By Dr Marco Ceccarelli
Nigel Zimmermann (editor), The Great Grace: Receiving Vatican II Today, Bloomsbury, London, 2015; pp 143; hardcover.
As the resulting publication of a conference with the same name hosted by the Archdiocese of Sydney from 20-23 May 2013, The Great Grace examines the numerous changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council to aspects of the Church such as liturgy, theology, communion, communication, and mission.
Composed by world-class Australian authors, both lay and members of the clergy, the book is edited and introduced by theology lecturer at The University of Notre Dame Australia, Dr Nigel Zimmerman, and has been praised by renowned ethics scholar George Weigel.
The Great Grace begins with a detailed analysis by Cardinal George Pell of the before, during and after effects of Vatican II in Australia. Cardinal Pell begins by discussing Pope John XXIII’s intuition that the Church’s old way of doing things had developed from a vanished world and was no longer adequate. He goes on to refer to the vital changes brought about by the council concerning the role of laity, the collegiality of bishops, the importance of dialogue with the world, the rejection of the state’s power to coerce religious belief, ecumenism and changes to the celebrations of the liturgy in the vernacular.
In this context, Cardinal Pell acknowledges that Vatican II took place in a moment of history where great secularising forces were at play – forces that would manifest their power in the revolutionary spirit of the sixties. This had an impact on the council, eventually leading now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to make a distinction between “the true council”, focused on reform within strict guidelines of the council fathers, and “the council of the media”, which was seen by secular journalism as a power struggle
Nonetheless, Cardinal Pell points to breakthrough council documents such as Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes which worked towards the renewal of the Church from dogmatic to pastoral and emphasised the importance of peace and social justice. He also draws attention to other documents such as the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy which emphasised the centrality and importance of the sacraments and the Mass as expressions of faithful worship.
Cardinal Pell’s vision of the council is espoused by theologian and Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet PSS, who probes the idea of communion within the council’s ecclesiology. Ouellet sees the move towards an ecclesiology of communion as one of the great milestones of the council and as something that cultivated ecumenism and dialogue. He also identifies liturgical reforms, the collegiality of bishops and Gaudium et Spes’ focus on human dignity as revolutionary reforms which advanced the Church in the modern world. Confident that the council exceeded expectations at doctrinal level, Ouellet also signals that, at pastoral level, much is still left to be desired.
Balancing Pell’s and Ouellet’s analyses of the more official side of the council are Professors Anne Hunt and Tracey Rowland, the former Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Australian Catholic University, the latter Dean of the Pontifical JPII Institute for Marriage and Family. While Hunt focuses on Lumen Gentium as the breakthrough dogmatic constitution that released the laity from its previously passive role, she also points to the laity’s modern-day challenges – clericalism first and foremost among them.
Rowland’s piece is equally as engaging as she traces the impact of Vatican II in Australia, particularly within religious orders, and focuses on the concepts of aggiornamento – Italian for ‘renewal’ and ressourcement – French for ‘returning to the sources’. Referred to as the “metanarratives explaining the purpose of the Council” (p. 61), Rowland uses the two criteria to divide the council scholars and theologians into two camps, some of which wanted a revival of patristic thought, others instead who were open to 18th-century liberal philosophy. Rowland masterfully contextualises her piece in the cultural revolution of the sixties and closes with a comment on the Trinitarian Anthropology – the importance of changing evangelisation from a marketing exercise to deepening participation in the life and love of the trinity.
Chapter Five of the book opens the floor to Professor of Theology at the Australian Catholic University, Anthony Kelly CSsR. Kelly surveys the changes that our modern world has introduced and their effect on our reading of Vatican II. The new isms, for instance: terrorism, globalism, feminism, and the new atheism, are discussed by Kelly in the context of a council focused on hope and more intent on extroversion than introversion.
Demonstrating how to put into practice the openness discussed by Kelly are coordinators of Catholic Voices, Dr Austen Ivereigh and Jack Valero. In the sixth chapter, the two explain the effectiveness of Catholic Voices, a British project created in 2010 and now present in 15 countries, which trains speakers to explain catholic thinking on controversial issues. The project helped Catholics communicate with their interlocutors on topics of contention and shed light on the Church’s true positions on a number of “hot button” issues.
In conclusion, Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, and Bishop of Broken Bay, Peter Comensoli, offer a comprehensive and forward-looking viewpoint that essentially captures the relevance of Vatican II for Catholics today.
Coleridge’s vision of a Christian people that responds to the secular world by proposing, not imposing, and by experiencing a spiritual awakening of faith “not just in words but in the way we live” (p. 119), is matched by Comensoli’s encouragement to know and love the Church in our modern times. In fact, Comensoli warns against a purely intellectual reading of the council which leads Christians away from the “living Body of Christ” (p. 123). He also warns against the tendency to turn the Church into a museum, or merely an intellectual curiosity, through uncritical accommodation of the world (secularism) or radical rejection of it (clericalism). “The task of transformation is never finished, the work of reform is ongoing,” concludes Comensoli: “conversion is neither a static thing, nor a once-and-for-all, one-off occurrence… conversion is a way of life lived ‘in the Lord’ who is the source and summit of all that is good” (p. 127).
An informative and captivating read, The Great Grace will appeal to anyone wishing to know more about the way in which Vatican II has been interpreted and implemented in our modern age.
The Great Grace: Receiving Vatican II Today can be purchased by Clicking Here.
Dr Marco Ceccarelli, who is originally from Rome, holds a PhD in History and European Studies from The University of Western Australia which focuses on the Catholic Church’s response to terrorism in the Jesuit publication, La Civiltà Cattolica. Author of multiple book reviews, Marco has a great understanding of modern Church history and Vatican II publications.