Essay 2

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Thoughts on the 50th Anniversary of Vatican II

On 11th October 2012 I felt sad because the memory of Vatican II seemed to have little place in the life of the Church here in Ireland, or indeed in the life of our Mercy Congregation, which is in a Chapter year.1 Given that Vatican II brought us back to our founding roots, reawakened our core charism and mission, and liberated us from archaic and obsolete patterns of life, this loss of memory seems extraordinary. True, the anniversary was marked by a few institutions and groups who held conferences on various Vatican II themes. But broadly speaking, these events were a quiet plea by a few people to evoke again the memory, experience, inspiration and hope of a momentous act of communal self-reflection and re-articulation of faith in the 1960s, on the part of Catholic followers of Jesus, newly named the “People of God”. The dominant note today seems to be one of ambivalence and perhaps amnesia. The announcement by the Vatican of an official “Year of Faith” made few ripples, and was low-key without any sense of excitement or anticipation.

I picked up my tattered and scored copy of the Vatican II Documents recently and the enormous hope and joy which those documents once held for me came back with full blast. I seemed to be holding the “Living Spirit of God” between the covers of this volume. I remembered the joy of new liturgy, the ecstasy of Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), the liberation of the ecumenical and human dignity statements, the refreshment of Perfectae Caritatis (Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life) and so much more. Considerable progress seemed to happen in some areas in the decades which followed, while in others little headway was made, perhaps for lack of leadership or fear of loss of power. Areas like collegiality, dialogue and subsidiarity promised new involvement in the organisational dimensions of the Church, but then seemed to sustain little traction as time went on. Much of the progress seemed to have tapered off by the new millennium and a period of contention emerged as to the meaning of “the true spirit of Vatican II”. Perhaps the expectation was too fixed on the externals and too little on the life of communion and mission which the Council defined as the true nature of the Church.

The big themes of Vatican II – the Word of God in our time, freedom of conscience, openness to the world, participation, dignity, the universal call to holiness (to pick a few) – seem to be desperately relevant today. Why have they gone off our radar? Our understanding of these themes has been expanded in the intervening years, even if their implementation is sadly inadequate. The message and nourishment of the ancient Covenant and the Gospel in their Vatican II language is still food for hungry hearts and water for the deserts of our time. Because our celebration of this 50th anniversary has been so weak in this part of the world, we may have lost an opportunity to hear afresh what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. Perhaps the impact of the Council is still in its early days, in historical terms, so we should not set limits to our expectations too soon.

Fifty years have made a very different world, and a very different Church. One example is our own religious way of life. At its peak during the 1960s, Vatican II called the Church to cherish and support this gift of God in the garden of the Church. Today, its life and presence is ebbing away at a very rapid speed, almost unnoticed or unchecked. What are the implications for the life of the Church in this or in other trends? We, ordinary Catholics, could do something valuable before this anniversary year disappears by lifting up one or other of the Vatican II themes and launching it again to inspire, encourage and throw light on our contemporary struggles in society and Church.

Commemoration in a focussed and communal way would serve to keep the vision encompassed by these themes alive and developing, and providing a backdrop to the difficult moral and social questions of fifty years on. Setbacks there have been in plenty; misunderstandings and incompetence too. But none of these, nor any other difficulty, are reasons for us to let go of the hope that is within us.

Vatican II was extraordinary in very many ways. It was bigger than any of us; and only our smallness and bickering have let its energy and joy peter out. We can pick up that exuberant life and hope again... if only we knew the gift of God!

Helena O’Donoghue RSM is a Sister of Mercy of the South Central Province (Ireland), living in Dublin. She has many years of experience in leadership at the Congregational and Provincial levels and is a well-known commentator on religious life in Ireland.

Notes

1. Although the following is taken from page 60, Constitutions and Directory (2011) of the Institute of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, it is similar to how other women’s religious orders understand the term “Chapter”: “The Institute Chapter, when in session, is the highest authority in the Institute. Through the Institute Chapter and Community Assemblies we clarify and renew our vision, determine our priorities and respond to changing needs in our mission and life.” [Editor’s note]