Dignity and the Second Vatican Council

Like everybody, I like enjoying my integrity, my physical, psychic, social, economic, cultural, and spiritual integrity. Reciprocally, I respect and care for the integrity of the persons who interact with me. Mutual respect and care socially realize the equal dignity, liberty and rights of the interacting women, men and queer. Rather than the letters LGBTQI as acronym, I use the expression “queer” to include all non-heterosexual and gender variant people on the grounds of their non-normativity. The struggle and fight for identity, integrity and dignity is a daily task on a daily basis. Equal dignity, freedom and rights are the foundation of the Human Rights of the individual, as they are spelled out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). My interpretation of the Second Vatican Council wants to contribute with love, faith and hope to realize the effective rule of Human Rights law within the Roman Catholic Church.

Since the spiritual aspect of the individual is part of the integrity of the whole person, the social realization of equal dignity, freedom and rights is also part of the validity condition for every religion and religious institution. This category of the BLOG of a Roman Catholic Christian is an investigation of the government, faith and teaching of the Roman Catholic Church according to the documents of the Second Vatican Council. The leading interest of my investigation is the assessment of the faith in Jesus Christ and of the social realization of dignity by the Council. This investigation is of general relevance for the social realization of Human Rights within the Roman Catholic Church and its capability to work for the realization of equal dignity, freedom, and rights in the world, to work for justice and peace.

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest religious institution in the contemporary world and counts more than a billion faithful women, men and queer. The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was the Catholic Church’s most important event for reform in the 20th century CE. Faith in Jesus Christ was the corner stone of the reform; structural discrimination by the monarchic government of the Church hierarchy blocked the effective proclamation of the liberating message of the Gospel. The realization of the dignity of the individual Christian was partially on the agenda of the Council. The biggest organized meeting of human history so far assembled over 2300 bishops from all over the world in Rome. A minority of old white male cardinals, and of white male bishops from Europe and North America with the help of their white male clerical theologians produced the 16 documents of the Second Vatican Council. African, Indian, Asian, and South American bishops participated in the discussions and commissions of the Council. Their presence in the aula of the Council at St. Peter’s in Rome was an historic event. The members of the Second Vatican Council came from all over the world and the Roman Catholic Church became visible as a world church. Yet, Europeans and some North Americans wrote the documents of the Council. The Second Vatican Council opens the Roman Catholic Church acknowledging a world of pluralisms of worldviews, values, cultures, traditions, and religions, yet grants privileges to the Roman Catholic tradition. My interpretation assesses the cultural and religious pluralism in the world and claims mutual interactions of respect and dignity as a precious resource that conditions personal integrity, contributes to world justice and peace and protects the common biosphere of our planet Earth.

General Relevance

As a theologizing Christian, I investigate the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. This is the first systematic theological study by a Roman Catholic Christian of all 16 documents of the historic event that is the Second Vatican Council concerning their significance for the social realization of dignity and Human Rights within the Roman Catholic Church.

I am a Roman Catholic Christian who reflects on contemporary world problems and the challenges for justice, gender equality, peace and the equal respect for all religious beliefs and faiths. I am investigating the contributions of the Roman Catholic Church to mastering these challenges. Assessing the reform and the limits of the reform efforts of the Second Vatican Council is relevant for the development of the Roman Catholic Church and is necessary for overcoming the obstacles that the government of the Roman Catholic Church puts in the way of a full realization of dignity and Human Rights.

Interpreting the Second Vatican Council

The premises of my interpretation consist of a kind of language philosophy that explains my understanding of interactions with speech and speech-acts, of dignity and truth. I am interacting with the government, faith and teaching of the Roman Catholic Church based on language. Is it not self-evident that we use language for communication? In speech-acts about faith, religious convictions, world-views and ethics, we commonly use the first person singular in order to express our personal point of view. Many theologians at the Second Vatican Council were conscious of the fact that religious belief and faith in Jesus Christ is expressed by sentences of personal confession. The Christian Creed starts with the first person singular “I believe”. At the Second Vatican Council, faith in Jesus Christ was the corner stone of the theologians, who respected the empirical method of the natural sciences that falsifies hypotheses in order to construct new and better hypotheses for further falsification and amelioration. A philosophy of religion has to pay attention to the fact that faith-sentences show what they mean and say what the speaker wants to say. Faith-sentences do not describe persons and things; they do not say who Go’d is, they say what we think about Go’d. I use the sign “Go’d”, because we can say only what we mean but we cannot say who Go’d is.

