Lead story
A Pastoral Council: Alive & Well after 50 Years
Remi J. De Roo, Retired Bishop of Victoria
Volume 29 Issue 10, 11 & 12 | Posted: December 14, 2015
It happened in Rome. Pope Francis had just declared as Saints Pope John XXIII and John Paul II. The pontifical eucharist was over. The concelebrating bishops were leaving the scene. I was seated in a wheel chair not far from the popemobile that Francis was now to ascend for the customary tour of Saint Peter’s Square.
He had just said farewell to a group of diplomats. He was about to cross an open space in front of me. Raising my voice, I addressed him in Italian, extending my hand to show him the ring that Pope Paul VI had given to every Vatican Council Father. When he saw it his eyes lit up. His face beamed with a broad smile. He grasped both of my hands and exclaimed: “Ah! One of the few remaining Council Fathers!”
It happened in Rome. Pope Francis had just declared as Saints Pope John XXIII and John Paul II. The pontifical eucharist was over. The concelebrating bishops were leaving the scene. I was seated in a wheel chair not far from the popemobile that Francis was now to ascend for the customary tour of Saint Peter’s Square.
He had just said farewell to a group of diplomats. He was about to cross an open space in front of me. Raising my voice, I addressed him in Italian, extending my hand to show him the ring that Pope Paul VI had given to every Vatican Council Father. When he saw it his eyes lit up. His face beamed with a broad smile. He grasped both of my hands and exclaimed: “Ah! One of the few remaining Council Fathers!”
Then he stooped down, very intently and devoutly kissing the ring. His gesture and bodily posture spoke reams about his deep admiration for and appreciation of the Council. I will never forget that experience. It lingers in my heart as I prepare these reflections on the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of this momentous event.
For those who are not familiar with Church history, I note that an ecumenical council is a rare event. It is a manifestation of the highest teaching authority in the Catholic Church. The previous one, Vatican I, had taken place more than a hundred years earlier. Vatican II was convened by Pope John XXIII, and extended over a period of four years, from 1962 to 1965.
MEDICINE OF MERCY
In his opening remarks at the Council, the Bishop of Rome explicitly proposed that this Council should not be of a disciplinary nature, nor introduce any new teachings or pronounce any condemnations. He encouraged all of us Council Fathers to apply the medicine of mercy to heal the illnesses and to deal with the problems of our contemporary world. He expected this to be a “pastoral” Council, meant to renew church life and to promote the spiritual well-being of humans throughout society. He hoped and prayed that the Council would bring about a New Pentecost.
Over the years, I have reflected and expanded my concept of “pastoral" and its integral relationship to the reality of a ”New Pentecost”. The concept of “pastoral”, attending to the People of God’s spiritual well-being took an a communal and inclusive tone in the message to humanity in early October, 1962, when the Fathers stated,
“…we wish to inquire how we ought to renew ourselves so that we may be found increasingly faithful to the Gospel of Christ.” At the time of that writing, little did we realize that the initial concept of attending to the faith concerns of the believers would develop into the Pastoral Constitution on The Church in the World of today. From its opening words “the joys and hopes…” it signalled a new approach, a new depth, that of recognizing the signs of the times and of responding to them in prophetic, loving, respectful, collaborative and joyful ways.
It might be useful for us at this juncture to identify words that helped us in drawing forth inspiration from the basic pillars of Tradition and Sacred Scripture, i.e. ressourcement, aggiornamento and development. Through the depth of these words the Spirit gradually lead us to ponder ways and reasons for renewing our Church. A community wherein the “medicine of mercy’ would shine. These official documents are now part of our developing Tradition.
First a French term “ressourcement”, which entails a return to the sources. These comprise the inspired revelations handed down by Tradition and the Sacred Scriptures as well as the teachings of the early Fathers(Mothers?) of the Church.
Next comes an Italian word, now popularized, “aggiornamento” which translates into “updating” or accommodating to contemporary culture(s) so as to be better understood or more meaningful for believers of this age.
Then we have an English expression “development”. Church doctrine is a living body which unfolds and grows and is enriched through history. John XXIII reminded us that one thing is the substance of revealed doctrine, another thing is how it is presented to make it more meaningful and relevant to people’s lives.
PASTORAL APPROACH
Each of these words had its effect in introducing the desired pastoral approach. Perhaps the first shift was that this approach went beyond the ordained leadership or pastors. The Council reclaimed the biblical title of “People of God”. Vatican II recognized the royal baptismal priesthood of all the baptized, equal in dignity and in capacity to serve.
There should be no “classes” or privileged members in our assembly of believers. We are all without exception called to be disciples of Jesus Christ and missioned to proclaim the Gospel so as to transform the society in which we live. Ministry is a call to service, not prestige. No leader should lord it over the congregation.
We achieve our divine calling and mission primarily by reflecting on the Sacred Scriptures and partaking of the two-fold table of Word and Sacrifice, the core of divine worship. The cup has been returned to everyone, after centuries of church members being deprived of communion under both kinds.
