hermeneutic of reform / 2 
time ago I pointed out a fine book hermeneutics of reform (Vatican II. Renewal Within Tradition, edd. ML Lamb, M. Levering , Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2008). Then I was no longer returned to the topic, got a bit 'of commitments. P. Riccado Barile has just sent his division into paragraphs of the famous speech of Benedict XVI to the Roman Curia on December 22, 2005, which may help the reader.
The speech became a kind of program of the pontificate of Pope Benedict impegnato nella difficile opera di riforma spirituale del clero. In questo obiettivo, una particolare attenzione è stata dedicata alla corretta interpretazione del Concilio Vaticano II, attorno al quale è nato un così vivace dibattito, che ancora pare piuttosto vivo, sebbene progressivamente molti uomini di Chiesa stiano giustamente recependo la corretta linea indicata dal Santo Padre.
Rileggendo ora il discorso, mi colpisce un particolare: il Papa tenta una sintesi, molto "tedesca", del rapporto tra Chiesa e modernità negli ultimi tre secoli, a partire dal fatidico 1789, che della modernità è considerato in qualche modo il principio. Il Papa, nel breve spazio di un paragraph shows how modernity has in a sense shown twice: the first, and intolerant secularist, which caused the reaction of the Church in 1800 - that the modern church, with a historical surface, it was "closed" (example of This would be the Syllabus of Pius IX).
The second phase instead belongs to the nineteenth century, when the tragedies of totalitarianism have enhanced tolerance and individual freedom as values. These achievements of the modern spirit found a welcoming church, willing to exploit them. It 's very important distinction, in my view, also to establish a proper hermeneutic of the Council. I it seems that what is implied in the speech of the Pope. If modernity is understood as a monolith - from Descartes to Kant, from Kant to Hegel, from Hegel to Marx, from Marx to Lenin - with it is necessary and inevitable clash, if you want to maintain the Catholic identity, or you need to adapt, if you want to stay up to date. The valuation of the subject is necessarily anti-Christian in this perspective and if you think that Vatican II had celebrated the marriage of modern subjectivity and the Gospel, then either reject it on behalf of the Catholic tradition, but paradoxically rejecting the Church's Magisterium ( so some Lefebvre), or it will host on behalf of the Zeitgeist (progressive). Conversely, if you distinguish between a rationalistic subjectivism or relativism - the enemy of the Church of Christ - and the due appreciation of the subject, daughter unintentionally tragic failure of totalitarian utopia, then you can understand that the Vatican tried to dialogue with the second and not with the first. And so, in a remarkable synthesis, you can make sense of the enigmatic phrase "open to the world," which is supposed to have occurred in the last ecumenical council. The Church was opened to the world yes, but to make it fit in the one fold of the Good Shepherd, and to highlight what the world had learned from the failure of his foolish claims to do without Christ. (G. Lucas)
Catechesis of Benedict XVI
Address to the Roman Curia on the occasion of Christmas greetings December 22, 2005
Cardinals,
venerati Fratelli nell’Episcopato e nel Presbiterato,
cari fratelli e sorelle!
«Expergiscere, homo: quia pro te Deus factus est homo - Svegliati, uomo, poiché per te Dio si è fatto uomo» (S. Agostino, Discorsi , 185). Con quest’invito di Sant’Agostino a cogliere il senso autentico del Natale di Cristo, apro il mio incontro con voi, cari collaboratori della Curia Romana, in prossimità ormai delle festività natalizie.
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I. What was the result of Vatican II?
The last event of the year that I will touch on this occasion is the celebration of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council forty years ago.
This memory prompts the question: What was the result of the Council? It has been well received? What, in the implementation of the Council, it was good, insufficient or wrong thing? What remains to be done?
No one can deny that in vast parts of the Church, the Council's reception has been somewhat difficult, even without wishing to apply to what happened in these years the description that the great Doctor of the Church, St. Basil, makes the situation of the Church after the Council of Nicea: he compares it to a naval battle in the darkness of the storm, saying among other things: "The raucous shouting of those who through disagreement rise up against each other , the incomprehensible chatter, the confused din of uninterrupted clamoring, has now filled almost the entire the Church, falsifying per eccesso o per difetto, la retta dottrina della fede» ( De Spiritu Sancto , XXX, 77; PG 32, 213 A ; SCh 17bis, pag. 524).
II. Un problema di ermeneutica / Due ermeneutiche
Emerge la domanda: Perché la recezione del Concilio, in grandi parti della Chiesa, finora si è svolta in modo così difficile? Ebbene, tutto dipende dalla giusta interpretazione del Concilio o - come diremmo oggi - dalla sua giusta ermeneutica, dalla giusta chiave di lettura e di application. The problems of implementation arose from the fact that two contrary hermeneutics came face to face and quarreled with each other. One caused confusion, the other, silently but more and more visibly, bore fruit.
