FPT 5 Vatican Council II as Turning Point of the RC

Vatican Council II was qualified as the Second Pentecost in the

Church. The heart of the Council was aggiornamento that is
renewal of the Church. Pope John XXIII announces the Council
by expressing his intention as a pastoral Council with the
attention of discussing the pastoral life of the Church. This is
new consciousness in the life of the Church that the time has
changed and people have been affected in a way that nothing is
similar to what was used to be. In short, the new era has
dawned in the world. The Church’s pastoral duty cannot
continue behaving as if nothing has happened. There are some
factors which awaken the Church leadership to discover the
beginning of the new era. The chapter explores the deep
historical development, immediate reasons for such steps in the
Church, and the Council itself.
1. Deep Historical Evolution of the Council
There was a change of mind and direction concerning the
mission from the popes immediately after the First World War
1914-1918. These Popes discovered that the time has changed
and human society needs a new approach. They knew that the
deep sense of the Church is the care for the human goodness and
the real goodness is to lead humans to the ultimate good which
is God himself. But God does not deal with people in abstract
ways. God cares about people in a concrete situation; in the
suffering, hopelessness, struggle and anguish,
disappointments of life among others. It is in these deep
misery that God speaks to his people and give them hope for
better life. The duty of the Church is to cooperate in this mission

1
of God as an instrument executing the attention of the people.
From Vatican some positive signs of change are very clear.
Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922)
Pope Benedict XV wrote Maximum Illud on the 30 November
1919, this Apostolic letter was written within the context of the
First World War and the acknowledgement of a steady growth in
the number of the catholic faithful. It is concerned with the
propagation of faith throughout the world. The letter is very
conversant with the diversity that is evident in every culture.
Thus, it stipulates three points that were not only cardinal to the
evangelization of people at that time but also appears to be a
prefiguration of the concept of new approach to
evangelization.
The Apostolic Letter speaks of the demand to train or rather
form local clergy, the unavoidable necessity of learning the
local language as a tool for an authentic insertion. Finally, it
encourages the promotion of full participation of the lay
faithful in the missionary vocation of the church.1 A theme
that came out later in Vatican Council II document, Apostolicam
Actuositatem.2 This in a way, apart from being a retaliation to
zealous missionary commitment, is a refocusing, a search for a
new methodology to evangelization.
Pope Pius XI (1922-1939)
Following the same line like his predecessor, Pope Pius XI came
up with Rerum Ecclesiae on 28 February 1926. This is another
church document that appears to have hinted on the concept of
1
Benedict XV, “Maximum Illud”<,http://www.patheos.com/blogs/mcnamarasblog/2009/maximum-illud-
1919.html,> accessed on 31st July, 2020.
2
Apostolic Actuositatem, 2-3.

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new time evangelization. The document discusses the promotion
of sacred undertakings of the church. This document is a
development from Benedict XV’s Maximum Illud. This is
derived from its contents which focuses on, among other things,
the promotion of a self-sustaining ecclesial body.3
From the contents of the document, the factors that engulfed the
environment in which it was written are evident. The first
quarter of the 20th century is characterised by a growing desire
for self-rule in many colonised countries, especially in African.
Hence in order for the church not be caught off guard,
meditation on a self-sustaining church were in order.
Subsequently, new situations of evangelization at that time
implies sustaining a structural system that would support the
current trend of events.4
Pope Pius XII (1939 - 1958)
The Apostolic letter Evangelii Praecones of Pius XII on June 2,
1951, is another missionary oriented church document. At its
background are events such as the building up of the pressure
for independence in most African countries and beyond as well
as the end of the World War II. Inspite of these prevailing
events, the document acknowledges that a lot of missionary
commitments have been achieved since the issuing of Rerum
Ecclesiae. The document was also intended to commemorate the
25th anniversary of Rerum Ecclesiae.
Pius XII wanted to re-insist the call for missionaries to respect
local cultures and to avoid associating Christianity with
3
Pius XI, Rerum Ecclesiae,
http://w2.vatican.va/content/piusxi/en/encyclicals/documents/hfpxienc28021926rerumecclesiae.html , accessed on
31st July, 2020.
4
Pius XI, Rerum Ecclesiae,

