How were the Vatican I and Vatican II councils related?
Upvote:0
Introduction
Although the First Vatican Council was prorogued due to the Franco-Prussian War, Vatican I and Vatican II were two very different councils. They were different in two primary ways. First, with respect to the Church's relationship to the world. Second, with respect to the emphasis regarding the governance of the Church. These are two common lenses through which the legacy of the two councils are compared.
Attitude towards the World
Regarding the first difference, Vatican I had a cold and distrustful attitude towards the world and Vatican II had a warm and hopeful attitude towards the world. In fact, today there is a theological consensus that Vatican I was too distrustful and Vatican II was too optimistic. The differing historical contexts of the two councils explains this difference in large part.
Vatican I followed upon the religious disintegration of Europe and the French Revolution. The Church was reeling not only from political struggles but also from other manifestations of modernism, including scientific, philosophical, and theological novelties (many of which Pius IX had condemned in his Syllabus of Errors). Therefore Pius IX sought to shore up the power of the Church and especially the power of the Pope. Vatican I therefore defined the Pope's jurisdictional supremacy over the entire Church (which includes discipline and government in addition to faith and morals). The attitudes of the modern world were viewed with strong suspicion and the Council gave significant power to the Pope to resist the mounting pressures of modernism. Secular rulers such as William Gladstone were in turn worried that the Pope's new powers would give the Church too much power over Catholic citizens.
By Vatican II secular modernism had suffered a significant setback with the two world wars, and there was a desire for peace, and in particular peace between religious bodies and secular states. It was felt that the Church was too insular and defensive, and that warmer relations with the outside world would benefit both parties. This warm sentiment towards the world can be seen most clearly in the document Gaudium et Spes.
Internal Governance
The distrust of Vatican I extended in some ways to the college of bishops. Today as a consequence of Vatican I the Pope (or the Curia) appoints almost all bishops, but in 1829 only 24 out of 646 Latin Rite bishops were appointed by the Pope (source). The period prior to Vatican I included movements in favor of Conciliarism and episcopal collegiality, especially in Germany and France. The Italian Council of Pistoia was a good example of this movement. The reaction at Vatican I was to emphasize the rights and power of the Pope, especially in relation to the bishops. For example, Pastor Aeternus explicitly rejects the Gallican claim that dogmatic definitions of the Pope are only irreformable in light of episcopal consensus (or the sensus fidelium):
Therefore, such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the church, irreformable.
In contrast, at Vatican II we see a highlighting of the rights and powers of the bishops and the college of bishops, especially in the third chapter of Lumen Gentium. We also see a highlighting of the dignity of the laity. A common charge after Vatican I was that the enormous power given to the Pope eclipsed the rights of the bishops and the laity, and the Fathers of Vatican II were sensitive to this critique. Local councils/synods all but disappeared after Vatican I, but synods were revived at Vatican II--albeit in an altered form. Ever since Vatican II the Pope has convened a synod of bishops approximately every three years. Many see the episcopal emphasis of Vatican II as balancing the Papal emphasis of Vatican I, a council which was cut short. At the same time, the episcopal and lay emphasis of Vatican II was considerably qualified by the papal prerogatives of Vatican I.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are two basic differences between Vatican I and Vatican II: their attitude towards the world, and their emphasis regarding Church governance. Vatican I was distrustful towards the world whereas Vatican II was optimistic. Vatican I focused on the rights and powers of the Pope, whereas Vatican II focused on the bishops and the laity.
Note: Vatican II is sometimes referred to as a "pastoral" council because it was the first council which was not legislative in nature. Most councils revolved around prescriptions and proscriptions, along with the attendant penalties for failure to observe them. Vatican II broke away from that tradition entirely.
Upvote:1
The First Vatican Council (8 December 1869 to 20 October 1870) defined dogmas on ecclesiology (incl. papal infallibility) and faith and reason in its two documents
- Pastor Æternus (First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ)
- Dei Filius (Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith),
respectively. The council was cut short due to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war and invasion of Rome.
In 1923, Pope Pius XI considered it dangerous to reconvene the council because—as Cdl. Billot advised him, contrary to the counsel Pius XI sought from almost 40 other theologians—(from The Second Vatican Council: An Unwritten Story II 4. §b)
it would impossible to conceal the existence of profound differences, within the episcopacy itself, on social, political and economic questions, and their relations with morality and the rule of faith. Because of their complexity, these questions will be presented under different aspects depending on the country, and they will give rise to discussion that will run the risk of being extended and prolonged indefinitely.
So here we have the most important reason that would seem to me to militate absolutely against the idea. The resumption of the council is desired by the worst enemies of the Church, that is, by the modernists, who are already prepared—as the most certain information testifies—to take advantage of the general situations in the Church in order to start a revolution, the new French Revolution of their hopes and dreams. It is useless to say that they will not succeed, but we will relive the sorrowful days of the end of the reign of Leo XIII and the beginning of the pontificate of Pius X; we will see even worse, and it will be the total destruction of the happy fruits of the encylical Pascendi which had reduced them [i.e. the modernists] to silence.
Here is what Cdl. Ottaviani said about John XXIII's idea to convene Vatican II (ibid. §c):
He had spoken about it to me from the moment of his election. Or rather, to be more precise, it was I who visited him in his little room at the conclave on the eve of the election. Among other things I told him, “Your Eminence, it is necessary to think about a council.” Cardinal Ruffini, who was present at the conversation, was of the same mind. Cardinal Roncalli adopted this idea and later had this to say: “I have thought of a council from the moment when I became pope.” It’s true, he welcomed our suggestion.”
