Edward P. Hahnenberg - A Concise Guide to the Documents of Vatican II

INTRODUCTION

Reading the Documents of Vatican II

The sixteen documents of the Second Vatican Council are the most important texts produced by the Catholic church in the past four hundred years. They shape virtually every aspect of church life today. But hardly anyone ever reads them.

Its not that these documents are hard to come by or difficult to understand. Its just that they need a proper introduction. This book is meant to be that introduction. Each of the following sixteen chapters offers (1) a brief history of one council document, (2) a section-by- section reading guide that highlights major themes and (3) a sampling of questions we might raise today. My goal is to empower you to read the documents themselves. For buried in their pages are both the wisdom of the past and the possibilities for the futurethey hold the spirit of the Council. This book is an attempt to reclaim that spirit by unearthing the treasures in these texts.

What Was Vatican II?

The Second Vatican Council was the twenty-first general, or ecumenical, council in the history of the Catholic church. During the autumn months of 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965, over twenty-five hundred bishops, theological experts, other officials and observers from around the world gathered in St. Peters Basilica in Rome in order to debate the future of Catholicism. Their conversations changed things. By asking very basic questionsWho are we? What are we about?the Council set the church on a path of inner renewal and outward engagement with the world.

Unlike previous councils, Vatican II was not called to combat some threat to the church, such as heresy or schism. Instead, it was called to respond positively to the challenges facing the modern world, to update those aspects of the church that could be updated and to reach out to other Christians in a spirit of reconciliation. These were the desires of Pope John XXIII, the inspiration and driving force behind Vatican II.

Only three months after he became pope, John XXIII announced his plans for a new ecumenical council. Such a radical idea did not go over well for some church leaders at the time. Mired in tradition, they could not imagine the church changing. For them, it was already perfect. The seventeen stunned cardinals who first heard the news respon-ded, according to Pope Johns own recollection, with devout and impressive silence. Later, many of them voiced their concerns and objections.

But the aging pope continued to speak of the upcoming council as a means of spiritual renewal, a new Pentecost that would reinvigorate the church for its mission in the world. In his memorable opening speech of the council, John XXIII publicly disagreed with those prophets of gloom around him who saw in modern times only prevarication and ruin. Instead, the pope believed, God is moving humanity to a new order of human relations. The church needed aggiornamento updatingnot because the church felt threatened, but because of its great desire to share Christ with all people. He pointed forward with hope: The council now beginning rises in the Church like daybreak, a forerunner of most splendid light. It is now only dawn.