The Top Story …
Even for those who have minimum truck with Roman Catholicism, the major religious event of 1965 was the culmination of the Second Vatican Council. Accompanying it were widely expressed hopes that the world’s oldest and largest church body had lurched forward.
Catholicism is on the move. But evangelicals are unsure whether that move is toward ultimate truth. Most would agree with Billy Graham that the conciliar bishops went “much further than I expected” in policy-changing. At least one special question remains, however: Did the council, in failing to alter traditional Roman reliance on individual works, perpetuate implicit denial of Christ’s finished work?
If so, the evangelicals are partly to blame. They stayed largely aloof from council proceedings, forfeiting initiative to Protestant liberals, Jews, Muslims, even Communists, all of whom seized numerous public and private opportunities to pressure the council in the direction of non-biblical presuppositions, with some success.
The conciliar years 1962–1965 showed the world that the Roman Catholic Church is not a monolith; indeed, that it tolerates a measure of doctrinal dissent within its clergy ranks. When liberal and other periti (theological experts) got a translation of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Mysterium Fidei, which affirms that transubstantiation is to be taken literally, they reportedly shrugged “irreverently and publicly.”
Non-Catholics also learned that conservative prelates constitute a minority bloc within the hierarchy, but that their influence far surpasses their numerical strength.
Of the sixteen documents produced by the council in four annual sessions, the most disappointing probably was 1964’s decree on mass communications, which sanctions censorship conditions under which it is doubtful that the Bible itself could have been written. The document’s spirit was aptly illustrated by the fact that all important council sessions were closed to reporters. In modern times, no conference of comparable size can claim that distinction. A similar situation elsewhere would set up a news-media howl heard round the world.
(The loudest noise in Rome was what the Religious Newswriters Association newsletter calls a “very nasty fight” between part of the American press corps and the Rev. Vincent Yzermans, director of the Bureau of Information of the National Catholic Welfare Conference. RNA President Harold Schachern, prize-winning religion editor of the Detroit News and a Roman Catholic, protested “most vehemently” after disclosure by Baptist Press reporter Barry Garrett that wire services were getting preferred treatment on advance texts.)
The council action that may give Protestants the most to celebrate about is one that is already revolutionizing Roman Catholic liturgy. Vernacular language has been introduced in the Mass, but more important perhaps is the trend it reinforces toward new types of architecture and, especially, the interior appearance of churches. Statues, which to Protestants smack of idolatry, are on the way out.
Council documents are now producing volumes of comment, and the reflection can be expected to continue for centuries. Here is a sampling:
Of the catch-all Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Pastor Roger Schütz, prior of the Protestant Community at Taizé, France, says, “It will lead all baptized Christians to take an identical view of the man living in poverty in the Southern Hemisphere and the man living under excessive pressure in the Northern Hemisphere.” It also condemns war, nuclear stockpiling, and the arms race.
Of the Constitution on Divine Revelation, Schütz added that he thought it marked the end of the Counter-Reformation (see also December 17 issue, p. 36).
Of the Decree on Christian Education, Time observed that it is “little more than a cliché-ridden defense of parochial schools.”
Of the Declaration on Religious Liberty, Garrett, the Baptist newsman, said, “Although this new teaching of the Roman Catholic Church represents a reversal of its historic position and offers much hope for religiously oppressed minorities in Catholic-dominated countries, it did not go as far as many had hoped.” The document asserts that “all men are to be immune from coercion” but adds that they are duty-bound to embrace Catholicism as the one true faith when they recognize its claims. Most observers feel the document benefited from the year’s delay imposed during a furor at the end of the council’s third session, though many wonder how much its emphasis on the Catholic “stranglehold on truth” (Life) will do to dissolve the ill-conceived concordats the Vatican has with more than forty nations.
The Declaration on the Attitude of the Church Toward Non-Christian Religions, along with the document on religious liberty, prompted the most discussion. The four-page declaration is credited with an important gesture against anti-Semitism, the assertion that no collective guilt is to be attributed to the Jews for the death of Christ.
Other documents expected to stir continued comments are those on ecumenism (which ecumenical Protestants hope will provide new grounds for Christian unity), on the church, on the pastoral duties of bishops, on missionary activity, and on the apostolate of the laity. The remaining documents limit themselves mostly to internal Catholic matters.
Roman Catholicism faces continued problems basically because (1) it refuses to rescind any of the doctrines that have developed through the centuries, no matter how contradictory, and (2) all matters are subject to approval by the pope. There is some tendency to back off, as seen in Curia changes, annulment of mutual excommunications that led to the Eastern Orthodox schism of 1054, and a Bible vigil attended by Pope Paul VI and 99 non-Catholic council observers. But resistance to fundamental changes regarding birth control, celibate clergy, indulgences, Mariology, mixed marriages, and financial secrecy seems as intense as ever.
How well the church withstands modern pressure will be seen next in the meeting of the synod of bishops, created to consult with the pope. Therein lies new opportunity for evangelicals and other non-Catholics to speak through the opened window.
Other Events …
Although Vatican II won the biggest share of religious headlines during 1965, it was but one of a number of developments which church history is likely to record.
Mass evangelism, especially under Billy Graham, drew many thousands to Christ in crusades, over television and radio, via films, and through mediums such as the World’s Fair.
Theology lost two key liberal thinkers in Schweitzer and Tillich. So-called “radical Christians,” better known for their assertion that God is dead, registered an initial impact heard far and wide. “The new morality” bloc likewise made significant inroads.
The top denominational story of the year was the official introduction of a proposed new confession for United Presbyterians, which prompted widespread controversy.
In missions, Protestant forces by and large held their own. A few doors were opening in Spain.
The ecumenical movement saw no newly-enacted agreements, but, as Religious News Service put it, dialogue was the most oft-heard word in religion in 1965. The visit of Pope Paul VI to New York spurred inter-faith relations.
U. S. “Great Society” programs rammed a big hole in the wall of separation between church and state, but reaction was restrained.… A new brand of pacifism emerged as the Viet Nam war expanded.… Birth control continued as the leading unsettled moral issue of the day.… The civil rights struggle pricked Christian consciences as old injustices persisted and churchmen were attacked and killed because of their involvement. But integration made quiet progress, and several whites were convicted of crimes of violence against Negroes in the Deep South.
As The Year Ended …
Some important developments on the religious scene in December:
More than two dozen faculty members were fired in a dispute with the administration of St. John’s University, a Roman Catholic school in Brooklyn, New York. Dissident teachers demand higher salaries and more academic freedom.… A number of clergymen joined striking grape-pickers in California in support of bargaining rights and more pay.… The U. S. Supreme Court upheld a New York school principal’s ban on voluntary prayers. The high tribunal’s unsigned order had no comment, and experts differed on its interpretation.… The New Jersey Board of Education restored degree-awarding authority to Shelton College, affiliated with the American Council of Christian Churches.… Three decisions by the Methodist Judicial Council were hailed as steps for quicker elimination of denominational segregation.… Dr. Benjamin F. Payton (see Dec. 17 issue, page 38) was named executive director of the National Council of Churches’ Commission on Religion and Race.
