{"id":1958,"date":"2013-05-16T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2013-05-16T00:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=1958"},"modified":"2022-04-20T08:50:07","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T00:50:07","slug":"80-revisiting-vatican-ii-after-50-years-at-dharmaram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=1958","title":{"rendered":"80. Revisiting Vatican II After 50 Years at Dharmaram"},"content":{"rendered":"<address><strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\">So if anyone is in Christ, there is<\/span> <span style=\"color: #008080;\">a new creation: everything old has passed away;<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>see, everything has become new<\/strong>!\u00a0<span style=\"font-style: normal;\">[<\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">2 Corinthians 5:17<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">, <\/span>NRSV<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/address>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/christ-university-bangalore.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1960\" title=\"christ-university-bangalore\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/christ-university-bangalore-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"382\" height=\"229\" \/>\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Vatican-Council-II.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1966\" title=\"Vatican Council II\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Vatican-Council-II-300x142.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"484\" height=\"229\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">[L] Christ University, Bangalore. [R]\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/christ-university-bangalore.jpg\">Bishops at Vatican II<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We have been to a number of international conferences but few have hit the level of efficiency, variety, programme-density and scholarly depth all at once as the one venued at Christ University, Bangalore, India on January 31 through February 3, 2013. This is the site of Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram [\u201cDVK\u201d], Dharmaram College and Christ University.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Themed \u201cRevisiting Vatican II: 50 Years of Renewal,\u201d the event was organised by DVK, Pontifical Athenaeum of Philosophy, Theology and Canon Law, together with an impressive list of eight event partners from different parts of the world, including the Faculty of Theology of our alma mater, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Of the 380 or so participants, about 100 scholars and churchmen came from other countries, 180 scholars from different parts of India, and 100 seminarians from Dharmaram. One could well imagine the potential chaos and nightmares for the organizers; and yet, what we experienced was an impressively smooth flow of events \u2013 a great credit to the convenor and chief organizer, Dr Shaji George Kochuthara, CMI and his team. The huge ground at Dharmaram, the plentiful facilities and the seemingly endless supply of able and helpful personnel contributed greatly to an impressive event.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>At the Opening<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In his inaugural address, Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, repeated what the Conference envisaged: \u201ca profound, sincere, and critical reflection on the impact of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) on the Universal Church\u201d, with a special focus on the one Church in different parts of Asia, present in different rites. Speaking as a true churchman from the Vatican, he stressed \u201cthe theme of variety and plurality and the need for unity\u201d as the centre of his attention. He understood well the prominent feature of diversity and unity on the Council floor and its pressing importance for the Church today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>A Tight and Heavy Schedule<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A brief indication of the programme coverage was given by the Convenor, Fr. Shaji George Kochuthara, CMI:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cBeginning with the historical, cultural, philosophical, theological and pastoral contexts of the convoking of the Council, the conference analyzed the various documents of the Council, the response they gave to the call for renewal in the Church and the world till our own times as well as the relevance these documents have for the ongoing renewal of the Church and society in our times.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That coverage would pan out into an acutely dense programme weaved through a taxing 120 papers, comprising 40 keynote and plenary session papers plus 80 parallel session papers. A panoramic view of the documents is quite breath-taking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">While the desired international character of the conference was definitively achieved, the Asian flavor was unmistakable as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In his summation, Shaji noted:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The greatest achievement of the conference can be said to be the enthusiasm that it has created in the participants to study further the Council&#8217;s teaching, to continue its call for renewal [and] understanding the signs of the times. This enthusiasm could be visible not only in the scholars who came from different parts of the world to participate in the conference, but also in the students, the future of the Church and the world, who attended the conference.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">For a full report by Shaji, please access: <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicethics.com\/news\/vaticanII50yearsofrenewalreport\">http:\/\/www.catholicethics.com\/news\/vaticanII50yearsofrenewalreport<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In particular, we took three things with us from this conference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">First, we were impressed by the huge affirmation of the ongoing significance of Vatican II. Although it was neither easy nor obvious, there was a sense of oneness as a Church in the recognition of the importance of the spirit of Vatican II for renewal both at the universal as well as every local church. That oneness was generated not only by the daily communion at the table of the Lord, where we learned to put down our scholarly differences, but also by the mere presence together of scholars from twenty nations of diverse background and culture. In such a gathering, God has a way of becoming bigger and it is when we allow ourselves in humility to become one under and in God that we, too, become bigger as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Second, as lay theologians, we had special interest in the input and discussions on the role of the laity in the Church. Can the Church go on in the same mold of refusing to hear the voice of the laity? In this regard, emphases on matters like baptismal calling and talent promoting, or real dialogue and genuine communion, all writ large on our mental and spiritual radar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Third, the Church, as an institution or as a spiritual system, has rent the cloth right down the middle in its prolonged unequal treatment of women faithful. It is easy for women to see the Roman Catholic Church as a men&#8217;s church \u2014 organizationally, theologically and spiritually. The voices of women \u2013 both lay and religious &#8211; \u00a0are desperately needed in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. We were pleased to see conscious effort being made at the conference to recognize the contributions of women in the Church, and to accord them due space for their much-needed experience and perspective to be heard.