ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE REPORT: Fruits and Future of Vatican II
Friday 28 September 2012
FIFTY years ago in October, the Second Vatican Council, known as Vatican II, began in Rome. To mark this anniversary, Catholic Theological College, Australian Catholic University, Yarra Theological Union and Jesuit Theological College collaborated to host a three day Symposium in Melbourne from 19-21 September.
View gallery Listen to lectures
The Symposium, “Fruits and Future of Vatican II” provided an opportunity for more than 100 participants to look at the history of the Council in the context of the Church today through lectures, nearly forty presentations, discussion and liturgies.
Others attended the two public lectures, book launch, or Opening Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Mark Coleridge. The Symposium echoed the Council’s reflections on the Pilgrim People of God, by holding sessions at three of the institutions, and moving between them.
Keynote speakers included Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane; Professor Alberto Melloni, Director of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies, Bologna; Rev. Professor Gerald O'Collins SJ AC, Former Dean of Theology, Gregorian University, and Professor Anne Hunt FACE OAM, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, Australian Catholic University.
The Symposium featured the presentation of the findings of the Australian Catholic University-sponsored book, Vatican II: Reception and Implementation in the Australian Church (edited by Neil Ormerod, Ormond Rush, David Pascoe, and Joel Hodge; published by John Garratt). The book was officially launched during the conference by Most Rev. Philip E. Wilson, Archbishop of Adelaide and Vice-President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. The book analyses the effects and reception of the Council in different areas of Church life over the last 50 years and discusses the challenges and opportunities that remain for on-going reception. The areas explored include liturgy, Scripture, theology and theological education, social justice, mission, the laity, young people, priestly and religious life, bishops, Aboriginal people, ecumenism, religious education, ecclesiology, and more. The book brings together a wide range of expertise—drawn from ACU and beyond—and a number of the chapters were presented during the conference.
Listen to audio recordings from Vatican II Symposium
Archbishop Mark Coleridge: ‘A Different Fire: Vatican II and the New Evangelisation’
Alberto Melloni presents: ‘Vatican II and its History: a choice and a challenge’
Archbishop Mark Coleridge: ‘A Different Fire: Vatican II and the New Evangelisation’
By Fiona Power
IN his public lecture on Wednesday 19 September, Archbishop Mark Coleridge spoke on ‘A Different Fire: Vatican II and the New Evangelisation’.
Archbishop Coleridge told those gathered that he has come to see a “single Conciliar arc” from the Council of Trent (1545- 1564) to Vatican II via Vatican I (1868-1870). He said that Trent was an attempt to position the Catholic Church to enter the modern world without abandoning God, Vatican I reaffirmed the Church’s ability to teach truth and Vatican II sought to respond to the European crisis following World War II which cast doubt over the promises of modernity.
“Beyond the ash-heaps, it was not possible for the Church to adopt a hermeneutic of either rupture-as if the past had gone on forever- or a hermeneutic of continuity- as if nothing was changed by the twin apocalypse,” he said. “In the Second Vatican Council, the Church opted instead for a hermeneutic of reform, which contained elements of both rupture and continuity. It was not one or the other, but a right mix of the two. Now, we might argue to this day about what exactly a right mix might mean, but there is no doubt that that was the choice of the Council.”
Archbishop Coleridge said Vatican II represented the beginning of the birth of a world Church and heralded a new missionary phase. He said both Vatican II and the pontificate and New Evangelisation of John Paul II, were founded on an encounter with Christ.
“… in the end, they were nothing other than a single great contemplation of the face of Christ, in whom alone the world will find its way beyond the ash-heaps,” he said.
Archbishop Coleridge said there were a number of surges of Gospel energy in history, often in “dark times” and “against the tide”.
“What both Vatican II and successive popes have said is that, in our own time, beyond the ash-heaps of Auschwitz and Hiroshima and all they symbolise, we need another new surge of Gospel energy, a surge which will come only if there is another new and deeper contemplation of the face of Christ, a new and deeper encounter with the Lord crucified and risen.”
Archbishop Coleridge said such a surge will bring a kind of “Copernican revolution”, whereby the Church will go to the world with the gift of the Gospel, rather than seeking to recreate a world which revolves around the Church. This involves evangelising the culture, providing, or working to create, “a rich and supportive context within which personal choices can be made”. It also means resisting pressure to sideline or disqualify the Church from speaking on issues of public morality.
Archbishop Coleridge said Vatican II was primarily about new mission.
“Any New Evangelisation, which takes its cue from Vatican II will also be a clear affirmation of the body, community and history,” he said. The goal of Vatican II, in that sense, was a more Eucharistic Church and world.
“The Second Vatican Council sought to respond to the fires of the death-camps and the bomb by setting hearts on fire through a new evangelisation which would enable people everywhere to see the Risen Lord and hear him, and to know that he is the one who walks with them on their journey out of hopelessness into hope. That different fire is what the Council was all about and what the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI have been all about.”
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE
FIFTY years ago in October, the Second Vatican Council, known as Vatican II, began in Rome. To mark this anniversary, Catholic Theological College, Australian Catholic University, Yarra Theological Union and Jesuit Theological College collaborated to host a three day Symposium in Melbourne from 19-21 September.View gallery Listen to lectures
The Symposium, “Fruits and Future of Vatican II” provided an opportunity for more than 100 participants to look at the history of the Council in the context of the Church today through lectures, nearly forty presentations, discussion and liturgies.
