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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 1965
WHY A COUNCIL?
Council’s
First Three Sessions: A Summary, Assessment
BY FATHER EDWARD DUFF,
Thrue acts of the profound re
ligious drama which is the Cath
olic Church’s experience of
self-discovery* and renewal at
the Second Vatican Council have
transpired. While Rome pre
pares for. the reassembling of
the bishops on September 14
for the fourth and final ses
sion, it will be useful to re
view the background, the na
ture and the direction of the
spiritual revolution.
So central a theme has the
Council and its preoccupations
become in the religious news
of the world, so crucial for the
aspirations of all Catholics (as
well as in the hopes of many
millions not of the Roman
faith) that one forgets the as
tonishment that greeted the first
public announcement of Pope
John XXIII to a group of car
dinals at the church of St. Paul’s
Outside the Walls on January
25, 1959, a short three months
after his election.
WHY A COUNCIL? The popu
lar notion assumed that with the
infallibility of the Pope defined
at the adjourned First Vatican
Council in 1870, there would be
no need to convoke the bishops
of the world to deliberate on
matters of doctrine. To be sure,
the Catholic Church — as all
religions, for that matter —
are experiencing relentless
persecution in the, regions
where one-third of humanity
was under Communist control.
Moreover, much of modern ci
vilized mankind, mesmerized
by technological triumphs, felt
liberated frqm the constraints
of religion which it deemed un
necessary and outmoded. A re
surgence of the ancient reli
gions of the East, allied to an
aggressive nationalism, me
naced the precarious Christian
missionary outreach in Asia and
Africa and the soaring popula
tion growth in pagan lands pro
mised to reduce Christianity to
a diminishing minority.
But no coherent doctrinal
threat confronted Catholicism.
In the United States it was not
theology that was felt to be in
short'supply but rather funds
ftir thM' expansion of barifih
plants in the burgeoning su
burbs.
In any case, after three years
of preparation Vatican II would
meet in an atmosphere devoid
of hostility towards Catholicism
that had attended its predeces
sor. The New York Herald Tri
bune had termed Vatican I “a
big farce, a grand archaeolo
gical show.” Thanks in no small
part to a series of brilliant
Popes, this time there was
everywhere a benevolent curio
sity as to the meaning and the
effect of the ecclesiastical event
that invited suggestions for an
unrestricted agenda from the
bishops of five continents, from
the Religious Orders and the fa
culties of Catholic universi
ties throughout the world.
THE DIFFICULTIES inherent
in the process of what general
ly came to be called, follow
ing Pope John’s phrase "a-
ggiornamento”, the undating,
FATHER DUFF, S.J.
the refurbishing, the making of
the Church relevant to contem
porary needs, were inescapa
ble. The original agenda was
composed of 70-odd schemata
or draft documents. These were
to be scrutinized, debated and
voted by a body of roughly 2,
500 men of all races and of
diverse cultural experience,
each entitled according to the
rules to speak for ten minutes
at his pleasure, a prospect that
promised a Council of 20 years
duration.
(At Vatican I the 750 bishops
of the world had assembled in
the epistle transcept of St. Pe
ter’s Basilica. When Vatican II
opened on October 11, 1962,
the bishops overflowed the foot
ball field type stands running
the length of the largest nave
in the world, the youngest find
ing place in the tribunes over
head.)
Perhaps most awkward of the
problems was the sheer inex
perience of a Council and the
absence of contact between the
national hierarchies. There had
been in all history only 20
General Councils of the Church;
no one present at Vatican II
had ever attended one.
JOHN XXIII was considered
an appealing, generour-minded
person- and' a- holy man but
hardly* ri^comm anding, imposing *
cha??aidtefti ‘^et'Tl^as niS open- •
ing address that gave firm di
rection to the Council, reveal
ing his profound purposes. He
was wholly unimpressed, here-
marked, by “prophets of doom"
who luxuriated in describing the
wickedness of the world. As
Pope John read history, "Di
vine Providence is leading us
to a new order of human re
lations which, by men’s own ef
forts and even beyond their very
expectation, are directed to
ward the fulfillment of God’s
superior and inscrutable de
signs," a vision he was to ad
umbrate subsequently in his
widely-hailed encyclical, Pa-
ctm in Terris.
There was, therefore, no
point in repeating "one article
or another of the fundamental
doctrine of the Church which
has repeatedly been taught by
the Fathers and by ancient and
modern theologians and which
is presumed to be well known
and famili tr to all." There was
no profit either in sterile con
demnations.
