Councils
I. Council of Trent (Organized by Pope Paul II)
a. Seeks to reaffirm the Catholic Church beliefs and reaffirm the importance of Scripture and Tradition
i. Negate Protestant belief- “Sola Scriptura”
b. Reaffirm need for 7 Sacraments by Scripture and Tradition
c. Church agrees Pope is head of Church on Earth
d. Veneration of images of Jesus and Mary are approved by church
e. Church makes changes to education of priests
f. Church calls bishops to serve, not to be wealthy
II. Counter Catholic Reformation
a. Formation of a new priestly order- the Jesuits
b. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) and Francis Xavier
i. Missionaries
ii. Defend the faith
iii. Spiritual Exercises
iv. Transformational Experience
III. Important Developments of the 19th century
a. American Revolution
i. Growing sentiment of separation of Church and State
b. French Revolution
i. 1870: France is a “full-fledged” democracy
ii. Napoleon invades Italy
iii. Catholicism no longer dominates European society
IV. Enlightenment Ideals
a. Faith no longer answers all the existential questions
b. Science is the new source of knowledge
V. Vatican I
a. Issue of Infallibility
i. Infallible-Can’t be wrong
ii. Church decides Pope has gift from Holy Spirit that protects him from error when defining and declaring matters of faith and morals
iii. Has only been used twice- Immaculate conception of Mary and Assumption of Mary
iv. Both rulings are about the nature of Mary
v. Council goes unfinished due to Franco-Prussian War
VI. Important Developments of 20th Century
a. WWI
i. Devastating amount of people- 40 million dead
b. Russian Revolution
i. A philosophy of Marx and development of Communism
c. WWII
i. Holocaust causes large death tolls
VII. Theological Development
i. Worker Priest- Pastoral Care on the work floor discovering the impact of the perspective of laborers
ii. French Theology wanted to move the Church toward instituting early Church values
VIII. Vatican Council II
a. Framing the Council
b. Convened by Pope John XXIII and continued over Pope Paul VI
c. ‘Most inclusive Council since Jerusalem
IX. Key Themes
a. “Aggiornamento” & Semper Reformanda
i. Seeking renewal for the Church that is rooted in tradition: Balancing Continuity and Renewal
b. “Sign of the Times”- Engaging the World as it is God’s Truth
i. “The People of God believes that it is led by the Lord’s Spirit, who fills the earth, motivated by this faith, it labors to decipher authentic signs of God’s presence and purpose in the beginnings, needs and desire in which this People has a part along with other men of our age.”
ii. Being Called to engage the world knowing that God created it and is telling us something through it.
X. New Perspectives Developed
a. Interfaith/Religious Dialogue & Ecumenism (In Response to WWII)
b. Perspective of the Church: From “Church Militant” to “Pilgrim Church”
i. The church is in the Already and Not Yet within the reign of God
c. Liturgy
i. Celebration in the Vernacular
ii. Participation of God’s People as a necessity for the “working” of Sacraments
XI. Vatican II Documents
a. 16 Total-3 that we cover
i. Lumen Gentium (Light of the Nations)
1. Goal of the Church is to create a space for all to come into relationship with God
ii. Gaudium et Spes (Joys and Hopes)
1. Progress in society is part of God’s Design
2. Work for a better world
iii. Nostra Aetate (In Our Time)
1. Interfaith/Religious Dialogue & Ecumenism
XII. Understanding These Documents
a. They contain both the Wisdom of the past and possibilities of the future
b. Aimed to hold the spirit of the Council
c. Authors
i. 2500 bishops
ii. Theological Experts (Pariti)
iii. Other officials and observers
d. How
Drafting debating