Others attended the two public lectures, book launch, or Opening Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Mark Coleridge. The Symposium echoed the Council’s reflections on the Pilgrim People of God, by holding sessions at three of the institutions, and moving between them.
Keynote speakers included Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane; Professor Alberto Melloni, Director of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies, Bologna; Rev. Professor Gerald O'Collins SJ AC, Former Dean of Theology, Gregorian University
The Symposium featured the presentation of the findings of the Australian Catholic University-sponsored book, Vatican II: Reception and Implementation in the Australian Church (edited by Neil Ormerod, Ormond Rush, David Pascoe, and Joel Hodge; published by John Garratt). The book was officially launched during the conference by Most Rev. Philip E. Wilson, Archbishop of Adelaide and Vice-President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. The book analyses the effects and reception of the Council in different areas of Church life over the last 50 years and discusses the challenges and opportunities that remain for on-going reception. The areas explored include liturgy, Scripture, theology and theological education, social justice, mission, the laity, young people, priestly and religious life, bishops, Aboriginal people, ecumenism, religious education, ecclesiology, and more. The book brings together a wide range of expertise—drawn from ACU and beyond—and a number of the chapters were presented during the conference.
Listen to audio recordings from Vatican II Symposium
- Homily at Opening Mass, 21 Sep 2012 – Rev. Prof. Francis J. Moloney SDB AM
- Public Lecture, 21 Sep 2012 – Archbishop Mark Coleridge – “A Different Fire: Vatican II and the New Evangelisation”
Includes respondents: Dr Clare Johnson and Br Mark O’Connor FMS
- Plenary Lecture, 22 Sep 2012 – Prof. Anne Hunt FACE OAM – “The Trinitarian Depths of Vatican II”
Includes respondent: Rev. Prof. Gerald O'Collins SJ AC
- Book Launch, 22 Sep 2012 – Archbishop Philip Wilson – “Vatican II: Reception and Implementation in the Australian Church,” ed. Neil Ormerod et al.
Includes introduction by Archbishop Hart, comments by Dr Clare Johnson and Garratt Publishing representatives
- Public Lecture, 22 Sep 2012 – Prof. Alberto Melloni – “Vatican II and its History: A Choice and a Challenge”
Includes respondent: Rev. Assoc. Prof. Orm Rush
- Plenary Lecture, 23 Sep 2012 - Rev. Professor Gerald O'Collins SJ AC – “Vatican II and the Religious Other”
Includes respondent: Prof. John D’Arcy May
Archbishop Mark Coleridge: ‘A Different Fire: Vatican II and the New Evangelisation’
Alberto Melloni presents: ‘Vatican II and its History: a choice and a challenge’
Archbishop Mark Coleridge: ‘A Different Fire: Vatican II and the New Evangelisation’
By Fiona Power
IN his public lecture on Wednesday 19 September, Archbishop Mark Coleridge spoke on ‘A Different Fire: Vatican II and the New Evangelisation’.
Archbishop Coleridge told those gathered that he has come to see a “single Conciliar arc” from the Council of Trent (1545- 1564) to Vatican II via Vatican I (1868-1870). He said that Trent was an attempt to position the Catholic Church to enter the modern world without abandoning God, Vatican I reaffirmed the Church’s ability to teach truth and Vatican II sought to respond to the European crisis following World War II which cast doubt over the promises of modernity.
“Beyond the ash-heaps, it was not possible for the Church to adopt a hermeneutic of either rupture-as if the past had gone on forever- or a hermeneutic of continuity- as if nothing was changed by the twin apocalypse,” he said. “In the Second Vatican Council, the Church opted instead for a hermeneutic of reform, which contained elements of both rupture and continuity. It was not one or the other, but a right mix of the two. Now, we might argue to this day about what exactly a right mix might mean, but there is no doubt that that was the choice of the Council.”
Archbishop Coleridge said Vatican II represented the beginning of the birth of a world Church and heralded a new missionary phase. He said both Vatican II and the pontificate and New Evangelisation of John Paul II, were founded on an encounter with Christ.
“… in the end, they were nothing other than a single great contemplation of the face of Christ, in whom alone the world will find its way beyond the ash-heaps,” he said.
Archbishop Coleridge said there were a number of surges of Gospel energy in history, often in “dark times” and “against the tide”.
“What both Vatican II and successive popes have said is that, in our own time, beyond the ash-heaps of Auschwitz and Hiroshima and all they symbolise, we need another new surge of Gospel energy, a surge which will come only if there is another new and deeper contemplation of the face of Christ, a new and deeper encounter with the Lord crucified and risen.”
Archbishop Coleridge said such a surge will bring a kind of “Copernican revolution”, whereby the Church will go to the world with the gift of the Gospel, rather than seeking to recreate a world which revolves around the Church. This involves evangelising the culture, providing, or working to create, “a rich and supportive context within which personal choices can be made”. It also means resisting pressure to sideline or disqualify the Church from speaking on issues of public morality.
Archbishop Coleridge said Vatican II was primarily about new mission.
“Any New Evangelisation, which takes its cue from Vatican II will also be a clear affirmation of the body, community and history,” he said. The goal of Vatican II, in that sense, was a more Eucharistic Church and world.
“The Second Vatican Council sought to respond to the fires of the death-camps and the bomb by setting hearts on fire through a new evangelisation which would enable people everywhere to see the Risen Lord and hear him, and to know that he is the one who walks with them on their journey out of hopelessness into hope. That different fire is what the Council was all about and what the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI have been all about.”
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE
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