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>At the Closing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The concluding message for the conference was delivered by Oswald Cardinal Gracias, who is the Secretary General of the Federation of the Asian Bishops\u2019 Conferences, Archbishop of Bombay, and President of the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" title=\"Catholic Bishops' Conference of India\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Catholic_Bishops%27_Conference_of_India\">Catholic Bishops&#8217; Conference of India<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On the influence of Vatican II, Gracias pointed out that the Council changed the way the Church engages the modern world. For the Church\u2019s own self-understanding, the Council&#8217;s biggest achievement was a new primary conciliar model of Church as the &#8220;People of God&#8221;, in sharp contrast to the precious emphasis on the hierarchical structure of the Church. As for the Church\u2019s mission, the Cardinal reminded all that she \u201cexists primarily to be at the service of humanity.&#8221; He made special emphasis on the universal call to holiness in <em>Lumen Gentium<\/em> and underscored this as \u201ca remarkable moment for the Church.\u201d What he said in this regard bears repeating at length:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In this regard, the document encouraged Pastors of parishes \u201cto recognize and promote the dignity and responsibility of the laity in the Church. They should willingly use their prudent advice and confidently assign offices to them in the service of the Church, leaving them freedom and scope for activity\u201d [<em>Lumen Gentium<\/em>, no.37].<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This should be especially true in areas where the laity \u201cto the extent of their knowledge, competence or authority, \u2026are entitled, and indeed sometimes duty-bound, to express their opinion on matters which concern the good of the Church\u201d [<em>Lumen Gentium, <\/em>no.37; see also the 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon no.212.3].<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Vatican II was the first ecumenical council in the history of the Church to deal with the topic of the laity. The term lay person occurs 206 times in the council\u2019s documents and all the references are constructive. Apostolicam Actuositatem, the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity had its roots in Lumen Gentium chapter 4 where we find the beginnings of a theological foundation for the lay apostolate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In the last two decades, more and more laity are being educated and formed in ecclesial disciplines. Collaboration with an educated laity is essential for creating true partnership in mission.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cardinal Walter Kasper, retired head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has written an important piece in <em>Osservatore Romano<\/em> of 11 April 2013, saying that Pope Francis, with his focus on poverty and social justice issues, has launched a new phase of implementation of the Second Vatican. He insists that the decades of discussion over the conciliar teachings should lead to new \u201cpractical consequences\u201d. Pope Francis, he said, has pointed the way with his emphasis on a church that becomes poor and serves the poor. He elaborates:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cIn this sense, Pope Francis from the first day of his pontificate has given what I would call his prophetic interpretation of the council, and has inaugurated a new phase of its reception. He has changed the agenda: at the top are the problems of the Southern hemisphere.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">From where we stand, Vatican II teachings have given new impetus to life in dioceses, parishes and religious communities, especially through liturgical renewal, new spiritual movements, better knowledge of Scripture and dialogue with non-Catholics and non-Christians. One reason Vatican II documents have \u201can enormous potential for conflict\u201d is that compromise language was adopted on many crucial issues, opening the door to selective interpretation in one direction or another, Kasper said. The dust may never settle from the endless debates and disputes over the authentic interpretation of those documents. Our role has to be that, to honour the spirit of the Council, we must strive to live the call to renewal in our daily lives. Along the way, we could take heart from Kasper\u2019s view that under Pope Francis, there is a promising new lead to translating the Council&#8217;s statements into &#8220;practical consequences&#8221; that could rekindle its &#8220;innovative impulse.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Copyright \u00a9 Dr. Jeffrey &amp; Angie Goh, May 2013. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You are most welcome to respond to this post. Email your comments to us at <span style=\"font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;\">jeffangiegoh@gmail.com<\/span><strong>.<\/strong> You can also be dialogue partners in this <em>Ephphatha Coffee-Corner Ministry<\/em> by sending us questions for discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!\u00a0[2 Corinthians 5:17, NRSV] \u00a0 [L] Christ University, Bangalore. [R]\u00a0Bishops at Vatican II. We have been to a number of international conferences but few have hit the level of efficiency, variety, programme-density and scholarly depth <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=1958\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Dr. Jeffrey &amp; Angie Goh","author_link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?author=1"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?cat=1\" rel=\"category\">From Our Perspective<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!\u00a0[2 Corinthians 5:17, NRSV] \u00a0 [L] Christ University, Bangalore. [R]\u00a0Bishops at Vatican II. We have been to a number of international conferences but few have hit the level of efficiency, variety, programme-density and scholarly depth&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1958"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7088,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958\/revisions\/7088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}