It is an empirical question to discover how things are and faith cannot substitute empirical investigations. Empirical questions are answered with the help of a logic with the truth-values true or false. Philosophical, theological and unsolvable empirical questions use a logic with the truth-values true, false and “I do not know” because we cannot decide on the matter empirically. (These epistemological questions of philosophy of religions are reflected by my postings in the category “Sense, truth, and belief”).

Faith is not a substitute for my personal physical, psychic, social, economic, cultural and spiritual integrity. Faith is an aspect of my personal integrity. Interactions with other persons enhance my integrity, they harm my integrity, they may hurt my integrity or they may help to heal my hurt integrity. It is important to assess one’s integrity and to insist on one’s integrity. The social choice to insist on one’s integrity preserves and respects one’s dignity. Social interactions that mutually respect the dignity of the interacting persons realize peace and justice. Speech-acts, that is the communication of at least two persons, are foundational elements of dignity if the speakers and listeners reciprocally respect their equal dignity, liberty and rights. The individual woman, man and queer is necessary for realizing dignity, just as the rule of Human Rights law protects the dignity of the individual. The speech-acts of claiming dignity and Human Rights are fundamental agencies of democracy.

Considering the speech-acts of single women, men and queer who claim dignity and Human Rights is especially relevant in a world of pluralisms of world-views, values, cultures and traditions. Sticking to the importance of the claim of the single individual for dignity and Human Rights based on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s conviction that there are no privileged sentences and propositions, follows an egalitarian understanding of the interests of the single woman, man and queer. The speech-acts of individual persons claim the realization of the dignity of the speakers and listeners. The concepts of equality of freedom and rights for over 200 years serve philosophy as principles for world peace. The relevance of the responsibility of the individual woman, man and queer claiming and protecting Human Rights got acknowledged in the 20th century. Showing that philosophical concepts of dignity and freedom are in fact sentences about possible social choices, hopefully contributes to the formation of a Human Rights consciousness that is a possibility condition for claiming social change for the better.

Another premise of my interpretation of the Council claims the conjunction of theological reflection and spiritual experience. (Read more in the category “Spiritualities” of my BLOG). Modern women, men, and queer start from experiences of faith, not from abstract reflections. There is the ambiguity, that Catholic traditions of meditations insist on experience, although the Roman Catholic Church authorities suppressed and still oppresses the public expression of the experiences of spiritual freedom and liberty. The example of an almost five-hundred-year-old tradition of meditation that insists on the liberty, freedom and integrity of the meditating persons demonstrates the case of ambiguity. The Spiritual Exercises from Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) insist on the significance of the spiritual life of the individual, on the freedom and liberty of the individual person who is effectively doing Spiritual Exercises in the private sphere. In contrast, freedom of expression, liberty and equal dignity for all women, men and queer in the public sphere of the Roman Catholic Church are controlled by and ultimately subjected to the authority of the Church’s hierarchy. In some contrasting tension with this hierarchy, Karl Rahner (1904-1984) defends the particular spiritual experience of the individual who practices the Spiritual Exercises in order to find peace in the presence of Go’d. The particular experience of calm, peace and consolation cannot be reduced to the general and must therefore be taken seriously and respected as a particular and authentic experience of the individual. I interpret this particular experience of the individual as a manifestation of the equal dignity, freedom and rights of all women, men and queer who are all equal before Go’d and each other. Since the Second Vatican Council does not describe and define central terms of the Christian faith, like for example the term salvation, and since the Council does not reflect on salvation in relation to the individual person who is experiencing salvation, I must make up my mind on these central terms of the Christian faith. By reading, studying, and meditating on the Gospel, I try to describe the terms salvation, resurrection and other terms central to the Christian faith and hope. I examine and meditate the model of the healing agency of Jesus Christ who preached the just world of Go’d by healing and who healed by teaching peace and love. I examine the Letter to the Hebrews as testimony to a Christian community that by celebrating its faith in Jesus Christ becomes community of the body of Christ where all participants are invited to preach the Gospel with the Holy Spirit received in baptism. (see the Category “God’s just world” of my BLOG).

My interpretation of the Second Vatican Council starts treating the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum and the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate. Both owe their origin to the explicit will and continuing determination of Pope John XXIII (1881-1963) to contribute to world justice and peace according to the inspiration of the Bible. On January 25, 1959 Pope John XXIII announced a General Council, after unexpectedly having been elected pope on 28 October 1958. He was convinced that by realizing her proper values of inspiration and analysis, the Church will once again find her equilibrium and empowerment to work for peace, justice and unity in the whole world.