3
Western culture.5 Hence, the document contends that: “let not
the gospel on being introduced into any new land destroy or
extinguish whatever its people possesses that is naturally
good, just or beautiful. For the Church…does not act like
one who recklessly cuts down and uproots a thriving
forest.”6
John XXIII (1958 - 1963)
Another important document is the Apostolic letter of John
XXIII Princeps Pastorum written on November 28, 1959. At
this time, it was becoming more evident that territories often
referred to as mission territories would shrink considerable, for
the reason that the steady growth of the local church had become
consistent. Subsequently, the document focused on the mission
of the church, native clergy and lay participation. It is
important to note that, the idea of having an ecclesial body that
is inclusive seems to have gained momentum at this point.
Certainly, this could have been necessitated by not only the
growing number of the lay faithful but also due to the realisation
that an ecclesial body that disengages its members in vital
aspects of her life is sure of being extinguished. This thirsting
for new ways of evangelizing does not only seem to suggest an
implicit meditation on the concept of new evangelization, it also
appears to have prepared the ground for the Vatican Council II.7
5
PIUS XII, Evangelii Praecones,
http://w2.vatican.va/content/piusxii/en/encyclical/document/hfpxiienc02061951evangeliipraecones.html, accessed on 31st July
2020.
6
Pius XII, Evangelii Praecones,
http://w2.vatican.va/content/piusxii/en/encyclical/document/hfpxiienc02061951evangelii praecones.html, accessed
on 31st July, 2020.
7
John XXIII, Princeps Postorum,
http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hfi-xxiiienc28111959princeps.html, accessed on 31st July,
2020.

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These documents give a new flavour of new awareness in the
Church’s approach to mission. This new attitudes reflect a
radical of the thinking of Church on the world. The time of seen
the outside world as evil and against Christianity was shift to
friendly world. This would benefit a lot if it engages the local
leadership and uses the culture of the people to care for the faith
than to demonize them. There are also some other factors help
the Church to understand in a different way than the previous
times.
2. Immediate Historical Events
The Sufferings of the First World War (1914-1918) brought a
unique awareness in the Christian world. This experience was
added to the previous experience of transatlantic slave trade
operated by the same Christian countries. The Church had to
come to term with some direct contradiction of what is preached
and what is lived. It should not be forgotten that colonialism was
among these extraordinary phenomena operated by the Christian
countries. In this section the focus is on the three major events;
First World War, Second World War and Cold War Tension.
First World War (1914-1918)
The First World War came as the climax of the conflicts among
European countries started even before the famous Berlin
Conference of 1884-1885 of partitioning Africa. These countries
decided to come together to discuss their sphere of influence in
Africa in order to avoid clash among themselves. For almost
two years under the hospice of Chancellor von Bismack, they
agreed to share Africa among themselves. Colonisation was
greet mistake and the impact of this event will take years to be
cleared. All the participants were Christian countries and it was
5
seen as a normal thing. When the war broke and its
consequences the Church came to its sense on how grievous this
event was. We are not surprised to hear Maximum Illud in 1919
speaking about local cultures and local people.
It was estimated that about 40 million people died in the WWI
and huge material destruction. After war experience was
devastating in term of human and material loss. The Church
suffered in this situation because it was there. There was an
experience of failure in its ministry. Nobody knew exactly what
or how to take care of the situation after the war.
In the secular side, people became aware of each other. A lot of
people from the colonized countries participated in the war
without known exactly what was the matter but they knew only
that they were fighting to defend the metropole. These military
people from the colonies discovered that the Europeans are not
all powerful the way they pretended to be. This encourage the
revolt in several countries.
The Church mind was awakened that time is changing fast and
the world need a new way of dealing with the faithful. This
awareness was important because it shaped the approaches to
mission and considerations were put to the beneficiaries of
evangelization.
Second World War (1939-1945)
It was as if the WWI was not enough, the Second World War
broke with the event of NAZI Germany. The war was
devastating in term of lives and properties. It was estimated that
about 70-85 million people died. The countries were beyond
recognition. The suffering was beyond any explanation. The
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Holocaust was another brutality that the human history will
never forget. More than six million Jews perished in the
concentration camps in Poland and elsewhere.
The Church watched this sad event with great surprise but it
brought a sense of guilty because the Christian countries were
very active killing one another as if they never heard the gospel
message. It was impossible to continue preaching the same as it
was before. Serious questions were asked and the necessity of
renew was strongly felt in all circles of the Church. Would
we say that the old Church mentality was brought to its end with
this event of the WWII because the pastors felt miserable failure
of their ministerial life. The Church looked for another way of
handling the issue of the world. Maybe the best way is to say,
how to relation with the world in more positive way.
Cold War Tensions
It was imagined that at the end of the war people would live in
peace and the nations will live also in peace. But the contrary
was the truth. After the defeat of the NAZI Germany the new
conflict start right away from there. It continued up to 1989.
The Cold War tension was the conflict between the West and
the East - the capitalist countries under the hospice of United
States and the Communist countries under the leadership of the
former Soviet Union. There was serious struggle against the
hegemony in the world and a lot of evil things were done at that
time. The most fearful event was nuclear confrontation between
the West and the East. This never happened and officially in
1989 the problem was over.

