Vatican II – Communio

Gaudium et Spes: The Right Reading of Vatican II

In a 55 minute presentation Father Robert Barron takes a keen review and analysis of Gaudium et Spes for the 5oth anniversary of Vatican II.

The Benedictine monks of Saint Procopius Abbey (Lisle, IL) and Benedictine University have offered several presentations to help us understand the importance of the key documents promulgated at the Second Vatican Council.

Father Barron is the author and host of the critically acclaimed Catholicism series. Barron is trained in theology. His full time ministry as a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago is to serve at the President/Rector of Mundelein Seminary.

What will Benedict XVIs legacy be in the years ahead?

The answer to this question will not be in its final form for a long time. The papacy only ended a few weeks ago. Historians will have to look at several things before they will be able to reflect back with greater precision that a video or a blog commentary can provide in 2013. There are several things that Pope Benedict’s 8 year reign that give good indicators as to what we engage with in the years ahead. Many more intelligent than I have thought this question through, but Father Robert Barron of the Archdiocese of Chicago has made a good first attempt when he posits that Benedict will be remembered for:

1. being able to give a more authentic interpretative key to the Second Vatican Council; that is, naming the true mission of the Church;

2. being able to present the objective truth of the faith as taught by the Church these 2 thousand years with the clear awareness that the truth is about the Divine Love lived in joy; this is often called affirmative orthodoxy: the big ‘yes’ vs. the fat ‘no’;

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Year of Faith: sharing Christ’s Good News is new life, a journey that transforms

In the presence of hundreds of bishops, the Eastern Catholic Patriarchs, ecumenical partners and laity, Pope Benedict prayed the Mass and preached on the meaning of both the Second Vatican Council and the Year of Faith through the lens of conversion. Benedict is clear: the Year of Faith is not celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. The Church needs not a special forum for this anniversary; it is all an invitation to conversion and to deepen one’s faith in the Christ. The homily Pope Benedict delivered today follows.

Today,
fifty years from the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, we begin
with great joy the Year of Faith. I am delighted to greet all of you,
particularly His Holiness Bartholomaois I, Patriarch of Constantinople, and His
Grace Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. A special greeting goes to the
Patriarchs and Major Archbishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches, and to the
Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences. In order to evoke the Council, which
some present had the grace to experience for themselves – and I greet them with
particular affection – this celebration has been enriched by several special
signs: the opening procession, intended to recall the memorable one of the
Council Fathers when they entered this Basilica; the enthronement of a copy of
the Book of the Gospels used at the Council; the consignment of the seven final
Messages of the Council, and of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I
will do before the final blessing. These signs help us not only to remember,
they also offer us the possibility of going beyond commemorating. They invite
us to enter more deeply into the spiritual movement which characterized Vatican
II, to make it ours and to develop it according to its true meaning. And its
true meaning was and remains faith in Christ, the apostolic faith, animated by
the inner desire to communicate Christ to individuals and all people, in the
Church’s pilgrimage along the pathways of history.

Continue reading Year of Faith: sharing Christ’s Good News is new life, a journey that transforms

Mary is the living house of the Lord, Pope recalls John XXIII 50th anniversary visit

English: PORTRAIT OF JOHN XXIII Español: IMAGE...

Pope Benedict went to the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, his 30th trip in Italy, to commemorate the visit Blessed John XXIII made when he called the Second Vatican Council entrusting her with the needs the Church and the Council. The Pope’s homily follows.

On 4 October 1962,
Blessed John XXIII came as a pilgrim to this Shrine to
entrust to the Virgin Mary the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, due to
begin a week later. On that occasion, with deep filial devotion to the Mother
of God, he addressed her in these words: “Again today, and in the name of the
entire episcopate, I ask you, sweetest Mother, as Help of Bishops, to intercede for me as Bishop of Rome and for all
the bishops of the world, to obtain for us the grace to enter the Council Hall
of Saint Peter’s Basilica, as the Apostles and the first disciples of Jesus
entered the Upper Room: with one heart, one heartbeat of love for Christ and
for souls, with one purpose only, to live and to sacrifice ourselves for the
salvation of individuals and peoples. Thus, by your maternal intercession, in
the years and the centuries to come, may it be said that the grace of God
prepared, accompanied and crowned the twenty-first Ecumenical Council, filling
all the children of the holy Church with a new fervour, a new impulse to
generosity, and a renewed firmness of purpose” (AAS 54 [1962], 727).

Continue reading Mary is the living house of the Lord, Pope recalls John XXIII 50th anniversary visit

Raymond Hunthausen, last US bishop to attend Vatican II

Today, Raymond Gerhardt Hunthausen, the emeritus archbishop of Seattle (1975-1991), celebrates his 91st birthday. He studied chemistry and later served as an assistant professor of Chemistry at Carroll College before becoming that school’s president in 1957. In 1962, Blessed John XXIII appointed him as bishop of Helena and from there he attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. at 40 years old, he was the youngest bishop at the beginning of the Council. In 1975, the Servant of God Paul VI appointed Bishop Hunthausen to the See of Seattle. Hence, he’s been a priest for 66 years and a bishop for 50.

Archbishop Hunthausen is the last surviving US bishop to have attended all of the sessions of the Second Vatican Council.

