Testo originale del articolo in inglese qui
To speak of "theology of the Council" is perfectly legitimate. Indeed, the Council has not only had a pastoral orientation, but has also collected the fruits of so much good theology and consolidated many expressions and prospects. It is not possible to quote them all here, but it is useful to try to synthesize them. We will keep only the four Constitutions and the Decree on religious freedom.
The Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum and the form of Christian revelation
The Council began by working on the renovation, but the first scheme (1962) did not work, because it was judged too scholastic. This led to modify all the plans already prepared. Rahner and Ratzinger made a proposal for a new scheme, which, however, did not succeed. After a long elaboration, a brief text was obtained in Rivelazione e Scrittura that includes the renewal of the Teologia Fundamentale (1965) and the suggestions of Newman, precursor and inspirer of the Second Vatican Council.
The first chapters deal with the revelation of God, the human response (faith) and the transmission or tradition (I and II); and the rest follows the Sacred Scripture.
In contrast to the old scholastic custom of focusing the revelation on the essence of the revealed truths (dogmas), the "Dei Verbum" focuses on the historical phenomenon of the revelation (n. 1 and n. 6). Dio si manifesta operando la salvezza nella storia, in varie tappe, fino alla pienezza in Cristo. "With facts and words", not only with words. There is a profound revelation in events such as the Creation and the Exodus, the Alleanza and, even more, the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of the Lord. These are the great mysteries of the history of salvation. Moreover, "it is no longer necessary to wait for any public revelation before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ." (n. 4).
In the Church, the "Dei Verbum" presents faith as a personal response to that revelation (with this more advanced beginning of the Catechism), and explains the concept of (living) tradition and its relationship with the Magisterium and the Scriptures (chapter II).
The same writing is the fruit of the first tradition.
Viene così superato lo schema infelice delle "two fonti" in quanto "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Writing constitute a single sacred deposit." (10).
We discover the peculiar relationship between the action of God and human freedom (and culture) in the writing of the witnesses (the inspiration). It is recognized the opportunity to distinguish the letter generi in order to interpret them, since a symbolic narration does not coincide with the historical description of a fact.
And in a few rules we propose an interesting treatise on what we believe in: "The Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted with the same Spirit with which it was written. In order to recover the true meaning of the Sacred Scriptures, it is necessary to take care not less diligently of the content and unity of all the Sacred Scriptures, taking into account the living Tradition of the whole Church and the analogy of the faith." (12).
After having explained the profound relationship between the Old and New Testament, a decisive pastoral impulse is given to know and use the Scripture more (chapter VI), with good translations and teaching the faithful. It should be noted that "the study of Sacred Scripture must be like the soul of Sacred Theology."(24), as well as preaching and catechesis (24). Because "ignorance of the Scritture is ignorance of Christ" (25).
Sacrosanctum Concilium and the heart of the Church's life
Once the scheme for the single renovation has been withdrawn, the Council has started to work on this beautiful document, which gathers the best of the liturgical movement, ranging from the revival of Solesmes (Dom Geranguer) to "The meaning of liturgy"by Guardini, passing through the theology of the mysteries of Odo Casel.
The liturgy is presented as a celebration of the mystery of Christ, where our salvation is fulfilled and the Church grows. The first chapter, the longest, deals with the principles of the sidetta".riforma". The second refers to ".sacrosanct mystery of the Eucharist" (II), and so on through the other sacraments and sacramentali (lll), all'Ufficio divino (IV), all'anno liturgico (V), alla musica sacra (Vl) e all'arte e agli oggetti di culto (VII).
An appendix with the possibility of modifying the calendar and the date of Easter is included..
The liturgy always celebrates the Paschal Mystery of Christ (6), starting from the Battesimo in which the faithful, dying to sin and rising in Christ, are incorporated into his Body by means of the eternal life that the Holy Spirit gives them. It is a worship related to the Father, in Christ, animated by the Holy Spirit, and it is ecclesial, because in its own ecclesial dimension the whole body of the Church always acts united to its Head. And it celebrates the only paschal mystery of Christ, on earth as in heaven, and in the eschatological dimension this is forever.
