One of the more memorable insights of the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen is that people rarely dislike the Catholic Church for what it teaches, but rather for what they think it teaches. The sad reality is that Catholics themselves are largely responsible for misunderstandings because they do not know precisely what their own Church teaches or they are incapable of articulating it clearly. One of the purposes of the Second Vatican Council, convened fifty years ago, was to provide clarity with regard to the Church’s teachings and to update the way they are understood in the modern world.
The topic for the Catholic Coffee House sessions that are being held in Lincoln on the third Sunday of each month from October through February is: "Documents of the Second Vatican Council: Teachings and Reflections for the Year of Faith". Four primary documents will be summarized and discussed, beginning with the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium ("Light of the Nations") and continuing with the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, and The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. These are the documents most referred to as containing the essentials for Catholic life in modern times.
The first presentation deals with the nature of the Catholic Church that Jesus established. The proper vocation and mission of the people of God who make up the Church is made clear, distinguishing between those who are in "full communion" with the Church from those who are in "partial communion" or who have no real communion at all with Christ. One of the challenges of our day is the heresy of syncretism, or universalism, whereby so-called believers claim that there is no particular church that can lay claim to having the fullness of truth, or even more truth than others. This false claim has even made inroads into the thinking of some Catholics.
The heart of Lumen Gentium reminds us that the Church Jesus established is hierarchical and that the teachings of Jesus cannot be modified willy-nilly, as is done in so many self-made "Christian" denominations. In fact, the doctrinal and moral teachings of Jesus handed down by the apostles are infallible and, as such, cannot be altered. The Magisterium—the pope and bishops as a teaching body—have the solemn duty to preserve Christ’s teachings and to teach them faithfully.
Nonetheless, the laity have an important and essential role to fulfill in the Church, a role that is described in some detail in Lumen Gentium. Those who claim that the Catholic Church does not value its lay members clearly have not read this influential document of the Council. The work ends with a tribute to Mary, Mother of the Church, showing not only how she is a model of faith and discipleship for all believers, but also how the completion of her pilgrimage of faith allows her to assist us in ours.
Taking a closer look at what Vatican II really taught can help to clear up misunderstandings about Church teachings while we grow stronger in our faith. The documents of Vatican II are worthy spiritual reading, but also are rich in content for group discussions. Give serious consideration to using the Year of Faith as a time to gain familiarity with the official teaching documents of our Catholic Church given to us some fifty years ago at the Second Vatican Council.
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