THEO 300: ECCLESIOLOGY AND SACRAMENTOLOGY
CHURCH AND ITS ENCOUNTER WITH THE MODERN WORLD
PRELIMS | S.Y 2022 – 2023
ROBERT CAAGAS
OUTLINE
I. Church and It’s Encounter with the Modern
World
A. Missionary Expansion
B. Reconsideration of Science as an
Alternative Source of Truth
C. Enlightenment
D. First Vatican Council (1867)
E. Second Vatican Council (1962 - 1965)
I. CHURCH AND ITS ENCOUNTER WITH THE
MODERN WORLD
● The modern world was a time and culture
contrasted by the progressive march of catholic
mission and evangelization beyond Europe and
the threatening wave of renewed atheism,
secularism and liberalism in the Western world,
with the glorification of human reason as the sole
judge of the truth.
A. MISSIONARY EXPANSION
● The great discoveries of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries were the signal for the
beginning of world-wide evangelization. The
church really became Catholic(J. Colby)
● the Philippines stood as witness the history of the
Spanish colonization and religious evangelization
in the 16thcentury-the historic arrival of
Ferdinand Magellan in Limasawa Island where
Raja Humabon and his men accepted the
Christian faith
● The Christian mission spread from the West to
the East and missionaries became new heroes of
the faith by their dedication to Christ.
● Some of them were even accused of dividing the
county and perceived as threatening national
stability
● In Japan twenty-six missionaries and faithful
were executed at Nagasaki (1597) and 35000
Christians were massacred (1636) as a result of
the Japanese Prime Minister's resolve to restore
Japanese unity.
● Saint Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, the first Filipino
saint, was among those Christian missionaries
who were martyred for their faith
B. RECONSIDERATION OF SCIENCE AS AN
ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF TRUTH
● The context of the time favored the Church to be
sole guarantor of the truth in matters pertaining
to the religious and even to the scientific..
● The Church, for so many centuries, maintained
that the word was flat, as narrated from the
Creation story in the book of Genesis.
● The Church adhered to the idea that the earth is
the of the universe (geocentric theory) for the sun
moves from the east to the west and the earth
remained fixed in its permanent position
● But the era of discovery and science proved the
Church wrong.
● The navigators and even missionaries
corroborated the fact that the world is not flat,
that there is no danger of falling at the horizon
into the abyss, that the world is round
● Nicolaus Copernicus , a Polish astronomer,
refuted the geocentric theory by his discovery of
a sun centered universe or heliocentric theory
which argues that the Sun as the fixed point to
which their motions are to be referred; that the
earth is a planet which, besides Orbiting the Sun
annually, also turns once daily on its own axis.
C. ENLIGHTENMENT
● The sole issue that confronted the era of the
Enlightenment was the application of human
reason in all human affairs and concerns in the
pursuit of knowledge, freedom and happiness.
● Theories like Newton's Gravitation, Copernican
Revolution, Darwin's Evolution and other laws
that can explain the mechanical movements,
structures and life forms of the universe
eventually disposed some philosophers and
scientist to be radical in their claim in eliminating
the existence of a personal, creator God in favor
of the natural causes and effects observed by
science.
● nineteenth century philosophy was concerned
(Kant) that God could not be reached through
reason.
● The idea of God was of no interest, if not alien…
Science believed in the unlimited advance of
knowledge and a final retreat of religion.
● As the success of science in its theories gained
wider acceptance, this put a shadow of doubt on
the Church’s credibility in matters pertaining to
science and encouraged people to exaggerate
the role of reason as the sole determinant of the
truth in human affairs.
● The result: atheism flourished and religious faith
was misinterpreted as opposed to reason, as a
hindrance to human creativity and full rational
development.
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 D. FIRST VATICAN COUNCIL (1867)
● Caught a little unguarded, the catholic Church, at
first tended to be defensive in responding to the
liberal views spurred by the scientific revolution
and the intellectual ascent of the Enlightenment.
● It resorted to the censorship of books that attack
the Catholic doctrine and belief and the
condemnation of heretics
● But condemnations, as history can attest, would
not be enough. The Church, humbled by the
surge of new challenges and opportunities, yet
imbued with the desire to grow in its relationship
with the modern world, convened an ecumenical
council at the Vatican led by Pope Pius IX.
● Achievements of Vatican I
○ Definition of the existence of God who
could be attained by reason, (Dei Fillius)
○ Declaration concerning papal primacy
and infallibility on matters pertaining to
faith and morals necessary for ones
salvation
○ Affirmation how reason and faith
complement each other
○ The pursuit of the truth and the highest
good
D. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL (1962 - 1965)
● No other Ecumenical Council in Christian history
can be considered as the greatest than the
Second Vatican Council.
● Reasons: (Richard McBrien)
○ Vatican II had the greatest number of
delegates with 2600 bishops from all
over the world and the additional
participation of theologians and experts.
○ It was the first council to include the
presence of non-Catholics, lay
participants as guests and observers of
the council.
○ It was greatly represented in terms of
nations and cultures, wherein bishops
and participants from various countries
like South America, North America, Asia,
Africa, Central America and Oceania
attended the council. And these priest
and bishops were nonEuropeans, native
citizens from missionary areas
representing their place and culture of
origin.
○ It was the first to utilize the gift of
modernization, like the modern means of
communication and transportation.
