October 16, 2012      Martin Mallon  (Ireland)      Martin's previous articles

                                       FIFTY YEARS ON

 

In his Address at the Opening of Vatican Council II - 11 October 1962 Pope John XXIII commented on the pessimistic voices concerning the secular world the Church was operating in:  

Pessimistic Voices  

In the daily exercise of Our pastoral office, it sometimes happens that We hear certain opinions which disturb Us—opinions expressed by people who, though fired with a commendable zeal for religion, are lacking in sufficient prudence and judgment in their evaluation of events. They can see nothing but calamity and disaster in the present state of the world. They say over and over that this modern age of ours, in comparison with past ages, is definitely deteriorating. One would think from their attitude that history, that great teacher of life, had taught them nothing. They seem to imagine that in the days of the earlier councils everything was as it should be so far as doctrine and morality and the Church's rightful liberty were concerned.  

We feel that We must disagree with these prophets of doom, who are always forecasting worse disasters, as though the end of the world were at hand.  

There are many “prophets of doom” voicing their concerns in today’s world. Here the voice of Pope John is prophetic when he said:  

A Basis For Optimism  

Present indications are that the human family is on the threshold of a new era. We must recognize here the hand of God, who, as the years roll by, is ever directing men's efforts, whether they realize it or not, towards the fulfillment of the inscrutable designs of His providence, wisely arranging everything, even adverse human fortune, for the Church's good.  

The Pope could have been talking specifically about our times because there has never been a time when the developed world has seen as big a change, in economic terms, in “human fortune” since the Great Depression. In some parts of Europe the change in recent years has been traumatic; in Greece , Portugal , Ireland and Spain . The situation in Greece is pitiful and its treatment by other Eurozone members has not been and is not Christian. The mind boggles at the thought of the European Union receiving the Nobel peace prize when half of its members are being forced into draconian austerity measures and it appears to be in the process of arranging its own break-up.  

Read Pope John XXIII’s Opening Address here 

On Friday 12 October 2012 Pope Benedict addressed the surviving bishops who were present at Vatican II and highlighted how Pope John had used the word “aggiornamento” meaning updating: “I would like to recall how one word, launched by Blessed John XXIII almost programmatically, returned continually in the conciliar works: the word “aggiornamento.”

Optimistically, and in keeping with John XXIII and Vatican II, Benedict has pointed out: “Christianity must not be considered as “something of the past,” and it must not be lived ever looking “back,” because Jesus Christ is yesterday, today and for eternity (cf. Hebrews 13:8).” 

This statement makes perfect sense “Christianity... must not be lived ever looking “back,”” however, it does seem to contradict some of the recent actions of the hierarchical Church, such as the new translation of the Mass and the attempts to have the documents of Vatican II interpreted in one way only. Yet the Pope continues in this address as follows:  

Because of this, Christianity is always new. We must never see it as a tree fully developed from the evangelical mustard seed, which has grown, has given its fruits, and one day ages and arrives at the waning of its vital energy. Christianity is a tree which is, so to speak, in constant “dawn,” is always young. And this actuality, this “aggiornamento” does not mean a break with tradition, but expresses its constant vitality; it does not mean reducing the faith, lowering it to the fashion of the times, to the measure of what please us, to what pleases public opinion, but it is the contrary: exactly as the Conciliar Fathers did, we must bear the “today” that we live to the measure of the Christian event, we must bear the “today” of our time in the “today” of God.  

The first half of this paragraph rings true, but as at Vatican II “the Conciliar Fathers” broke with the Church tradition of blaming the Jews for Christ’s death, for example, it is difficult to imagine what exactly Benedict means in the second half. The full Address can be found here  

The hierarchy are encouraging us to read the documents of Vatican II, but say we must interpret them in a particular way; their way. The reason for this seems to be that a lot of the documents were contradictory in some areas due to Pope Paul VI desiring unanimity among the bishops in supporting the documents. This led to the majority of bishops voting generally for “progressive” teachings and a minority, very few in fact, voting for the conflicting “conservative” teachings, but both sets of teachings, to some degree, are incorporated in the documents.  

Unfortunately, from a few years after Vatican II, when the bishops disbanded, the “conservative” Roman curia has been running the Church based on the minority “conservative” teachings. The “right hermeneutic” that Pope Benedict has requested be used in interpreting Vatican II documents is one where the “conservative” aspect of every teaching must be chosen. Clearly this is not what the bishops and the Holy Spirit wanted to be the outcome of Vatican II and, apparently, this is well documented in the official Council records.  

Thankfully, as the Holy Spirit was behind and guided the Council we can be sure that He will prevail. However, He normally works through us humans so it is up to each of us to do what we can to ensure the, much demeaned, Spirit of Vatican II wins out. This means doing what we can on a daily basis in our own life; in our family, work, social and Church environments. This is how we make Jesus present to the world, each of us make Him present to our little bit and in a modern fashion as envisaged by “aggiornamento”. We can also write to our bishops and newspapers, use the new medias, talk to our local priests and use the other opportunities that the Holy Spirit gives us.  

We must always remember Cardinal Ricard’s advice when he said that communion is the source of truth, be with the sinner, not teaching a lesson to the sinner but welcoming a brother. It is not just a question of teaching others what is right, that is evil, unless teaching with love. It is love which converts. 

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