Vatican II: The Theological Challenge (CT2021Y)

Vatican II: the Theological Challenge The Teaching Schedule

1. Week 1 (July 27th): INTRODUCTION: WHY VATICAN II? In this introductory topic we look at the question why study the theology of Vatican II at all? We examine what is a council of the Church? What were the theological forces and personalities at play that became the sources for the eventual theology expressed in the council documents? The dynamic of ressourcement and aggiornamento are introduced. I offer a brief summary of the Four Constitutions of the Council. How does one begin to interpret, theologically, these documents sixty years after the Council? Through this introductory process the unit will be introduced, its method explained; and assessment steps presented.

Reading: Massimo Faggioli, “The Relevance of Vatican II After Fifty Years,” in A Council for a Global Church, ed. David G. Schultenover (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2015), 183-200.

1. Week 2 (August 3rd): THE LITURGY IS THE CHURCH: THEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) is both the first document of Vatican II and the primary document that lays the theological foundations and trajectory for a revolutionary understanding of what it means to be the Church. We examine the theological principle that the liturgy is the primary manifestation of the Church.

Reading:

Massimo Faggioli, “The Liturgy Reform and Meaning of Vatican II,” in A Council for a Global Church, 99-120.

1. Week 3 (August 10th): GOD REVEALING GODSELF IS EVERYTHING! The council's theology of revelation in Dei Verbum stands as one of its most dramatic developments. The theological principles that emerged from this teaching document, are in many ways, key to unlocking the richness of the theology of Vatican II. We will examine six theological principles that remain influential today as they were throughout the council.

Reading:

Richard Gaillardetz and Catherine Clifford, “A Theology of Divine Revelation” in Keys to the Council, 31-46.

1. Week 4 (August 17th): THE CHURCH IS A SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION Lumen Gentium speaks about the Church as a kind of sacrament, "a sign and instrument" of communion with God and the unity of the entire human race." We will explore this sacramentally grounded ecclesiology, highlighting the theological principles upon which a renewed theology of the church is built.

Reading:

Paul Lakeland, “A Council That Will Never End: The unfinished Business of Lumen Gentium,” in Vatican II at 60: Re-Energising the Renewal, 80-98.

1. Week 5 (August 24th): THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD: Gaudium et Spes is the only document that did not have a preparatory text. Its concerns and theology grew out of the questions, pastoral struggles and discussions among the bishops and participants of the council. It is a theology that engages the world! It is probably the most popular document of Vatican II, and the most conflicted. We will examine its theology as the church in the world today.

Reading: Susan Wood, “Ecumenism,” in The Cambridge Companion to Vatican II, 282-302.

1. Week 6 (August 31st): MAY THEY BE ONE! Unitatis Redintegratio (UR) begins, "The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council”. Ecumenism is not an optional extra for Vatican II. We will explore the theological principles that undergird an active and pastorally engaging approach to union.

Reading:

Richard Gaillardetz and Catherine Clifford, “Communion in Faith with Other Religions,” in Keys to the Council, 148-159.

1. Week 7 (September 7th): CAN ALL BE SAVED? "One of the more provocative fruits of the Spirit at Vatican II is evident in the council's groundbreaking treatment of the Catholic Church's relationship with other religions" (Edward Lee-Fook Chia). We will examine the challenging theology of Nostra Aetate, the council's landmark document "On the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions". And, as with many of the documents, it must be read theologically in concert with other documents of the council.

Edmund Kee-Fook Chia, “The Church and Other Religions,” in The Cambridge Companion to Vatican II, ed. Richard Gaillardetz (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), 303-317.

1. Week 8 (September 14th ): I CALL YOU FRIENDS: Lumen Gentium lays the foundation for a relational theology of ministry that side-steps the traditional cleric-lay distinction. The question, theologically, is whether this burgeoning, hopeful development of a broader (and deeper) theology of ministry is maintained in the other council documents relating to priestly ministry: Presbyterorum Ordinis, on the Ministry and Life of Priests and Optatam Totius, the Decree on Priestly Formation? And how is this being developed today?

Reading:

Richard Lennan, “Ministry in the Church,” in The Cambridge Companion to Vatican II, ed. Richard Gaillardetz (Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 2020), 248-265.

[Non-Teaching Period: September 21 – October 2]

1. Week 9 (October 5th): THE CHURCH IS ITS MISSION: THEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION Is Vatican II a Missionary Council? If we interrogate its documents will we uncover a theology of mission for the 21st century? We will examine in Lumen Gentium and Ad Gentes, the Decree on Missionary Activity, a two fold movement in the Church's understanding of itself both as an ecclesiology of communion and an ecclesiology of mission.

Readings:

Stephen Bevans, “Revisiting Mission at Vatican II: Theology and Practice for Today’s Missionary Church,” Theological Studies 74(2013): 261-283.

1. Week 10 (October 12th): SYNODALITY: VATICAN II’S THEOLOGICAL AGENDA Synodality is the hot-button issue in theology and Church planning today. In this topic we will explore to what extent are its roots to be found in the theology of Vatican II?

Readings:

Ormond Rush, “Dei Verbum and the Roots of Synodality,” in Vatican II at 60: Re-Energizing the Renewal. 80-98.

1. Week 11 (October 19th): THE FUTURE OF VATICAN II? WHERE TO NOW? If Vatican II is an “unfinished Building site,” as Gaillardetz argues, what still needs to be done? What are the theological values or principles upon which future steps, or a trajectory can be made for developing the Church in the modern world?

Readings:

Gilles Routhier, “Vatican II: Relevance and Future,” in 50 years On: Probing the Riches of Vatican II, 419-438.

1. Week 12 (October 26th): THE THEOLOGY OF VATICAN II: REVIEW OF UNIT AND INTEGRATIVE STATEMENT In this final topic we will bring the unit together, reviewing the previous eleven topics, and offering an integrative theological statement on Vatican II: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.