What was needed, the pontiff
declared, was " a doctrinal
penetration and a formation of
consciences in faithful and per
fect conformity to the authentic
doctrine which,, however, should
be studied and expounded-
through the methods of research
and through the literary forms
of modern thought." Moreover,
it must be remembered that
“the substance of the ancient
doctrine of the Deposit of Faith
is one thing and the way in
which is it presented is
another.”
THE PURPOSE of Vatican II
had been proclaimed: it was to
be pastoral. The bishops were
to plan how the Church could,
best fulfill its mission to man
kind.
The first session October 11-
December 8, 1962, was the no
vitiate of the bishops, their per
sonal introduction to and ex
perience of the common life and
action of world Catholicism. Not
a single text was adopted, al
though five schemata were dis
cussed. The discussion was free
and frank, demonstrating the
growing realization by the bis
hops of their individual and col
lective responsibilities and dis
closing simultaneously the in
evitable division of opinion be
tween two mentalities, de
scribed in variations on the
“progressive" and “conserva
tive" categories.
That the bishops, particularly
those of northern Europe, pro
posed from the outset to do more
than merely ratify documents
submitted to them was made
decisively clear at the first
working session. On the notion
of Achille Cardinal Lienart of
Lille, seconded by Josef Car
dinal Frings of Cologne, the
prepared lists of members of
the various Conciliar Com
missions were dropped in fa
vor of an adjournment to en
able the national hierarchies to
caucus and make nominations
looking to a freer election.
fererice in outlook of the two
main attitudes present in the
Council soon emerged. These
turned, speaking generally, on
opposing judgments on the state
and role of the Church in the
modern world and on the nature
of theology.
The conservative viewpoint,
popularly identified with Al
fredo Cardinal Ottaviani, Se
cretary of the Congregation of
the Holy Office of the Roman
Curia and Chairman of the
Council’s Theological Commis
sion, sees the Church as the
beleaguered bulward of sal
vation surrounded by aggres
sive forces of atheism and un
belief. In such a crisis one
must close ranks against the
treacherous enemy and stand
stalwart behind traditional po
licies.
This conservative group,
moreover, sincerely believes
that the purity of doctrine is
being threatened by those who
would compromise it by con
cessions to non-Catholicis or e-
viscerate it by false philoso
phical interpretations. All the
more need, then to reiterate,
and in approved formulas, the
perennial truth proclaimed by
the Church with new condem
nations for what are deemed
contemporary aberrations. It is
not for nothing that Cardinal
Ottaviani’s coat of arms bears
the motto “Semper Idem" i.e.
’’Change Nothingl”
THE OTHER veiwpoint, soon
revealed as shared by the ma
jority of the Council, saw the
Church not so much as under
attack as ignored by the mo
dern world. What theology need
ed, these bishops sensed, was
language that would make the
ancient message of man’s dig
nity and destiny intelligible to
the modern mind, language
whose concepts had been en
riched especially by the find
ings of archaeological and exe-
getical scholars. Such a view
point steadily gained ground a-
mong the bishops of the non-
Latin countries; it was more
and more embraced by the A-
merican hierarchy, originally
thought to be quite conserva
tive in outlook. In the first ses
sion early prominence was
gained bymodestbut plain spok
en Joseph Cardinal Ritter of
St. Louis and the broadly train
ed Archbishop Paul J. Halli-
nan, former navy chaplain with
a doctorate in history.
Archbishop Hallinan was the
American especially identified
with the Schema on the Liturgy,
the first topic to come before
the Council. The discussion in
dicated a widespread deSirte to
make the official worship of the
Church what Pope St. Pius X
proclaimed it to be, “the chief,
and indispensible source of the
true Christian spirit.” The cor
porate character of the Church
would be brought into greater
relief by a more active parti
cipation of the laity and by a
wider use of the vernacular
language. Preaching would be
given greater emphasis as
would use of the Bible.
The contrasting viewpoints
displayed in the discussions as
to whether Latin could be lift
ed from some parts of the Mass
became more pronounced when
the hext topic was introduced.
The schema was entitled "On
Revelation" and its first chap
ter asserted that there are two
distinct sources, Scripture and
Tradition.
THE DOCUMENT was a po
lemical one, an effort to force
the opinion of a single theo
logical school on the Council.,
The opposition was general and
heated. On November 20, by an
almost two - thirds majority
(1368 versus 822), the bishops
voted to scrap the text alto
gether; their action was termed
“the end of the Counter-Refor
mation." At this point Pope John
intervened and referred the
matter to a mixed commission
to be composed Of members
of the Theological Commission
and, most significantly, mem
bers from the Secretariat for
Promoting Christian Unity un
der the renowned biblical scho
lar, Augustin Cardinal Bea, S.J.