On the one hand there is an interpretation that I would call hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture , it has frequently availed itself of the sympathies of the mass media, and also a part of modern theology. On the other hand, there is' hermeneutic of reform, of renewal in the continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given us is a subject which increases in time and develops, yet always remaining the same, one subject of the journeying People of God.
1. The hermeneutic of discontinuity
The hermeneutic of discontinuity risks ending in a split between the pre-and post-conciliar Church.
a. The spirit of the Council over the Council texts
It asserts that the texts of the Council as such do not yet express the true spirit of the Council. Were the result of compromises in which, to reach unanimity, it is necessary to keep and reconfirm many old things useless.
not found in these compromises, however, the true spirit of the Council, but instead in the impulses toward the new that underpin the texts: they alone represent the true spirit of the Council, and starting from and in accordance with with them to move ahead. Precisely because the texts would reflect only imperfectly the true spirit of the Council and its newness, it would be necessary to go courageously beyond the texts and make room for novità nella quale si esprimerebbe l’intenzione più profonda, sebbene ancora indistinta, del Concilio. In una parola: occorrerebbe seguire non i testi del Concilio, ma il suo spirito.
b. Valutazione: domande inevase e che cosa fu il Concilio
In tal modo, ovviamente, rimane un vasto margine per la domanda su come allora si definisca questo spirito e, di conseguenza, si concede spazio ad ogni estrosità.
Con ciò, però, si fraintende in radice la natura di un Concilio come tale. In questo modo, esso viene considered as a sort of constituent that eliminates an old constitution and creates a new one. But the Constituent needs a mandator and then confirmation by the client, that is the people that the constitution must serve. The Fathers had no such mandate and no one had ever given them, no one, moreover, could have done so, because the essential constitution of the Church comes from the Lord and was given to us so that we can reach eternal life, and, from this perspective We are able to illuminate life in time and time itself. Bishops, through the sacrament they have received, are stewards of the gift of the Lord. They are "stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Cor 4:1); as such should be found "faithful and wise" (cf. Lk 12:41-48). This means that they must administer the Lord's gift in the right way, that is not left concealed in some hiding place but will bear fruit and the Lord, in the end, the administrator can say, "Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you a lot "(cf. Mt 25:14-30, Lk 19.11-27). These Gospel parables express the dynamic of fidelity required in the service of the Lord, and through them it becomes clear that, as in a Council dynamics and fidelity must be one.
2. The hermeneutic of reform
hermeneutic of discontinuity is countered by the hermeneutic of reform, as was presented first by Pope John XXIII in his opening address to the Council on 11 October 1962 and later by Pope Paul VI in the closing speech of December 7, 1965 .
a. The original text of John XXIII
I would like to quote the well-known words of John XXIII, in which unequivocally express this hermeneutic when he says that the council "wants to transmit the doctrine pure and integral, without any attenuation or distortion," and continues: "Our duty is not only to guard this precious treasure, as if we were concerned only with antiquity, but to dedicate ourselves with an earnest will and without fear to that work which our era demands of us ... It is necessary that this certain and unchangeable doctrine, which must be faithfully respected, both in-depth and presented in a way that meets the needs of our time. One thing is the deposit of faith, that the truths contained in our venerable doctrine, and another thing is the way in which they are expressed, maintaining nevertheless the same way and something else "(S. OEC. Constitutiones decreta Declarationes Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 1974, pp. 863-865).
b. What requires
is clear that this commitment to expressing a certain truth in a new way demands new thinking on it and a new relationship with it, it is also clear that new words can only develop if it is born an understanding of the truth expressed, and on the other hand, reflection on faith also requires that this faith be lived. In this sense, the plan proposed by Pope John XXIII was extremely demanding, is just as demanding and dynamic synthesis of fidelity.
But wherever this interpretation was the orientation that has guided the implementation of the Council, we have a new life and new fruit ripened. Forty years after the Council, we can show that the positive is bigger and more vibrant than they appeared in the years around 1968. Today we see that the good seed, even if it develops slowly, but grows, and grows along with our deep gratitude for the work done by the Council.
III. Paul VI and the apparent hermeneutics discontinuity
Paul VI, in his speech to the end of the Council, has also indicated another specific reason why a hermeneutic of discontinuity can seem convincing.
In the great debate on man, that characterizes modern times, the Council had to focus in particular on the theme of anthropology. Had to question the relationship between the Church and his faith, on the one hand, and the man and the world today, the other (ibid., pp. S. 1066).
1. The relationship between the Church and the modern age
The question becomes even clearer if, instead of the generic term "contemporary world", we choose another more precise: the Council had to find a new way the relationship between Church and the modern age.
a. Galileo, Kant, the French Revolution, the nineteenth
This relationship had a stormy beginning with the trial of Galileo.
