Vatica Ii
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Vatican II
In October 11, 1962, over 2500 catholic bishops assembled in Rome under the leadership and guidance of Pope John XXIII. Top catholic leaders felt that the church needed urgent and radical reforms so as to make the church relevant and engage it to the modern world. The assembly took four years to come up with a set of regulations that governed the relationships of the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. The gathering documented and referred to the new reforms as the Second Vatican council (Vatican II). Today, there is widespread debate on whether the council has failed or succeeded in achieving the goals and objectives set (Ratzinger 19). Therefore, this brief essay examines the situation of the church before and after the Vatican II.
Before Vatican II, the Catholic Church considered itself as the only true church thus discrediting other churches that existed during that period. This resulted in a fortress mentality depicting the catholic as Christians while the other being fondly referred to as non Christians. The church was extremely successful except for some few shadowy deals that existed. Moreover, the church controlled the doctrines with a lot of rigidity and punished any form or acts of dissent. Lastly, the church had no noticeable connections to the events that took place in the contemporary society of that time. As a church with moral responsibility to have a say on the happenings of the society, the catholic church of pre Vatican II failed to have any connection with the modern world thus most things that took place happened with no guidance from the most dominant church. Similarly, the church failed to correct any societal ills that transpired during the period before the creation of Vatican II reforms (Rausch 113).
Before the council, the Roman Catholic Church drew strength from the internal stability it enjoyed. For instance, the church followed a strict doctrine that advocated for to obedience from the
Course:
Professor:
Date:
Vatican II
In October 11, 1962, over 2500 catholic bishops assembled in Rome under the leadership and guidance of Pope John XXIII. Top catholic leaders felt that the church needed urgent and radical reforms so as to make the church relevant and engage it to the modern world. The assembly took four years to come up with a set of regulations that governed the relationships of the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. The gathering documented and referred to the new reforms as the Second Vatican council (Vatican II). Today, there is widespread debate on whether the council has failed or succeeded in achieving the goals and objectives set (Ratzinger 19). Therefore, this brief essay examines the situation of the church before and after the Vatican II.
Before Vatican II, the Catholic Church considered itself as the only true church thus discrediting other churches that existed during that period. This resulted in a fortress mentality depicting the catholic as Christians while the other being fondly referred to as non Christians. The church was extremely successful except for some few shadowy deals that existed. Moreover, the church controlled the doctrines with a lot of rigidity and punished any form or acts of dissent. Lastly, the church had no noticeable connections to the events that took place in the contemporary society of that time. As a church with moral responsibility to have a say on the happenings of the society, the catholic church of pre Vatican II failed to have any connection with the modern world thus most things that took place happened with no guidance from the most dominant church. Similarly, the church failed to correct any societal ills that transpired during the period before the creation of Vatican II reforms (Rausch 113).
Before the council, the Roman Catholic Church drew strength from the internal stability it enjoyed. For instance, the church followed a strict doctrine that advocated for to obedience from the
Cited: Ratzinger, Joseph. Introduction to Christianity. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004. Print. Rausch, Thomas P. Catholicism in the Third Millennium. Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press, 2003. Print.