T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
 23
Vatican II:
Gaudium Et Spes
What’s the Point?
The subtitle of this lesson is the Latin name of the Vatican II document
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, and is the first
three words of the document: “Joy and Hope”. That is our history; having
tried to give the teens a sense of ‘being Church’ we hope to show how
that call is still alive and present and that conversion is a daily occurrence,
to live the Joy and Hope of the Church – Her message is unchanged
throughout the millennia.
Background Reference
 NAB
Information
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CCC ¶802-810;816; 817-819; 820-822
“The family is the first essential cell of human society.” St. John XIII
The focus of this year has been Soteriology and Ecclesiology, or in
simpler terms studying the Economy of Salvation and the Church. We
have tried to paint the broad picture of salvation and our role/place within
it. We know that we, the Church, sit squarely within the Economy of
Salvation, and that the reason for this is the nature of the Church as the
Body of Christ, the bringer of final Revelation and Salvation. In our time
(and I speak of the teens’ as well), the Church continues her journey of
conversion and renewal, both internal and external.
Trent, the great stabilizer, had produced a consistent and solid image
of Church as a morals and faith leader. After Trent the Church continued
to work on her new image of herself. The Spirit (and therefore the
Church) never sleeps and for centuries the effects of Trent continued to
be felt and implemented. Papal reforms, episcopal reforms, sacramental
and educational reforms continued to build and strengthen the Church. In
time, the Papal States fell, and the Vatican was finally removed from
politics into the spiritual realm in which it truly belongs. Still in that time
the popes have moved between reform of the Church and disdain for the
World, opening some doors and closing others. They stood strong against
the world and strove to soften positions on other teachings. Eventually
we came to the end of two horrific world wars, and the development of a
sense of purposelessness and malaise, stemming from a dark skepticism
and the stain of great evil founded in the loss of human dignity.
Into that world stepped a large (not just larger than life) man of simple
yet wise words and a peasant’s piety, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, John
XXIII. John felt the call of the Spirit to invoke a council, one which like
all councils would be surrounded by both controversy and great
T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
spirituality. Change is difficult, even for us today who see ourselves as
innovators, movers and shakers (though honestly that may be from too
much coffee), but John stood fast and against resistance called his
council. But it is no larger than all feats, one must only imagine the
strength that it must have taken to implement the reforms of Trent and
the powerful resistance they must have encountered.
“The greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the
sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more
efficaciously. That doctrine embraces the whole of man, composed as he
is of body and soul. And, since he is a pilgrim on this earth, it commands
him to tend always toward heaven. … Our duty is not only to guard this
precious treasure, as if we were concerned only with antiquity, but to
dedicate ourselves with an earnest will and without fear to that work
which our era demands of us, pursuing thus the path which the Church
has followed for twenty centuries.” (Opening address to Council, John
XIII)
Vatican II, for most modern Catholics conjures up many different
images, feelings, and reactions. John stated one of his reasons for calling
the council (to paraphrase) was that he wished open up the windows and
let some air in so that we can see out and the people can see in. While he
played some things very close to his chest, it seems there were two key
aspects that he wanted to accomplish. The first, and probably most
noticed/resisted, “aggiornamento” means “bring up to date” and was
used to mean a spirit of change and open-mindedness (the open window)
and it was the name given to the pontifical program in a speech he gave
in January of 1959. The conciliar document most often associated with
the term is Gaudium et Spes (the Church in the Modern World). The other
key term used was “ressourcement” means to return to the older sources,
traditions, and symbols of the early Church. The conciliar document most
often associated with this term is Sacrosanctum Concilium (on Sacred
Liturgy). Some wanted to make it about one or the other; others wanted
the words to mean something else. The resulting confusing is still with us
today.
