THE CHANGES OF VATICAN II
The Catholic Church 1950 – 1980
• Between the Council of Trent in the 16 th century and
the 20th century, very few changes took place within
the Catholic Church
• This Church was identified so closely with the
Council of Trent that it was called
THE TRIDENTINE CHURCH
1950 – 1965
THE TRIDENTINE CHURCH
THE MASS
• Said in Latin
• The priest faced away from
the people towards the altar
that was set against the
back wall
• He was assisted by Altar
Boys who had learned all
the Mass responses in
Latin
Churches tended to be more ornate, with many
more statues and paintings than most modern
churches have
• The Mass tended to be
more ritualized
• Always said in Latin
• Even the Gospel was read
first in Latin, then read
again in English
• There were few responses
that the congregation said;
most were said in Latin by
the Altar Boys
• Even the music was mostly
performed by the choir! No
Protestant hymns allowed!
RECEIVING COMMUNION
• Most Catholics did not receive
communion at every Mass; some
still received only once a year –
their “Easter duty”
• You knelt at the altar rail to
receive and received on the
tongue only
• Lay people never received the
wine
• There were no lay distributors –
only priests and deacons
• Anyone who planned to receive communion was required to fast
from midnight on (this changed to three hours in the 1950s.)
Fasting included abstaining from beverages, including water!
• There were no Saturday evening Masses – even weddings
usually took place in the morning
WOMEN WERE REQUIRED TO WEAR A HEAD COVERING IN
CHURCH – A HAT OR A VEIL
If you forgot your veil, a hankie or a tissue
would do!
THE SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION
• The Council of Trent had mandated that private confession to a priest must
take place for Mortal Sins and should take place for venial sins (although it
was never required)
• What constituted a Mortal Sin was much more specifically defined and
included such things as missing Mass on Sunday or eating meat on Friday
• Any Catholic who planned on receiving communion on Sunday would go to
Confession on Saturday
• Confession always took place within the Confessional – there was no faceto-face confession
“Bless me Father, for
I have sinned”
THE PRIESTHOOD
•
Most men entered the seminary in high
school; nearly all dioceses had both a
high school seminary and a Minor
Seminary
•
Seminarians often dressed similar to
priests – but without the Roman Collar.
In some seminaries, graduate students
even wore the collar!
Seminarians in
the 1950s
•
Priests dressed traditionally – this
priest is wearing a cassock (or
soutane.)
•
One would never see a priest in public
without a cassock or a shirt with the
Roman Collar.
•
Roman collars were not plastic – they
were heavily starched linen or cotton
which needed to be washed and
ironed after every wearing
• In the American Catholic Church, the years 1945 to 1965 was a
time of growth and prosperity
• Nearly every parish had at least two priests; most urban
parishes had more
• Priests did most of the work in the parish – besides saying daily
Mass and hearing daily confessions, they taught in the schools,
visited the sick and homebound, counseled, led youth groups,
and took care of the daily workings of the parish (financial and
physical.)
• Most priests made it a point to visit their parishioners on a
regular basis!
The ideal Catholic priest was played in the movies by Bing
Crosby in “Going My Way” and “The Bells of St. Mary’s”
SISTERS AND NUNS
•
Religious Orders for women were very
traditional
•
Most women entered at the age of 18
•
Active Orders (like the Sisters of
Charity, the Sisters of the Precious
Blood or the School Sisters of Notre
Dame) were involved primarily in
traditional work: teaching and nursing
•
All Sisters lived in convents; most
parishes had a convent
•
Sisters wore traditional habits – often
derived from the clothing women wore
in the late Middle Ages
•
Nuns taking their final vows
•
In some Orders, sisters wore a
wedding dress to do this – symbolic of
becoming “Brides of Christ”
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
• In the mid-1800s, the bishops of the U.S. mandated that all parishes have an
elementary school (grades 1 through 8)
• Religious Orders of sisters staffed most of the schools
• There were very few lay teachers before the mid-20th century
• Catholic High Schools were generally staffed by Religious Sisters, Brothers
and diocesan priests. They also had few lay teachers.
• About 60% of American Catholic children attended a Catholic grade school
The rare classroom with a lay teacher in the early 1960s
Even in Catholic colleges a large percentage of the faculty
were priests and sisters
Sr. McShane
1962 – 1965
VATICAN II
THE POPES OF VATICAN II
Pope Paul VI (1963 – 1978)
Pope John XXIII (1958 – 1963)
THE GOALS OF VATICAN II:
•
Renewal and modernization of the Sacraments, especially the Liturgy/Mass
•
Modernization of Church institutions and practices
•
Openness to the modern world – especially in areas of science and technology
•
Updating of Catholic educational institutions, especially universities and seminaries
•
Allowing for modernization of religious orders, so long as they did not move away from the
charism of their founders
•
Looking at the Church’s relationship to the world around it, especially with members of
other religions
Pope John XXIII said it was time for the Church to open the windows and let the
Holy Spirit blow through !
ANSWER IN ESSAY FORMAT:
•
What were the major changes made by Vatican II?
•
To what extent do you believe these changes were positive? Negative? Why? (Feel free
to talk to older relatives who remember the Church before the Council.)
This should be a one to two page essay. Please type.