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These three major events in the world sharpened the pastoral
spirit of the Church in the Vatican Council II. It was a moment
of search of new approach of the Church and a way of relating
with the world. The Council as a necessary step in the Church.
3. Vatican Council II

The second Vatican Council or in Latin Concilium

Oecumenicum Vaticanum Secundum, it was 21 ecumenical
council in the Church. It is indisputably the most significant
event in the history and theology of the Catholic Church in the
twentieth century. The Council was called for by Pope John
XXIII amidst the social optimism of the 1960s and the Council
met in four sessions from October 1962 to December 1965.
Pope John XIII’s desire to update the Church was carried on by
his successor Paul VI, who replaced him in 1963. The Council
sought to engage the modern world in a new and more positive
way, creating tremendous consequences for the life of the
Church. In order to understand the scope and nature of the
Council’s influence, it is helpful to consider Vatican II under
these aspects: the new direction taken by the Council, the crisis
and turmoil that followed, and the lasting significance and
questions regarding the place of Vatican II in the history the
Church.
The following persons took part in the councils’ opening
session:
1. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, who on
succeeding Saint John XXIII took the name of Paul VI
2. Bishop Albino Luciani, the future Pope John Paul I
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 3. Bishop Karol Wojtyła, who became Saint John Paul II
4. Father Joseph Ratzinger, present as a theological
consultant, who became
Pope Benedict XVI now
Emeritus Pope.
The New Direction taken by the Council

The second Vatican Council presented itself as a Council that

sought openly and constructively to engage the modern world
especially in its pastoral constitution/declaration on the Church
in the Modern World “Gaudium et Spes”. One change brought
about by the Council that was immediately noticeable is its
positive orientation and style toward modern society. In the
earlier Councils, the Church had presented herself with
restricted dogmatic and disciplinary language. Vatican II took a
pastoral approach in its documents. This change of style was
not simply a superficial change of rhetoric. It signified rather an
entirely new way of thinking on behalf of the Church. This more
pastoral style coincided with a sharp break with the Church’s
previous stance towards the modern world that had been that of
condemnatory and defensive toward modernity.

The Council also signified a break with neo-scholastic

theology, which had predominated among Catholic theologians,
and which proceeded by tightly argued logical analyses and took
the form of precise propositions and definitions. While prior to
the Council, all Catholic theologians were trained in this
method, theologians working afterwards were given much more
conceptual freedom. Catholic students of theology following the
Council were no longer obligated to go to Rome or Catholic
9
seminaries for theological training. In addition, a number of
creative theologians whose work had been held in suspicion
before the Council such as Karl Rahner, Henri de Lubac,
Yves Congar, Edward Schillebeeckx and Hans Kung became
highly esteemed.

