Title: Receiving Vatican II: The Australian Experience
Abstract: I Reception is a deceptively simple concept. Susceptible of a clear definition--'the process through which an ecclesial community incorporates into its own life a particular custom, decision, liturgical practice, or teaching'--reception is nonetheless a complex phenomenon. (1) While that complexity derives ultimately from the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the church, there are two more immediate reasons for it: since the material that the community is to receive is often multi-layered, which is particularly the case when the object of reception is the teaching of an ecumenical council, authentic reception will always involve something other than cosmetic or one-dimensional changes; the ever-changing dynamics of the ecclesial community mean that the material will need to be 're-received' as the circumstances of the community alter. Taken together, those two factors mean that the reception of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) is best understood as an ongoing process, one that continues even today. (2) The process nature of reception means that this paper makes no claims to being a definitive account of the reception of Vatican II in Australia. What the paper will attempt is to sketch the shape of the Australian church before the Council, the involvement of Australia's bishops in Vatican II, the nature of Vatican II, and some features of Catholic life in Australia since the Council. The aim in so doing is to indicate some of the influences on the reception of the Council. A final introductory remark: since reception is essentially a theological concept, this paper is as much an exercise in theological reflection as it is a review of historical developments. The concern of the paper, then, is not simply with what happened and why, but also with the mutuality between theology and history, between our understanding of 'the church' and the shape of ecclesial life at particular moments and in particular cultures. II Prior to Vatican II, the primary influence on the dynamics of Catholic life in Australia, as elsewhere in the Catholic world, was the piety and practices that flowed either directly or indirectly from the Council of Trent (1545-63)--'[Trent] had a direct and long-term impact on modern Catholicism that in its pervasiveness transcended the immediate influence of any single person or any other happening in the period.' (3) Although Trent sought to reform manifold aspects of Catholic life, its primary theological aim was to highlight the gulf between the true faith of Catholics and the heretical diversions of the Reformers. That emphasis ensured that Catholics, for generations after Trent, tended to define themselves over against those whom they knew to be wandering in the paths of error. Australian Catholics shared with their sisters and brothers in other parts of the world a sense of living within a faith that was certain, clear, and comprehensive. (4) On the other hand, the sense of certainty and finality that characterised the Tridentine settlement meant that Catholics tended to lack 'a sense of history and a dynamic openness to change'. (5) Such features also were as much a part of Catholic life in Australia as elsewhere: In its religious life in the early 1960s the church seemed stable and undisturbed, its authority structures, conservatism and piety little changed since the 1920s, firmly anchored in a clear and unquestioning faith, content to be self-contained. (6) The settled nature of Australian Catholic life, as well as the fact that the energy of Australian Catholics was primarily absorbed by issues such as 'state-aid' for Catholic schools--witness the fact that Vatican II began in the same year as the Goulburn 'strike'--might well account for the fact that preparations for Vatican II by the Australian bishops were less than spectacular. Indeed, in response to the Vatican's request that the world's bishops submit their ideas on proposed subjects for the Council, one Australian bishop replied--in six lines, submitted six months after the request was made--that he had nothing to suggest, except that it might be worthwhile to consider the power and authority of bishops. …
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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