Second Vatican Council: The 60th anniversary of the meeting that modernized the Catholic Church

Older priests, who lived Catholicism before and after the Second Vatican Council, used to say that before people attended mass. Then they started to participate in it. It is a truth that illustrates, from the point of view of the participating Catholic, the dimension of this meeting of the summit of the Catholic Church that took place from October 11, 1962 to December 8, 1965.

Until then, the masses were celebrated in Latin, with the priest with his back to the faithful. It was only from then on that the rituals became in the local language, with the priest facing the people, as if they were all around the same table — in this case, the altar.

But this was just one of the changes brought about by the meeting, which sought to significantly alter the mentality of the millenary religious institution.

“By promoting intra- and extramural dialogue, the council meant the passage of the Catholic Church, then medieval, to modernity”, defines theologian, historian and philosopher Gerson Leite de Moraes, a professor at Mackenzie Presbyterian University.

For philosopher and theologian Fernando Altemeyer Junior, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), the meeting was important “because it opened the Church to dialogue with the world and to leave the dungeons where it had been locked up.”

“Vatican II was guided by the word ‘updating’. Updating in the face of the challenges of the world, with changes, with the advancement of science and technology, with changing moral questions and with social questions demanding answers, in the climate of war Cold”, highlights the Vaticanist Filipe Domingues, deputy director of the Lay Center in Rome. He points out that it had been “a long time” since the Church had carried out a profound reform and the council was an opportunity to review paradigms.

It wasn’t something simple or overnight, of course. In the history of the church, the meetings called by the Pope to deliberate on the future of the organization are called councils, based on paradigms of faith, customs and doctrines. They bring together the hierarchical leadership of the Church and go through intense debates.

faithful

Vatican II was held through four sessions —from October 1962 to December 1965. In total, 3,060 members participated with voice and vote, including two popes —John 23 (1881-1963), who convened the synod, and his successor, Paul 6th (1897-1978)—, 129 superiors general, 12 patriarchs, 2 patriarchal vicars, 122 cardinals, 398 archbishops, 1,980 bishops, 91 prelates, among other ecclesiastical positions.

Among all the participants of the meeting, there are only six alive, none Brazilian. “Brazil sent 221 bishops and prelates to the meeting, in addition to nine experts and one layperson”, points out Altemeyer Junior.

In total, the council resulted in the publication of four constitutions, nine decrees, and three declarations. In general, it is possible to define the impact of the event in four axes.

“The new liturgy in vernacular languages, the resumption of the word of God as central to the Catholic faith, action in favor of the transformation of the world, and the new awareness of the Church as an instrument of dialogue with the realities of the world and other religions”, describes Altemeyer.

In other words, post-Council Catholicism has become closer to the faithful, more biblically profound, closer to the poor, and more open to other religious manifestations.

“It is as if the Catholic Church was reconciling itself with modernity”, comments Moraes. “After Vatican II, we can talk about renewal, about a revival of Catholicism.”

“How long did it take for this to happen? It took a while. But we must remember that the Catholic Church is a transatlantic: turning this business around is very difficult, maneuvering is very difficult”, adds the theologian.

Option for the poor

Over the course of three years, the Council Fathers reaffirmed that the Church needed to be with the poor. “The Church reaffirmed the preferential option for the poorest, and this had an enormous echo, for example, in the theology of Latin America, the Theology of Liberation”, comments Moraes.

This became even more symbolic in the so-called Pact of the Catacombs —officially Pact of the Servant and Poor Church—, a document produced and signed by 42 participants in the council.

The pact got its name because it was signed at a meeting held in the catacombs of Santa Domitila in Rome. Afterwards, more than 500 religious also became signatories of the document.

Among the points of the text, there is the commitment to give “everything necessary for the apostolic and pastoral service of people and groups that are industrious and economically weak and underdeveloped”, the refusal of privileges and titles and the opportunity to put “everything to work so that those responsible for our government and our public services decide and implement the laws.”

“The Catholic Church, when actually entering modernity, makes an option for the poor fighting the structures that generate social injustice”, analyzes Moraes.

With 13 points, the text was presented on November 16, 1965 and had the participation of five Brazilians: the then Archbishop of Vitória, João Mota e Albuquerque (1909-1984); the bishop of Afogados de Ingazeira, Francisco de Mesquita Filho (1924-2006); the auxiliary bishop of Rio de Janeiro, José Castro Pinto (1914-2007); the Bishop of Botucatu, Henrique Golland Trindade (1897-1974); and the then bishop of Crateús, Antônio Fragoso (1920-2006).

One of the main mentors of the agreement was Archbishop Helder Câmara (1909-1999), one of the founders of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) and already known as a defender of human rights. According to research by Altemeyer, Câmara was not present at the event because on the same day he had to attend a meeting, at the Vatican summit, related to the council.

community and ecumenism

Another relevant point of the council was the improvement of communication with the faithful themselves. Not only because the masses were no longer in Latin and with the priest on his back, but also because the liturgy began to provide for a more active participation of the community.

