The Principles of Discernment of the Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) recovered a deep vision of the Church, reflected on  religious liberty,  relations with other Christians, relations with the Jewish people, as well as other issues. What principles guided the council’s discernment in its decision-making? This article will seek to respond by looking at the final texts of the council, rather than at the history of their composition and subsequent reception.

Discernment from within the Church. The guidance of the Scriptures

“Religiously hearing the Word of God and faithfully proclaiming it,” are the first words of Dei Verbum (DV), the dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, promulgated on November 18, 1965, by which the council describes its stance. With an eye on the transmission of divine revelation, the same constitution states that the magisterium “listening to it devoutly, guarding it scrupulously and explaining it faithfully” the Word of God. In short, “the teaching office is not above the Word of God, but serves it” (DV 10). The final chapter observes that the Church “has always maintained them, [the divine Scriptures] and continues to do so, together with sacred tradition, as the supreme rule of faith,” (DV 21).

Right from their first document – the constitution on the sacred liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC), promulgated on December 4, 1963 – the council fathers appeal insistently to the Scriptures. In SC they quote them 13 times and refer to them 33 times. With regard to  the Divine Office, this constitution discerns the pre-conciliar situation as unsatisfactory and mandates a richer selection of Scripture readings (cf. SC 92). Here it completes what it has already prescribed for the Eucharist as follows: “The treasures of the bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s word. In this way a more representative portion of the holy scriptures will be read to the people in the course of a prescribed number of years” (SC 51).

The dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium (LG), ponders the mystery of the Church revealed through various New Testament images that let us glimpse aspects of this mystery: images drawn from sheep farming, the cultivation of olives and grapes, the construction of buildings, family life and marriage (cf. LG 6). Then it moves to teaching about the Church as the Body of Christ (LG 7). By dedicating the whole of Chapter 2 to “the People of God,” Vatican II uses that image for the Church 14 times. The same chapter also speaks of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the Church as in a temple (cf. LG 9). This prepares the way for ending the chapter on a trinitarian note and calling the Church “the People of God, the Body of the Lord, and the Temple of the Holy Spirit” (LG 17).[1] The whole of chapter 2 is richly biblical, containing 12 quotations from the Scriptures and 56 references to them, with six quotations coming from the New Testament epistles and 27 references being made to them.

A second area in which the Bible guides LG concerns “those who have not yet received the Gospel” but “are ordered (ordinantur) to the People of God for various reasons.”[2] Here the council distinguished between a) Jews, b) Muslims, c) other believers in God, and d) all those who, through no fault of their own, have not yet come to an explicit knowledge of God (LG 16).

Let us take up the first group – the Jews – and the impact of the Scripture on some new teaching about the Jewish people. The 1442 decree for the Copts of the Council of Florence pushed to extremes the principle “outside the Church no salvation,” and consigned to damnation not only “pagans but also Jews, heretics or schismatics.” Vatican II avoids speaking of “pagans,” “heretics” and “schismatics.” As for Jews, it is the first ecumenical council in Catholic Christianity to talk positively of Jews (and, for that matter, of Muslims).

The fathers of Vatican II aimed to proscribe anti-Semitism and commence new relations with Jews. Texts of Paul offered a major scriptural warrant based on God’s irrevocable election of Israel. LG selected some of the privileges listed in Romans 9:4-5, and spoke of “the people to whom the covenants and promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh.” Then it aligned itself with Paul in stating that “according to the [divine] election, they [the Jews] are a people most dear on account of the fathers; for the gifts and calling of God are without regret (cf. Rom 11:28-29)” (LG 16). Before Vatican II, no council had cited those two passages from Romans.

A year later in the declaration on the relations of the Church with non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate (NA), the council once again quoted Romans 9:4-5 (cf. NA 4), and (in a reference to Romans 11:28-29) recalled the use of that verse in LG 16 (cf. NA 4, note 11). What Nostra Aetate said about Jews was more significant, especially in view of Catholic-Jewish dialogue. Nevertheless, the decisive step toward rapprochement had already been taken in LG, a step justified by the teaching of the apostle Paul.

Another example of new teaching inspired by the Scriptures came with the declaration on religious liberty, Dignitatis Humanae (DH), which affirmed the individual’s duty to follow his or her conscience.[3] DH appealed to the revelation mediated through Christ and his apostles and recorded in the New Testament (cf. DH 9-15). Jesus always respected the religious freedom of men and women, which meant that their faith should not and could not be coerced. His disciples followed him by maintaining that the human response to God must be free (cf. DH 9-11).

