VATICAN II ON NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS NOSTRA AETATE

THE BACKGROUND ON VATICAN II LESSON ONE

THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH The Church Under Siege Protestant Reformation (1517) The Enlightenment (1700s) The Revolutions (1776/1789) The Modernist Crisis( ) Political Upheaval ( ) Theology during this Era

THE ERA BETWEEN THE WARS Early 20 th Century: Biblical Movement Patristic Movement Liturgical Movement After WW1, Ecumenical Movement Begins without Catholic support. 1943: 2 Major Documents by Pius XII Divino Afflante Spiritu : Biblical Studies Mystici Corporis Christi: The Church

POST-WWII THEOLOGY Theological Paradigm Shift Resourcement: Return to the Sources Aggiornamento: An “updating” More focus on the dynamic than the static. Cautious Support from Pius XII ( ) 1958: Pius XII dies; John XXIII elected.

BLESSED POPE JOHN XXIII Elected at age 77. Lifelong Vatican Diplomat : Nuncio in Turkey and Greece Called for Vatican II in Solemnly Opened the Council in Died June 3, 1963 Photo courtesy of Vatican website (

THE WORK OF VATICAN II After four years of work ( ), the Council produced 16 documents: 4 Constitutions: Sacrosanctum Concilium (Liturgy, 1963) Lumen Gentium (Church, 1964) Dei Verbum (Divine Revelation, 1965) Gaudium et Spes (Modern World, 1965) 9 Decrees 3 Declarations (2 of particular interest: Religious Liberty and Non-Christian Religions)

LEGACY OF VATICAN II Universal Call to Holiness Vocation of All Members of the Church Liturgy Scripture as the “Soul of Theology” The Church and the World Ecumenism and Interfaith Dialogue

FROM GAUDIUM ET SPES (1965) Therefore, this sacred synod […] offers to mankind the honest assistance of the Church in fostering that brotherhood of all men which corresponds to this destiny of theirs. Inspired by no earthly ambition, the Church seeks but a solitary goal: to carry forward the work of Christ under the lead of the befriending Spirit. And Christ entered this world to give witness to the truth, to rescue and not to sit in judgment, to serve and not to be served. (GS 3)

NOSTRA AETATE: THE TEXT

THE PURPOSE OF THE DOCUMENT Main topic: “what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship.” (NA 1) The document attempts to articulate some common ground. Universal “unsolved riddles of the human condition” (NA 1)

“UNSOLVED RIDDLES” ( NA 1) What is humanity? Meaning of Life? Moral Good? Sin? Why Suffering? Happiness? Death? “[W]hence do we come, and where are we going?

ANSWERS OF VARIOUS RELIGIONS ( NA 2) Hinduism: divine mystery, myths, and “searching philosophical inquiry” Buddhism: inadequacy of this world Other Religions: “try to counter the restlessness of the human heart […] by proposing ‘ways,’ comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites.” “The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions.”

EXHORTATION OF NA 2 “The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve, and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio- cultural values found among these men.”

RELATIONS WITH MUSLIMS ( NA 3) (At least partial) common ground: One God, Creator Acknowledge Jesus as Prophet Devotion to Mary Judgment Asceticism Seeks to “forget the past” hostilities between Christians and Muslims.

RELATIONS WITH JEWS ( NA 4) Newfound appreciation for “Abraham’s stock” More balanced approach from Scripture No “Blood Guilt” Disavowal of anti-Semitism

CONCLUSION ( NA 5) “We cannot truly call of God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God.” “The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life, or religion.”