It was then totally interrupted when Kant described "religion within the sole reason" and when, in the radical phase of the French Revolution was spread an image of the state and the man who the Church and faith almost did not want to crowd space.
The clash of the Church's faith with a radical liberalism and even natural science that claimed to embrace with their knowledge, the totality of reality to its limits, stubbornly proposing to make redundant the 'God hypothesis, "he Pollution in the nineteenth century under Pius IX, by the Church bitter and radical condemnation of this spirit of modern.
Then, there were apparently no grounds for a positive and fruitful, and was also drastic waste by those who felt they were the representatives of the modern age.
b. The thoughts of the modern age and the Church
In the meantime, however, the modern age had also experienced developments.
We realized that the American Revolution had offered a model of the modern state different from that theorized by the radical tendencies that emerged in the second round of the French Revolution. Natural sciences began, more and more clear, to reflect on their own limitations imposed by their own method which, while achieving great things, but was unable to comprehend the totality of reality.
Thus, both parties were gradually beginning to open up to each other.
Between the two world wars and even more so after the Second World War, Catholic statesmen had shown that there may be a modern secular state, but this is not neutral regarding values, but drawing from the great ethical sources opened by Christianity. Catholic social doctrine, as it developed, had become an important model between radical liberalism and the Marxist theory of the state. The natural sciences, and as such work with a limited method phenomenal aspect of reality, realized ever more clearly that this method does not include the whole of reality and thus opened the doors again to God, knowing that the reality is greater than naturalistic method and what it can encompass.
You could say that had formed three circles of questions now, during the Second Vatican Council, were expecting an answer.
- Innanzitutto occorreva definire in modo nuovo la relazione tra fede e scienze moderne; ciò riguardava, del resto, non soltanto le scienze naturali, ma anche la scienza storica perché, in una certa scuola, il metodo storico-critico reclamava per sé l’ultima parola nella interpretazione della Bibbia e, pretendendo la piena esclusività per la sua comprensione delle Sacre Scritture, si opponeva in punti importanti all’interpretazione che la fede della Chiesa aveva elaborato.
- In secondo luogo, era da definire in modo nuovo il rapporto tra Chiesa e Stato moderno, che concedeva spazio a cittadini of various religions and ideologies, acting impartially towards these religions and simply taking the responsibility for orderly and tolerant coexistence between citizens and their freedom to practice their religion.
- With that, thirdly, it was linked in a more general problem of religious tolerance, an issue that required a new definition of the relationship between Christian faith and world religions. In particular, before the recent crimes of the Nazi regime and, in general, in a retrospective look at a long and difficult history, necessary to evaluate and define the new relationship between the Church and the faith of Israel.
2. Discontinuity and continuity in the relationship between the Church and the modern age
a. General principle: learning to distinguish the contingent that went from structural remains
are all major issues on which it is impossible to reflect more broadly in this context. It is clear that in all these sectors, which together form a single problem, could emerge some kind of discontinuity, in a sense, had manifested itself in fact a discontinuity, in which, however, without the various distinctions between concrete historical situations and their needs-not abandoned the continuity of principles, a fact that easily appreciated at first.
It is precisely this combination of continuity and discontinuity at different levels that is the nature of true reform.
In this process of change through continuity we must learn to understand better than before that the Church's decisions on contingent matters - for example, certain practical forms of liberalism or liberal interpretations of the Bible - should necessarily be the same quotas, appunto perché riferite a una determinata realtà in se stessa mutevole. Bisognava imparare a riconoscere che, in tali decisioni, solo i principi esprimono l’aspetto duraturo, rimanendo nel sottofondo e motivando la decisione dal di dentro. Non sono invece ugualmente permanenti le forme concrete, che dipendono dalla situazione storica e possono quindi essere sottoposte a mutamenti. Così le decisioni di fondo possono restare valide, mentre le forme della loro applicazione a contesti nuovi possono cambiare.
