Due to the abrupt nature of the termination of Vatican 1, some of the issues that there brought to the Council were dealt with during the subsequent pontificates of Popes Pius X1, Leo X111, Pius X, Pius X1 and Pius X11.
There was a view held by some church officials that given the definitions of Papal Primacy and Infallibility by the First Vatican Council that there was no further need for ecumenical councils. However both Pius X1 and Pius X11 had consulted and discussed the possibility of a council during their pontificates.
The bold step to convoke a council was taken by Pope John XX111 on 25th January, 1959 about three months after his election in October 1958. He revealed his plan to a group of cardinals in the church of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls and the announcement surprised the Catholic world.
Between the month of January and May 1959, Pope John outlined three general purposes for the council:-
· He wanted it to be an opportunity for a spiritual renewal of the Church that would make it conform closer to Christ’s will;
· He wanted it to be an opportunity for updating (aggiornamento) of its pastoral practice, habits, and institutions to make them more effective in the modern world;
· He wanted it also to be an opportunity to promote the restoration of unity among Christians.
No doubt with this scheme in view, on 17th May 1959, Pentecost Sunday, the Pope set up an Ante-preparatory Commission headed by Cardinal Tardini, with a Secretary and ten clerics, all of whom held key positions in the Roman Curia.
The commission’s job description was to consult the bishops of the world, the Roman Curia, and the theological and canonical faculties of Catholic universities for their advice and suggestions concerning the council’s agenda. They were also to outline the topics to be discussed at the council and to suggest various bodies which would prepare the material for consideration at the council.
Over 75% of the bodies consulted responded; as expected their responses ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, and covered a very wide range of theological and pastoral outlooks. Furthermore, there were some who opposed any change, while others hoped that the Council would be an opportunity for reform.
There were about 9,338 proposals received and these were placed under the seal of secrecy and could be consulted only by those who were directly concerned with the preparation of the Council. As the work of the Ante-commission proceeded the material was dramatically reduced and presented in the form of questions for further study.
Preparatory Commissions
Pope John XX111 announced, on 5th June 1960, the setting up of ten (10) preparatory commissions, whose job was to draw up texts for the council to consider. Each commission was given a theme on which the text was to focus.
Thus, the First Commission was to consider matters of faith and morals, the second, bishops and the governance of dioceses; the third, discipline of the clergy and the Christian people; the fourth, religious; the fifth, the sacraments; the sixth, the liturgy; the seventh, studies in the seminaries; the eighth, the Eastern Churches; the ninth, Missions; the tenth, the apostolate of the laity.
The Chair person of each commission was the cardinal, who headed the corresponding office in the Roman Curia, and secretaries were also drawn from the Curia. The commissions were made up of members, who had the right to vote, and consultors, who gave advice when asked. At this stage no women and nor lay person were appointed to these preparatory commissions.
A Central Commission was also established to supervise and coordinate the work of the commissions, to review their prepared texts destined for the council’s agenda as well as draw up rules for the working of the council.
The commissions submitted a total of 75 texts to the Central Commission, which were later sorted them out, sending some to the post-conciliar reform of Canon Law and some combined with others; in the final analysis, a total of 22 Schemas were submitted to the Central Commission for the council fathers’ consideration.
With the exception of the Commission on the Liturgy, the other submissions were considered out of touch with reality and to be unaware of the serious discussions of pastoral activity that had been going in the church.
Cardinal Agostino Bea’s nuance on Vatican 2
During this preparatory period, the Pope established the Secretariat for Christian Unity under the leadership of Cardinal Bea and it was given permission to prepare texts dealing with the ecumenical dimensions of the themes of the other commissions and to bring them to the notice of the commissions.
Some of the texts of the Secretariat addressed questions which were also being considered by the 1st Commission (Faith and Morals), such as the Word of God, membership of the church, hierarchical authority and religious freedom. These texts were clearly written to aide non-catholic Christians overcome misunderstandings of Catholic doctrine, to explore their views with sympathy and to propose ways of understanding and stating Christian doctrine that avoid polemical standoffs. This was an interesting nuance introduced by Cardinal Bea in attempting to address the Pope’s third concern of the work of the Council, namely the promotion of Christian Unity.
Finally all the texts written by the Preparatory Commissions were sent for review to the Central Commission, which was made up of cardinals and archbishops from all over the world and which met in six sittings between 12th June 1961, and 20th June 1962. The members of this commission frankly criticized the prepared texts and offered clear amendments.
By Fr Malcolm Rodrigues SJ
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