Guidance from Tradition

We saw above how Vatican II’s first document, Sacrosanctum Concilium, set a standard for the later conciliar texts by endorsing the centrality of the Scriptures and the guidance they offer. The liturgy constitution also included traditional authorities: 12 quotations, seven drawn from liturgical texts, three from the Council of Trent, and two from the fathers of the Church, as well as ten references, two drawn from liturgical texts, two from Trent, and six from the fathers. This spread of quotations and references mirrors a long and rich tradition.

The unity and interplay of Scripture and Tradition to which Sacrosanctum Concilium witnesses in “practice” is explained in “theory” by the chapter on Tradition in DV 7-10. Where SC speaks of “sound” (SC 4, 22) or “venerable” (SC 24, 89) tradition, DV cites “sacred” Tradition and its functioning with the “Sacred Scriptures” (DV 9, 10 [twice]; 24). Christian Tradition remains inseparably connected with the Scriptures in their past origin, present function, and future goal: “they flow out from the same divine well-spring [= revelation], come together in some fashion, and move towards the same [final] goal” (DV 9). DV highlights “the living tradition of the whole Church” (DV 12). The image of tradition, flowing from the same divine spring (scaturigo) as the Scriptures and uniting with them as they move toward the same goal, suggests a living stream. DV speaks of a “life-giving presence” of Tradition, “whose riches are poured out (transfunduntur) into the practice and life of the believing and praying Church” (DV 8).

Where and how does Tradition guide the discerning and decision-making of Vatican II? The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) exemplifies an ancient tradition that fell into abeyance before being retrieved by the council (cf. SC 64-65, 109). A course of preparation for adults who wish to be baptized and enter the Catholic Church, the RCIA, was reintroduced  after many centuries, in 1972. Enrolled as catechumens, the candidates are instructed in the Christian faith, normally during the six weeks of Lent. At the Easter Vigil, they receive baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist, thus following as adults the traditional order of Christian initiation.[4]

When dealing with religious freedom, we have indicated how decisive the New Testament testimony proved for the discerning and decision-making of Vatican II. DH adds a further principle by announcing its intention to “examine the sacred tradition and doctrine of the Church” (DH 1). The declaration recognizes that, in matters of religious freedom, the Church had at times behaved in ways “not in keeping with the Gospel and even opposed to it” (DH 12). DH cites (in No. 10, note 8) the teaching that favors religious freedom proposed by four fathers of the Church (from Lactantius to Gregory the Great) and two medieval popes (Clement III and Innocent III).

‘Lex orandi, lex credendi’

DV spoke of “the practice and life of the believing and praying Church” (DV 8). Referring to “the believing and praying Church,” it echoes the axiom of St. Prosper of Aquitaine (died ca. 463): “let the law of prayer establish the law of belief (legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi).” This (third) principle operated in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. We begin with the “paschal mystery,” which illustrates Vatican II’s “law of praying” establishing “the law of belief.”

SC highlights the centrality of the paschal mystery, the dying and rising of Christ that was the principal “work” of redemption and gave birth to the Church (cf. SC 5). Baptism means being “inserted” into “the paschal mystery of Christ,” that is to say, “dying with him, being buried with him, and rising with him,” to receive “the spirit of adoption” (SC 6). Coming together to hear the Scriptures and share in the Eucharist likewise involves “celebrating the paschal mystery” (SC 6). From its origins the Church has dedicated Sunday or “the Lord’s day” to commemorating in a special way “the paschal mystery” (SC 106). All in all, SC speaks of the paschal mystery eight times (SC 5, 6 (twice), 61, 104, 106, 107, and 109).

The paschal mystery is taken up by the decree on the pastoral office of bishops, Christus Dominus (CD), promulgated on October 28, 1965: “[the bishops] should strive that the Christian faithful know and live the paschal mystery more deeply through the Eucharist” (CD 15). According to the decree on the training of priests, Optatam Totius (OT), also promulgated on October 28, 1965, those preparing for ministerial ordination “they should so live His paschal mystery themselves that they can initiate into it the flock committed to them” (OT 8).

The decree on the Church’s missionary activity, Ad Gentes (AG), mandates that the liturgy of Lent “should be restored in such a way as to prepare the hearts of the catechumens to celebrate the paschal mystery, in whose solemn ceremonies they are reborn to Christ through baptism” (AG 14).

