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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2009 /  We're celebrating historic 50th anniversaries

by Sr. Janet Schaeffler special to The Michigan Catholic
Published January 16, 2009

We are in the midst of remembering historic 50th anniversaries. This past Oct. 28 was the 50th anniversary of the election of Pope John XXIII in 1958. The expectations of the time, since the new pope was 77, were that he would be very low-key and not do much. From the beginning, came surprises.

Cardinal Angelo Roncalli took the name John XXIII even though there had been an antipope of the same name and number during the Great Western Schism in the early 15th century. John was his father's name; it was the name of the parish church where he was baptized. He also pointed out that the two disciples closest to Jesus were John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. Most importantly, he said he wanted to renew the apostle John's exhortation that we should love one another.

Breaking precedent, John XXIII preached his own coronation Mass on Nov. 4, the feast of his hero, St. Charles Borromeo. During it, he insisted that what he wanted, above anything, was to be a good shepherd. Three weeks later, when he took possession of his cathedral, he said he was not a prince, but "a priest, a father, a shepherd." That Christmas he revived the custom of visiting prisoners in Rome and the patients at a local hospital. He visited parishes in the diocese of Rome, homes for the elderly, and various educational and charitable institutions.

The 50th anniversary of the calling of the Second Vatican Council

His biggest surprise came on Jan. 25, the 50th anniversary we celebrate this month. While speaking to a group of his advisers, a group of Rome-based cardinals at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, John XXIII announced his intention to call an ecumenical council for the universal Church.

It was the last thing they expected to hear; thus, their response was far from enthusiastic.

Pope John XXIII was convinced that this was God's work, that this was the right time for the bishops of the world to assemble to renew the vision and the ministry of the Church in today's world.

When the curia officials in the Vatican offices advised that it would be impossible to organize a council before 1963 at the very earliest, Pope John XXIII replied, "Good, then we'll have it in 1962."

In his opening address to the Second Vatican Council, on Oct. 11, 1962, John XXIII was clear he did not call the council to refute errors or to clarify points of doctrine (as the other councils in the history of the Church had needed to do). He told the council fathers, and the world, that the Church wanted to offer the modern world the "medicine of mercy rather than that of severity." He was convinced that the best way to meet the needs of the present day was by demonstrating the validity of our teachings, rather than by condemning others.

Pope John XXIII rejected the opinions of some around him who were "always forecasting disaster." He sharply warned against these "prophets of doom" who acted as though they had learned nothing from history, which he described as "the teacher of life." He believed, and declared in his opening address, that God is leading the world into a new and better order of human relations. "And everything, even human differences, leads to the greater good of the Church." He shared with the council fathers the greatest concern for the council: that "the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more efficaciously." He called for a better articulation of the doctrine of the Church for this age. He quickly explained: "The substance of the ancient doctrine of the deposit of the faith is one thing, and the way in which it is presented is another."

Vatican II and Pope Benedict XVI

Recently Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that the Second Vatican Council is not losing its relevance with the passing of decades, but rather is "particularly pertinent" for the Church in today's globalized world.

On Oct. 28, 2008, Pope Benedict wrote, "The council came from the heart of John XXIII, but it is more accurate to say that in the end, as will all the great events in the history of the Church, it came from the heart of God, from His salvific will. The multifaceted doctrinal heritage that we find in its dogmatic constitutions, in the declarations and decrees, moves us even now to go deeper in the Word of God to apply it today to the Church, keeping in mind the needs of the men and women of the contemporary world, who have an extreme need to know and experience the light of Christian hope."

Vatican II today

Historians and Church-watchers have said that it takes 40 to 100 years for a council to take root, to become the living soul of the Church. What do we still need to learn, to become? Given Pope Benedict's promptings, what can we be doing today in our parishes, through adult faith formation, through small faith-sharing groups to learn, to experience, to grow in some of the themes and realities of the Council (to name just a few):

• Our liturgical celebrations call for the conscious, active and full participation of all. ("Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy," No. 14)

• The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fountain from which all her power flows. ("Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy," No. 10)

• The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly. ("Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy," No. 51)

• The Church is the people of God. ("Dogmatic Constitution on the Church")

• All are called to holiness. ("Dogmatic Constitution on the Church," Chapter V)

• The Church must be involved in the world. ("Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World")

• We are called to ecumenical and inter-faith dialogue. ("Decree on Ecumenism and Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions")

Sr. Janet Schaeffler, OP, is the archdiocesan associate director for adult faith formation for the Office for Faith Formation/Catechetics.