Gaudium et Spes - Research Paper Example

Gaudium et Spes If one argues that the Catholic Church can evolve, Gaudium et Spes is definitely going to be the final result of this evolution. From the historical perspective, the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church sought ways to address the current religious religious crisis of faith and its final goal was to develop Christian culture. In order to accomplish this mission, the Church Council had to emphasize the actual historical and practical importance of a truly Christian culture. The starting point of this education must always be religious, given that religion provides a unified vision of reality that seeks community. It is no surprise then that Gaudium et Spes provided the Church’s understanding of the most important aspects of individual’s and world community’s life, namely problems of human and his dignity, the role of church in the word, importance of marriage and family, culture sustainability, economic development, and finally peace and global understanding. As Ned O’Gorman (1965) effectively described the event magnitude of Gaudium et Spes - two thousand five hundred bishops, two hundred theologians, thirty-five representatives from non-Catholic and Christian churches and communities, ninety-three observers from non-Roman churches and over a million on-lookers rediscovered Christianity as a dynamic religiocultural event. There is no question that Catholic theology since Vatican II has embraced a new level of engagement with the world, guided in large part by the document which served as the Magna Charta of this new movement: Gaudium et Spes. From the critical perspective, one may regard Gaudium et Spes as essentially humane and human-centered document, which says, “The intellectual nature of the human person is perfected by wisdom and needs to be, for wisdom gently attracts the mind of man to a quest and a love for what is true and good” (Gaudium et Spes, par.15). The document embraced a new level of engagement with the world, and spoke of the world less as an arena of sin and evil and more as the stage for God’s grace at work. As Yves Congar (1967-69) has pointed out, this new theology of church and world subsumed and altered the historical debates about church and state, church and society by moving the question “from the juridical and political plane to the anthropological plane” (p. 208). Practically, Gaudium et Spes marked a dramatic shift in church-world theology in the Catholic Church, away from the fortress mentality which had characterized the Catholic Church since the French Revolution. However, despite its evident uniformity, Gaudium et Spes has been based on debate. During the drafting of the document, the lively debate made clear that there was a good deal of diversity of opinion among theologians and bishops about the right attitude of the church towards the world, and how it should be lived out in relation to many contemporary issues. Joseph Komonchak has written in detail about how the drafting of Gaudium et Spes revealed that there were serious divisions among the “progressives” at the Council (McCarthy, 1994). The dominant voice in the document is, without question, that of the group which Komonchak identifies as being more Thomist, rather than Augustinian, in approach (McCarthy, 1994). The writers of the early drafts of Gaudium et Spes were working out of a theological framework which emphasizes grace as something that is not alien to nature but perfects it; thus the world, as the Church encounters it, is seen as possessing a kind of a predisposition to receive that grace. Indeed, the world is marked by sin, but this does not obscure the design of God upon it. Overall, the focus is on the value of the created world, particularly as seen in light of the incarnation. As stewards of God’s creation, Christians have a responsibility towards the world, and therefore the Church must be deeply involved in the lives and affairs of those living in the world, since all of these things are of concern to the kingdom of God. From the critical perspective, this particular line of thinking has obvious implications for an ecological ethic of which the drafters of the document seem only perhaps dimly aware. This theological voice emphasizes such themes as the Church’s solidarity with the world, respect for the rightful autonomy of creation, reading the “signs of the times,” and dialogue and cooperation with others outside the Church in working for a better world. Congar (1967-69) has written that the key element of this approach is the emphasis which Gaudium et Spes places upon on the Church as serving the world, rather than just serving its own internal life. Congar (1967-69) distinguishes two elements of this service to the world: first, of course, the Church’s duty to convert the world to the gospel. “But,” he writes, “there is another domain in the Church’s mission, another activity of the Church in regard to the world, namely the function it exercises in the world and for the world in the latter’s own structures and activities, but leaving the world as world in its own order. The Pastoral Constitution is