Essay on The Second Vatican Council

The essence of the contribution made by Pope John XXIII was his calling together of the Second Vatican Council that aimed to address modernisation of the Catholic Church,

As means to start such reform, Pope Paul III, initiated The Council of Trent. The gathering amongst high-ranking churchmen took place from 1545-1563 and was held for two primary purposes. The council was mustered to determine a plan to combat Protestantism and how Catholics would compromise with them and to reform the Catholic Church by clarification of the doctrine and define the central articles of faith. Through The Council of Trent, the strength of the Catholic doctrine increased, and there became a higher stress placed on the importance of the visual arts. The council was successful in developing a doctrine that outlined the difference between Protestantism and Catholicism and created

Furthermore, all Catholics were required to understand and believe in the teachings of the church, accept the supreme authority of the church and develop his or her inner life. In other words, it was required that devout Catholics adhere to all decrees issued by ecumenical councils. Accordingly, at the Fourth Lateran Council the Catholic Church the following decrees were issued. 1) The Catholic Church is the one universal church and no one outside of the church can be saved, 2) Jesus’ body and blood is contained in the sacraments, 3) Only ordained

Uncertainty plagued religious officials after Pope Clement V moved out of Rome for the first time to appease French kings who now controlled massive amounts of power over all Catholic religious institutions. The Papacy moved towards a more bureaucratic system and the devotedness of those who are suppose to be representing God on Earth came into question. The largest point of conflict was once The Council of Pisa elected Alexander V and attempted to dispose the two other claimants to The Papacy, overall this attempt failed and supposedly three men on earth held the keys to heaven, yet all claimed one another was the antichrist causing mass uncertainty in areas of tithe, religious prayers, and where to receive forgiveness from God, as people worried that if one of the other popes was supposedly the antichrist they didn’t want to risk eternal suffering for supporting a truly unholy man. Eventually The Council of Constance was called and after a year of meeting a new pope was finally elected after the council had claimed a decree of Haec Sancta Synodus, granting them supposed power over all church offices including that of The Papacy. The issue of who was the pope, was resolved however themes of conciliarism would last within Europe until 1870, raising the question of

As time constantly presses forward and the earth continues to revolve, the world will never stop progressing and adapting to better suit the needs of mankind. The evolution of religion has greatly enhanced the quality of life for humanity by providing individuals with a strong belief system that is now the foundation of many peoples’ core values. One universal religion that has undergone extensive amounts of reform is Christianity. In particular, the Catholic church is well-known for the development of their famous ecumenical council meetings that help determine the future of the church. Numerous Councils have been conducted throughout the course of history, but none more significant than the most recent, the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II. The Catholic church was operating as if it was still the medieval period and desperately needed to be modernized. As a result, every Roman Catholic Church official was gathered to meet and devise a plan for how to introduce the church to the modern world. Consequently, the following will reveal the Second Vatican Council and the ramifications of the agenda, history and theology evolution, significant texts, and new developments.

Pope Pius IV confirmed all of these decrees passed by the bishops after the closing of the council in 1563 and issued a summary of the main doctrines of the council in the form of a creed. Some of the major decrees were; A new index of forbidden books that was set out to obstruct the spread of heretical ideas . The Roman Catechism, which was a comprehensive overview of the catholic church's beliefs that was established in 1566. This was produced to help priests educate lay people on catholic belief and practices,helping the word be spread around about the newly reformed church and the beliefs it follows. ‘The Inquisition’ was also one of the main decrees bought back from the 13th century. The inquisition

The Second Vatican Council contributed many changes to the Catholic Church in order to freshen and modernise their thinking and practices. One notable change being the contribution of the lay people in the celebration of the mass. All baptised Catholics have a purpose to fulfil therefore have the authority to contribute through responses, hymns and prayers. Each church formed lay ministers to assist in the clergy and further the involvement of the congregation. Another significant change was the removal of the Latin language in the mass. So that people could understand and interpret the teachings of the scriptures the mass was said in vernacular languages which were coherent to society and people could now act out Jesus’ teachings in their

553 – The Second Council of Constantinople, considered by many Christian churches to have been the fifth Christian Ecumenical Council, began to discuss the topics of Nestorianism and Origenism, among others.

In 1968, the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church published Nostra Aetate, a church document which they hoped would allow for interreligious dialogues to coincide with the Church’s mission of proclamation. This document connects the Church with the other major world religions by saying that the Church “rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions.” Although the document’s original intent was to restore a positive relationship between the Church and the Jewish people, it presented itself as a way to connect to believers of all faiths—including that of the Eastern religions. However, the Secord Vatican Council did not present the first example on interreligious dialogue between Catholics and those of Eastern religions. Rather, the conversation is rich and constantly evolving due to the dialogues of theologians throughout the Church’s history. This can be seen especially in the early twentieth century, resulting in the writing and publication of Nostra Aetate. One such theologian who innovated interreligious dialogue with the East was Thomas Merton, whose connection to Eastern religious, inspired many to embrace religions outside of their own. Merton’s life includes a history of interreligious dialogues which he participated in throughout his search for religious understanding. Dialogue between Eastern religious, especially Buddhism, and Catholicism was modernized in the twentieth century due to the life and work of Thomas Merton.

Success of the Council of Trent in the years 1545-1563 in Tackling the Problems Confronting the Catholic Church

Pope John Paul the Second It was recently this year that the Catholic world had lost its leader,

The council of Vatican II was called in 1959 in order to reform the canon law of the Catholic Church. It was suggested by many that the council focus their energies on reforming liturgical worship. Joseph Ratzinger, a priest and future pope, used his lecture, “The First Session”, in order to portray what was going on at the council and to give his own views. Ratzinger started by identifying the fact that the opening ceremonies to the council were very long and hard to keep up with, thus discouraging involvement in the ceremonies altogether. This was representative of what was happening to liturgical worship—there was decreased participation.

The council was delayed many times due to the plague, the threat of war and politics. In total the Council of Trent discussed and debated these issues for 5 years and 1 month.

The third and longest chapter of the book dealt with how the documents have been received and implemented in the church over the last forty years. What appears to be evident is there was a lot of confusion in how and what needed to be done to implement the teachings of Vatican II. Gaillardetz quotes John Henry Newman at the beginning of the chapter, “it is uncommon that a Council not be followed by great confusion.” Gaillardetz shows that the two major proponents for helping to understand the council documents were Pope Paul VI and John Paul II. There are several references to their writings as Pope that clarified misunderstandings or built upon the teachings in the documents. A key issue that Pope Paul VI built upon was the inclusion of the laity in the sensus fidei, in the discernment of church matters. Gaillardetz notes in the 1980s American bishops adopted a consultative process of listening to experts before drafting pastoral letters. “The bishops took seriously the assumption of both Vatican II and Paul VI that all God’s people, and not only the hierarchy, must engage in the central processes of ecclesial discernment.”

The twentieth century was a witness to a new social organization of the state and the rising of totalitarian regimes, which represented a threat to the principles of the individual that the Church defended. Popes Pius XI and Pius XII defended the rights of each person in their statements. These notions signified also a development in the idea of religious freedom. However, it would be Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council who would affirm clearly the stance of the Church on this issue.