That said, the council was officially called Vatican Council II, making
it the 21st (and most current – though there have been synods before and
after) Western recognized ecumenical church council. Not counting the
original Council of Jerusalem mentioned in Acts, the first eight
ecumenical councils were held in the East: two in Nicaea, four in
Constantinople, and one each in Ephesus and Chalcedon. The remaining
13 were held in the West. Today some of the Orthodox churches
recognize only the first seven councils – which settled many of the major
early doctrinal points; others accept only the next two or three, all as a
result of the Great Schism of the East and West and the related doctrinal
controversies. After that, in the West, there were Lateran councils I
through V and Vatican I (and II) held in Rome, one in Florence, and of
course Trent. Finally, two councils were held in Lyons, France.
Reform never ends, and even with the major triumphs of Trent, still
more needed to be done. New social and political realities were
T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
confronting society and the Church. The First Vatican Council called by
Pope Pius IX had spotty attendance and ended the best it could in 1870,
after only a solemn declaration of papal infallibility. This was only a part
of its planned tasks and it left several issues unresolved when, like Trent,
due to political and social problems it never reconvened. The pope died
in 1878, and five popes followed him before the Second Vatican Council
was eventually proclaimed by Pope John XXIII in 1959. Amidst new
social and political order and relative peace, John announced he would
convene an ecumenical council.
It was said that after John announced his intentions, a Vatican official
told him it would be absolutely impossible to open the Second Vatican
Council by 1963. “Fine,” he supposedly replied, “we'll open it in 1962”.
And so, after only one full year of gathering suggestions throughout the
church John established ten commissions to prepare draft documents for
the council to consider. He formally called the council in December,
1961, and “opened” it in St. Peter's Basilica, in October, 1962. The initial
commissions schedule was minor in its outlook, wishing to pretty much
just tie up all of the loose ends of Vatican I for things which had been
delayed by war and controversy over the years. By the end of the first
session (and certainly with some background help from John) it was clear
that the desire for a new direction to the council was overtaking that first
design.
“This will be a demonstration that Mother Church is always vital and
enjoys a perpetual youth and that is always present in human events, and
that in the course of the centuries is ever adorned with new beauty,
radiates new splendor, brings new victories, but is still the same and
conforms to that image in which he wanted her to be configured, the
Divine Spouse, which is Jesus Christ, who loves and protects her.”
(Humanae Salutis, 7)
As we take on this topic we must realize that this was not a council
called for reasons of theological controversy or in order to combat
external pressures. It is also the first almost truly ecumenical council
called in centuries (represented by observers from the Orthodox churches
as well as twenty-eight Western denominations). But it was not without
its detractors: “We feel we must disagree with those prophets of gloom,
who are always forecasting disaster, as though the end of the world was
at hand.
In the present order of things, Divine Providence is leading us to a
new order of human relations which, by men's own efforts and even
beyond their very expectations, are directed toward the fulfillment of
God's superior and inscrutable designs.” (Gaudet Mater Ecclesia – his
opening address to the Council)
Vatican II therefore, while ecumenical, is also known as a pastoral
council because there was no significant dogmatic controversy inside the
Church or significant expectation to define new dogmas. As we saw, The
early ecumenical councils were called against things like Trinitarian and
Christological heresies, while the councils in the first half of the second
millennium tried to define the relationship of the Church with Eastern
T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
Orthodoxy, and clarify the mysteries of the Eucharist. The councils of
Constance, Lateran V and Trent enacted reforms but also defined
doctrines of the Church against the protestants. As said, Vatican I defined
the primacy of the pope, which also upheld the power of the popes to
extend dogmas (as done by Pius IX and Pius XII per issues of Mariology
like the Immaculate Conception).
Now we arrive at Vatican II. The Church had not stopped growing and
refining and in the late 19th into the 20th centuries, with the loss of
temporal power, it began to re-engage and develop as a moral authority.
Many of the reforms and papal teachings which had come into play over
the centuries were being gathered into a deeper understanding of the
Church. As with Trent, it became obvious that what were needed were
clear statements of the present status of the Church, how is Jesus Christ
present within her, what the role of the different groups within her are,
how we live out our sacramental lives, and what the role of the Church in
the world is. The discussion showed that there pastoral issues and while
there was no real dogmatic issues there was a need for strong statements
about these issues, ones which could help to teach effectively in the
modern world.
