Starting with the First Council of Nicaea in 325 the Catholic Church established a tradition of ecumenical council meetings to help decide on and shape the future of the Church. The most recent Council, called Vatican II, is considered to be both the largest ever in scope and also the most ground breaking in the amount of change it yielded. The changes in doctrine, dogma and procedure they enacted had major effects both inside and outside the Catholic Church and continue to today. Before the Vatican II the Catholic Church was an aging dinosaur, still crippled by the Reformation and unable to relate to contemporary man. It emerged from it a modern Church, tolerant and accepting of other religions, accessible to the laity and ready to grip with this age of reason over faith. I contend that the Vatican II council, while not being perfect or perhaps as progressive as it should have been, was just what the Catholic Church needed if it intended to maintain its status as one of the largest denominations on Earth.
This paper is divided up in to two portions, the first a historical account of events of the council and the second an analysis of the most important of the 16 documents approved by the assembled Fathers and their effect on the Catholic Church. WHAT HAPPENED On January 25th 1959, Pope John XXIII announced that he was assembling what was to be the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. He proclaimed to his closest advisors that the purpose of the council would be to proclaim the truth, bring Christians closer to the faith, and contribute at the same time to peace and prosperity on earth. Pope John immediately made it very clear that his papal reign, which up until this point was considered rather inconsequential, was going to make a difference. Councils of the church are called to contemplate and reevaluate the churchs position on matters such as church administration, doctrine and discipline. An ecumenical council is a worldwide council that can only be called by the pope.
The Essay on Roman Catholic Pope Church Ratzinger
"A New Pope but Not a New Path." In this article about the new Pontiff, Benedict XVI, the author tells about Cardinal Ratzinger's life. He was known as Pope John Paul II enforcer. Cardinal Ratzinger was called many things for this such as "Joe the Rat" and God's Rottweiler." Cardinal Ratzinger is one of the most conservative men in the Roman Catholic Church today. He holds many of the beliefs that ...
All bishops and other high-ranking members of the whole church are to be present. This was to be the first major council in the Church since the original Vatican Council that was convened in 1869-1870. Immediately after the popes order the Vaticans bureaucracy of religious leaders, which is known as the Curia, sprung into action. Their preparatory commissions produced seventy proposals that encompassed over 2000 pages. That alone doubled the amount of documents created by the previous twenty councils combined. Many were concerned that when the council officially began it would be so weighed down by the breadth of its task that the bishops would be unable to make changes significant to the contemporary man. That concern would soon be dispelled.
In recent times, the Curia had grown very confident in their authority over the rest of the Churchs bishops since the decree of papal infallibility made at the 1st Vatican Council. They expected the rest of the churchs leaders to arrive in Rome and essentially rubber stamp their decisions. However, despite the Curias attempts to keep it hidden there was a great deal of discontent in the church. That was illustrated by the thousands of submittals that were sent to the church for possible inclusion in the council. On the first day of meetings during the first session in October 11th 1962 it became clear that real introspection would be inevitable and that the Curia would not be placidly followed. Cardinal Lieneat of France and Cardinal Frings of Germany took the first step by successful challenging the pre-selection of the members of the ten committees that would be in control the council voice. Once that happened, the assembled leaders and the world at-large knew that this would be more than a rubber stamp council.
The Term Paper on Roman Catholic Church
Two of the most influential and enduring styles of architecture are the Renaissance and Baroque styles. Loved for their unique and exciting addition to the “gene pool” of architecture, these two styles emerged almost successively. Renaissance architecture emerged during the 17th century giving Rome a distinctive beauty and grandeur (Patrick, p. 97). Grundmann & Furst (1998) said that some of ...
That first session lasted until December 8th and did not end with any documents approved or consensus found. Of the seventy projects that had been proposed only one had garnered any sort of the popular approval, that was the reformation of the liturgy or official prayer of the church. Council members wanted to increase the level of emphasis placed on Christ by Catholics and raise the Churchs level of community. Despite the lack of concrete results the first session was still very encouraging. The council as a whole got a feel for the procedure of the meetings and began to get to know each other. Things looked very promising for future sessions. On June 3rd 1963, Pope John XXIII died. Immediately the future of the 2nd Vatican Council was in jeopardy. Would his successor allow the meetings to continue? If so, would the bishops be able to discuss their views as freely under the pope as under the old one? It was well known that before his death Pope John favored Cardinal Montini as his successor.
With the consent of the former Bishop of Rome behind him his election bid was easily successful. After ascension to the position of pope Montini adopted the name of Paul VI. He then eased the worries of the proponents of the council by setting September 29th as the beginning of the second session. The second session, which last nine weeks, produced the first actual results. Two documents were approved on liturgical reform on communications media. They also set up an agenda of two themes for future sessions, the study of the Churchs nature and study of how it relates to the modern world.
Also another program that received a majority backing was the agreement on a new attitude of friendship with non-Catholic Christians and the acknowledgment of the positive content of the other major religious. While most of these issues received well over ninety percent support from the Fathers in attendance there was a small conservative minority on every issue that stayed united and firmly entrenched against all change to the Church and its central government in Rome. The third session began on September 14 and lasted until November 21 in the fall of 1964. It brought strong wins for the progressive majority. During this session, statements were approved that spoke on what the purpose of the Church is and documents were passed that detailed the Churchs stance on ecumenism. However, after those two successes the proceedings slowed to a halt when the conservative minority was able to prevent any further votes. The session ended on a sour note when Pope Paul VI sided with the minority on several issues (MacEoin).
The Term Paper on Western Europe Church Pope Rome
"Europe was a Christian creation, not only in essence but in minute detail" The above statement can perhaps best sum up the relationship between Christianity and Europe throughout the ages. Christianity has been the strongest single influence in the history of Europe. Regardless of the century, no discussion would be complete without reference being made, at least in small part, to the Church. It ...
Session number four was characterized by an intellectual fatigue. The progressives sensed they had gained as much reform as was wise for the time and backed off for the moment, avoiding what might have been a nasty confrontation. The conservatives on the other hand, knew they did not have the support to launch a counteroffensive and just tried to hold on to what they still had left. No new documents were approved during this session. The fifth and final session shed the guarded positioning and politicking that marked the previous session and moved along quiet swiftly with what remained on the agenda. By far the most industriously productive of all the sessions, eleven documents were approved.
Also approved was a 30,000-word review of the Church and its role in the world (MacEoin).
Additionally included were revolutionary statements on Jews and members of other religious faiths. Although both statements were partially scarred by compromises with hard-line conservatives they still represented a huge shift in the Churchs mentality towards non-Catholics. Following the fifth session the council was called to a close. The over 2,500 Church leaders went home after over 300 hours of debate, several metric tons of written suggestions and over 500 votes (MacEoin).
The result was 16 documents that would be promulgated from the mouth of the pope himself.
The Church under the leadership of two courageous popes had taken steps to adapt to the modern world. What were these changes? How radical where they? Would they have any effect on the Church in its day-to-day activities? What are some problems people have with the revisions? I will try answer these questions in the next section. WHAT IT MEA ….