The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum was the only text produced by the Second Vatican Council that was discussed from the Council’s beginning in 1962 until its end in 1965. There were conflicting views on the authentic interpretation of the Bible as revelation and on the possibility of a further development of revelation by tradition. In the end, the Second Vatican Council confirmed the Bible as the word of Go’d and center of the Christian faith and teaching, and concluded that the Bible does not claim that Go’d is the author. Dei Verbum insists on the ecclesiological function of the Scriptures that are interpreted in the right way only by the community of all women, men and queer believers consenting in the one faith in Jesus Christ.

With Nostra Aetate, Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council succeeded in realizing an end to the sad history of the centuries filled with doctrinal Catholic antisemitism. Pope John XXIII also affirmed the origin of Christianity in the Jewish faith and the enduring connection between Christians and Hebrews within the continuing history of salvation.

The history of the event of the Second Vatican Council constitutes the foundation for describing the spirit of renovation of the Catholic Church based on the Gospel. I am fundamentally indebted to the historian Giuseppe Alberigo, who dedicated his life and the work of his team of scholars in Bologna to reconstructing the singular event of the Second Vatican Council (Alberigo, Giuseppe and Alberto Melloni, ed. 1995–2001. Storia del concilio Vaticano II. 5 vols. Bologna: Società editrice il Mulino). Together with the assessment of the historic event, I carefully read, study, and interpret the texts that were voted by the Council and approved by the pope.

I confront my interpretation of the Second Vatican Council with classic interpretations like that of Hünermann and Hilberath (Hünermann, Peter and Bernd Jochen Hilberath, eds. 2004–2006. Herders Theologischer Kommentar zum Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzil. 5 Volums. Freiburg: Herder).

The central testimony on the monastic government of the Roman Catholic Church' Law is the canonical and theological expert at the Second Vatican Council William Onclin (Onclin, William. 1967. “Church and Church Law.” Sage Journals 28 (4): 733–748. doi:10.1177/004056396702800404).

I use the following Bible editions:

Bibel in gerechter Sprache, 2007. Ulrike Bail, Frank Crüsemann et al. (Editors) Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus.

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia 1983. Elliger, Karl, Rudolpf, Wilhelm , Rüger (Editors). Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft Stuttgart. Stuttgart: Biblia-Druck.

The Greek New Testament 1994. Aland, Barbara, Aland Kurt, Karavidopoulos, Johannes, Martini, Carlo, M., Metzger, Bruce M. (Editors). Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, United Bible Societies. Stuttgart: Biblia-Druck.

The New Jerusalem Bible. 1999. New York: Doubleday.

I study and interpret the Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church: Christus Dominus, the Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests: Presbyterorum Ordinis, the Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life: Perfectae Caritatis, the Decree on the Formation of Priests: Optatam totius, the Decree on Christian Education: Gravisssimum educationis and finally the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity: Apostolicam Actuositatem. The Second Vatican Council takes note of the laity and appreciates the collaboration of lay women and men in the life of the Church on condition that the apostolate of the laity always remains under the control of the hierarchy. There is no control of the hierarchic government of the bishops under the pope, there are no checks and balances, and there is no accountability for this absolute power. No wonder that the power abuses got denounced and condemned in the last decades. Studies on sexual violence and violence stemming from the church’s all-male hierarchy document the power abuse within the Roman Catholic Church. Listening to feminist authors helps me develop an anthropology of the personal identity, integrity and dignity of women, men and queer that corresponds with the just world of Go’d of the Bible, that denounces oppression, discrimination and power abuse and promises that all wounds are healed. I present elements for an interactive and holistic anthropology. The term holistic means, that I am considering the physical, psychic, social, economic, cultural, and spiritual elements of the individual and their mutual interactions for sustaining the integrity of the individual woman, man and queer. The term interactive means that mutual interaction between individuals can sustain the reciprocal care for the integrity, dignity, freedoms and rights of the women, men and queer participating in the interaction. I present this kind of interactive and holistic anthropology as a possible Christian alternative to the dualistic anthropology of the official Roman Catholic Church that insists on the Scripture-forgotten dualistic teachings of the separate realities of body and soul, nature and individual, divine, and societal, humankind and cosmos. The Roman Catholic Church further insists on the domination and suppression of the equal dignity, freedom and rights of the individual woman, man and queer within the Church.