Finally, Vatican II’s last document, the pastoral constitution on the Church in the contemporary world, Gaudium et Spes (GS), promulgated on December 7, 1965, envisions the impact of the paschal mystery, not only on baptized Christians but also on all human beings. In “struggling against evil,” the Christian does so as “one who, having been made a partner in the paschal mystery, is configured to the death of Christ, and strengthened by hope runs toward the resurrection” (GS 22). But sharing in the paschal mystery is also a possibility for all those who have not – or have not yet – been baptized: “the Holy Spirit offers to all, in a way known to God, the possibility of being made partners in the paschal mystery” (ibid). Thus the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, celebrated in the liturgy and in “the law of praying,” following SC, becomes a significant theme for “the law of believing” expressed in four subsequent conciliar documents.

Pastoral Experience

Pastoral experience proved a fourth guiding principle of discernment for Vatican II. The opening sentence of SC announced the council’s intention “to nourish day by day the Christian life among the faithful” (SC 1). Along with biblical and historical witness, pastoral considerations and experience helped discern the liturgical revisions (cf. SC 23). Good practice in liturgical life dictates norms: the rites should be simple, brief and “avoid useless repetitions. They should be accommodated to the faithful’s understanding and generally should not require many explanations” (SC 34). Pastoral concerns support, for instance, omitting duplications and additions that fail to promote “the devout and active participation of the faithful” (SC 50). These concerns call for adaptations to meet present-day needs, including the introduction of the vernacular (cf. SC 62, 63).

Pastoral needs and experience clearly guided many of the choices and changes that Vatican II opted for. Two documents flew the pastoral banner in their very titles: the decree Christus Dominus and the constitution Gaudium et Spes. Significantly, the term “pastoral (pastoralis)” turns up 133 times in the 16 documents of Vatican II, with four documents leading the way: CD 38 times, AG 20 times, OT 17 times, and the decree on the ministry and life of priests, Presbyterorum Ordinis (PO) 17 times. This dominant choice of language points to pastoral experiences and needs as constituting a fourth, major principle informing the discernment promoted by the council renewal.

“The duty of studying carefully the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel” (GS 4) prompted the council’s final text, the longest expression of its discernment and decision-making.[5] Believing in the divine kingdom at work in our world, the bishops faced the pastoral challenges made known by God’s saving revelation in and through the present history of the Church, the human race and the planet Earth.

Discernment from outside the Church. Cultures and Traditions

Among the provisions that SC makes for local churches is that of a “more radical adaptation of the liturgy.” In the light of “the traditions and mentality of individual peoples,” this could be “useful and even necessary” (SC 40). SC wants to “honor and promote the qualities and gifts of various nations and peoples,” and, where appropriate, incorporate those traditions into the liturgy (cf. SC 38).

This principle of openness to human traditions was taken up by LG and then by AG. The Church “fosters and takes to itself, insofar as they are good, the ability, riches and customs in which the genius of each people expresses itself. Taking them to itself it purifies, strengthens, elevates and ennobles them” (LG 13). Using equivalent terms, LG goes on to say that, through missionary activity, “whatever good is in the minds and hearts of men, whatever good lies latent in the religious practices and cultures of diverse peoples, is not only saved from destruction but is also cleansed, raised up and perfected unto the glory of God” (LG 17).

A year later, AG repeated this principle: “Whatever good is found sown in the hearts and minds of human beings or in the particular rites and cultures of peoples, so far from being lost, is healed, elevated and consummated for the glory of God” (GS 9). A later passage in the missionary decree referenced (but without quoting) LG 13 by speaking of “the young Churches” taking over “all the riches of the nations… They borrow from the customs and traditions of the peoples, from [their] wisdom and doctrine, from [their] arts and disciplines everything that could contribute to confessing the glory of the Creator, to manifesting the grace of the Savior, and to the right ordering of Christian life” (AG 22).