The attendees rejected most of the pre-council work and
recommended a new direction, starting with the Liturgy but extending to
the important definitions of the collegial role of the bishops, the maturing
role of the laity from mere spectator to active participant, and a new
Catechism. Again, these things are not really at a dogmatic level. This
does not mean that Vatican II did not rely on the consensus fidelium
(agreed upon truths) of dogmas and doctrines from the past (“Therefore,
following in the footsteps of the Council of Trent and of the First Vatican
Council” – Dei Verbum 1). It was important to confirm that the bishops
and the new teachings stand in the solid ground of the tradition and not
that they were an unfounded attempt to deal with these issues, as John
had made so clear in his opening statements.
The council was filled with vigorous debate, but that is nothing new.
It was though, the first to see the advent of mass media – daily news
coverage was often the case. Suddenly many of the debates seemed of
greater import and controversy than normal esoteric theological debate,
and many observers began to be engaged by them and give them
credence. (To that point, came across this nice little article when looking
for a picture of Vatican II for the PowerPoint, especially the last four
paragraphs: http://www.faithlineprotestants.org/2011/04/12/vatican-iithe-catholic-promise-to-build-interfaith-relationships/ )
In the end sixteen official council documents emerged from the four
sessions (see the attachment below). Each can be traced back into a
written record of debates and discussion but in the end, it is the final
document that overcomes all earlier arguments and discussion. Once
voted on and promulgated by the Pope, each document was no longer the
loss or victory of one side or the triumph or failure of a faction: once
promulgated it simply becomes part of the Magisterium of the Church.
Many want to characterize Vatican II as a struggle between
traditionalists and the innovators, or the more crude conservatives and
liberals, but even if there was a ‘struggle’ among the Fathers of the
T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
council, when the dust settled and the final collegial vote was taken, when
a document was approved and promulgated by the Pope, it became a
product of the teaching Church, the Magisterium. We believe that in her
role as teacher, the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit. Whatever
‘spirited battles’ took place in the course of the council, the only spirit
that matters is the Holy Spirit, whose influence on the promulgated
document is guaranteed and not open to question.
That does not mean people are not still struggling to understand the
meaning of those promulgated documents. The meaning of Collegiality
is disputed, with answers from both sides being unsatisfactory. The
uneasy truce is that the synods aid the Pope but in the end he has power
over them, while at the same time the Pope listens carefully to what his
bishops are telling him and acts with their counsel on local matters and
tries not to interfere in local matters. The new code of Canon Law (1983)
and the recent Catechism (1992, updated 1997) speak to the on-going
nature of the decisions of this (or any) council.
Okay, down to the meat.
Liturgy
What started out as a fairly simple reform of the Liturgy struck a basic
cord in the council as to the nature of the Church. If, as we have talked
about, liturgy is ‘the work of the people’ then it informs us as to all we
are about. “The liturgy then is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly
office of Jesus Christ. It involves the presentation of man's sanctification
under the guise of signs perceptible by the senses and its accomplishment
in ways appropriate to each of these signs. In it full public worship is
performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and
his members. From this it follows that every liturgical celebration,
because it is an action of Christ the priest and of his Body which is the
Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others. No other action of the
Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree.”
(Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7)
In other words it gets to the heart of who we are. Liturgy expresses all
of the Truth we believe (Scripture, Tradition, Creed, Sacrament…) and is
the expression of our love and the love of God in Jesus Christ. Thus
everything goes hand in hand. When we ask questions about the role of
the laity, we touch on their role within worship as well. If we ask about
the role of the laity in liturgy we are asking about the role of the laity
within the Church. If we examine the nature of the Eucharist in liturgy,
we are asking questions about the nature of the Eucharist in the
world...well, you get the idea. It is therefore providential (no pun
intended...well, perhaps a little one) that the first document produced by
the council was Sacrosanctum Concilium, on the liturgy.
If liturgy is the heart and soul of Catholicism then any change of heart
is reflected in liturgy and vice versa. There are many things to be said
here, more than we have room for, and we have covered many of them in
the earlier class, but suffice it to say here that the council reached back to
find the traditions of liturgy and brought them forward. This produced
T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
and outward turning in attitude both within the liturgy and within the
Church.
