Courtney McGrailA new book on Vatican II offers food for thought on how to implement the council’s teaching in a very changed Ireland, writes Dr Patrick Connolly
Dr Patrick Connolly
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) was an immensely significant historical and religious event, even from the standpoint of non-believers. Fifty years after its conclusion, a new volume of 22 essays explores the council’s ongoing impact in Ireland.
All are written in a clear and easy style accessible to the general reader. What makes this book particularly readable is its mix of articles, combining essays which examine the conciliar teachings with ones which offer a more personal perspective on how Vatican II impacted on their own lives.
This attractive mix certainly makes it a good Christmas gift for anyone who is interested in religious affairs, especially insofar they affect our own country’s life and history.
The collection is divided into three sections:
Retrospectives;
- Theological, Pastoral and Social;
- Catholic Education.
It all begins with the best article in the book, by the Jesuit historian, Fr Oliver P. Rafferty, whose analysis of the state of the Irish Church both at the time of the council and in 2015 is uncompromisingly candid.
Chronicling the very limited input of the Irish bishops at the council itself and their subsequent cautious and even apathetic implementation of reforms, he also notes that a more energetic approach may or may not have led to the problems facing Catholic Ireland being dealt with more effectively. It is hard to be certain. Why? Irish culture has changed radically since the 1960s, and the prevailing public orthodoxy is now a secular liberalism increasingly keen to push all religion out of the public sphere.
Impact
Vatican II was not aimed primarily to speak to such a situation; rather its aim was to renew Catholicism. Fr Rafferty is always worth reading, not least in this case for his almost acerbic but usually accurate commentary on the episcopate in the post-conciliar era.
Two articles stand out because of their genuinely moving personal memoirs of the impact of the council.
Jesuit Fr Paul Andrews looks back at his own grim experience of pre-conciliar authoritarian Church life in Ireland and recalls the excitement and liberation brought by Vatican II.
His essay is an antidote to any naïve nostalgic view of full churches and the Tridentine liturgy. Redemptorist Fr Gerry Reynolds tells poignantly of his ministry in Belfast dedicated to working for unity among all Christians. His labour for reconciliation is told here in stories of ordinary people and their sufferings, and is real evidence for what a powerful force for positive change that Vatican II’s teaching on ecumenism has been in an Ireland often known abroad historically for its religious divisions.
The volume is not of course just about history and engaging personal memoir.
The second section deals with theological, pastoral and social justice issues which have arisen in light of Vatican II. For instance, Fr Eugene Duffy, using key conciliar documents carefully and methodically, puts them forward as a basis for developing new models of ministry, while also arguing that the Church in Ireland’s work would be greatly assisted if priority were to be given to synodality and co-responsibility.
There is a very interesting piece by law professor Colin Harvey, arguing that Catholic social doctrine offers a quite distinctive contribution to the struggle for human rights, and has much to say to say to wider society. However, he is worried that the broad interpersonal and transformational Catholic vision of human rights may get lost in contentious social debates on individual issues like same-sex marriage.
Vatican II recognised that the media is key in any attempt to communicate the Church’s vision in the public square, and in Michael Kelly’s article on the Irish Church’s often strained relations with the media, both the history and current situation are analysed fairly and perceptively.
He thinks a more decentralised approach would be now more effective, with resources deployed in parishes and dioceses rather than being based in Maynooth.
The book has thought-provoking pieces by Protestant observers of post-Vatican II Irish Catholicism. Church of Ireland Archbishop Richard Clarke reminds us that practical ecumenism became an imperative and that the wider interfaith dialogues encouraged by the council are now part of the picture for other Christian traditions too.
Patrick Mitchel, a Presbyterian, sketches four varying Protestant discourses responding to Catholicism after the conciliar changes. He is sympathetic but observes astutely and critically, for example, that most post-Vatican II Catholics now in practice share a common assumption – that it is rather difficult for a person not to be saved.
The final part of this volume is devoted to Catholic education which is hardly surprising since schooling has always been a central preoccupation of Irish Catholicism. Schools today remain often the locus of the only formal catechesis that most young Irish Catholics receive.
In a well-argued and erudite article, Fiona Dineen contends that State-funded Catholic schools in Ireland increasingly find themselves harried to accede to a very functional approach to education. Well-disposed teachers will need more in-service and ongoing help if they are to sustain a critical mass capable of providing tangible witness to the Catholic identity of these schools.
Sharon Haughey writes clearly and encouragingly about the part of the school in helping pupils and students to grow spiritually, and points to ways in which Catholic teachers can help young people on their journeys of faith.
She wishes too that those who manage our schools might give more attention to helping well-disposed staff to develop their own spiritual lives. In the book’s final article, the editor Dr Niall Coll, in discussing the educational consequences of Vatican II’s commitment to interfaith dialogue, argues cogently that Catholic schools in Ireland now have two tasks: helping students in their knowledge and sense of empathy for the traditions of people from the other world religions, while simultaneously supporting Catholics in adhering to their own religious identity and avoiding religious indifferentism.
There are many other fine articles in this volume. Much of its freshness lies in its scrutiny of the conciliar teachings and impact insofar as it affected our own country.
Moreover, in an era when things religious seem to be in decline compared to 1960’s Ireland, the book is marked throughout by a positive and balanced tone.
At the recent Synod of Bishops on the Family, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin spoke of the Irish context as a flawed and antagonistic social culture. However, he also noted insightfully that whereas it is a very individualistic culture, it is not necessarily an uncaring one.
That’s something worth pondering as we reflect on how to implement the council’s teaching and vision more effectively in a very changed Ireland.
This book is a welcome aid in that endeavour.
Niall Coll (ed.), Ireland and Vatican II: Essays Theological, Pastoral and Educational. Dublin: The Columba Press, 2015. ISBN: 9781782182764. €19.99/£14.99.
Dr Patrick Connolly, a priest of the Diocese of Clogher, is senior lecturer in theology and assistant registrar at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.