“A hermeneutics of continuity and reform”
According to Benedict XVI, the Second Vatican Council can only realize its potential for renewal of the Church “if we interpret it and put it into practice guided by a correct hermeneutic” (portafidei, Number 5). In a speech before the Italian episcopal conference in May 2012, Benedict identified this “correct hermeneutic” as “a hermeneutic of continuity and reform.” This double hermeneutic points to the essentially double nature of Vatican II and is the “key” to unlock the internal dynamics of the Council.
The fundamental objective of the Council was to preserve and transmit Catholic doctrine “in continuity with the Tradition of the Church of 2000 years” (Benedict XVI). Pope John XXIII made this clear in his opening address to the Council on October 11, 1962, when he stated: “The greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine be guarded and taught more effectively “. In accordance with this directive, the Council Fathers carefully examined, further developed, and transmitted to succeeding generations, while preserving fully intact, the immutable doctrine of the Faith in a series of authoritative documents called dogmatic constitutions. So the first key to correctly understanding Vatican II is to realize that it was first and foremost a dogmatic (teaching) council of the Magisterium in faithful continuity with the 2,000-year-old tradition of the Church.
The second key term in the “correct hermeneutics” to correctly understand and implement the Council is “reform”. At pivotal times throughout the history of the Church, the Holy Spirit has inspired certain reforms in liturgical rubrics, canon law, Church governance, and pastoral discipline in order to renew the Church and help it better fulfill her mission in the context of the times in which she finds herself. The Second Vatican Council was inspired by the Holy Spirit to address the needs of the Church in the modern world. While carefully preserving and handing down the deposit of faith, the Sacred Liturgy, the sacraments, and prayer in unbroken continuity with the ancient tradition of the Church, the Second Vatican Council introduced many liturgical, pastoral, and disciplinary reforms in the life of the Church to enable the Church to more effectively fulfill its mission of teaching, governing, and sanctifying believers and evangelizing non-believers in the context of the modern world. Thus, the second key to correctly understanding Vatican II is to keep the Council’s liturgical, pastoral, and disciplinary reforms within the framework of doctrinal and liturgical continuity.
Unfortunately, the full potential of the Council to renew the Church has not yet been realized due to a general failure to interpret and implement it guided by a correct hermeneutic. The application of a false “hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture” has led to widespread confusion and misconception about Vatican II, with disastrous consequences for the faith of millions of Catholics. Pope Benedict reminded the Italian bishops that only by applying the proper “hermeneutics of continuity and reform,” listening to and following the instructions of the Council, can the Church find ways to respond meaningfully to the challenges of the modern world.
proclaiming the faith again
Through the declaration and observance of the Year of Faith, Benedict XVI has reminded the Church today to look to the Second Vatican Council as the “sure compass” to chart its course through the stormy and troubled waters of our time. In his Wednesday audience at the Vatican on October 10, 2012, the eve of the opening of the Year of Faith, Pope Benedict stated: “The documents of the Second Vatican Council, to which we must return, freeing them from a mass of publications that instead of making them known, they have hidden them many times, are also a compass in our time that allows the Boat of the Church to row out into the deep in the midst of storms or on calm and peaceful waves, to navigate safely and reach its destination. destiny. “
Calling us “to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the only Savior of the world” during this Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI called us to return to the basic elements of our Christian faith that the Second Vatican Council re-proclaimed to Him. modern world. Benedict said that “we must learn the simplest and most fundamental lesson of the Council: namely, that Christianity in its essence consists in faith in God who is Trinitarian Love, and in a personal and community encounter with Christ who guides and gives meaning to life”. Everything else flows from this.” The Pope further stated: “What is as important today as it was for the Council Fathers is that we see – once again and clearly – that God is present, concerns us and answers us. And when, on the other hand, man lacks faith in God, what is essential collapses because man loses his deep dignity.
As an “eclipse of God” slowly darkens our modern era and “a profound crisis of faith” engulfs it, as man becomes less and less aware of God’s existence and his fundamental need for God , the fundamental truths of our Christian faith proclaimed by the Second Vatican Council – and proclaimed anew to the Church and the world in our time by Popes John Paul, Benedict and Francis – shine more and more: God exists. He is real. He loves us and hears our prayers. Man is an essentially religious being made in the image and likeness of God, and only in relationship with God, his Creator, does man discover his true identity and dignity and grasp the true meaning and purpose of life. Only God can satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart, as Saint Augustine wrote: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Faith in God is essential for the well-being of man and society. Man cannot save himself by his own efforts. Christ is “God-with-us”, “the only Savior of the world”, the only hope for humanity. Salvation comes only from Christ through his Church. All Christians are called to holiness of life (hence the “universal call to holiness”) and to find new ways of preaching the Gospel in our modern world (hence the “new evangelization”).