The most immediate significant changes effected by the Vatican

II Council concerned its specific declarations in a number of key
areas. The first of these was the Church’s understanding of
itself and its relation to the modern world. The Council
moved away from language of the Church as the perfect society
or the kingdom of God on earth and described itself as a
“Sacrament” to the world (Flannery, 350) and as a “pilgrim
Church” that is looking forward to its full realization (Flannery
407-412). The Church also assumed a great deal of world-
responsibility, and far from emphasizing its separation from the
secular world, it spoke of its solidarity with the whole of
humanity (Flannery, 904).

Another change was the Council’s admission of some degree of

relativity in Catholic doctrine and its more positive appraisal
both of non-Catholic Christians and of believers in non-
Christian religions. The Vatican II Council recognized
reflections of religious truth outside the Catholic Church and
opened up new opportunities for ecumenical and inter-religious
dialogue (Flannery, 739). It also offered a significant
condemnation of all anti-Semitism in the Church (Flannery,
741).

Another significant change was the Council’s reformulation of

liturgy. This change was to exercise an immediate and powerful
10
impact on the lives of Catholic believers. The old liturgy that
was thought to be unchangeable by many worshipers was
replaced by a new liturgy in which the priest faced the
congregation and celebrated the mass not in Latin but in the
people’s vernacular language (cf. Flannery,13).

One other influential change was the newly understood role of

the laity in the Church. Laity were encouraged to actively
participate in the liturgy (Flannery, 8), they were given
responsibility to engage the world politically and economically
in pursuit of justice and the common good (Flannery, 390-391;
944; 981-984), and they were even obliged to make their own
opinions known (Flannery, 394).

A final and tremendously important change in the Council’s

new emphasis was its affirmation of human dignity and religious
liberty. The Council declared that no one should be coerced into
affirming any religious position but that persons should be free
to act according to their own free conscience (Flannery, 801),
and it even recognized some of the Catholic Church’s own
culpability in this regard (Flannery, 809).

All of these changes had the cumulative effect of drastically

changing the Church’s face. In thus letting down what had
seemed to many to be its unchangeable façade, the Church
opened up the opportunity for radically restructuring and
reconsidering the Church’s relationship to the world, to
other religions, and to science, as well as its understanding of
itself. And in this recognition of “a new age of human history”
(Flannery, 959), the Council signaled what many took to be a
new era for the Church.
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The German Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner, for example, saw
the Council as having even more importance than those
participating realized or intended, and said that in Vatican II the
Catholic Church had made a “qualitative leap” towards
becoming a “world-church” (Rahner, 80). Although it has
always been a world-church in potential, he argued, previously
the Church had been too culturally tied to Europe and North
America; its relation to the rest of the world was more like that
of an “export firm” (Rahner, 78). Vatican II, however, was the
first time that the world-church had actually begun to exist in
history (Rahner, 91). It therefore constituted what Rahner called
the transition to the third major time period in the history of the
Church. The Church’s first transition occurred at its very
beginning when it moved from being Judeo-Christianity to
becoming Gentile-Christianity and took on Hellenic and later
European thought forms, with all the radical restructuring of the
faith that such move involved. The present time, Rahner
argued, constitutes the second major transition and involves a
new challenge of restructuring that must likewise be met with
“Pauline boldness” (Rahner, 86). “At this point,” Rahner wrote,
“a frontier has been crossed behind which it will never again
be possible to return, even to the slightest degree” (Rahner,
94).

For Rahner and for many others, then, the Church’s action in
Vatican II did not simply represent reform or even merely
significant progress. Rather, it was the beginning of a new way
of being for the Church which was to have tremendous
implications for its continued existence. Despite this optimism
and euphoria about the Church’s new role, however, which was
12
shared by many, the Vatican II Council’s effects were also to
create a great deal of uncertainty and instability within the
Church, and would quickly bring it into a state of crisis.

Over the course of its four periods, the council produced four
constitutions, three declarations and nine decrees as follows:
Four
Constitutions:
1. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium.
2. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei
Verbum.
3. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum
Concilium.
4. Constitution on the Church in the modern World,
Gaudium et Spes.
Three Declarations
1. Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum
Educationis.
2. Declaration on the Relation of the church to Non-
Christian
Religions, Nostra Aetate.
3. Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae.
Nine Decrees:
1. Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, Ad
Gentes Divinitus.

