By Matters India Reporter
Bengaluru, Nov 10, 2019: Some leading theologians from across the world have held a brainstorming workshop to draft a new commentary on the Second Vatican Council documents.
The November 8-9 seminar was held at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, an ecclesiastical institution of higher learning established by the Syrian Catholic congregation of the Carmelite of Mary Immaculate.
Dharmaram is also a Pontifical Athenaeum of Philosophy, Theology, and Canon Law, in Bengaluru, capital of Karnataka state.
“I talked on the Church in the Philippines on the eve of Second Vatican Council,” said Benedictine Sister Mary John Mananzan, a participant from the Philippines.
Sister Mananzan, a theologian and social activist, also spoke on ‘Perfectae Caritatis’ and the Asian Church.
‘Perfectæ caritatis,’ subtitled as the Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life, is the document issued by the Second Vatican Council to deal specifically with institutes of consecrated life in the Catholic Church.
Out of 20 participants, four were women writers — two from the Philippines, one each from Hong Kong and South Korea.
The Second Vatican Council, 1962–1965, was the 21st ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, announced by Pope John XXIII on January 25, 1959, as a way of spiritual renewal for the Church. It was also an occasion for Christians separated from Rome to join in a search for Christian unity.
One of the key documents of Vatican II was the “Dogmatic Constitution on the Church” that reflects the attempts to utilize biblical terms to describe the church.
The second document was the “Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation” that speaks on the role of Scripture and tradition (the postbiblical teaching of the church) to their common origin in the Word of God that has been committed to the church. The document affirms the value of Scripture for salvation while maintaining an open attitude toward the scholarly study of the Bible.
The third– “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy” deals with greater participation by the laity in the celebration of mass and authorizes significant changes in the texts, forms, and language used in the celebration of mass and the administration of the sacraments.
The council also promulgated decrees (documents on practical questions) on the pastoral duties of bishops, ecumenism, the Eastern-rite churches, the ministry and life of priests, the education for the priesthood, the religious life, the missionary activity of the church, the apostolate of the laity, and the media of social communication.
Furthermore, declarations (documents on particular issues) on religious freedom, the church’s attitude toward non-Christian religions and Christian education were produced.
These documents reflected the renewal in various areas of church life begun decades before Pope John—biblical, ecumenical, liturgical and lay apostolate.
The impulse of the documents and the council deliberations, in general, had by the early 1970s been felt in nearly every area of church life and had set in motion many changes that may not have been foreseen by the council fathers.
In short, the Second Vatican documents guide for understanding the Church’s role in the modern world and serve as a framework for its missionary activating. It is also a mandatory subject for students of theology in all major seminaries and theological institutes all over the world.
The proposed new commentary would provide fresh insights and directions to understand the insights on the Second Vatican documents to the present world and issues that affect the church and society.
The First Vatican Council (1869–1970) was the 20th ecumenical council of the Church, convoked by Pope Pius IX to deal with contemporary problems. The pope was referring to the rising influence of rationalism, liberalism and materialism.