This led the missionary decree to require theological experts to welcome the contribution of  other traditions. The experts should examine “by which ways faith could seek understanding through keeping in mind the philosophy and wisdom of the peoples,” and by what means their “customs, sense of life and social order” could be put together with divine revelation. All this “will open ways for a more profound adaptation of the whole sphere of Christian life” (AG 22). What Vatican II called  “adaptation” overlapped with what would be called “the principle of inculturation.”[6]

GS deferred to “links” between the message of salvation and various cultures: “For God, revealing Himself to His people to the extent of a full manifestation of Himself in His Incarnate Son, has spoken according to the culture proper to each epoch. Likewise the Church…has used the discoveries of different cultures so that in her preaching she might spread and explain the message of Christ to all nations, that she might examine it and more deeply understand it, that she might give it better expression in liturgical celebration and in the varied life of the community of the faithful.” (GS 58). At the same time, the constitution insisted that, “is not bound exclusively and indissolubly” to any particular culture, the Church “can enter into communion with the various civilizations, to their enrichment and the enrichment of the Church herself.” (ibid).

Thus GS completed a trajectory initiated by SC about taking account of “the traditions and mentality of individual peoples.” A discerning openness to the cultural and religious traditions of “others” emerged as a prominent principle for the updating and reform of the liturgy and other aspects of Christian life.

Cultivated reason

Vatican II recognized how much the Church has gained from “progress in the sciences,” understood in the broad sense of scientific disciplines headed by “philosophy” (cf. GS 44). The “findings of secular sciences” and, in particular, of psychology and sociology, can play their role in presenting “the truths of faith.” Here the constitution echoed the distinction Pope John XXIII made between the truths of faith and the mode of expressing them when opening the Second Vatican Council.[7] Not only history and philosophy but also modern sciences can help the spirit to gain a more accurate and deeper understanding of the faith (GS 62).

Hence Vatican II, when summarizing what preparation for missionary activity entails, recommended collaboration with “scientific institutes” which specialize in “ethnology, linguistics, the history and science of religions, sociology, pastoral skills, and the like” (AG 34). Experts in such disciplines can contribute significantly when the Catholic Church discerns current situations and decides what forms of teaching and action are called for.

Learning from other believers

SC mandated a set of liturgical reforms that had clear ecumenical significance: more importance assigned to the Scriptures (cf. SC 34, 51); a fresh emphasis on preaching (cf. SC 35, 50); the use of the vernacular (cf. SC 54); and communion under both kinds (cf. SC 55). These four liturgical reforms matched the practice of Christian Churches that came into existence through the 16th-century Reformation. Obviously, many of those who prepared the text of SC and voted for the constitution were conscious that their decisions involved learning from the experience of other Christians and facilitating union with them.[8]

A prayerful openness to other Christians appeared in what LG said about Churches and ecclesial communities not in union with the Bishop of Rome (cf. LG 8, 15). The decree on ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio (UR), when sketching what the practice of ecumenism should involve, respectfully described the traditions of the “separated brethren,” using the language of the “reformation” (cf. UR 4, 6). But in the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, of November 24, 2013, Pope Francis was to go further: Catholics could learn from “fellow pilgrims” about “the meaning of episcopal collegiality and the experience of synodality” (EG 244-246). In UR Vatican II reflected on principles of ecumenism and highlighted what it shared with other Christians. The presence in the council’s “aula” of observers and guests from other churches – 54 in the first session and up to 182 in the final session – proved much more than a mere act of hospitality. Their comments helped shape the decree on ecumenism, as well as other documents.[9]

NA took this mindset to a wider circle. It opened a vision of the one world, in which all human beings share the same origin, as well as deep questions about divine providence and final destiny (cf. NA 1). The declaration then considered Hinduism and Buddhism (cf. NA 2), Islam (cf. NA 3), and Judaism (cf. NA 4). It exhorted Catholics to take up “dialogue and collaboration” with followers of other religions.[10] This would involve “recognizing, protecting and promoting” the “spiritual and moral goods,” as well as “socio-cultural values” of these others (NA 2). But were Catholics to receive and be guided by some of these values? No clear reply was given by NA. It was left to GS to recognize in all who believe in God “precious religious and human elements” or “impulses of the Spirit,” which Catholics “should faithfully receive and readily act upon” (GS 92).

Dialogue with and Learning from Non-Believers

GS also inculcated dialogue with non-believers; from the “outstanding human values” they endorse, Catholics could learn and be guided (cf. GS 92). The recommendation at the close of this constitution belongs with an earlier statement about “what the Church receives from the modern world,” which speaks of “hearing the voices of our times” (GS 44).

In DH Vatican II provided a shining example of such hearing and learning from the wider world. Noting the widespread “desires” for “the free exercise of religion in society,” the council declared these desires to be “in conformity with truth and justice” (DH 1). It went on to observe not only that “people of today want to be able to profess their religion in public and in private,” but also that “religious freedom has already been declared a civil right in many constitutions and solemnly recognized in international documents” (DH 15).

