Vatican II is truly a singular gift of divine Providence. It is the Council that started putting the aggiornamento (euphemism for reform) at the forefront of Catholic narrative. It is a pity that several Catholics deny this truth, and even today do not want to accept that “ecclesia semper reformanda”.
The announcement of Vatican II came as a surprise: on January 25, 1959, less than three months after his election, St Pope John XXIII announced to cardinals his intention to convene an Ecumenical Council. He had already made clear his conviction that it was time to “throw open the windows of the Church and let the fresh air of the spirit blow through”.
Pope Francis has recently developed this desire by saying that the Church should open its windows so that it could see what is happening around its ecclesial sphere.
It was 60 years ago – almost to the day – that on October 11, 1962, John XXIII inaugurated the Second Vatican Council with these words: “Mother Church rejoices that, by a singular gift of divine Providence... the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council is solemnly opened here beside the tomb of St Peter.”
Pope Paul VI – another saint – agreed with his predecessor when on December 8, 1965, he stated: “The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council... must be numbered without doubt among the greatest events of the Church... it was the most opportune, because, bearing in mind the necessities of the present day, above all it sought to meet the pastoral needs and, nourishing the flame of charity, it has made a great effort to reach not only the Christians still separated from communion with the Holy See, but also the whole human family.”
Reform was Vatican II’s first objective, even though the pope preferred the softer expression of aggiornamento. Other similar expressions the pope used to refer to it were “new Pentecost”, “new spring” and “rejuvenation”.
Vatican II ended Catholicism’s war with modernity by calling Catholics to discern the “signs of the times”, and the Church to restate its beliefs in a way that would be more meaningful to modern man, culture and society.
Pope John XXIII’s wide experience as a nuncio made him look at Christians as a large family. He always sought what unites rather than what divides. Hence, he saw Vatican II as a means toward the reunion of Christians.
Joseph Komonchak, one of the best historians of the Vatican, points to John XXIII’s view that “the Church is not a museum of antiques but a living garden of life”.
Unfortunately, in the last decades we have been experiencing a nostalgic coalition calling for a “reform of the reform”, which criticises the post-Vatican II developments and changes under the banner of an “authentic” reform.
It was time to ‘throw open the windows of the Church and let the fresh air of the spirit blow through’- Fr Joe Inguanez
Leaders of this lobby may be intellectuals and theologians, but most of the followers are either half-baked theologians or outright theological illiterates. One of their mistakes is that they confuse and/or equate the theological concept of “Sacred Tradition” with the anthropological custom/s.
This movement had already been prophetically refuted by John XXIII, in his opening speech of the Council: “We feel that we must disagree with these prophets of doom, who are always forecasting worse disasters, as though the end of the world were at hand”.
Pope Francis reiterated this, writing that the authentic Tradition of the Church is not a static deposit or a museum piece but the root of a constantly growing tree.
“This millennial Tradition bears witness to God’s work in the midst of his people and ‘is called to keep the flame alive rather than to guard its ashes’” (Querida Amazonia: 66).
When one hears the narrative of these so-called reformers of the reform, the words of Tevye, in the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof, come to mind: “How do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word... tradition.”
This coalition made its customs a sacred totem where they find their identity.
The immediate post-Vatican II period was one of dialogue and conflict. Several at the Roman Curia and bishops around the world felt that Vatican II was being shoved down their throat. Backpedalling started in earnest, culminating in documents issued by the CDF and the re-introduction of the incorrectly called Latin “Tridentine Mass”.
Several did their best to return to the status quo ante to the extent that high calibre theologians who had worked hard towards a new way of “being Church” were silenced and sometimes humiliated. Perhaps the most notorious example is that of Jacques Dupuis SJ, and ignoring the Synod on Synodality.
It is a bad sign of the times that in our diocese, the 60th anniversary of this “singular gift” was almost totally ignored.
Fr Joe Inguanez is a sociologist and the national chaplain of the Young Christian Workers and Students (ŻĦN).