concerned with this domain of activity” (Congar, 1967-69, p.203-204). Rather than being concerned only with the world that is to come, Gaudium et Spes describes a Church that is deeply concerned with serving this world as well: “Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new human family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age which is to come. That is why, although we must be careful to distinguish earthly progress clearly from the increase of the Kingdom of Christ, such progress is of vital concern to the kingdom of God…” (Gaudium et Spes, par. 39). In spite of the drafters’ attempts to show that such a theology of church and world is rooted in a sound theology of creation and incarnation, a number of theologians, including Joseph Ratzinger (current Pope Benedict XVI) found the document sorely lacking. As Richard Gaillardetz (2005) has explained, “there were also many bishops and periti who advocated a more Augustinian anthropological perspective that would draw a sharp line between sin and grace… These bishops could not accept that events transpiring in the natural order could serve in any significant way as a preparation for the working of God’s grace in the world” (p.74). It is evident that the attempt to mark out a new attitude towards the world and a new form of social engagement while remaining faithful to the tradition was a difficult task, “an uneasy tension between affirming legitimate human endeavors and insisting on the world’s need for transformation” (Gaillardetz, 2005, p.75). Practically, this uneasy tension has meant that church-world theology continues to be a lively area of debate among theologians. In its second section, Gaudium et Spes identifies one of the “urgent problems” in the world as being the “Fostering of Peace and Establishment of a Community of Nations.” Beginning with a section on the “nature of peace,” it describes earthly peace in a very tangible way as the result of a justly ordered society based on rightful authority and respect for human dignity. Then it goes on, however, to say that peace is ultimately a fruit of love, and, most importantly, that “Peace on earth…symbolizes and derives from the peace of Christ who proceeds from God the Father” (Gaudium et Spes, par. 39). This sense of an organic connection between the grand economy of salvation and practical progress towards peace on earth exemplify a new consciousness that the Church must be in the world, promoting peace in the midst of human history: activism for peace on earth is an important and distinctive element of Christian vocation. Christians’ mission of peace to the world is a direct fulfillment of Christ’s reconciling mission and “therefore,” according to Gaudium et Spes, “all Christians are earnestly to speak the truth in love…and join with all peace-loving people in pleading for peace and trying to bring it about” (Gaudium et Spes, par. 39). From the critical perspective, Gaudium et Spes clearly reveals how in practice Christians should weigh differing priorities in attempting to carrying out peace strategies. It is also important to emphasize that addressing various issues Gaudium et Spes utilizes pastoral approach, hence the title of the document. Pastoral meant speaking in a way which is accessible to all, inviting collaboration and dialogue, which is concrete and relevant. As Congar (1986) has clarified, pastoral approach “intends to present the truth of salvation in a way which is close to men and women of today and which accepts their difficulties and tries to answer their questions” (p.347). Indeed, Gaudium et Spes was one of the very first attempts by the Church to speak to all people in the world. The manifestations this universal approach is evident in document’s only condemnation, - of “total war” (Gaudium et Spes, par.80). In all other cases, even when the document did criticize contemporary political trends, the creators of Gaudium et Spes insisted on doing so in a way which could not be construed as a criticism, but allows the Church to maintain an ongoing dialogue. REFERENCES Congar, Y. (1967-69). “Part I, Ch. IV, ‘The Role of the Church in the Modern World.’” In Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II, Herbert Vorgrimler, ed. (New York: Crossroad, Vol V, pp. 202-223 Congar, Y. (1986). “A Last Look at the Council.” in Vatican II Revisited: by those who were there, Alberic Stacpoole, ed. Minneapolis: Winston Press Gaillardetz, R. (2005). “The Ecclesiological Foundations of Modern Catholic Social Teaching,” in Modern Catholic Social Teaching, Kenneth Himes, ed. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press Gaudium et Spes.1965. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern Word Promulgated by His Holiness, Pope Paul V. Retrieved Oct 12, 2010 from < http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_cons_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html> McCarthy, T. G. (1994). The Catholic Tradition: Before and After Vatican II, 1878-1993. Chicago: Loyola University Press. O’Gorman, N. (1965). “Opening the Council: A Side of Vatican II missed by the newspapers,” Jubilee 10 (December), pp.10-13. Read More