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Gaudium et Spes
The Pastoral Constitution on theChurch in the Modern World
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Outline of Presentation
1. Background Context of the document
2. Story of the docs drafting
3. Structure of final draft4. Significant Shifts and Innovations
5. Compromises and Weaknesses
6. Remaining Issues for the Church7. The Enduring Symbolic Value of GS
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General Remarks
not among the preparatory documents forthe council
emerged from the floor of the council
by far the longest of the sixteendocuments
the only document published withsubtitles
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promulgated the very last working dayof the Council
addressed to all humanity (not just toCatholics, or Christians)
came to be symbolic of the Councilsstyledialogic
collaborative
participative
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Previous Social TeachingEncyclicals
from Rerum Novarum(1891) to Pacem inTerris (1963)
using a deductive methodology, these
documents attempted to ground social teachingon the prior foundation of a philosophical andtheological anthropology
couched in the categories of Scholastic Theology
appealed to natural law
GS will come to use a more inductivemethod (but with elements of the old)
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History of the Drafting
at the very end of the first session (4Dec 1962), a plan for the Councilsprogram was proposed by Cardinal
Josef Suenensa focus not only on the church ad intra
(the internal life of the church)
but also on the church ad extra (thechurch and its mission in the world)
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History (contd)
the long list of topics for the councilsdiscussion was then revised andreduced according to this plan
no. 17 on the list was Schema XVII
later became Schema XIII
then finally Gaudium et Spes
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Ad intra / Ad extraDistinction
While this distinction was helpful for dividingup the workload of the Council,
it can be a misleading distinction
IF it is taken to mean that church andworld are like oil and water
This issue of how to best name therelationship plagues the whole debate
and remains somewhat unresolved in GS
The world is not something apart from thechurch, nor the church from the world
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The Drafting Commission
A Mixed Commission
drawn from members of the
Doctrinal Commission
Commission for the Lay Apostolate
but various sub-commissions were setup to deal with the many sections
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the various drafts were prepared inFrench, and then translated into Latin
fourth session: translations provided in
the major European languages (firsttime)
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Theological tensions
a significant influence of the French-speaking theologians
Chenu, Congar
tension with the theological vision ofthe German-speaking theologians
Rahner, Ratzinger
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Structure of the final version
Preface and Introduction (1-3; 4-10)
Part 1: The Church and the Human Vocation
Introduction: Responding to the Promptings of the Spirit (11)
Chapter 1: The Dignity of the Human Person
Chapter 2: The Human Community
Chapter 3: Humanitys Activity in the Universe
Chapter 4: Role of the Church in Todays World
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Structure (contd)
Part 2: Some More Urgent Problems
Preface (46)
Chapter 1: The Dignity of Marriage and the Family (47-52)
Chapter 2: Proper Development of Culture (53-62)
Chapter 3: Economic and Social Life (63-72) Chapter 4: The Political Community (73-76)
Chapter 5: Fostering Peace and Establishment of aCommunity of Nations (77-90)
Conclusion: Role of Individual Christians and of LocalChurches (91-93)
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A Pastoral Constitution
John XXIIIs original desire that theCouncil have a pastoral focus
Special footnote on the significance of
title:The constitution is called pastoral because, while
resting on doctrinal principles, it sets out the relationof the church to the world and to the people of today.
In Part I, therefore, the pastoral emphasis is notoverlooked, nor is the doctrinal emphasis overlookedin Part II.
The doctrinal principles (Part 1) and the pastoral
applications (Part 2) are intertwined 14
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Four Interrelated Levels ofDoctrine
1. Anthropology
the nature of the human person
GS, 3:It is the human person, therefore,
which is the key to this discussion, eachindividual human person in here of histotality, body and soul, heart andconscience, mind and will.
2. Christian Ethics in ContemporarySociety
the nature of moral human action15
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3. Ecclesiology
the nature and mission of the church
GS, 3:The church is not motivated by earthly
ambition but is interested in one thing onlytocarry on the work of Christ under the guidanceof the Holy Spirit.
Gaudium et Spes as complement to Lumen
Gentium
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4. Christology
the human and divine natures of Christ
any teaching on the nature of the human
person is to be grounded in teaching aboutChrist as the model for human personhood
GS, 10:The church believes that the key,
the centre and the purpose of the whole ofhuman history is to be found in its Lordand Master.
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Interrelated Leitmotifs
solidarity
dialogue
reading the signs of the times
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Solidarity
GS, 1:The joys and hopes, the grief andanguish of the people of our time, especially ofthose who are poor or afflicted, are the joys andhopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of
Christ as well. Nothing that is genuinely humanfails to find an echo in their hearts. For theirs is acommunity of people united in Christ and guidedby the Holy Spirit in their pilgrimage towards the
Fathers kingdom, bearers of a message ofsalvation for all humanity. That is why theycherish a feeling of deep solidarity with thehuman race and its history.