The Council wanted the faithful to participate better in the liturgical mission by increasing their formation. In addition, it has given a multitude of indications to improve Christian worship in all its aspects.
Unfortunately, the application of these sacred indications has exceeded all limits in the prepossessing bodies, such as the "Consilium" and the Episcopal Conferences.
Infatti, prima che i vescovi fossero istruiti, e molto prima che i libri liturgici fossero rielaborati, molti entusiasti alterarono la liturgia con banalizzazioni arbitrarie.
The lamentations of many theologians (De Lubac, Daniélou, Bouyer, Ratzinger...) and Catholic intellectuals (Maritain, Von Hildebrand, Gilson...) are not enough. This discord has caused in some of the unconcerned Catholics an anticonciliar reaction that still persists today, and that has also given rise to Lefebvre's scisma. It is worth reading the document carefully to see how much remains to be said.
– Supernatural Lumen GentiumThe culmination of the Council
Questa "Dogmatic constitution(one of those so called) is the theological nucleus of the Council, because on the basis of Vatican Council I and of the "Theology of the Council".Mystici corporisThe book, "The Church," develops the doctrine of the Church and illuminates the other documents of the Council on the Church, its members, priests, religious, ecumenism, the relationship with other religions and evangelization. Its richness and theological articulation owes much to Johan Adam Moeller, Guardini, De Lubac and Congar, and to the wise prayerful hand of Gerard Philips, who has made a splendid commentary on it.
So the first issue puts everything at a very high level: "The Church is in Christ as a sacrament, that is, it is a sign and instrument of the intimate union with God and of the unity of all humanity.". This universal convocation expresses what the Church is and, at the same time, its realization among men and women, uniting them to the Father in Christ through the Spirit. For this reason it is "eat a sacrament".
The relative novelty of the patristic word "missionary" is underlined, because the Church is itself a missionary of the presence, revelation, and salvific action of God, and for this very reason it is a missionary of faith.
È mistero legato al mistero della Trinità (Church of the Trinity) because the Church is a people created and called by God the Father, gathered for worship in the Body of Christ, who is the head and makes worship real. The Church is also built in Christ as a temple of living stones, through the work of the Holy Spirit. For all these reasons it is intimately connected to the Mystery of the liturgy ("Ecclesia de Eucharistia") and it is also the Church of the Trinity, because its communion of persons, that is, communion of saints, communion in holy things, is reflected and expanded in the world; the communion of Trinitarian persons, which in its eschatological dimension is the ultimate destiny of humanity, is like the leaven and the anticipation of the Kingdom.
Understanding the Church as a salvific mission of communion with God and among men allows to overcome the external, sociological or managerial vision of the Church itself; it allows to properly confront the relationship between the Papal Primate and the episcopal college, to highlight the dignity of the People of God and the universal call to holiness, and to participate fully in the liturgical worship and mission of the Church.
All human beings are called to unite with Christ in his Church. The Holy Spirit accomplishes this in history in various degrees and forms, starting from the explicit communion of colors that participate fully, to the inner communion of colors that are faithful to God in their conscience ("Lumen gentium", nn. 13- 16).
This is why this unity mission is the key to ecumenism, the new commitment of the Council to fulfill the will of the Signore ("that all may be one"), with a change of perspective in a great document ("...").Unitatis redintegratio").
It is different to contemplate the historical genesis of the divisions and of the schisms with their traumas, and their current state, where Christians of good faith (Orthodox, Protestants and others) really participate in the benefits of the Church.
From this point on, full communion is achieved through prayer, collaboration, dialogue and mutual understanding, and above all through the action of the Holy Spirit. Full communion in sacris it is not the starting point, but the point of arrival.