Sad to say, there seems to be among some pastors a trend to again limit access to the cup by the non-ordained. I see this is as a grave mistake. I hope this tendency will be firmly resisted for our continued spiritual well-being and growth.
RENEWAL
Vatican II was the occasion for a substantial renewal of the ways in which we worship. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy was our first major achievement. The liturgy is now clearly centred on the Paschal Mystery, to which each Sunday celebration is related. The renewed cycle of the liturgical year, week by week, links our frail daily human efforts with the Incarnation, life and death of Jesus, with his return to the Godhead and his imparting of the Holy Spirit.
The adoption of the vernacular language in our liturgy has been a decisive factor in this regard. Henceforth all members of the believing community are invited to participate “knowingly, actively and fruitfully”. Ordained leaders have a special responsibility to ensure that this happens.
This initial focus on divine worship also helped to fashion our entire council agenda. From the pastoral perspective I consider it one of the most significant legacies of the Council. Like Jesus achieving the perpetual “work” of His Father, we too are called to the “work” of promoting the Reign of God.
This lies at the core of our vocation as believers. We are to seek each day to bring into the world the values Jesus proclaimed in the Sermon on the Mount. We are building for eternity when we bring more truth, beauty, goodness, love and justice with compassion into our ordinary occupations.
Today we give pride of place to reading the Sacred Scriptures and reflecting on their salutary message. Following in Jesus’ footsteps, intentionally linking our daily lives and activities with the will of our heavenly Father, we do our part in achieving the purpose for which God created the universe and thus contribute to the Glory of the Holy Trinity.
The pastoral constitution on the Church in the World of Today has also been of providential assistance in this regard. The Church which once considered herself as an island of virtue immersed in an evil and hostile world now sees herself as a pilgrim community, the friend of humankind and the bearer of Good News to all people of good will. She has opened herself to the wisdom of the sciences and changed her basic stance from one of judgement and condemnation to that of a sympathetic listener and a partner in learning. Pessimism about the future has changed to cautious optimism and serene hope, in the conviction that grace will ultimately prevail as the Realm of God unfolds under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
JUSTICE
Teachings about justice provide another example. The pursuit of social justice was at one time seen as a respected but secondary concern, not essential to Christian life. However, at the Bishops’ Synod of Justice in 1974, guided by the orientations of the Council, the conclusion was unanimously reached that action on behalf of justice is a “constitutive” dimension of the proclamation of the Gospel. It is central to the Christian message, essential, no longer peripheral. Social activists can henceforth hold their heads high.
The Council teachings impelled the entire people of God, particularly the laity, to assume their role of proclaiming the Good News in the world. Another consequence was the duty of speaking about matters of consequence and common concern to the leadership of the Church.
Great progress was achieved as well in the domain of ecumenism and interfaith relations. Church members reached out to include and to learn. Other Christian denominations are now recognized as Sister Churches, instruments of salvation for their members. Ecumenism, once condemned, was now recognized as a vital dimension of progress towards the unity for which Jesus prayed.
Elements of salutary truths are increasingly discovered and appreciated in all the major religions of the world. These “semina Verbi”, seeds of the Word, are now perceived everywhere in the midst of human activity. A broadening of the concept of Catholicism, once closely linked to, if not identified with, European culture and customs, and now becoming increasingly international. We are currently witnessing a reappraisal of our global vocation as church.
This also lead us to understand that there exists a “hierarchy of truths”. While all doctrines are important, some are more central than others in relation to the mystery of Christ. For instance, disciplinary regulations from the past which have lost much of their meaning today. Modern science has helped us tremendously in this regard, particularly with respect to some complex moral issues. John Paul II once declared that while religion without science can lead to superstition, science without religion is prone to ideology. They are called to assist one another in the pursuit of further truth.
CONSCIENCE
This naturally leads me to consider the progress made at the Council regarding freedom of conscience. The Council described conscience as the intimate and secret domain where the human person is alone with the Divine and where each person will ultimately be judged. Where it was once assumed that error had no rights and could be repressed by force when necessary, we came to see that people in error did indeed have rights. Everyone’s conscience is to be respected at all times and under all circumstances. As the renowned moral theologian Bernard Haring commented, we have moved from a morality of laws and prescriptions to an ethic of responsibility.
After half a century of working to promote the doctrines and the spirit of Vatican II based on Tradition and the Sacred Scriptures, I firmly believe that this New Pentecost is slowly but surely transforming our world. I have observed its fruits not only here on Vancouver Island, but in many communities scattered throughout several countries.
The three words I mentioned earlier, “ressourcement, aggiornamento and development” continue to inspire our pilgrim journey.
We rejoice in and benefit from the composing of new hymns and psalms, with Eucharistic canon prayers drawn from Scripture and writings of the Council. I credit our contemporary composers with helping many believers to learn their Bible by joining their faith community in song. I rejoice as well to see how many new courses in Bible studies are currently being offered in some faith communities!
Theology is now more effectively based on Scripture and less conditioned by Canon Law. Drawing inspiration from our early Sources has become the norm. As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, the one who believes will find springs of living water welling up from one’s heart.
