The Spirit of Vatican II:
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Comments (5)
ShareThis The Spirit of Vatican II: A History of Catholic Reform in America
The Spirit of Vatican II: A History of Catholic Reform in America
By Colleen McDannell (Basic Books, 2011)
For many Catholics, the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) represents a Spirit-led initiative now being dismantled. For others it was a well-meant experiment gone awry. In The Spirit of Vatican II, Colleen McDannell explores those two extremes through the eyes of her parents, Margaret and Ken, whose lives span the pre-, mid-, and post-Vatican II church.
Prior to the council, we witness the couple’s yearning for more relevant theology and practice. After 1965, we get a front-pew view of American Catholic life. Clergy trained for ministry in the Vatican I church struggle to retool and implement reforms. Priests and people eager for renewal break new ground, modeling Pope John XXIII’s aggiornamento. Meanwhile, opponents long for the pendulum to swing back toward the past.
Ever-faithful to their church, Margaret and Ken find themselves caught in a moral firestorm following Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae (1968). While the American hierarchy demanded assent to the ban on contraception, many lay Catholics and local clergy trusted their consciences. In McDannell’s words, “Parish priests felt comfortable laying the decision about birth control at the feet of individual Catholics.”
In assessing the American Catholic environment today, McDannell finds a troubled community. She cites as examples a self-inflicted shortage of parish priests, an influx of conservative foreign clergy who lack understanding of the American character and culture, and a shameful sex-abuse scandal that won’t go away. Faced with a world exploding around us and disaffected Catholics quietly opting out, some seek a reenergized faith through Latin Masses and new translations of familiar texts.
The Spirit of Vatican II urges us to remember what being an American Catholic was like before and during the council, as well as in the decades since. It asks: Who do we want to be as a church going forward?
This article appeared in the July 2011 issue of U.S. Catholic magaine (Vol. 76, No. 7, pages 42-43).
Lomion
By Logmion (not verified) on Sunday, July 3, 2011At C.1:Q.96, Nostradamus foretells of an iconoclastic prophet, using refined language to continually educate, who is raised in the Last Days.
Logmion is here and says "Bring Back Petrus Romanus"
Spirit of Vatican 2
By Anonymous (not verified) on Sunday, July 3, 2011It is a shame that the spirit of John 23rd is vanishing from the Church. There seems to be a desire of a large part of the clergy, especially the bishops, for creating a smaller, purer, more conservative body, and seem to be unmoved by the millions of good souls who have left in the last few years for a variety of reasons, not the least was the only partially resolved abuse scandal, and the hard right approach of the clergy. The bishops weekly statements could be taken verbatim from Fox News! The Church seems to allow the Rich to grow richer, Wall st to get more corrupt--forget the social gospels and encyclicals of the past. As long as one is anti-abortion and anti gay rights your OK no matter what your stands on social and economic justice is. Why can't parishes open up and allow more liberal concerned voices to respectfully express their opinions. Must we all be Republicans?
The Spirit of Vatican II was a break with 2000 years of Traditio
By Byzcat (not verified) on Friday, July 1, 2011The real question isn't "Who do we want to be as a church going forward?", but "What does the Lord want the Church to be going forward?" The main fruit of Vatican II was a naval gazing, narcissistic Catholicism that was more concerned with "relevance" than holiness of life.
Thanks for sharing
By Anonymous (not verified) on Saturday, July 2, 2011Since you obviously know more of God's will than the Magisterium directly involved in Vatican II -- more than the Holy Spirit guiding that Magesterium -- the rest of us humbly thank you for sharing your Divine Wisdom with us lesser souls.
Do you also preach that the Church is always correct, by divine inspiration, by right of apostolic succession?
Except, of course, when YOU disagree with it.
Who's the narcissist here?
Magisterium
By Kayrene (not verified) on Saturday, July 9, 2011As soon as the word "Magisterium" pops up in an argument, I know the speaker has run out of reasons to defend his/her opinion. Even though the Holy Spirit opened the windows of the Church in Vatican II, the current hierarchy is pretending that nothing changed. They call it the Hermeneutics of Discontinuity. Those of us who lived through it know different. The biggest thing I learned from Vatican II is that the holy Roman Catholic Church does not own God. Many of our non-Catholic brothers and sisters know God a lot better than some Catholics. I didn't know many non-Catholics before Vatican II. It used to be frowned upon. Now, my faith life does not depend on any Magisterium or Hermeneutics. My own parish is fine. It is true that many of the bishops and cardinals put in place by these last two popes leave a lot to be desired... but they can have whatever dog and pony show they want...change the missal, whatever. The Catholic Church is a big tent church and there are wonderful priests, bishops and nuns and millions of lay people that give us hope. If the Holy Spirit can do it once, HE/SHE can do it again. Although I probably won't be alive to see it. I can hope.
U.S. Catholic insists on a civil and respectful dialogue on our website, following our Comment policy. Comments should be charitable, on topic, and brief. U.S. Catholic reserves the right to delete comments deemed inappropriate. Links are not allowed and comments with them will be moderated or deleted. We encourage you to choose your words wisely.