Ex Cathedra
“From the Seat” meaning that the Pope speaks officially and infallibly
from the Chair of Peter. The pope does this rarely, usually relying on the
conciliar or encyclical teaching methods instead. Still it has been invoked
in recent (for me, at least) times for the Marian doctrines like the
Immaculate Conception, so it is still a viable avenue of doctrine open to
the pope. Yet it became a bone of contention with fellow Christians and
others who still shout about it. So finally, after all of the hoopla, that last
little leftover from Vatican I that needs to be warmed up is the nature of
the papacy. Vatican II encouraged more collegiality but it did not override
the fact that the Pope is the final authority. Being in concert with the Pope
is what makes us Catholic. The Magisterium is the living interpreter of
the revelation, the teaching body of the Church, but as we look back
through the history of the Church we always see that the Pope is the final
authority on matters of faith and morals, the “the supreme pastor and
teacher of all the faithful” (Lumen Gentium, no. 25). It was the Pope who
finally approved and signed the documents of Vatican II.
And that is why Archbishop Lefebvre's and other schismatic
movements like the Pius X Society who oppose Vatican II teachings are
still so incomprehensible. They appeal to Church Fathers and earlier
councils in order to question or discredit the teachings Vatican II, but like
the Canon of Scripture, the authority which guarantees the truth of the
teaching of one council guarantees the truth of them all. Popes Paul VI
and John Paul II exhibited a long patience with Archbishop Lefebvre.
Eventually, he undertook to consecrate new bishops in defiance of the
Vatican, and no more patience was possible. He was excommunicated in
1988. We can see the same pattern over and over again from the earliest
days of the Church to today.
Trent and Vatican II teach us about the nature of the Church, of her
authority and of our role and flexibility within it. Ultimately they teach
us about being Catholic, what it means to be Christ’s body in the World
and the nature of our vocation, to God, the Church, and the World.
The General Legacy of Councils
To keep all things in context of the Economy of Salvation, the renewal
of the Church is a constant thing designed to bring us closer and closer to
Jesus. The Second Vatican Council presented this in terms of ecclesial
conversion and openness to a constant self-renewal born of fidelity to
Jesus Christ: “Every renewal of the Church essentially consists in an
increase of fidelity to her own calling… Christ summons the Church as
she goes her pilgrim way… to that continual reformation of which she
always has need, in so far as she is a human institution here on earth”
(Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis
Redintegratio, 6)
Vatican II is the council of memory, but it should not be thought of as
the final and authoritative council. Many have happened and others will
come, hopefully also pastoral in nature, but helping to make the Church
T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
even more present to the world, challenging us faithful to ever deeper
commitment to God and to neighbor, maybe even seeing the reunion of
East and West. The same is true of Trent, and of every council before.
They become the Magisterium and each successive council helps to
define/clarify not only doctrine but the ramifications of that doctrine and
the importance and bearing of the Truth in our lives and the lives in the
World who so desperately need the Good News.
Materials Needed
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Laptop
Projector
PowerPoint
Catechisms
Bibles
.Attention Soul Train (5 min)
Grabber Activity:
All the players find a partner and play-rock-paper-scissors. Whoever
loses must put their hands on their shoulder of the winner, forming a train.
The front person of that train leads their train to another train and the front
people of each train play against each other. The train that losses attaches
to the back of the winning train.
This continues until only one train remains.
The Point:
We may squabble, disagree and win and lose but in the end we are still
one Church joined together.
Outline
Prayer: 1 Tim 3:15.
Presentation: Trent to Vatican II: the Church Today.
Activity: Soul Train
Table Discussion: Questions.
Post Discussion: None.
Closing Prayer: Group Prayer/Petitions.
Prayer Introductory Prayer: (1 min, after candle is lit…)
1 Tim 3:15
But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of
God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.
Pre-discussion Presentation (10 min)
Presentation
Trent to Vatican II: the Church Today
What did we learn last week?