On adhesion to the Second Vatican Council

Fernando Ocáriz, 67, is the Vicar General of Opus Dei. He’s a trained theologian in area of Dogmatics but he’s also trained in physics. In 1986 he was appointed a consultor to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and later (1989) made a member of the Pontifical Theological Academy. Msgr. Ocáriz is the author of many books and refereed articles. He’s one of the primary authors of Dominus Iesus. Of late Msgr. Ocáriz has been a theological consultant in the dialogue with the Society of St Pius X.

The following article is published in several languages by L’Osservatore Romano (2 December 2011).

On adhesion to the Second Vatican Council

The forthcoming 50th anniversary of the convocation of the Second Vatican Council (25 December 1961) is a cause for celebration, but also for renewed reflection on the reception and application of the Conciliar Documents.

Over and above the more directly practical aspects of this reception and application, both positive and negative, it seems appropriate also to recall the nature of the intellectual assent that is owed to the teachings of the Council. Although we are dealing here with a well-known doctrine, about which there is an extensive bibliography, it is nevertheless useful to review it in its essential points, given the persistence – also in public opinion – of misunderstandings regarding the continuity of some Conciliar teachings with previous teachings of the Church’s Magisterium.

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Friars of the Atonement preserve Vatican II historry

Pictures always
tell a story, they’re also worth a thousand words. OK, how much money would you
give to preserve an archive of photography devoted to the Second Vatican
Council? What is preserving photographic memories to such a legendary event
like Vatican II worth to you? I hope much.

In 2009, Sister Leideke Galema, who
managed Foyer Unitas for many years, gave Centro Pro Unione library a gift of 740
photographs taken at Vatican II. This precious collection not only records of
the sessions of the Council, but also include important ecumenical moments from
the pontiﬁcate of the Servant of God Pope Paul VI, including the historic
meeting when he gave his own episcopal ring to the archbishop of Canterbury,
Michael Ramsey.

Rome’s Centro Pro Unione is a long time work of the Franciscan
Friars of the Atonement dedicated to ecumenical action, research, and formation
at the Piazza Navona. The Centro’s mission is known through intensive programs,
conferences, courses, and dialogues that attract theologians and academics from
around the world. It’s staff works closely with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and with various ecumenical leaders as well as teaching in the
various theological faculties in Rome.

Foyer Unitas, a ministry of hospitality
operated by the Ladies of Bethany, had since 1950 collaborated with the Centro
in welcoming non-Catholic pilgrims arriving in Rome. During Vatican II, Pope
Paul VI asked Foyer Unitas to provide lodging for the ecumenical observers. The
Centro Pro Unione is working to make this collection available to the public
during the 50 th anniversary of Vatican II’s opening council in Rome later this
year. To support the project and
for more information visit the Friars’ website.

Blessed Pope John XXIII

Today is the liturgical memorial of Blessed Pope John XXIII. It is an optional memorial on the liturgical calendar and so the memorial is left up to the discretion of the celebrant. But that today is Sunday, the prayers for his Mass are not prayed because Sunday takes precedence because it is a “Little Easter.” Today also marks the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

Everyone remembers the image of Pope John’s smiling face and two outstretched arms embracing the whole world. How many people were won over by his simplicity of heart, combined with a broad experience of people and things! The breath of newness he brought certainly did not concern doctrine, but rather the way to explain it; his style of speaking and acting was new, as was his friendly approach to ordinary people and to the powerful of the world. It was in this spirit that he called the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, thereby turning a new page in the Church’s history Christians heard themselves called to proclaim the Gospel with renewed courage and greater attentiveness to the “signs” of the times. The Council was a truly prophetic insight of this elderly Pontiff who, even amid many difficulties, opened a season of hope for Christians and for humanity. In the last moments of his earthly life, he entrusted his testament to the Church: “What counts the most in life is blessed Jesus Christ, his holy Church, his Gospel, truth and goodness.” (Pope John Paul II)

The Eucharistic sacrifice unites us with heaven

It is especially in the sacred liturgy that our union
with the heavenly Church is best realized; in the liturgy, through the
sacramental signs, the power of the Holy Spirit acts on us, and with community
rejoicing we celebrate together the praise of the divine majesty, when all
those of every tribe and tongue and people and nation (cf. Apoc. 5:9) who
have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and gathered together into one Church
glorify, in one common song of praise, the one and triune God. When, then, we
celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice we are most closely united to the worship
of the heavenly Church; when in the fellowship of communion we honor and
remember the glorious Mary ever virgin, St. Joseph, the holy apostles and
martyrs and all the saints. (Lumen gentium, 48)

Charity is the most important gift

‘God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God,
and God abides in him’ (1 Jn 4:16). God has poured out his love in our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (cf. Rom 5:5); therefore the
first and most necessary gift is charity, by which we love God above all things
and our neighbor because of him. But if charity is to grow and fructify in the
soul like a good seed, each of the faithful must willingly hear the word of God
and carry out his will with deeds, with the help of his grace; he must
frequently partake of the sacraments, chiefly the Eucharist, and take part in
the liturgy; he must constantly apply himself to prayer, self-denial, active
brotherly service and the practice of all virtues. This is because love, as the
bond of perfection and fullness of the law (cf. Col 3:14; Rom 13:10),
governs, gives meaning to, and perfects all the means of sanctification. Hence the true disciple of Christ is marked by love both of God and of his
neighbor. (Lumen Gentium, 42)