Vatican II Church Council: The Second Vatican

Vatican II Church Council:

The Second Vatican Council occurred between 1962 and 1965 to demonstrate the liveliness and hope of the Church to continue serving the world. As an initiative of Pope John XXIII, the Council was a huge success as evident in its proceedings and its sixteen documents. However, one of the major questions in the aftermath of the Council is whether it was accorded reception by the universal Church. Secondly, there are concerns on whether the Council should have equipped the post-Conciliar Church in its mandate to people. Through its very nature, the Vatican II Church Council was a ramified progression of occurrences from the moment it was announced by the pope.

Origin of the Vatican II Church Council:

Both the Church and the world were surprised by Pope John XXVIII in January 25, 1959 following his announcement of a general Council for the Universal Church (Wilde, p. 13). While the surprise extended to the Council leaders and most famous bishops, it was fueled by the fact that the pope called for the general council within ninety days after his election. The announcement was made because of the need for change in the Church, especially because of the ongoing heresy or problem. During this time, many bishops and leaders wished for change in the Church though very few expected it to come about.

Following the call of the general Council, both the bishop and Church leaders were optimistic of its potential though it was not a guarantee of the occurrence of change. They widely considered the move as a break from the ordinary since the previous council, Vatican I, only urged the Church in a more conservative direction through the proclamation of the doctrine of papal infallibility. The reality of the Council preparations and historical knowledge made many participants to be pessimistic of any vital progressive change or significant role.

At the time when the announcement of the Vatican II council was made, the Catholic Church experienced many challenges in the period before the Second Council. This period is actually referred to as the Counter-Reformation Period by some scholars since it was characterized by more emphasis on rule and regulations (Doyle, p.12). The transition beyond this period via the Vatican II necessitated the church's need to overturn its intense anti-Protestantism and balance its enormous hierarchical authority structure. Moreover, the Catholic Church needed to change its relations with Jews and other global religions and restore its mutual grievances with the Eastern Orthodox churches.

Reasons for the Church's Need of a Council:

The Second Vatican Council was called for by the pope in order to answer the three circles of questions that emerged in this period. The need for answers for the three set of questions can be regarded as the reason for the occurrence of this council. These three reasons are & #8230;

Definition of the Relationship between Faith and Science:

Redefining the relationship between faith and science was one of the major reasons for Vatican II Church Council. The need for answers on this question included the natural and historical science since the historical-critical method claimed the final word on interpreting the Bible. As opposed to the significant points of interpretation explained by the Church's faith, the historical-critical method demanded total exclusivity in interpretation of Scripture.

Definition of the Relationship between the Church and State:

There was a great need to provide a new definition of the relationship between the Church and modern state in order to guarantee impartiality for people of other ideologies and religion (Lamb & Levering, p. xii). This would also help in assuming responsibility for the order and tolerant co-existence of other religions while providing the freedom for people to practice their own religion.

Problem of Religious Tolerance:

Religious tolerance was a huge problem that necessitated the provision of a new definition of the relationship between Christianity and other global religions. This need was mainly fueled by the need for a retrospective analysis of the long and difficult history due to the crimes of the Nazi regime.

Why Heresy was a Threat to the Church:

Before the acceptance of the historical-critical method, the Catholic Church didn't usually use historical insight when reading the Bible. The use of this method had a huge impact on the field of biblical studies and theology as a whole. The legitimization of the validity of history as part of the theological process has enriching and liberating results. For a long period of time, Catholicism was characterized by the static perception of reality and resisted the historical and dynamic means of reading the Bible (Sullivan & Sullivan, p.7).

As the period preceding the Vatican II Church Council was characterized by heresy, it was considered as a major threat to the Catholic Church. This contributed to the recognition by the Vatican that the Catholic Church needs a facelift during this period. Heresy or the problem was regarded as a threat to the Church because it had a huge impact on people's view and opinion of the church. Due to the problem, many of the church's policies appeared to be out of place as her forms of worship were outdated and stiff (Green par, 9).

The need of the Vatican II and the huge threat associated with the problem was evident in the feeling among bishops that the Church need to develop as time evolved and growing calls to reunite with Rome. The period was also characterized by increased criticism within the Church's rank that the doctrines needed clarification and simplification in a less dogmatic tone.

However, the Vatican II Church Council didn't focus on condemning heretics through dogmatic proclamations like the previous council. The intention of the council was to proceed in an increasingly positive means through developing a new self-definition and involving the modern world in dialogue. In his announcement, Pope John XXVIII said the main reason for the council was to bring the church up-to-date. Generally, the Vatican II Church Council was called to enable the Catholic Church to effectively conduct its mission across the globe.

The Church's Response and Its Significance:

In order to counter the problem of heresy that was such a threat to the Church, the Vatican II Council was called and had four sessions for the whole four-year period. The reason for the council was to establish a response that is geared towards bringing the church up-to-date in order to deal with the underlying the problem. As the council focused on renewal of the church it contributed to the strengthening of new scholarship, recognition of the value of other religions, and development of the scholarship.