[Trent got us through some tough times]
[beautiful spring day…stuffy in here let’s through open the doors…]
Trent had certainly reformed and renewed the Church but had also
produced rigidity in law and liturgy which slowly produced the opposite
result. The Church, rather than being a sign to the world was as war with
T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
the world. Liturgy had become spectacle, something the people only
observed. Devotions had overcome it as the means by which Catholics
got in touch with the awesome sacredness of God. Many of the
superstitions and abuses which it had sought to abolish were filling the
void.
By the nineteen hundreds, many Catholics had become distanced from
the life of the Church, the communal, evangelistic nature of the Church
had moved to the background. Many theologians and Magisterium began
to see reform of the liturgy as necessary for further reform within the
Church and the recalling of the faithful to their full mission. Renewal and
further definition of ancient liturgical practices would bring the liturgical
reforms of Trent into their fullness.
“While the liturgy daily builds up those who are within into a holy
temple of the Lord, into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit, to the
mature measure of the fullness of Christ, at the same time it marvelously
strengthens their power to preach Christ, and thus shows forth the
Church to those who are outside as a sign lifted up among the nations
under which the scattered children of God may be gathered together,
until there is one sheepfold and one shepherd.” (Sacrosanctum
Concilium, 2)
“Nevertheless the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the
Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power
flows. For the aim and object of apostolic works is that all who are made
sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in
the midst of His Church, to take part in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord's
supper.
The liturgy in its turn moves the faithful...it prays that "they may hold
fast in their lives to what they have grasped by their faith"; the renewal
in the Eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the
faithful into the compelling love of Christ and sets them on fire. From the
liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, as from a font, grace
is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the
glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are
directed as toward their end, is achieved in the most efficacious possible
way.
But in order that the liturgy may be able to produce its full effects, it
is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their
minds should be attuned to their voices, and that they should cooperate
with divine grace lest they receive it in vain. Pastors of souls must
therefore realize that, when the liturgy is celebrated, something more is
required than the mere observation of the laws governing valid and licit
celebration; it is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part fully
aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite, and enriched
by its effects
....
Popular devotions of the Christian people are to be highly
commended, provided they accord with the laws and norms of the
Church, above all when they are ordered by the Apostolic See.
T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
Devotions proper to individual Churches also have a special dignity
if they are undertaken by mandate of the bishops according to customs or
books lawfully approved.
But these devotions should be so drawn up that they harmonize with
the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some fashion
derived from it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its
very nature far surpasses any of them.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 1011, 13)
The changes in the Liturgy changed everything...or did they?
Activity / Table Table Discussion (20 min)
Talk
Questions
1. After all of the rules have been laid down at your house, do
you ever get together afterwards and discuss what they mean,
how best to implement them, etc.?
2. Are there ever any clarifications?
3. Is everyone happy, even after any changes are made or
understandings re-inforced?
4. How has the constant renewal of the Church affected you?
5. Are there visible changes in the Church today? Are there
changes in the Church today that aren’t so visible? What do
you think about these changes?
6. Do you think you will see a council convene in your lifetime?
Explain.
7. How does the Second Vatican Council relate to the previous
councils? Do its documents replace those of previous councils
or do the compliment them?
8. One of the thing Vat II did was “…following in the footsteps
of the Council of Trent and of the First Vatican Council, this
present council wishes to set forth authentic doctrine on divine
revelation and how it is handed on, so that by hearing the
message of salvation the whole world may believe, by believing
it may hope, and by hoping it may love.” (Dei Verbum 1) Why
was it still important to do this?
9. Why does it make a difference if the priest faces the people or
has his back to us?
10. Why is it important to have three readings instead of just two?
11. Why is it important to have a three year cycle of readings
instead of just one?
12. The Mass was changed to allow us to participate more. How
much do you participate?
13. The Mass just changed again. How do you feel about that?
14. Do you think you would pay more attention if the Mass was in
Latin? Do you pay more attention since it is in English?
15. The Council renewed the Liturgy in order to make us better
Christians. Are you a better Christian because you go to Mass?