○ It emphasized promotion of peace and
unity among nations
○ After seeing the horrors of World War II
and its divisive consequences on
peoples and their nations, Pope John
XXIII, initiated Vatican II on January25,
1959, He saw the need of restoring and
promoting unity among nations:
Catholics and nonCatholic alike.
○ He also envisioned a Church that
“adapts (aggiornamento, updating)” to
the signs of the times and makes the
message of Christ relevant to modern
men and women in their daily life and life
decisions. He sincerely believed that the
Church is always in need of reform
(Ecclesia Semper reformanda).
○ Those who were in attendance labored
to align their work within the objectives
set by the Holy Father at the start of the
council.
● Vatican II Documents
○ A. Constitutions:
■ Documents that deal with
doctrinal matters which pertain
to the very essence, or
“constitution” on the Church
○ A.1. Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church (Lumen Gentium) “Light of the
nations”
■ The Church is a mystery or a
sacrament, the whole People of
God, in whose service the
hierarchy is placed. The
authority of pope and bishops is
to be exercised as a form of
service and in a collegial mode,
Bishops are not simply the
vicars of the pope and the laity
participate fully and directly in
the Church’s mission
○ A.2.Pastoral Constitution on the Church
in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes)
“Joy and Hope”
■ The Church must read the signs
of the times and interpret them
in the light of the Gospel. The
Church does not exist alongside
or apart from the world; the
Church is part of the world and
its mission is to serve the whole
human family in order to make
the human race’s history more
human.
○ A.3. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine
Revelation (Dei Verbum) “word of God”
■ The World of God is
communicated through Sacred
Scripture, sacred tradition and
the teaching authority of the
Church, all linked together and
directed by the Holy Spirit. The
sacred realities are always open
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 in principle to a growth in
understanding.
○ A.4. Constitution on Sacred Liturgy
(Sacrosanctum Concilium) this Sacred
Council
■ The Church proclaims the
Gospel not only in the world but
also in sacrament, or by the
sacred signs . Since the whole
People of God is involved in this
worship, the signs must be
intelligible.
○ B. Decrees:
■ Text which appeared as the
application of principles laid
down by the constitutions
○ B.1. Decree on Priestly Ministry
(Optatam Totius) “desired renewal of
the whole (church)”.
■ There must be a closer
connection between seminary
training and pastoral situations.
○ B.2. Decree on Eastern Catholic
Churches (Orientalium Ecclesiarum) of
the Eastern Churches
■ The Eastern Catholic or
“Uniate”churches can be a
bridge to the Orthodox East.
The integrity of Eastern
traditions of liturgy, spiritually
and discipline is to be restored
○ B.3.Decree on the Bishop’s Pastoral
Office (Christus Dominus) Christ the
Lord
■ Bishops are the pastors of their
own local churches and beyond
that collaborate with other
bishops through Episcopal
conferences with the pope and
all other bishops through the
Episcopal college Authority is
always for service.
○ B.4.Decree on the Church’s Missionary
Activity (Ad Gentes) To the Nations
■ The Gospel is to be preached
also and always to non-
Christians, but not as a
culturally alien reality.
Evangelization is an obligation
for every member of the
Church.
○ B.5. Decree on the Appropriate Renewal
of Religious Life (Perfectae Caritatis) of
Perfect Charity
■ The renewal of religious life (a
life lived according to the
evangelical counsels of poverty,
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chastity and obedience) must
be based on the Gospel, the
original purposes of the
community and the changed
conditions of the times.
○ B.6.Decree on the Instruments of Social
Communication (Inter Mirifica) among
the wonderful
■ The Church must be vigilant
towards the media because of
the ever-present danger of their
abuse, but must also use the
media where opportune.
○ B.7.Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis
Redintegratio) The restoration of unity
■ Christian unity is a matter of
restoration, not a return to
Rome; other Christian
communities are churches
within the Body of Christ; and
both sides were to blame for the
divisions of the Church.
○ B.8. Decree of the Ministry of life of
Priests (Presbyterorum Ordinis) Order
of Priests
■ Priests are members of a
presbytery in union with bishops
and with him serve the building
up of Christ’s body.
○ B.9.Decree on the Apostolate of the
Laity (Apostolicam Actuositatem)
Apostolic Activity
■ The laity participates in the
mission of the Church, but
especially in the temporal order
○ C. Declarations:
■ principles and guidelines
expressing the thought of the
Church.
○ C.1.Declaration on Non-Christian
Religious (Nostra Aetate) In our time
■ God speaks also through other
religions, so we should engage
in dialogue and other
collaborative efforts with them.
The Jews have a special
relationship to the Church. They
cannot be blamed as a people
for the death of Jesus.
○ C.2Declaration on Religious Freedom
(Dignitatis Humanae) On the Dignity of
the Human Person
■ No one is to be forced in any
way to embrace the Christian or
the Catholic faith. This principle
is rooted in human dignity and
the freedom of the act of faith.
 ○ C.3.Declaration on Christian Education
(Gravissimum Educationis)
■ Education must be broadly
humane and up-to-date, with a
concern for personal maturity
and social responsibility.
● The above documents changed the Church from
within and from the way it relates and deals with
the needs and concerns. ‘the joys and hopes’ of
modern men and women in the world

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