The session concluded with
discussions of proposed texts on
Modern Means of Communica
tions, on the Unity of the Church
and on The Church. In the final
week Cardinal Suenens, second
ed by Cardinals Montini and
Lercaro, called for a new fo
cus to the work of the issue
involved two questions: what
does the Church conceive her
self to be and how does she see
her 0 tnis'sion In the world.
Clearly, much revision of the
draft documents would have to
be made by the Commissions
during the intercession in the
light of the sentiments express
ed by the majority of the bis
hops and the suggestion of Car
dinal Suenens.
The heart of the world was
held for days as the much
loved Pope John agonized to his
painful death on June 3, 1963
His successor was his confi
dant, Giovanni Battista Cardinal
Montini, elected on June 21.
Choosing the name of Paul,
Apostle to the Gentiles, the new
Pope promptly announced the
reconvening of the Council and
showed himself a supple and
realistic continuer of the Jo-
annine spiritual revolution.
HIS OWN theological orien
tation was revealed in the foot
note references in the Pastoral
Letter on the Council he had
addressed to the people of Mi
lan: his intellectual guides
proved to be Charles Journet
(whome he subsequently made a
cardinal), Yves Congar, O.P.,
Henri du Lubac, S. J., Hans
Kueng, Daniel - Rops, Chris-
tophe Dumont, O.P. Hubert Cle-
rissac, O.P., Georges Dejaifve,
S.J. and Gerald Philips. The
strongly Christological charac
ter of his opening address at
the second session of the Coun
cil on September 29, 1963 was
even more revealing. Now the
bishops had more specific goals
set for their work. As set
down by Pope Paul, these were
1) self - awarness of the
Church, 2) renewal of the
Church, 3) reunion of all Chris
tians, and 4) dialogue with the
world.
It seems a law of the Coun
cil’s life that it takes two ses
sions for a schema to mature.
Thus, the second session saw
the promulgation of the splen
did, revised Constitution on the
Liturgy and the short (13 pages)
Communications Decree. It saw
the Introduction of a new and
more scriptural document “On
the Church" and began the re
volutionary questions of anti-
Semitism and religious liberty
as well as the dealings of the
bishops with the Holy See.
The Americans whose grow
ing influence was noted at this
session Were the late Cardinal
Meyer of Chicago and Bishops
Charles Helmsing of Kansas
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THE COUNCIL adopted a De
cree on the Eastern Churches
which won small attention in the
world press. What did, however,
create wide - spread comment
were the speeches on suc
cessive days of Cardinals Le-
ger, Suenens, Alfrink and Pa
triarch Maximos calling for a
more personalist view of mar
riage. In the aftermath the Eng
lish professor of dogmatics
Father Charles Davis, declared:
“My position as a theologian to
day is not what it was yester
day."
City and Ernest Primeau of
Manchester, N.H.
THE CLOSING ceremony on
Debember 6 was startled and
thrilled by Pope Paul’s an
nouncement that he would “be
come a pilgrim to the land of
Jesus, our Lord." On the Mount
of Olives on January 5 Paul
exchanged the kiss of peace with
the Ecumenical Patriarch, At-
henagoras.
Despite the keen disappoint
ment felt especially by Ameri
cans, that a vote on religious
liberty did not take place in
its closing hours, the third
session of Vativan II which sat
from September 14 through
November 21, 1964 was a re
sounding success, a giant step
forward in the "aggiorna-
mento” envisaged by Pope John.
For the first time the Ca
tholic Church officially de
scribed herself. For the first
time the Catholic Church re
cognized that not only are there
morally good people in other
Christian bodies but that they
are such through the ministry
of peaching and sacraments
dispensing grace in these se
parated Churches.
IN EIGHT chapters, rich with
biblical insights, the bishops
saw the Church not as an im
posing international organiza
tion with religious goals but
primiarily as a mystery, the
instrument of God’s dealings
with mankind. In place of the
military metaphors of an army
with commanders ordering do
cile troops through hostile ter
ritory, an Old concept was re
stored: that of the People of
God, whose father was A-
braham , pilgrimaging through
time, a company of the chil
dren of God, equal in essen
tial dignity but some assigned
a special ministry of service
as shepherds of the march. And
in this family of the Church
Mary has a special place as the
Mother of Christ. The document
incorporated much of the think
ing of the Fathers of the Church.
The Church of the East, whose
treasure had too long been ne
glected, was being effectively
heard in the Council of the uni
versal Church.
The Incomplete view of the
episcopacy, resulting from the
abrupt adjournment of Vatican I
because of the Franco-Prussian
war, was balanced by the em
phasis on the collegiality of the
bishops of the Catholic world.
