VATICAN – The Second Vatican Council and the mission of the Church of the First Millennium.
Gianni Valente
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – «We thank you, Lord, for the gift of the Council. We are loved by you, so let us be free from the presumption that we can do everything ourselves and from the temptation to criticize the world. Stop us from excluding ourselves. You who lovingly feed us, lead us forth from the shadows of self-absorption», said Pope Francis at the end of his homily delivered during the Eucharistic liturgy he presided over on Tuesday, October 11 in St. Peter’s Basilica, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.
The last Council, a significant event in the Church’s history, has been the focus of debates about hermeneutical interpretations of its implications and nature for 60 years. Disputes that at times risk becoming controversies among experts, fatally exposed to what Pope Francis in his homily called «the diabolical artifice of polarizations, of “isms”».
The Second Vatican Council was born out of a desire to renew the inner life and discipline of the Church, as well as adapt her discipline to meet the new demands. This allowed her to reaffirm her mission in the modern world. And if one wants to understand the path proposed by the Second Vatican Council for liberating church action from the «presumption of self-sufficiency» and from the «precincts of self-referentiality», it is always worth taking a look at the conciliar documents that emerged as the ripe fruit of this great church assembly .
The title and the first lines of the Conciliar Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, devoted to the Church, are illuminating in their clarity and simplicity: «Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature, to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church». The most important document of last Council reiterates from the beginning that the Church cannot shine with her own light but only with Christ’s. «The Church is profoundly convinced of it: the light of the Gentiles radiates not from her, but from her divine Founder: yet, the Church well knows, that being reflected on her countenance, this irradiation reaches the whole of humanity», wrote the Belgian theologian Gérard Philips, who was himself chief editor of this conciliar constitution, in his commentary on “Lumen Gentium”.
The Second Vatican Council to Fathers of Church see the Church as reflecting Christ’s light. This is what unites the Fathers and the Mother of the Church. From the early centuries, they made use of the image of mysterium lunae (the mystery of the moon), which was often also used by Pope Francis. Like the moon, «the Church does not shines by its own light, but by that of Christ» (“fulget Ecclesia non di lei sed Christi lumine”), says St. Ambrose. While for Cyril of Alexandria «the Church is bathed in the divine light of Christ, which is the only light in the realm of souls. There is therefore one single light: in this single light, however, the Church also shines, but it is not Christ himself however».
In this context, Enrico Morini, historian and professor of the History of Christianity at the University Bologna, made a thought that merits attention in a contribution he published a few year ago on the website edited Sandro Magister. According to Morini – Professor of the History of Christianity and the Church at the University of Bologna – the Second Vatican Council set itself «in the perspective of absolute continuity with the tradition of the first millennium», that «of the Church of the seven Councils, still undivided». Encouraging the renewal of the Church – Morini added – «the Council did not intend to introduce something new – as progressives and conservatives respectively desire and fear – but to get back to what had been lost».
Morini’s observations were echoed and expanded upon by Cardinal Georges Marie Cottier (1922 -2016), a great Dominican priest, theologian, and theologian who, as Theologian in the Pontifical Household, had served John Paul II (and Benedict XVI),). In an article published in August 2011 in the magazine 30Giorni, Cardinal Cottier explained that he considers the interpretations that sees the history of the Church «as a progressive decline and a growing estrangement from Christ and the Gospel», or those according to which “the dogmatic development of the second millennium does not conform to the Tradition shared during the first millennium by the undivided Church» as a “historiographic myth”. Accordingly, it must be considered an “objective fact”, that Lumen Gentium’s conception of the church corresponds to the one shared by most Christians in the first centuries. This is because the church is not viewed as an independent, preordained subject. After making these clarifications, the Dominican Theologian identified the point where there was complete correspondence between Lumen gentium’s perception of the Church and the one shared in the early centuries. In both cases – underlined Cottier – «the Church is not assumed as a subject in itself, as pre-established. The Church keeps to the fact that her presence in the world flourishes and perdures as a recognition of the presence and action of Christ». The Cardinal began his reflections by examining the criteria that must guide the Church’s mission throughout history. «If the Church perceives herself in the world as a reflection of the presence of Christ – emphasized Cottier – the preaching of the Gospel can only be done through dialogue and freedom, in the abandonment of all means of coercion, both material and spiritual». And the Church also asks for forgiveness – the Dominican theologian added – «not in line with the logic of worldly honor, but because she recognizes that the sins of her sons dim the light of Christ that she is called to reflect in her countenance».
In his reflections, in which he also also cited Pope Ratzinger, Cardinal Cottier pointed out that the very recognition of the “mysterium lunae” that the Church produces can liberate apostolic action from false perspectives that see the presence of Christians in the world as «product of strategies and prescriptions». Cottier said that perhaps it would be easier and better for people to listen in the modern world to pastors who speak to all without presupposing faith. As Benedict XVI recognized during his homily in Lisbon on 11 May 2010, “often we are anxiously preoccupied with the social, cultural and political consequences of the faith, taking for granted that faith is present, which unfortunately is less and less realistic”». (Agenzia Fides, 13/10/2022)
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Source: fides.org
