OP ED - MIKE AQUILINA

What is the Real Spirit of Vatican II?
Accept no substitutes!

By Mike Aquilina, Editor, "New Covenant" Magazine

When I hear someone invoke the "spirit of Vatican II," I'm tempted to call forth that spirit myself and ask it to utter its name. But I'm afraid of what the answer might be.

"My name is Legion, for we are many" (Mark 5:9).

There seem to be a good many "spirits of Vatican II" flitting about. Some are pacifist, while others advocate armed class struggle. Some are high-church, some low. Some are so broad-church they're happy to welcome witches to the altar. Most are fixated on sex and want the Church to loosen up all those repressive "rules." But sex is an occasion for still more variety: The spirits disagree among themselves as to just how much they would permit a pair (or more) of bedfellows.

But all spirits of this species seem to share one trait: They stand in stark contrast to the actual letter of Vatican II. These alleged spirits of Vatican II are invariably irreconcilable with the actual teachings of Vatican II.

On Authority. Most of the spirits are agin it - whether it's Scripture, Tradition, or the magisterium. For these spirits, all authority in the Church comes down to patriarchy, and all patriarchy is oppressive. Vatican II, they assure us, freed us to follow "conscience," which is sometimes spelled "convenience," other times "comfort."

But not so, says the council: "Loyal submission of the will and intellect must be given . . . to the authentic teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, even when he does not speak ex cathedra" (Lumen Gentium 25).

On Contraception. Most of the spirits are for it. Sed contra, the council says: "In questions of birth regulation the sons of the Church . . . are forbidden to use methods disapproved by the teaching authority of the Church" (Gaudium et Spes 51).

We could go on multiplying contradictions between "spirits" and letter - on ecumenism, abortion, but you get the point.

Yet amid all the wannabes, it's easy to find the real spirit of Vatican II. Just capitalize it. There is only one Spirit (Eph. 4:3-4) who vivifies the Church and speaks through her councils, pope, bishops. The Spirit is one through time, so He's unlikely to have changed His mind on contraception or infallibility. Thus, when some folks invoke a spirit to witness against the explicit teaching of the Second Vatican Council, or any authoritative voice of the Church, we know the spirit is false.

Still, it's legitimate to ask what was the Spirit's particular task with this council. It seems to me that He was out to light a fire under the seat of every Christian. The council documents make it clear that the Christian vocation is a universal call to perfection of life. There are no exceptions, no loopholes. If, once upon a time, too many Churchmen taught that perfection is reserved for an elite corps of women in habits and men in Roman collars, they can't say it now.

Along with the council's call to holiness goes a universal call to apostolate. The mission is not just for missionaries. Lay people must work to bring about the conversion of all their neighbors. "No member plays a purely passive part," says Apostolicam Actuositatem (2). It goes on to say that "A member who does not work at the growth of the body to the extent of his possibilities must be considered useless both to the Church and to himself." Lay men and women are to "permeate and improve the temporal order, going about it in a way that bears clear witness to Christ and helps forward the salvation of men."

The flighty pseudo spirits of Vatican II cannot sustain the zeal to make that happen. In their indifference to doctrine, they can't even get very excited about missionary activity. But we shouldn't let them concern us. The letter of Vatican II speaks in a consistent tone of hope, joy, and confidence. We should too.

The beacon for me in these matters is my nephew Mark. Born almost a decade after the Council's close, he seemed to snooze through much of his childhood religious formation. Then in his teen years Mark "discovered" the Catholic Faith of his baptism. Now he loves to live it.

But the theological and liturgical wars of the 60s and 70s mean little to him. The Second Vatican Council is for him just another point, with Chalcedon and Trent, on a timeline in his history books. Though "Vatican II," like "Vietnam," calls up an emotional surge in people of my generation, to Mark, the Catholic Church is the Church, pre-conciliar and post. The timeless teaching reaches him undivided by partisan politics or ecclesial agendas.

Now, that's the Spirit.

Mike Aquilina is editor of New Covenant: A Magazine of Catholic Spirituality. To subscribe, call 1-800-348-2440.