60th Anniversary of Vatican Council II

October 11 marked the 60th anniversary of the opening of Vatican Council II. This Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965 was the largest gathering of Catholic Bishops in the history of the church with more than 2, 500 bishops attending the opening session. The Council, called by Pope St. John XXIII, was only the 21st time that the church had gathered in a General Council and unlike any previous Council it was not called to address any heresy or false teaching, but was, rather, called to discuss how the church would present itself in the modern world. Its stated purpose was not to change doctrine but to look at the deepest roots of our faith, to go back to how the faith was expressed in the Early Church, and then to express that in a way which made sense in the modern world.  This return to the sources of our faith was described by the French word, ressourcement, and the Italian word, aggiornamento, was used to describe the updating. Both of these ideas were applied throughout the time of the Council.

Vatican Council II tackled almost every major area of the Church’s life. The Council began with the premise that the church was, by its very nature, meant to be missionary. To foster the mission of the church the Council began by looking at the Mass because, after all, that is the place where most Catholics and new converts encounter the church. By looking at the sources, the writings of the early Church Fathers, the Council decided to simplify the Mass, incorporate more reading of the Bible in the Mass, and encourage active participation by the people. To accomplish these things the Council fathers permitted the use of the local language rather than Latin for the Mass, better translations of the Bible, and doing away with unnecessary actions in the Mass which had crept in over the centuries.

In the world of the Church there are currently vocal naysayers concerning Vatican Council II and the simplification of the Mass. I think they are a small number, but they are quite loud, especially on social media like YouTube and Facebook. Some of them want to go right back to how mass was celebrated before the 1960s as though that would fix all of the problems the church faces currently and all of the ills of society as well. When Pope St. John XXIII opened the Vatican Council he called out a certain group within the Church which were always predicting doom. He said “these doomsayers” lacked two things, first they acted as though history is not taught them anything and second, they lacked a trust in the working of the Holy Spirit within the church and within the People of God. He was certain that by enlivening the Holy Spirit within the people there was nothing to be afraid of.