13
 2. Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests,
Presbyterorum Ordinis.
3. Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam
Actuositatem.
4. Decree on the Training of Priests, Optatam Totius.
5. Decree on the Renewal of Religious Life, Perfectae
Caritatis.
6. Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops, Christus
Dominus.
7. Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio.
8. Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches, Orientalium
Ecclesiarum.
9. Decree on the Media and Social Communication, Inter
Mirifica.

Four Constitutions
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: This document related
chiefly to the nature and role of the church and its hierarchy. It
included such things as the authority of bishops, the
apostolate of the laity, the relationship of “separated”
Christians and non-believers to the Catholic Church, social
justice, missions, the relationship between church and state, and
Mary as the mother of the church and a channel of grace.
Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation: This constitution
focused on the nature of revelation. It looked at such issues as
tradition in relation to Scripture, the inerrancy and historicity

14
of the Bible, and the methods of teaching and promoting
Scripture.
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy: This constitution examined
the forms, purpose and effectiveness of the liturgy. It was
revolutionary in that it allowed for the use of the vernacular
language in the mass, as well as the incorporation of local or
national customs and the taking of both communion elements
(wine and bread) by the laity. It affirmed the teaching and
unifying value of communion.
Pastoral constitution of the Church in the modern world: This
constitutions addresses the number of issues relevant to the
contemporary society, such as the role of women, race relations,
poverty, hunger, communism, the relationship of the Church
and the society, divorce, abortion, nuclear weapons and
population.
Three Declarations
Religious Freedom: This declaration comes to terms with the
fact that the Catholic Church is no longer the political power
that it was from the time of Constantine until the nineteenth
century. It affirms that governments have no right to interfere
with the personal religious convictions and practices of
individuals or groups, except where it becomes a matter of
public order. It urges governments to pass laws guaranteeing
the free exercise of religion.
The Church’s Attitude toward Non-Christian Religions: This
declaration reflects a new openness toward other religions. The
Church reject nothing which is holy and true in these religions.

15
Christian Education: This declaration affirms the right of all
people to obtain an education and the obligation of national
governments to ensure that basic education is provided, as well
as the right to freedom of choice in education. The church has a
right to use its own methods and principles at all levels of
education, and can and should make recommendations and
work in cooperation with other educational bodies. The
church is responsible for upholding religious and moral
principles in its own schools and encouraging them in others.
Nine Decrees
Pastoral Office of Bishops: As the name implies, this decree
clarifies the roles and obligations of bishops, especially in the
light of the new Dogmatic Constitution of the Church.
Ecumenism: This is one of the areas where the progressive
mood of the council was most evident. Although the decree
exhorts Catholics to be faithful to the truth as they have
received it, it also encourages humility, charity and cooperation
with regard to “separated brethren”.
Oriental Catholic Churches: This decree is similar in some
ways to the Decree on Ecumenism, but it concerns itself
specifically with the Church in the Far East. It gives Asian
patriarchs similar standing with those of the West; accepts the
need of Asian churches to adapt themselves to their own
cultures than accept Latinization; accepts the validity of rites
performed in non-Catholic Christian churches, and allows
Catholics to participate in them when no Catholic priest is
available.
Ministry and Life of Priests: This decree is for the
priesthood what the Decree on the Pastoral Office of
16
Bishops is for that particular group. It clarifies the roles,
responsibilities and obligations of priests in the contemporary
world.
Education for the Priesthood: Priestly education was seen as
important by the council, because the revitalization of the
church was in large part dependent on its priests. This decree
dealt with the need to update seminary programs to equip
priests for ministry in the postmodern world, and the need for
a practical training period after seminary.
Adapted Renovation of the Life of Religious: In regard to
membership in the various orders, the council affirmed the
vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. It was decided that
constitutions of the orders should be updated to ensure both
their adherence to their original spirit and their relevance in the
postmodern world.
Missionary Activity of the Church: This decree urged
cooperation between missionary institutes and local
ecclesiastical jurisdictions, adaptability to different cultures,
dialogue with non-Christians, and the setting up of a
central mission board.
Apostolate of the Laity: The theological basis and objectives of
lay ministry were analyzed, and training for lay ministry was
emphasized. In a significant move, the council affirmed what
the Protestant reformers had proclaimed centuries before
concerning the apostolate of the laity, or the priesthood of all
believers. Previously, the Church was considered to be made
up of its hierarchy – clergy, religious, etc. – but not the laity.
This decree affirms that all Christians continue in the calling of
the original apostles in whatever walk of life they find