T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
Post-Discussion None (0 min).
Activity
Closing
Prayer (5 min).
Group Prayer
Reminder
(REMEMBER IMPORTANCE OF RECORDING
ATTENDANCE)
Attachments
Below:
 Summary of the Sessions of the Vatican II Council
 Vatican II Question and Answer
T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
Summary of the Sessions of the Vatican II Council
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Documents
Session
Date
Preliminary re-work of direction for council
1
Oct 1962
2
Dec 1963
3
Nov 1964
4
1965
Sacrosanctum Concilium, “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy”
Inter Mirifica, “Decree On the Means of Social
Communication”
 Lumen Gentium, “Dogmatic Constitution On the Church”
 Orientalium Ecclesiarum, “Decree On the Catholic Churches of
the Eastern Rite”
 Unitatis Redintegratio, “Decree on Ecumenism”
Sept: Pope Paul VI issues an apostolic constitution, Apostolica
Sollicitudo, which formulates norms for a new episcopal synod
established to assist the pope in governing the church (i.e. USCCB)
Oct:
 Christus Dominus, “Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of
Bishops in the Church”
 Perfectae Caritatis, “Decree On Renewal of Religious Life”
 Optatam Totius, “Decree On Priestly Training”
 Gravissimum Educationis, “Declaration On Christian Education”
 Nostra Aetate, “Declaration On the Relation of the Church to
Non-Christian Religions”
Nov:
 Dei Verbum, “Dogmatic Constitution On Divine Revelation”
 Apostolicam Actuositatem, “Decree On the Apostolate of the
Laity”
Dec:
 Prayer Service for Promoting Christian Unity held at St. Paul
Outside the Walls
 Dignitatis Humanae, “Declaration On Religious Freedom”
 Ad Gentes, “Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church”
 Presbyterorum Ordinis, “Decree on the Ministry and Life of
Priests”
 Gaudium et Spes, “Pastoral Constitution on the Church In the
Modern World”
T2 – Year 2 - 23 – The Church and the Modern World
Question
Answer
Why did the Church change
the Mass?
This sacred council [Vatican II] has several aims in view: it desires to impart an ever
increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more suitably to the
needs of our own times those institutions which are subject to change; to foster
whatever can promote union among all who believe in Christ; to strengthen
whatever can help to call the whole of mankind into the household of the Church.
The council therefore sees particularly cogent reasons for undertaking the reform
and promotion of the liturgy. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 1)
How is Christ’s presence
different in the Eucharist than
in the Word, the sacraments,
and the assembly?
While the Church acknowledges Christ’s presence through the Word, the
sacraments, and the assembly, the Church emphasizes his presence in the Eucharist
in "a way that surpasses all the others." It is his presence in the Sacrament of the
Eucharist, which is, for this reason, "a more consoling source of devotion, a lovelier
object of contemplation and holier in what it contains" than all the other sacraments
because it contains Christ himself and it is "a kind of consummation of the spiritual
life, and in a sense the goal of all the sacraments. This presence is called ‘real’ not to
exclude the idea that the others are ‘real’ too, but rather to indicate presence par
excellence, because it is substantial and through it Christ becomes present whole
and entire, God and man" (Mysterium Fidei, 38, 39)
Do Muslims worship the one
true God?
[Yes] The Church regards with esteem also the Muslims. They adore the one God,
living and subsisting in himself; merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and
earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even his
inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in
linking itself, submitted to God. (Nostra Aetate, 3)
Why does the World Need the
Church?
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 (Cf.
Mk. 16:15), to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the
countenance of the Church. Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign
and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the
whole human race, it desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church
and to the whole world its own inner nature and universal mission. This it intends to
do following faithfully the teaching of previous councils. The present-day conditions
of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church so that all men, joined
more closely today by various social, technical and cultural ties, might also attain
fuller unity in Christ. (Lumen Gentium, 1)
Why is the Church involved in
the World?
The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially
those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs
and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to
raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men. United in
Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father
and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man. That
is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by
the deepest of bonds. (Gaudium et Spes, 1)
What is different?