are entering into a new world and nism, expressed above all in the decree experiencing a change of epochs. There is Unitatis Redintegratio, seems to have a crisis of world culture that is not exactly been somewhat displaced by the inter- destructive, but it is of unprecedented religious dialogue that the same Council proportions; it affects all dimensions of promoted in its decree Nostra Aetate . our existence: social, economic, political, What meaning and urgency can there be cultural, religious, and spiritual. in the in-house discussions with Ortho dox To blame Vatican II or the Roman Christians, Evangelicals, and An gli cans curia for all these disparities would be when the most serious problems concern extremely unfair. our relations with the great non-Christian All these changes naturally affect our majorities? The whole ecu meni cal proble- religious and ecclesial conscious ness. J.B. matic obviously does not dis appear, but it Metz has formulated in a kind of sorites becomes subordinated to the political and the changes we are experi encing in this religious problems involved in dialogue regard. As we emerge out of an epoch of with Islam, Hin duism, Buddhism, Juda- unquestioningly belong ing to the Church, ism, and other types of religious expres- we are today first affirming «Christ yes, sion, both tradi tional and postmodern. the Church no», and then advancing to What is happening? How are we to «God yes, Christ no», and then further on interpret these changes that affect the very saying «reli gion yes, God no», and finally nature of our ecclesial reality? asserting «spir ituality yes, religion no». In this chaotic climate of change and generalized uncertainty, the problematic 5.7. From ecclesiology of Vatican II has been in a way displaced to the problem of God and even superseded. There is no longer This overview would be excessively intra- much sense in limiting ourselves to dis- ecclesial and basically false if we did not cussing liturgical rites, the Vatican curia, take into account the social, political, the decrease in Sunday Mass attend ance, economical, cultural, and reli gious events birth control, communion for divorced of the last 50 years, ranging from the people, or homosexual couples. The pro - events of May 1968 to the protest of the blems are much more radical and deep- indignados of 2011. We have seen the fall seated. The younger generations are the of the Berlin Wall, the destruction of the ones who perceive them and suffer them. Twin Towers, globa lization, postmoderni - Vatican II had a strong ecclesiol o gical ty, the present eco nomic crisis of neolib - emphasis, which was expressed in Lumen eralism, African turmoil, new technology, Gentium and Gaudium et Spes. The Coun - advances in science and biology, climatic cil was responding to the question that change, the new axial age with a changing Paul VI had posed to the Council fathers: reli gious paradigm, and so many other «Church, what do you say about yourself?» things. We are experiencing an earth quake All the other documents revolve around the or a tsunami that is overturning every - Church and converge toward her: reve la - thing, and naturally the religious sphere as tion, liturgy, laity, People of God, hierar chy, 28 religious life, ecumenism, dialo gue with the God. … That is why the answers and modern world, religious liberty, etc. solutions of the recent Council can be no But while addressing a social forum in more than a first step toward what the 18 France a few years after Vatican II, Paul Church of the future must do». VI himself changed the question and The Church must concentrate on what asked, «Church, what do you say about is essential; she must return again to Jesus God?». and the Gospel; she must regain a spiritual Cardinal Walter Kasper acknowledged experience of God (mysta go gy). Ours is that Vatican II limited itself to the Church an age of spirituality and mysticism. It is and ecclesial matters to such an extent that an age of prophecy that confronts a world it failed to treat of God, the authentic where the greater part of humanity is poor content of faith. 17 Karl Rahner went so far and excluded from the wealth of the earth, as to state that the First Vati can Council an earth which itself is seriously threat- was bolder than Vatican II in that it dared ened. Mysticism and prophecy are insepa- to treat the question of God’s ineffable rable. The Church is called upon to awaken mystery. In this regard he wrote: «The hope and instill meaning into a world that future will not ask the Church about the is death-bound. This is not a time for half- most precise and beautiful forms of hearted revamping. liturgy nor about the controversial We should not fool ourselves. We theological doctrines that distinguish should not give in to the temptation to play Catholic doctrine from the teachings of our violins while the Titanic is sinking. non-Catholic Christians nor about a more The Church must be a mysta gogical or less ideal organi zation of the Roman community; 19 it must be a her meneutical curia. The future will ask whether the community that helps to mediate the Church can bear witness to the intimate encounter with the God of Jesus and with guidance of the ineffable mystery we call the poor instead of obstructing it.

29 6. CONCLUSION: FROM CHAOS TO KAIROS

In this climate of generalized confusion and crisis, we Christians believe that it is a moment not of death but of birth. We believe that present in the midst of this chaos is the Ruah, the Spirit who hovered over the primeval chaos to bring forth life, the same Spirit that begot Jesus of the Virgin Mary and raised him up from the dead. This is the Spirit who guides the Church and all humankind. The present crisis is not the first one through which the Church has passed. This can be a paschal moment, the passage from death to life. Out of the chaos can arise a time of grace, a kairos , and a renewed Church, one that is poorer, more evangelical, and truly Nazarene.

