Catechism Corner: Vatican II at 60 - A Prophetic Force for Today’s World

By Lucas Pollice, M.T.S.

On Dec. 8, the Church celebrates the 60th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council. Vatican II was the first “pastoral” ecumenical council in the history of the Church.  Called by St. John XXIII in 1959, the Council was not convened to settle doctrinal questions or disputes as in the past, but to bring about a great missionary renewal of the Church to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the modern world. However, the legacy of Vatican II over the past 60 years has not been without controversy. There has been much confusion and misunderstanding surrounding Vatican II because there has been a widespread misinterpretation of the Council since it’s closing sixty years ago.  

In 2005, shortly after being elected pope, Benedict XVI clearly explained this prevalent misinterpretation of Vatican II, which he called the hermeneutic of rupture and discontinuity: “The hermeneutic of discontinuity risks ending in a split between the pre-conciliar Church and the post-conciliar Church. It asserts that the texts of the Council as such do not yet express the true spirit of the Council. It claims that they are the result of compromises in which, to reach unanimity, it was found necessary to keep and reconfirm many old things that are now pointless . . . In a word: it would be necessary not to follow the texts of the Council but its spirit. In this way, obviously, a vast margin was left open for the question on how this spirit should subsequently be defined and room was consequently made for every whim.” (Christmas Address to the Roman Curia, 2005)  

This interpretation of the council — often called the “spirit” of Vatican II — was pushed by many theologians who claimed to have the authority to speak in the true spirit of the council. Therefore, it became wildly popular in Catholic seminaries, universities, and popular theological studies almost instantly after the council. Theologian Henry de Lubac would go on to call this misinterpretation the “paracouncil” which set into motion liturgical innovations, erroneous pastoral practices, and even dissent from Church teaching all in the name of the “spirit” of Vatican II. St. Paul IV also addressed this false “spirit” of Vatican II when he wrote, “But it remains true that some priests and members of the faithful mask with the name ‘Conciliar’ those personal interpretations and erroneous practices that are injurious, even scandalous, and at times sacrilegious. But these abuses cannot be attributed either to the Council itself or to the reform that have legitimately issued therefrom, but rather to a lack of authentic fidelity in their regard. You want to convince the faithful that the proximate cause of the crisis is more than a wrong interpretation of the Council and that it flows from the Council itself.”  (Letter of October 11, 1976)

While this “spirit” of Vatican II spread like wildfire throughout the Church, too few in the Church saw the council for what it truly was — a great renewal of the Church’s mission and identity in Christ in order to bring the truth of Jesus Christ to the modern world. This was the true interpretation of the Council that Pope Benedict XVI called the hermeneutic of continuity and reform: “Here I shall cite only John XXIII’s well-known words, which unequivocally express this hermeneutic when he says that the Council wishes ‘to transmit the doctrine, pure and integral, without any attenuation or distortion’. And he continues: ‘Our duty is not only to guard this precious treasure, as if we were concerned only with antiquity, but to dedicate ourselves with an earnest will and without fear to that work which our era demands of us.’ However, wherever this interpretation guided the implementation of the Council, new life developed and new fruit ripened…Today, we see that although the good seed developed slowly, it is nonetheless growing; and our deep gratitude for the work done by the Council is likewise growing.” (Christmas Address to the Roman Curia, 2005)

Understood in this proper light, Vatican II is seen as a great renewal of the Holy Spirit that called the Church back to its original and foundational mission—to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth through radical faithfulness to Christ and his teachings and through the holy witness of each of its members. Thus, the Council insisted that each and every baptized Christian is called to mission, especially the laity, to bring the truth of Jesus Christ to the ordinary places of secular culture. 

Therefore, Vatican II is not just something of the past but is a prophetic force for today’s world that needs to urgently be rediscovered in the life of the Church.  St. John Paul II felt this urgency when he said, “I feel more than ever in duty bound to point to the Council as the great grace bestowed on the Church in the twentieth century: there we find a sure compass by which to take our bearings in the century now beginning.”  (Novo millennio ineunte, 57) Bishop Golka, in his pastoral letter “Christ Our Hope,” also urges us “to read again the documents of Vatican II and receive from them the vision and blueprint for the New Evangelization and the call to missionary discipleship.” 

In support of this call and effort, I have been teaching a nine-part diocesan wide study on Vatican II that can be found on the diocesan website at https://www.diocs.org/About/Vatican-II.  I guarantee that you will be surprised at what the Council did — and did not — teach. You won’t be disappointed.

(Professor Lucas Pollice is Director of Missionary Discipleship and New Evangelization for the Diocese of Colorado Springs.)