A readiness to learn from non-believers was already revealed in what LG had said about morally upright atheists: “whatever good or truth is found among them is considered by the Church to be a preparation for the Gospel and given by Him [the incarnate Word] who enlightens all human beings so that they may finally have life” (LG 16; emphasis added). This implies that, through the lives and words of atheists and agnostics, Christians could identify elements of truth and goodness, coming from Christ the Light and Life of the world. Hence, even if they remain unaware of its source in the living Christ, these outsiders can share truth with Christians: for instance, the truth about the right of human beings to enjoy religious liberty in civil society.

Many details in the teaching of GS about respect for human dignity would be endorsed by upright non-believers and have in fact been promoted by them (cf. GS 27). The same is true of Vatican II’s teaching on social justice and the basic rights of all human beings (cf. GS 29). When at this point in history Catholics and other Christians discern such matters, they should hear the voices of non-believers.

Conclusion

This article has examined what we can glean from the final texts of the council about principles, found within (ad intra) the Church and beyond (ad extra) the Church, that guided decisions about teaching (concerned e.g. with religious liberty) and decisions to be made in practice (e.g. in liturgical reforms). We detected four principles providing guidance ad intra and four ad extra. The inquiry concentrated on examining what might be called the intention of the text itself (intentio textus ipsius).

A further, related study could take up the principles that the authors of the 16 Vatican II documents expressly accepted as guiding their discernment and decision making. What principles did those bishops and others who worked on the conciliar commissions endorse when they composed the council’s 16 texts and then revised them (in the light of the criticisms and suggestions coming from the assembled bishops and others). This could be studied in the acts of the council, in the records from the commissions (available in a special Vatican archive), in the “genetic” studies of particular documents,[11] and other documents. This would mean investigating the “authorial intention (intentio auctorum)” expressed through conscious principles of discernment and decision-making that shaped the outcome of Vatican II and its documents.[12]

DOI:  La Civiltà Cattolica, En. Ed. Vol. 7, no.2 art. 1, 0223: 10.32009/22072446.0223.1

[1] The vision of the Church developed a year later in Ad Gentes would be thoroughly biblical and even more emphatically trinitarian (AG 2-9).

[2] Here Vatican II drew on a specific tradition, the terminology of St Thomas Aquinas (to which it refers in LG 16, fn. 18): Summa Theologiae, 3a. 8. 3. ad 1.

[3] Cf. B. Mitchell, “The Christian Conscience”, in J. McManners (ed), The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1990, 602f.

[4] Cf. M. E. Johnson, The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Evolution and Interpretation, Collegeville, MN, Liturgical Press, 1999.

[5] On the signs of the times, see H.-J. Sander, “Das singular Geschichtshandeln Gottes – eine Frage der pluralen Topologie der Zeichen der Zeit”, in P. Hünermann – B. J. Hilberath (eds), Herders Theologisches Kommentar zum Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzil, Vol. 5, Freiburg, Herder, 2006, 134-144.

[6] The literature on inculturation is vast. For an introduction see G. A. Arbuckle, Culture, Inculturation, and Theologians: A Postmodern Critique, Collegeville, MN, Liturgical Press, 2010.

[7] John XXIII, Speech at the solemn opening of the Second Vatican Council, October 11, 1962. The request for a liturgy in the vernacular and communion under both kinds had been made by Jan Hus in the 15th century.

[8] On learning from other Christians, see O. Rush, “Receptive Ecumenism and Discerning the Sensus Fidelium: Expanding the Categories for a Catholic Reception of Revelation”, in Theological Studies 78 (2017/3) 559-572.

[9] Cf. M. Velati, Separati ma fratelli. Gli osservatori non-cattolici al Vaticano II (1962-1965), Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014.

[10] Pope Paul VI’s 1964 encyclical Ecclesiam Suam had already firmly encouraged such dialogue.

[11] Cf. R. Burigana, La Bibbia nel Concilio. La redazione della costituzione “Dei Verbum” del Vaticano II, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1998.

[12] In chapter 9 of my book Inspiration: Towards a Christian Interpretation of Biblical Inspiration, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2018, I deal with a triple “intention,” which encompasses not only the intentio auctoris and the intentio textus ipsius but also the intentio legentis (the intention of the reader).