FRANCIS LAUDATO SI’
Recent initiatives towards an integral ecology, as so well described in Laudato Si', take us back to early Biblical writings, like Genesis and the Psalms, to the mystics, to our Jewish roots where the land is seen as sacred. We realize that the “green” element never disappeared from our traditional roots. Principles laid down at the Council opened avenues of progress in new domains.
Aggiornamento or bringing up to date is so obvious that we tend to not see the forest for the trees. Integrating cultural diversity in our prayers and liturgies continues to cause my heart to burn as I see some rituals that were once rejected by church leaders, now being embraced and incorporated into our prayer life.
Cardinal Newman would have been delighted to see the development of doctrine taking place since Vatican II. He wrote that to grow is to change and to be perfect is to have changed time and again. Although the following examples may not be obvious developments of specific doctrines, they represent elaborations of Tradition and church teachings.
For instance, the reclaiming of the baptismal priesthood has seen deepening engagement in social justice, in peace-making, in political activity and of missionary endeavours. A variety of ministries have gradually emerged from a place of the Early Church. Basic Christian Communities gather regularly to renew themselves and respond to needs of the marginalized and those affected by poverty in its many forms.
Religious men and women have returned to their original sources and charisms of their founding members to better witness the Light of Christ in the world. The exemplary leadership of several religious communities of women in living out the Council guidelines has been a source of inspiration to many people. Signs of hope abound for those with eyes to see!
The issue of the role of women and their ministries in the Church was not on the formal agenda of the Council. However, over the years several of us Canadian bishops have called for a serious study of this important matter. I maintain that it requires the combined communal spiritual discernment of the entire people of God, not only the hierarchy.
Many people have become familiar with the term “liberation theology”. While it was not on the Vatican Council agenda as such, the groundwork was laid for its later development, particularly in Latin America. In retrospect, it appears to me that what was happening there was a movement among the peasants, reclaiming the Bible as their own salvation history.
God has always taken the side of the people enduring poverty. when they were marginalized, oppressed, persecuted. The option for the cause of the poor, cautiously endorsed by Vatican II, is bearing fruit in many lands. Our chosen prophetic tradition remains firm and consistent.
LIBERATION THEOLOGY
I believe that as time goes on we may well come to see that liberation theology, rather than a dubious pursuit, has helped bring us back to our biblical roots. It may even have “liberated” us from some narrow and restrictive forms of theology inherited from the past.
We had our own experience of liberation theology here in Canada when our Bishop’s Conference took some decisive initiatives through its Social Affairs Commission, adopting a critical prophetic stance on a number of important social issues. My participation in this venture was one of the highlights of my term of service as Bishop. The story became well known and need not be recalled here.
Our own Diocese also saw a version of this movement develop on the occasion of our diocesan Synod, especially from 1986 to 1992. This is recorded in a book entitled Forward in the Spirit – The Challenge of the People’s Synod. Without prejudice, I invite people to read this story again during the year of Mercy and see how the Spirit was moving at that time on Vancouver Island. From a pastoral perspective it is always fruitful to observe the “signs of the times” as they affect the life of our local church in this region. The divine invitation to spiritual growth is readily perceptible to the eyes of faith.
YEAR OF MERCY
The Council continues to transform our ecclesial community, despite resolute and truly regrettable opposition from some influential people. I have recognized clear indications of the work of the Holy Spirit in many places, sometimes quite unexpected. I have personally had the privilege of observing several of the creative shifts or transformations which have enriched our faith community since Vatican II. I also perceive with joy the influence of the Council in many of the initiatives and teachings of Pope Francis.
As we enter into the year of Mercy we are faced with another pastoral challenge with respect to broadening access to the Eucharist. Once again we are called to search the Scriptures anew. We are all sinners, as Pope Francis has frequently reminded us. We are all called to ongoing conversion and repentance. Everyone is invited to acclaim Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Like Jesus with the disciples, we are expected to wash one another’s feet.
To the best of my current knowledge there is no evidence in the Bible that Jesus ever required of his hearers a certificate of merit as a pre-condition for access to his table fellowship.
Successive Popes and a special Synod of Bishops convened for this purpose have all revisited Vatican II and have personally endorsed it again, since its combined promulgation by all the Bishops in communion with the Bishop of Rome, Pope Paul VI, in 1965. He repeatedly applied to the Council the expression “a New Pentecost” dear to John XXIII. John Paul II called Vatican II a trustworthy compass guiding us into the Third Millennium.
On the other hand there is also a danger against which he warned us: the “clericalizing of the laity”. In other words, church members becoming so enamoured by or engrossed in internal church matters that they neglect their responsibilities as citizens called to transform the temporal sphere according to the values of the Gospel. Evangelizing the “temporal” order is the primary responsibility of the laity.
Suffice it to say that my heart brims over with thanksgiving for having been chosen to be an active participant in this exciting new era in Catholic church life. I am deeply grateful that Pope Francis is encouraging and actively promoting creative and prophetic endeavours that continue to flow from the Second Vatican Council. I trust the rising generations will take up the torch of faith and continue to carry it proudly forward.
Remi J. De Roo, Retired Bishop of Victoria