17
themselves. Therefore, the definition of the Church was
expanded to include the laity.
Media of Social Communication: This decree affirms the
legitimacy of the use of the mass media in evangelization and
the promotion of church objectives. It also recommends that a
special office for media concerns be set up in Rome, with
national offices in each country. Additional recommendations
were that an international Catholic news a g e n c y b e f o u n d e d
and that communications experts from various countries,
including lay people, be recruited.
The Council was officially closed in 1965 but the challenge was
to live the new teachings. The Council was conducted while all
the members were formed and used to the old model of the
Church’s life. So, it was very challenging for them to adapt to
the new realities of the Church. There was some reactions and
complains from different people especially from the
missionaries in mission. But the courage of the Council to start
a new approach was good and necessary for the Church pastoral
life.
The Crisis and Turmoil that followed the Vatican II Council:
The decade following the Council’s close in 1965 was one of the
tremendous crisis for many Catholic believers, who were not
intellectually, spiritually, or emotionally prepared for the
change. The historical mentality alone that the Council brought
to its understanding of the Church had reversed a conception
among many Catholics that the Church’s worship and doctrines
were immune to change. The Council’s changes therefore left
some with a great feeling of loss and uncertainty. The
celebration of the Eucharist/Mass had been reshaped. Many of
the old rites had either been simplified or discarded altogether,
18
and there began both a spectacular decline in vocations to the
priesthood and religious orders and a movement among existing
priests to leave the religious life.

The total number of the seminarians from 1962 to 1974, for

example, dropped by 31.4%, and while the worldwide Catholic
population increased from 530 million to 659 million in the
years from 1960 to 1974, the number of priests did not increase
at all. In fact, in the short time span from 1966 to 1972
approximately eight thousand left the public
ministry/priesthood. This decline can be partly explained by
frustration with clerical celibacy and a desire among many
priests to marry, but the more fundamental reason for this
change concerned the very question of the priest’s identity. In
the wake of the Council, there was no clear answer to the
question of what really meant to be a priest in contemporary
society.

Coinciding with this broad sense of turmoil were increasing

trends that called into question the moral precepts and traditional
doctrines of the Catholic Church. In the moral sphere, for
example, many in the priesthood began expressing a desire to
change the law of celibacy. And with regard to doctrine, more
and more theologians began to take advantage of historical and
critical studies to present novel views that with increasing
frequency contradicted traditional Catholic teaching. The 1966
Dutch New Catechism took such an approach, giving more
symbolic expression to previously held teachings such as papal
infallibility and the virgin birth.

19
These trends, of course, took their motivation directly from the
Vatican II Council. Prior to the Vatican II, the Church had
stressed absolute obedience to its moral teachings; its doctrines
were regarded as more or less perfect expressions of divine
truths. With the Councils recognition of legitimate plurality and
complementarity of theological expression and its teaching on
the “hierarchy of truths” (Flannery, 462), however, it had
opened the door to greater doctrinal relativity.

Such differing interpretations of the Council’s intentions led

increasingly to conflict between papal authorities and those
among the bishops and laity who desired more progress. Already
in 1968 Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humane Vitae, which
condemned abortion and the use of unnatural methods of
contraception, met with strong and widespread opposition. And
despite the abolition of the Index of Forbidden Books in 1965,
the Roman authorities once again began bringing pressure down
upon individual theologians, as it did with Hans Kung, who
emphasized the historical contingency of the Church’s teachings
and advocated discarding the Church’s belief in papal
infallibility.

