Gaudium et Spes at 50
‘The Church must smell like the world it penetrates’
Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, a frequent contributor to ZENIT, is CEO of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation in Canada. He also serves as English language Media Attaché to the Holy See Press Office.
The following is the keynote address delivered by Fr. Rosica to the Association of United States Catholic Priests in St. Louis, Missouri on June 30th, 2015.
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Dear Brothers in Christ,
Thank you for the invitation to address your annual conference. You have invited me to reflect on one of the most important documents of the Second Vatican Council – Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World as it nears its “golden jubilee” this December. In an attempt to diminish or dismiss the great significance of this core document of the Council, many have tried to classify Vatican II as a “pastoral council” that did not address dogmatic issues. At the beginning of this presentation, let me offer this fundamental principle: the Second Vatican Council offered a new model of merging between so-called pastoral and doctrinal councils. The standard refrain that Vatican II was a pastoral council and therefore did not propose new doctrines of the church is incorrect. Vatican II was a pastoral council by its teachings, i.e., its doctrines. The Council was therefore pastoral by being doctrinal.
Fifty years after its promulgation, who of us cannot still be moved by the opening words of that landmark conciliar document?
The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man. That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds.
There is an interesting history to the birth of this Pastoral Constitution. Such a document was not planned from the outset of the Council. It was toward the close of the first session of the Council, on December 4, 1962, that Belgian Cardinal Leo Suenens spoke of the need for the Church to address the world and not just to be occupied with internal Church matters. The very next day, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini of Milan (who was to become Paul VI by the next session) seconded Suenens' proposal. And then, on December 6, Cardinal Lercaro of Bologna echoed the views of Montini and Suenens. So, thanks to the support of three of the most influential and respected Council fathers, a statement on church and world became a topic for the next session of the Council!
The final result was the longest document of the Council, indeed the longest document ever produced by any of the 21 ecumenical Councils in a 2,000 year history: Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on The Church in the Modern World. The document is divided into two parts. The first part lays out theological and pastoral perspectives and principles about the Church in the world. The second part addresses five areas of what it calls "special urgency."
Much more here: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/gaudium-et-spes-at-50
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