In the European Middle Ages the power structures of the Roman Catholic Church were visible in the hierarchy of offices that were held by the pope, the bishops and the clergy who assured their privileges and demanded obedience by the faithful. I describe the liberating efforts of the Dominican monk Bartolomé de las Casas (1493-1566) who insisted in the liberating message of the Bible. By claiming the inherent and inalienable liberty of the individual and by claiming the rule of law, Las Casas called for the accountability of the powerful to the law. Despite all these individual efforts fighting for the rule of law and for the liberty of the individual throughout the centuries, the Roman Catholic Church enforced her legal status as absolute monarchy under the rule of a supreme pontiff. The Roman Catholic canonist William Onclin tells those who want to listen that the magisterium of the Church and Canon Law speak of the Church as divine and as human, as the Church as the people of God and as the Church as an absolute monarchy, as divine community of the faithful and as monarchic society (Onclin, William. 1967. “Church and Church Law.” Sage Journals 28 (4). 733). I take the documents of the Second Vatican Council seriously and my analysis of the documents affirms the monarchic continuity of the Church’s self-understanding. Despite all theological reforms and orientation on the word of the Scriptures, the Second Vatican Council does not question or abandon the monarchic government of the Roman Catholic Church.

I describe the consequences of the faithful Catholics in Europe and North America reacting to their continuing discrimination by church authorities. The analysis of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium describes the immanent contradiction of the document that at the same time calls for participation of the faithful in the sanctifying service of the liturgy as well as for pious obedience to the guiding offices of the bishops and their clergy.

I describe and analyze the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium. Lumen Gentium is the central document of the Second Vatican Council for assessing the self-understanding and the identity of the Roman Catholic Church as the communion of the people of God and as a hierarchic society.

I describe and analyze the texts on religious liberty Dignitatis Humanae, on ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio and on Catholic Oriental Churches Orientalium Ecclesiarum. The affirmation of religious liberty was not easy for the Council and does not mean that the Roman Catholic Church affirms the freedom of speech within the Church. The principle of ecumenism was affirmed and the ecumenical dialogue with the Churches of the Reform - for the first time the Roman Catholic Church recognized them as Churches - was encouraged. In the end the institution of the papacy remains the principal obstacle to unity, not the Christian faith.

I describe and analyze the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes. Gaudium et Spes initiates the dialogue of the Roman Catholic Church with the modern world. The Council tries to identify elements of the modern world and affirms the legitimate autonomy of worldly affairs. At the same time the Council insists on teaching the world the moral norms of the Roman Catholic Church and one asks what happens to the responsible autonomy of the citizens, their dignity, liberty and rights. I analyze in detail the understanding of the terms dignity, freedom and equal rights by the Council and the understanding of the same terms by the civil, political, social and cultural rights of the UDHR.

I describe and analyze the Decree on the mission activity of the Church Ad Gentes. Again, the UDHR informs my understanding of the social and cultural rights that constitute the validity condition for the claim of the Council to end the export of the European model of the Roman Catholic Church to the cultures and peoples of the world. I recognize the social and cultural autonomy of the faithful who describe their faith and organize their communities according to their conscience and values.

I describe and analyze the short Decree on the Media of social communication Inter Mirifica. The decree encourages the use of the mass media to spread the values and norms of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church that are predominantly expressed by the pope. There is no talk in the decree of how to handle cultural pluralism and free speech in the media of social communication.

Summary of the principal findings:

The Second Vatican Council was neither a council of transformation and transition nor a council of continuity for the Roman Catholic Church. Concerning the teachings, the liturgical practices and the government of the Roman Catholic Church, the Second Vatican Council brought about some necessary theological reforms. Theological reforms concerned the assessment of the Bible as the principal source for Christian life, the renouncement of Church anti-Semitism, the recognition of the Churches of the Reform, and the liberty of other religions and non-believers to follow their consciences and cultures. Liturgical reform brought the recognition of native language in liturgy, a shy active participation of lays in the liturgy and an intensified reading of the Bible in the liturgical services. Concerning the government of the Roman Catholic Church, the Second Vatican Council is celebrated as an outstanding event in the life of the Church in the 20th century CE. That event became possible thanks to the initiative of Pope John XXIII. John XXIII demanded from the Council Fathers to start using their liberty of free speech and provided the Council with some democratic procedures such as voting and passing texts and documents. In the last two years of the Council, Pope Paul VI increasingly intervened in the event of the Council to strengthen again the absolute monarchic power of the pope, in order to block any democratic reforms of the Church government and to assure the societal structure of the Roman Catholic Church as a hierarchic monarchy. The last two years of the Second Vatican Council initiated the restoration of authoritarian teaching, governing, and praying of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church that is ruled by the sovereign Roman pontiff. This authoritarian government and structure of the Roman Catholic Church functions until our days and change is not in sight. Yet, the hope of the faithful stands firm that the One and Only, the invisible Go’d who provides the principle of life, once again announces the rule of law of the Spirit for realizing Her just world of Go’d (Ezekiel 36, 27; 37, 24b). My use of the words Spirit, Her, and Go’d does not pretend showing whom I mean but what I mean.