“And the laity started to be valued, with a greater participation within the structures of the church. The Vatican starts to look at the laity in a different way”, says Moraes.

These were issues, he contextualizes, that had been dammed up for more than a century, with an increasing yearning for participation. “There was a longing for a series of movements within the Church, which were already happening and which flow into Vatican II”, points out the theologian.

According to the specialist, this lay movement ended up bringing its peculiarity to the Church’s approach to the community. “Because the Church is made up of people, and this movement reflected the transformations and sociocultural demands of the period, showing that the strength of the laity is fundamental to the life of the church”, he says. “And that came very strongly to Brazil, with a presence in all segments of society.”

“The council understood that ecclesiastical hierarchy exists, but it needs to be balanced with popular participation. Popular devotion needs to be valued, but at the same time guided. even practiced in some groups”, argues the Vaticanist Domingues.

Moraes also recalls that the council marks an effort of ecumenical dialogue, mainly with other Christian religions, but without neglecting other creeds as well.

“It was something that some groups already practiced, but it was not a policy of the Church”, analyzes Domingues. “It has become a teaching. You cannot be Catholic without being in favor of ecumenism, of Christian unity. A Catholic who is against other Christians is not essentially Catholic.”

The Vaticanist explains that it is a principle of the council that members of the Catholic Church pray and seek friendship with those of other denominations. And this is visible in the attitude of the popes, who not infrequently meet with leaders of other religions.

And this is also true, in a way, of non-Christian churches. “While the Catholic Church continues to believe that there is no salvation without Christ, it opens up to the idea that the spirit of God can manifest in some way through other religions and even people who do not believe. In other words, does not mean that those people who are not baptized or who do not believe in God are shielded by the action of the Holy Spirit”, contextualizes the Vaticanist. “It completely changes the Church’s presence in the world.”

Finally, the Church also made what is called a “patristic movement”, that is, a dive into its own theological foundations. “It was a rediscovery of the holy fathers, the reference sources of the Catholic tradition. This was fundamental”, believes Moraes. In the same vein, the bible recovers the center, with further studies. “In this sense, there are advances, including because Catholic biblical science carried out a deep exegesis of the text, a very serious work, with the collaboration of linguistics, archeology…”, exemplifies the professor.

For Moraes, a “new theology” was inaugurated, taking into account “the fathers of the church and the exegetical advances in this ‘return to the bible'”.

Francis

In the current pontificate, Pope Francis shows signs that he wants to intensify more and more what was decided in Vatican II, including demonstrating that he will not tolerate those who deny such advances. “All the popes were 100% in favor of the council, none of them was resistance. But each one approached it in his own way”, analyzes Domingues. “Francis is being tougher on those who don’t recognize the council.”

Recently, for example, he restricted the so-called Tridentine Mass, that is, celebrations in Latin. He understands that those who do so intend to reinforce differences. “For Francis, he has already said, to be Catholic it is necessary to recognize the council. This is not optional”, explains Domingues.

“You can’t be a member of the Church without fully accepting its teachings,” says the Vaticanist. “And the decisions made in council have maximum power from the moral point of view of the Church.”

The Roman liturgical rite, although not the only one of Catholicism, is the main one of the Western Church. “The Church has been more or less flexible with those who follow the Tridentine, but Francis has sought to inhibit this, limiting it to certain groups, so that it does not grow. Because the council was very clear about how the Mass should be celebrated. the Tridentine Mass is, in a way, not accepting the magisterium of the Council”, adds Domingues.

This position by Francis is all the more interesting because, if we look at it in the light of history, he is the first post-council pope who did not attend the meeting. The then bishop Albino Luciani, later Pope John Paul I (1912-1978), served as a council priest. John Paul II (1920-2005), then Bishop Karol Wojtyla, too. Pope Benedict 16, at the time Father Joseph Ratzinger, acted behind the scenes as a consultant.

“Francisco is the first who did not participate directly, but he continues to put many things into practice”, concludes Domingues. An example is in the docs. The method consecrated by Vatican II, the “see-judge-act” is visibly present in the publications of the current pontificate, especially in the encyclicals.

“Before, first there were the answers, then the idea of ​​changing reality to make it fit the answers”, comments Domingues. “Now it’s not like that anymore: the Church looks at reality, tries to understand it and hits with the truths of faith, then sees what causes it.”

According to Domingues, the Second Vatican Council left the door open for the Church “to assume a prophetic voice on more latent social and human issues.”

And that is why Francis can currently take a stand on the most diverse topics, with undeniable political and moral authority. “Since then, the world has come to listen to the pope on general issues, not just on matters of faith. Francis touches on such matters a lot, on crucial issues for humanity, social issues, family issues, important issues for life in society.”

This text was originally published here.