Good council.I was deeply troubled by The Examined Life ("Vatican II Noun 1. Vatican II - the Vatican Council in 1962-1965 that abandoned the universal Latin liturgy and acknowledged ecumenism and made other reforms Second Vatican Council Vatican Council - each of two councils of the Roman Catholic Church , Schmatican II," December) by Tara Dix. The very title was insulting and insensitive in·sen·si·tive adj. 1. Not physically sensitive; numb. 2. a. Lacking in sensitivity to the feelings or circumstances of others; unfeeling. b. , and the content that followed is potentially damaging for those of us in the church who are trying to introduce the significance of this council to young men and women who are the heart and soul of the 21st-century church. For the past 16 years I have been teaching theology to undergraduates at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). . I have been trying to convey the significance of Vatican II to my students, trying to persuade them to see that it was the most decisive ecclesial Ec`cle´si`al a. 1. Ecclesiastical. event in the 20th century. I am hoping that they will come to see that Vatican II was a gift to the church, a much-needed reform, a work of the Holy Spirit. Dix claims, "I'm quite certain that most Catholics under the age of 30 are not inspired by cries of Gaudium et Spes Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, was one of the chief accomplishments of the Second Vatican Council. Approved by a vote of 2,307 to 75 of the bishops assembled at the council, and was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on December ." I wonder if she has read the entire document. For the first time a church document took seriously the human condition as a factor in the theological endeavor. Perhaps the saddest part of Dix's article is when she writes that she wishes she could say without a doubt that this is the community in which she wants to raise her children. This church--divinely founded and divinely guided--is in the hands of weak, wounded, and fragile human beings and will always be a sin-burdened instrument pointing to the kingdom. But this will always be my church because I believe that the promise of the risen Christ to be faithful to his church is more powerful than any evil we may do. As for your advice to those of us trying to teach a new generation about the council, you write: "Cut the Vatican II talk." I am sorry, Ms. Dix, I cannot do that. Sister Maureen Sullivan, O.P. Manchester, N.H. I am a college student taking a theology course called "The Church." Before I took this class here at St. Anselm College, I had never heard of Vatican II. Upon reading Dix's article, I was shocked. It is insulting to place the word "yawn yawn v. To open the mouth wide with a deep inhalation, usually involuntarily from drowsiness, fatigue, or boredom. n. The act of yawning. " in a sentence pertaining per·tain intr.v. per·tained, per·tain·ing, per·tains 1. To have reference; relate: evidence that pertains to the accident. 2. to Vatican II, as it was the biggest turning point that our church has ever faced. I think Dix would be doing a lot more "yawning yawning a deep, involuntary inspiration with the mouth open, often accompanied by the act of stretching. Repeated yawning in the presence of other signs, may accompany signs of chronic abdominal pain or hepatic disease. " if at church next Sunday the priest kept his back to her and spoke in some language she had no knowledge of. I think Dix needs to consider just how much our church has changed over the years. Most of the credit can be given to Vatican II. Jennifer Venuti Manchester, N.H. |
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