Aggiornamiento Vatican II

Updating Every other council in history had been called because the Church needed to deal with a particular challenge to its teaching or its unity This time the pope was telling everyone that the issue was aggiornamiento, – Italian for “updating” Updating does not mean to get rid of the past but taking what has been received and making it relevant to the present Updating meant to looking at the world at that moment and discerning how the Church should be present in it

The Man behind the Call Pope John XXIII was elected pope when he was almost 77 years old – Many people thought that he would not serve long or accomplish much – His warmth, sense of humor, and kind heart quickly won over the entire world One of his first official acts was to visit prisoners in Rome telling them: “You could not come to me, so I came to you” – He was famous for his jokes On one occasion a reporter asked” “Holy Father, how many people work in Vatican City?” the Pope responded “About half of them”

Vatican II? When Pope John announced the council, many clergy members had doubts, Vatican I had happened not too long ago (about 90 years earlier) Pope John insisted on having the council because the Church was not only a European community but a worldwide Church embracing many people This council would not be about heresy or crisis in the church This could would be a pastoral council: one of mercy and hope, reach out to the modern world and invite people to consider the joyfulness of the Gospel. Pope John said “I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in” He said the council was meeting not to suppress false teaching but to find new and better ways to present Church doctrine to people of modern time The Pope pointed out that the Church “desires to show herself to be the loving mother of all, patient, full of mercy and goodness” Two goals for the council: 1.Dialogue with the modern world with the goal of church renewal 2.Vigorous efforts for Christian unity

The length of the council The council met from in four separate sessions Pope John sent letters to cardinals, bishops, heads of religious Order, and Catholic universities and schools around the world asking what issues they thought the Church needed to address. The council was truly worldwide with bishops from all races and continents present. Observers from other religions, including Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant were also present.

Pope John did not get a chance to see all the good the came out of the council. He died on June 3, 1963, just 8 months into the first session His successor, Paul VI continued the council – Pope Paul VI made a historical gesture to traveling to the Holy Land This was the first time in centuries that the Pope journeyed outside of Italy – While there, he met the Patriarch of Constantinople This symbolic move showed that the Church was indeed serious about Christian unity The second Vatican Council issued 16 documents – All the documents treat the Church, her inner workings, and her relationship to the world – The most authoritative documents issued are: 1.Sacrosantum Concilium (The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) 2.Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) 3.Dei Verbum (Constitution on Divine Revelation) 4.Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral constitution on the church in the Modern World)