Agreeing On, Assenting to the Final Documents

The Fourth & Final Session

This final session was opened on 14th September, 1965. The following day, Pope Paul VI announced that he was setting up a Synod of Bishops as he had promised and as was requested by many of the Fathers of the Council in the Schema on the Bishops’ Pastoral office in the Church. This Synod was to be the vital link between the Pope and the bishops worldwide in the life of the Church after the close of the Council.

11 of the 16 Schema remained incomplete at the end of the Third Session

To deal with this situation, the Fathers and particularly the Commissions had their work cut out for them in the interval 21st November, 1964, the end of the Third Session, and the opening of the Fourth Session, on 15th September 1965. Further-more to maintain the momentum of work, the opportunities for bishops to intervene orally on particular issues were reduced even more than in the Third Session. As had been promised by the Pope, the first Schema to be examined during this Session was that on Religious Freedom (Dignitatis Humanae).

A preliminary vote was taken on 21st September on this Schema and yielded the following result, for the Schema 1,997 against 224. This vote was accepted as a good basis for amendments to the Schema and thus it was amended further and even with some last-minute changes from the Pope. It went to the final vote and approved on 15th October, 1965, by a vote of 1,954 to 249. This was an achievement for the US bishops and in particular for their “peritus” (expert) Fr. John Courtney Murray S.J.

The Schema on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes) was criticized by various groupings of bishops, such as the German bishops, who found that it was too positive, that it neglected the reality of sin and confused the realms of the natural and supernatural. On the other side, the French bishops and theologians defended its incarnational approach, while the Italian side, led by Cardinal Lercaro, felt that it was too soft on the question of war and peace. Not to be left out, the U.S. bishops, on this same question of war and peace, felt that the document ignored the deterrent value of nuclear weapons and implied criticism of the defense policies of the West! Finally a large number of the bishops were upset that their plea for an explicit condemnation of communism was not given serious consideration. This Schema was approved on 6th December by a vote of 2,111 to 251.

The revised Schema on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) continued to be hotly debated, particularly on the relationship between Scripture and Tradition, on inerrancy, and on the historical character of the Gospels. The Pope’s interventions helped to reduce opposition and the text was finally approved on 29th October by a vote 2,081 to 27. The following Schemas were tidied up and were approved without much controversy:- The Bishops Pastoral Office in the Church (Christus Dominus); Renewal of Religious Life (Perfectae Caritatis); Formation for the priesthood (Optatam Totius); Christian Education (Gravissimum Educationis); Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate); The Apostolate of the Laity (Apostolicam Actuositatem); The Church’s Missionary Activity (Ad Gentes); The Ministry and Life of Priests (Presbyterorum Ordinis). If we include the other texts approved in the previous two Sessions, we can put them in order of approval and promulgation. Let us do this.

Looking at the Table below, we remember that no text was approved or promulgated during the First Session, 11 October to 8 December 1962; this was the Session during which the Council Fathers made an effort to get to know each other and thus to take control of the Council. However, lively discussions were held on the Schema on the Liturgy, on the sources of revelation, on mass media, on the unity of the Church and on the Church.

So the First Session was not all “getting-to-know-you”, but there was much work done on the schemas listed above.

The Second Session, 29 September to 4 December 1963, saw lively debate on the Schema on the Liturgy and also the importance of the Mass Media helping to spread the documents of the Council once they were approved and promulgated. Thus the Second Period saw the promulgation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and the Decree on the Mass Media.

The Third Period, 14 September to 21 November 1964, grappled with the Schema on the Church, including, as we saw earlier on, the relationship between collegiality and the Papal Primacy, the title of Mary Mother of the Church, and the idea of the People of God. This Session witnessed the debate, the approval and the promulgation of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Decree on Ecumenism. Without doubt, the period between the Third and the Fourth Sessions saw a tremendous effort on all concerned, both the Commissions and the Council Fathers, in getting to grips with the material of the outstanding 11 remaining Schemas.

The fruit of this effort was that this Fourth and final Session saw the approval and promulgation of 3 Declarations, 6 Decrees and 1 Pastoral Constitution and 1 Dogmatic Constitution. His Holiness set a wonderful scene on 7 December, the day before the closure of the Council, along with Patriarch Athenagoras as they expressed their regrets for the mutual ex-communications of the Roman See and Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1054. They further expressed a desire to remove the memory of those events from the church and committed them to oblivion. And finally, they deplored the preceding and subsequent incidents, which under the influence of factors, such as the lack of mutual trust and understanding, led to the effective rupture of ecclesiastical communion.

On 8 December, the last public session was held outside St. Peter’s Basilica, and after Mass celebrated by His Holiness alone, he read a series of messages to rulers, scholars, artists, women, the poor and the sick, workers and youth world-wide. The Pope further declared a Special Jubilee to be celebrated across the Catholic world from 1 January to 29 May (Pentecost) 1966. The purpose of the Jubilee was to help the faithful be more aware of the Council and the work of the Church, and to become more familiar with the decrees of the Council over the time of the Jubilee. Finally, the Pope changed the name of the Holy Office and its procedure to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

NAME OF DOCUMENT	DATE OF  PROMULGATION
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy	Dec. 4, 1963
Decree on the Mass Media	Dec .4, 1963
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church	Nov. 21, 1964
Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches	Nov. 21, 1964
Decree on Ecumenism	Nov .21, 1964
Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church	Oct. 28, 1965
Decree on the Sensitive Renewal of Religious Life	Oct. 28, 1965
Decree on Priestly Formation	Oct. 28, 1965
Declaration on Christian Education	Oct. 28, 1965
Declaration on the Church’s Relation to Non-Christian Religions	Oct. 28, 1965
Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation	Nov. 18, 1965
Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity	Nov.18, 1965
Declaration on Religious Freedom	Dec.7, 1965
Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church	Dec. 7, 1965
Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests	Dec. 7, 1965
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World	Dec. 7, 1965