These were asserted to be the
successors of the Twelve A-
postles upon whom -- with and
under Peter — Christ founded
his Church. So, the bishops —
with and under the Pope —were
declared to have responsibility
for teaching, sanctifying and
governing the whole Church.
The effects of the Decree
on Ecumenism are already be
ing experienced in many coun
tries, not least our own, and in
the official, continuing consul
tation between the Holy See and
the World Council of Churches.
Christ’s clear will for the unity
of all His followers was cler-
ly recognized, the thological
orientation of different eccle-
sestical traditions assessed and
guides for action set down. The
"primary duty" in all this en
terprise for Catholics, it was
stated, “is to make a careful
and honest appraisal of what is
to be done or renewed in the
Catholic household itself."
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN painted around the year 1500 by the Flemish artist
Miguel Sithium for Queen Isabella of Spain has just been acquired by the National Gallery
of Art, Washington, D.C. It was originally one of 47 small panels in an oratory that re
lated to the life of Christ. Gallery director J ohn J. Walker calls it "one^of the rarest and
most important painting's to become available in recent years.”
It has been a long, arduous
and often tedious process, this
movement of “aggiornamento"
in the age-old Catholic Church.
Much remains to be done. But
the meaning of the results to
date is not too distant from the
message Pope Paul included in
his first encyclical, Ecclesiam
Suam: “Let the world know
this: the Church looks at the
world with profound under
standing, with sincere admira
tion and with a sincere, ; inten
tion riot of conquering it but of
.serving it, not of despising it
but of appreciating it, not of
condemning it but of strength
ening and saving it.”
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WASHINGTON (NC)~The pa
trolman is coming back into his
own.
In this age of electronics, au
tomation, motorization and gad-
getry, the uniformed policeman
who walks a beat is emerging
as an indispensable need in the
fight against spiraling crime.
The alarming increase in
crimes of all sorts, and the
need for their prevention and
curb, are reciving more at
tention here than ever before.
President Johnson, in a span of
a few days, appointed a nine-
member commission to deal
with crime in the nation’s cap
ital, and a 19-member com
mission to deal with it on a na
tionwide basis. Congress has
before it bills to regulate sale
of firearms, to assist in train
ing local law enforcement of
ficers throughout the country,
to improve law enforcement
techniques, and to upgrade the
quality of correctional per
sonnel. There is also a pro
posal to establish a National
Academy of Criminal Justice,
which would be a sort of West
Point for administrators of
criminal processes.
ADVISING the nation that
crimes of violence "climbed
15% as a group" last year, J.
Edgar Hoover, director of the
Federal Bureau of Investiga
tion, said the manpower avail
able to law enforcement agen
cies generally is inadequate,
and he called special attention
to the need for additional offi
cers in uniform on patrol duty.
Almost on the same day, in
inaugurating a "crash pro
gram" against crime in Wash
ington, the authorities put 271
additional uniformed policemen
on the streets. The program
embraces walkie-talkie radios,
more automobiles, especially
in suburban areas, and the like,
but the increase in men patrol-
ing the streets seems to be the
key to the fight back against
crime here.
"We’re going to have the fin
est police force in the United
States...or some fur will fly,"
President Johnson said in an
nouncing Washington’s own
crime commission.
WHILE CRIME has been in
creasing for sometime, and has
outpaced the population growth
rate almost 6 to 1 since 1958,
the FBI reported, the average
police officer strength—1.7 per
1,000 of population— has not
changed since 1958. Crime has
increased 58% iri volume in the
same period. The number of
all persons engaged in local and
state police work increased
* ’substantially" in 1964, but the
ratio of all police employees to
population—1.9 to 1,000—re
mained the same, it was noted.
FBI’s Hoover said the na
tion’s total criminal popula
tion is much smaller than the
total annual crime, counts would
suggest. He explained that a
substantial number of repeaters
are contributing to the crime
count "year in and year out.”
HE ALSO said the fastest
growing populations in the coun
try generally are reporting the
highest crime rates..that last
year police nationally .solved -
24% of the serious crimes by
arresting the offenders, a de
cline of 2%,..90% of the mur
der cases were cleared by ar—
rests...property crime clear
ance rates are generally low,
due to the volume of these of
fenses and the lack of witnes-
ses......youths under 18 years
of age continue to show in
creasing involvement in crime
...persons in the 40 to 49 age
group had the highest number of
charges on their records, aver
aging eight over an average of
16 years...studies of 1,574 per
sons arrested for murder show
ed they had an average of seven
arrests in 16 years, and that 4%
had one or more murder charg
es on their records.
Hoover renewed his stand in
support of local firearms con
trol laws and more severe pen
alities for felons Who use guns
in the commission of crimes-
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