The nebulous term "pastoral" was used to describe how Vatican II refused to condemn errors and heresies.
For more info on Vatican II and how it differed from all the previous ecumenical councils, see the Little Catechism on the Second Vatican Council:
Part Four - The Four Constitutions: Lumen Gentium on the Church
Part Five - The Four Constitutions (continued): Dei Verbum (on sources of Revelation)
Part Six - The Four Constitutions (continued): Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium on the liturgy
Part Ten – The Three Declarations (first of three: Dignitatis Humanæ: on religious liberty)
More post
- 📝 What is the oldest surviving photograph of someone who was later canonized as a saint?
- 📝 How does the devil work?
- 📝 How do adherents of sola scriptura respond to "extra" biblical beliefs?
- 📝 What is the purpose of life according to Catholic and Orthodox Churches?
- 📝 What problems, if any, do Biblical Unitarians have with the Apostles' Creed?
- 📝 What is the Catholic Church's interpretation of 'hunger and thirst for righteousness'?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church believe that we become just souls after we die?
- 📝 Why are a Catholic bishop's Coat of Arms green and not purple?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis of the idea that a deceased person has "entered into eternal rest"?
- 📝 Were the Waldensians like a Protestant Church in the Middle Ages?
- 📝 How does the Reformed tradition understand Philippians 2:6-9 as it regards the Hypostatic Union?
- 📝 Universe made of water?
- 📝 (LDS perspective) How would people before Mormonism have entered heaven since they would not have known the masonic handshakes?
- 📝 Kokabiel's History Forgotten?
- 📝 Is the Catholic declaration of an extra biblical saint infallible?
- 📝 What doctrinal changes did the Westminster Confession bring to the Church of Scotland?
- 📝 Determining literary types in the Bible
- 📝 Did Abraham have faith in the future coming of Christ?
- 📝 Was Tetzel robbed by a man who had preemptively bought an indulgence?
- 📝 Where does calling Heaven "My True Country" come from?
- 📝 Do the teachings of Catholic Church prohibit the use of “Amen” for purposes other than prayers?
- 📝 How common is intinction in the Catholic Church?
- 📝 Who are the members of the International Theological Commission for the 10th Quinquennium?
- 📝 What is the Biblical definition of "prophecy"?
- 📝 Is there any denomination that fully embraces Dispensational Premillennialism?
- 📝 By what authority does the Catholic church have priests?
- 📝 What's the time limit for a Council's sessions to reconvene after a suspension?
- 📝 Does Mark 16:9-20 Prove the Bible is not the infallible word of God?
- 📝 Did Jonah fail the test of a prophet?
- 📝 Are there any Bible verses about 'Being on your Knees' that do not specifically mention praying?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How were the Vatican I and Vatican II councils related?
- 📝 How could Jesus be born during the reign of Herod, and when Quirinius was governor of Syria, if those periods were not contemporary?
- 📝 How common were blasphemy accusations and trials among the Jews during the time of Jesus?
- 📝 How widely held among Protestants is the belief that the authors of the books of James and Jude were half brothers of Jesus?
- 📝 Were the councils of the 4th and 5th centuries primarily to deal with Apocryphal writings?
- 📝 Why did the Bishop of Rome accept (and retains until today) the title "Pontifex Maximus" and how were the rights and duties transferred/transformed?
- 📝 How were the old saints justified under the law? (Catholic and Protestant views)
- 📝 How do sedevacantists who claim the See has been empty since Vatican II understand the legitimacy of the bishops and priests?
- 📝 How are the soul and the body related to each other according to the RCC?
- 📝 How many, if any, denominations hold that Adam and Eve were perfect before the fall?
- 📝 How are the religious usages of mainline and evangelical related to their general nonreligious meanings?
- 📝 How do young earth creationists reconcile the age of the universe with the speed of light, and visible distant objects?
- 📝 How were the books of the New Testament chosen?
- 📝 How can the sun be created after day and night?
- 📝 What were the main doctrinal disagreements between Luther and Calvin?
- 📝 How can I tell the difference between the Moral law and other laws in the old testament?
- 📝 What were the Nephilim, and what role did they play in the Bible beyond just being mentioned?
- 📝 How does Matthew 25:31-46 ("The Sheep and the Goats") reconcile with salvation by faith?
- 📝 How did the Crusades affect the Pope's power and authority?
- 📝 How could Stephen be stoned without a trial and conviction in front of the Roman Governor?
- 📝 When and how did the names Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John get attached to the gospels?
- 📝 How are the Calvinist, Arminian and Lutheran conceptions of Total Depravity different?
- 📝 Were the similarities between the miracles of Elisha and Jesus deliberate or simply coincidental?
- 📝 How did Cain and Abel know to offer sacrifices before the Law of Moses?
- 📝 If the Holy Spirit is God, and God can not be in the presence of sin, then how can the Holy Spirit dwell in me a sinner?
- 📝 What passages of Scripture were used by the popes and crusaders to justify the Crusades?
- 📝 How did John the Baptist have the "spirit and power of Elijah"?
- 📝 How much were the 30 pieces of silver (Judas's payment) worth?
- 📝 Where, exactly, were Christ's body and soul during the Descendit?
- 📝 What were the beliefs, teachings, and practices of the church regarding slavery in the New World?