In this climate of generalized confusion Amid the complaints and dis content of and crisis, we Christians believe that it is Christians who demand this new style a moment not of death but of birth. We of Church in order to escape from the believe that present in the midst of this present ecclesial impasse, we can discern chaos is the Ruah, the Spirit who hovered the living presence of the Spirit who is over the primeval chaos to bring forth life, groan ing and pleading for a different kind the same Spirit that begot Jesus of the of Church. Another Church is possible; Virgin Mary and raised him up from the another Church is neces sary (J. Sobrino). dead. This is the Spirit who guides the Meanwhile, we have to continue the Church and all humankind. The present still unfinished process of adopting Vati - crisis is not the first one through which the can II and doing the best we can with its Church has passed. This can be a paschal legacy, for we cannot respond to the moment, the passage from death to life. challenges of today without the light of its Out of the chaos can arise a time of grace, intuitions. We must be converted to the a kairos , and a renewed Church, one that same Spirit that moved John XXIII to call is poorer, more evangelical, and truly the Council; we must imitate his good - Nazarene. ness, his willing ness to dialogue, and his 30 mercy, serenity, and confidence in God. of the Lord’s Spirit who never abandons At the same time, we must be in tune with her. The Church is not identified simply his desire for aggiornamento and his with the hierarchy; she is the Church of desire to make a great leap forward. We the poor, historical Jesus; she is the Church must not become disillu sioned but must incarnated in the smallness and fragility of rather work from below to renew the the human race as a sign of contra diction Church just as the renewal movements of like Jesus himself. We should be grateful the 1950s did. After a harsh winter there that the Church has given us the best of are always the spring blossoms. what it possesses, Jesus. And all of us, both We cannot be «prophets of doom». We hierarchy and faithful, must be converted must feel with the Church, or better still, to the Gospel. We must remain critically we must feel ourselves Church, even in the and defiant ly faithful, but always hoping middle of the ecclesial winter. God and his against hope in the One «who gives life to Reign are greater than the Church. The the dead and calls into existence the things Church is sinful, but she is under the force that do not exist» (Rom 4:17). 20

31 NOTES

1. There is a classical axiom of Prospero of Aqui- 8. K. KÖNIG , Iglesia ¿adónde vas? , Santander, Sal taine which states, « lex orandi, lex credendi », Terrae, 1986. that is, the form of prayer expresses the form 9. J. I. GONZÁLEZ FAUS , Comprender a Karol Wojtyla , of belief. Santander, Sal Terrae, 2005. 2. H. Denzinger was the German Jesuit who 10. J. MARTÍNEZ GORDO , «Datos y razones de la authored a classical work that gathers the key involución eclesial», Éxodo , no. 109, June texts of the Church councils and the pontifical 2011, pp. 5-12. magisterium. This work has been updated in 11. BENEDICT XVI, Discourse of Christmas Greet- recent years with the collaboration of other ing to the Roman Curia , 2005, published in theologians such as Rahner, Schönmetzer, and Acta Apostolicae Sedis 98 (2006), pp. 40-53. Hünermann. 12. J. PEREA , J. I. GONZÁLEZ FAUS , A. TORRES 3. See R. AUBERT , La théolo gie catholique au QUEIRUGA , J. VITORIA : Clamor contra el milieu du XXe. siècle , Tour nai 1954. gueto , Madrid, Trotta, 2012, pp. 9-23. 4. For a more complete study of Vatican II we refer 13. D. G. SCHULTENHOVER (ed.), Vatican II: Did the reader to these specialized works: G. AL - Anything Happen?, New York 2007. BE RI GO , ed., Historia del Concilio Vaticano II , 14. A. MARCHETTO , El Concilio Ecuménico Vatica- 5 vv., Salamanca, Sígueme, 2008; S. MADRI - no II. Contrapunto para su historia , Valencia GAL , Vaticano II: Remembranza y actualiza- 2008. See also S. MADRIGAL , El aggiorna- ción, Santander, Sal Terrae, 2002; Unas mento, clave teológica para la interpretación lecciones sobre el Vaticano II y su legado , del Concilio , Santander, Sal Terrae, February Santander, Sal Terrare, 2012; E. VILANOVA , El 2010, pp. 111-127. Concili Vaticà II , Barcelona, Facultat de 15. PEREA , GONZALEZ FAUS , TORRES QUEIRUGA , Teologia de Catalunya, 1995; J. Mª. ROVIRA VITORIA , Clamor contra... BELLOSO , Vaticano II: Un concilio para el 16. J. A. ESTRADA , «La pérdida de credibilidad de tercer milenio, Madrid, B.A.C., 1997. la Iglesia», in Clamor contra... , pp. 205-207. 5. A. J. de ALMEIDA , Lumen Gentium. A transiçâo 17. W. KASPER , «El desafío permanente del Vatica- necessária , Sâo Paulo, 2005. no II», in Teología e Iglesia , Barcelona 1989, 6. V. MESSORI , J. RATZINGER , Informe sobre la fe , p. 414. Madrid, B.A.C., 1985. 18. K. RAHNER , El Concilio, nuevo comienzo, Bar - 7. A text helpful for understanding the theological celona, Herder, 1966, p. 22. thought of J. Ratzinger is that of J. MARTÍNEZ 19. F. J. VITORIA , No hay “territorio comanche” GORDO , La cristología de Josef Ratzinger- para Dios , Madrid 2009, pp. 163-193. Bene dicto XVI. A la luz de su biografía teoló- 20. Allow me to refer to my booklet, Sentirse gica , Barcelona, Cristianisme i Justícia, Cua- Iglesia en el invierno eclesial , Barcelona, der no 158, 2008. Cristianisme i justícia, EIDES 46, 2006.

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