b. Applicazione: la problematica della libertà religiosa
Così, For example, if freedom of religion is considered an expression of man to find the truth and thus become a canonization of relativism, then this social and historical necessity is raised inappropriately to the metaphysical level and thus stripped of its true meaning, so that it can not be accepted by those who believe that man is capable of knowing God's truth and, on the basis of the inner dignity of truth, is bound to this knowledge. One thing is completely different hand, to perceive religious freedom as a necessity deriving from human coexistence, and indeed as a consequence of the intrinsic truth that can not be imposed from outside but must come only through the process of conviction. The Second Vatican Council, recognizing and making its own with the Decree on Religious Freedom an essential principle of the modern state, has recovered the deepest patrimony of the Church. It may be conscious that it is fully in harmony with the teaching of Jesus himself (cf. Mt 22:21), as well as with the Church of the martyrs, with the martyrs of all time. The Church ancient, naturally prayed for the emperors and political leaders out of duty (cf. 1 Tim 2:2); But while she prayed for the emperors, she refused to worship them and thereby clearly rejected the state religion. The martyrs of the early Church died for their faith in the God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ, and in this way they also died for the freedom of conscience and freedom of the profession of their faith - a profession that no State may be imposed, but instead can only be claimed by the grace of God, freedom of conscience. A missionary Church known for proclaiming her message to all peoples must be committed to the freedom of faith. It must pass the gift of truth that exists for all and both peoples and their governments do not want to destroy their identity and their culture, but instead brings them a response which, in their underwear, waiting for a response in which the multiplicity of cultures is not lost but instead unity between men and thus also peace between peoples.
c. Application: the relation to certain elements of modern thought
Acceptance and balance
The Second Vatican Council, with the new definition of the relationship between the faith of the Church and certain essential elements of thought moderno, ha rivisto o anche corretto alcune decisioni storiche, ma in questa apparente discontinuità ha invece mantenuto ed approfondito la sua intima natura e la sua vera identità.
La Chiesa è, tanto prima quanto dopo il Concilio, la stessa Chiesa una, santa, cattolica ed apostolica in cammino attraverso i tempi; essa prosegue «il suo pellegrinaggio fra le persecuzioni del mondo e le consolazioni di Dio», annunziando la morte del Signore fino a che Egli venga (cf Lumen gentium , 8).
Mantenimento delle tensioni e segno di contraddizione
Chi si era aspettato che con questo “sì” fondamentale all’età moderna tutte le tensioni si dileguassero e l’“apertura verso il mondo” così realizzata trasformasse tutto in pura armonia, aveva sottovalutato le interiori tensioni e anche le contraddizioni della stessa età moderna; aveva sottovalutato la pericolosa fragilità della natura umana che in tutti i periodi della storia e in ogni costellazione storica è una minaccia per il cammino dell’uomo. Questi pericoli, con le nuove possibilità e con il nuovo potere dell’uomo sulla materia e su se stesso, non sono scomparsi, ma assumono invece nuove dimensioni: uno sguardo sulla storia attuale lo dimostra chiaramente. Anche nel nostro tempo la Chiesa resta un «segno di contraddizione» (Lc 2,34) - non senza motivo Papa Giovanni Paolo II, ancora da Cardinale, aveva dato questo titolo agli Esercizi Spirituali predicati nel 1976 a Papa Paolo VI e alla Curia Romana.
Non poteva essere intenzione del Concilio abolire questa contraddizione del Vangelo nei confronti dei pericoli e degli errori dell’uomo. Era invece senz’altro suo intendimento accantonare contraddizioni erronee o superflue, per presentare a questo nostro mondo l’esigenza del Vangelo in tutta la sua grandezza e purezza.
The steps the Council took towards the modern era, which had rather vaguely been presented as "openness to the world," belongs to the perennial problem of the relationship between faith and reason that is re-emerging in ever new forms.
Historical precedents
The situation that the Council had to face can certainly be compared to events of previous epochs. St. Peter, in his first letter, urged Christians to be always ready to answer ( apologia) to everyone asked them for the logos, the reason for their faith (cf. 3:15). This meant that biblical faith had come into question and in relation to Greek culture and learn to recognize through interpretation the separating line but also refining the contact between them in the right given by God
When in the thirteenth century by Jewish and Arab philosophers, Aristotelian thought came into contact with Medieval Christianity formed in the Platonic tradition and faith and reason risked entering an irreconcilable contradiction, it was above all St Thomas Aquinas the new encounter between faith and Aristotelian philosophy, He puts faith in a positive relationship with the form of reason prevalent in his time.
the wearing dispute between modern reason and Christian faith that, at first, with the Galileo, was not in a negative way, went through many phases, but with the Second Vatican Council was the time which requires a broad rethinking.
The Council's approach and post-today
Its content in the conciliar texts, is certainly only roughly traced, but this is determinata la direzione essenziale, cosicché il dialogo tra ragione e fede, oggi particolarmente importante, in base al Vaticano II ha trovato il suo orientamento.
Adesso questo dialogo è da sviluppare con grande apertura mentale, ma anche con quella chiarezza nel discernimento degli spiriti che il mondo con buona ragione aspetta da noi proprio in questo momento. Così possiamo oggi con gratitudine volgere il nostro sguardo al Concilio Vaticano II: se lo leggiamo e recepiamo guidati da una giusta ermeneutica, esso può essere e diventare sempre di più una grande forza per il sempre necessario rinnovamento della Chiesa.
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( division into paragraphs of Richard P. Barile OP)