– Supernatural Gaudium et Spes and what the Church can offer the world
In order to understand the theological Gaudium et speswe must remember the story.
When the first schemata were taken back, as we have seen above, it was decided to orientate the Council with two questions: what does the Church say about itself, what gave rise to the "Lumen gentiumand what the Church can contribute to the "...".world building", which would later have given rise to "Gaudium et spes".
Then he thought about the big issues: family, education, social and economic life, peace, which form the chapters of the second part.
Although it seems easy to talk about these topics in Christianity, it is not so easy to establish a universal theological doctrine, because there are too many temporary, specialized and ... debatable questions. For this reason it was given the title of "pastoral" Constitution, and it was noted that the second part, rich in interesting points, was more opinionated than the first, more doctrinal.
The first part of the book was spontaneously drawn from the need to give a doctrinal foundation to what the Church could bring to the world. And it has become a felicitous compendium of Christian anthropology, with three intense chapters on the human person and his dignity, the social dimension of the human being and the sense of his action in the world. And a fourth chapter apparently written in large part by St. Karol Wojtyła himself together with Cardinal Daniélou. Even Pope Paul VI himself, in his trip to the UN, recalled that the Church is "a hope for humanity".
Pope John Paul II has constantly emphasized that Christ knows the human being and is the true image of man (n. 22) and that "there is a certain certain certainty between the union of divine persons and the union of God's children in the truth and in the truth."(24), just as it comes in families, in Christian communities and is found throughout society. This sentence concludes with this luminous expression of the human vocation: "I am a man, a woman" (24).This friendship shows that man, the only earthly creature that God has loved for himself, cannot find his own compassion if it is not in the sincere gift of himself to others." (24).
In addition, the last chapter of the first part of the Pastoral Constitution has reminded us that: "The laity are properly, but not exclusively, responsible for secular competitions and dynamism [...] they must tend to acquire a true competence in all fields." e "a well-formed conscience of the laity must ensure that the divine law remains scrupulous in the earthly city." (43). Qui c'è ancora troppo da fare...
The statement Dignitatis humanae and a change of criteria in the confrontation with liberalism
Although it is a minor document, this decree has a strategic importance in the relationship of the Church with the modern world.
Many Venetians had asked the Council to proclaim the right to religious freedom, because many were subject to communist dictatorships, as in the case of Karol Wojtyła. Liberal democratic regimes have recognized this right as an essential part of their genealogy.
Citizens are free to seek religious truth and to express it freely in worship, including public worship, even in respect of the public order.
The historical experience of the liberal proclamation of religious freedom was very beneficial for the Catholic Church where it was persecuted or where there was an official religion, such as in England and in officially Protestant countries such as the Slovakia, Denmark and others, and it would be a great liberation in countries that are still communist or even in Muslim countries.
But this was not the tradition of the old Christian nations, whether they were Catholic or Protestant, because, it was held that "the truth does not have the same rights as error".
For this reason, in the XIX century, the ecclesiastical authorities, at all levels, just as they were opposed to the diffusion of publications contrary to faith and morals, strongly opposed the liberal attempts to establish "freedom of worship" in Catholic countries.
It was a conflict of prospects: the one of a nation intent on being a religious community and the one of the free conscience of the person.
It is true that, in a protected regime, such as that of a family with children, parents can and should prevent, within certain limits, the dissemination of erroneous opinions in their own family environment.
But this is out of place when children are emancipated, because then the fundamental right of everyone to seek the truth prevails.
And this is what happens in modern societies, with emancipated people and with full rights. It goes from the protection of the common good of a society that is omogeneous from the point of view of religion, to the full recognition of the fundamental right of each person to the search for truth.
However, this change was considered unethical by the archbishop Lefebvre, causing his scisma. Egli argued that on this point the Council contradicts the traditional doctrine of the Church, and therefore is not valid.