The years following the Vatican II Council, therefore, witnessed

an increasing divide between more progressive elements in the
Church, who resented the continued heavy-handed and
authoritarian workings of the Roman Curia, and conservative
theologians concerned to preserve the Church’s teaching.
While some Catholics were eager to implement changes, others
felt that the zeal for reform and renewal had already gone too
far. In the 1980’s following John Paul II’s elevation to the
papacy in 1978, the magisterium began to espouse a more
20
conservative view of the Council’s intentions. And in 1985, a
synod was convened with the intention of giving an official
interpretation to the Council’s intentions and teachings, leading
to the production of a new catechism of the Catholic Church.

Despite the synod’s work, however, polarization among

Catholics over the correct interpretation and implementation of
the Council’s reforms has persisted. Some see the Council as
having been naively optimistic and having spoken to a situation
that no longer exists. While affirming the Councils intention,
they see a need to take a sharper stance against the world in
order to again arouse a sense of the Catholic Church’s reforms.
In some parts of the Church, this debate between progressive
and conservative interests has become quite acrimonious. Thus,
the initial euphoria surrounding the Vatican II Council, then, has
given way to a more pessimistic and somber view. The question
of the proper interpretation and implementation of the Council’s
reforms remains a difficult issue.

Evaluation?
Continued Influence/Significance of the Council:
Regardless of one’s interpretation of the Vatican II Council, all
parties agree with Rahner’s assessment that in Vatican II
“something new has happened, something irreversible,
something that remains” (Rahner, 102). And despite the
difficulties surrounding its reception, the Council has undeniably
also produced a number of positive effects that contribute to its
stated purpose of seeking unity and solidarity. The Church
indeed, has made some progress in the ecumenical front, for

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instance, engaging in significant dialogues with Lutheran,
Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox churches.

The Council has also contributed to more positive relations with

other religions, as symbolized by the late Pope John Paul II’s
paying homage to Gandhi as a man of true religious inspiration
and by his meetings with the Dalai Lama. And following the
new emphasis on the role of the laity in the life and mission of
the Church, many Catholics have become more deeply engaged
in problems of justice and peace in the world at large. The
Council has also opened space for the work of Catholic
theologians such as de Lubac, Congar, Schillebeeckx,
Rahner, and Hans Urs von Balthasar. In addition, though,
some other theologians have undertaken work in important areas
that have brought them into conflict with the teaching of the
magisterium, for example in the feminist theology of Rosemary
Radford Ruether or in the liberation theology of Gustavo
Gutierrez.

Despite the Vatican II Council’s positive attempts to engage the

modern world, then, the leadership of the Church must still
address a number of important issues. It will have to address
rising concerns, for example, regarding its position on celibacy
and the priesthood, the role of women in ministry,
homosexuality, pedophilia, and the relation between Church
and state. Moreover, and more fundamentally, the Church must
continue to address itself to the world’s new and changing
context. While the Council’s optimism in coming to terms with
modernity coincided largely with the optimism of the 1960’s,
the decades that followed brought wide-ranging cultural and
intellectual changes. The increasing globalization brought about
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by communications technology and postmodernism’s more
somber view of the world, present a different situation for the
Church to engage itself in.

Whatever one’s appraisal of the way in which the Council has

influenced the Catholic Church, therefore, one must agree with
Adrian Hastings that: The Council was so immensely influential
upon every side of the life of the Church that a history of the
Church in this period can be little other than an account of the
way the Council has been understood, implemented, built upon,
or resisted (Hasting, i).

It is also clear that with regard to the Council, a number of

lasting questions remain both for the Catholic Church itself and
for the continuing theological and religious dialogue outside of
Catholicism. Will the Catholic Church be able to maintain its
identity as it opens itself in ever-greater sympathy to an
already changed world? What will be the Council’s
enduring contributions to theological and inter-religious
study outside of Roman Catholicism? Will the Church,
following Rahner’s appraisal, make the necessary transition to
become a world-church? These questions, which remain for
the time being unanswered, must depend upon how the Catholic
Church implements and interprets the Vatican II Council’s
reforms in the times ahead.

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