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Dialogue
the motif of the divine-human dialogue
the motif of churchs dialogue with theworld
a church open to learning (GS 44)
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Paul VI and the Dialogue motif
Encyclical Ecclesiam Suam
6 August 1964 (during the third session)
the influence of personalistphilosophies
Gabriel Marcel
Martin Buber
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GS, 3
And so the council can find no moreeloquent expression of this peoples solidarity,respect and love for the whole human family,
of which it forms a part, than to enter intodialogue with it about all these variousproblems, throwing the light of the Gospel onthem and supplying humanity with the saving
resources which the church has received fromits founder under the promptings of the HolySpirit.
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GS 92
Four concentric circles of dialogue
dialogue within the church itself
dialogue with other Christians
dialogue with other religious believers
dialogue with non-believers
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Reading the signs of thetimes
starting with contemporary context (inductivemethod)
attentiveness to the God of history
GS 4GS 11
GS 44
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GS 4
To discharge this function [with the guidance of theParaclete Spirit, to continue the work of Christ (GS, 3)],the church has the duty in every age of examining thesigns of the times and interpreting them in the light of the
gospel, so that it can offer in a manner appropriate toeach generation replies to the continual humanquestionings on the meaning of this life and the life tocome and on how they are related. There is a need, then,to be aware of, and to understand, the world in which we
live, together with its expectations, its desires and itsfrequently dramatic character.
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GS 11
Impelled by its belief that it is being led by the Spiritof the Lord who fills the whole earth, Gods peopleworks to discern the true signs of Gods presence andpurpose in the events, needs and desires which it
shares with the rest of modern humanity. It is faithwhich shows everything in a new light and clarifiesGods purpose in his complete calling of the humanrace, thus pointing the mind towards solutions whichare fully human
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GS 11 (contd)
The councils first aim is to subject the values mosthighly regarded today to this light and to relate themto their divine source, since these values are verygood insofar as they proceed from the God-given
character of the human person, but are in need ofpurification from the distortion they often receivefrom the corruption of the human heart
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GS 11 (contd)
What is the churchs view of woman and man?What does it consider is to be commended inconstructing todays society? What is the ultimatesignificance of human activity in the world as a
whole? These questions require answers which willshow more clearly that the people of God and thehuman race of which it is a part are of service toeach other, and that the churchs mission is seen tobe a religious one and by that very fact anoutstandingly human one.
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GS 44
It is for Gods people as a whole, with thehelp of the Holy Spirit, and especially forpastors and theologians, to listen to the
various voices of our day, discerning themand interpreting them, and to evaluate themin the light of the divine word, so that therevealed truth can be increasingly
appropriated, better understood and moresuitably expressed.
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GS 62
meaning/expression of doctrine
evaluating and interpreting everything with anauthentically Christian sense of values
it is hoped that more of the laity will receive
adequate theological formation and that some ofthem will dedicate themselves professionally to thesestudies and contribute to their advancement. But forthe proper exercise of this role, the faithful, both
clerical and lay, should be accorded a lawful freedomof inquiry, of thought, and of expression, temperedby humility and courage in whatever branch of studythey have specialized.
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Three Major Innovations
1. primarily a Biblical vision
2. an increased historical awareness
3. a relating of the Churchs mission andits social vision
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1. A Biblical Vision
a biblical vision more than naturallaw
an appeal to revelation
and secondarily an appeal to the orderthat God has inscribed in human nature
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2. Historical Awareness
Deductive methodologyfrom general unchanging principles to their
applicationfrom abstract natural law to concrete new situations
the rise of historical consciousness (19-20thcenturies)an appreciation of the changing historical
conditions of social, cultural and political spheres
all elements of the human situation areconditioned by history
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Inductive methodology
from an examination of the concrete situationto the application of the Gospel in thatsituation
What are the features problems of thecontemporary world that require solutions?GS 5:The human race is moving from a more
static view of things to one which is more dynamicand evolutionary, giving rise to new combinations
of problems which call for new analyses andsyntheses.
an emerging methodology of the council
34
3 l i h Ch h
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3. Relating the Churchsmission and its social vision
Lumen Gentium: the church ad intra
looking to within
what is the nature of the church?
Gaudium et Spes: the church ad extra
looking to outside
given the nature of the church, what is the
mission of the church?
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The Mission of the Church
the religious mission of the church
to proclaim and to realizethe Reign of God
The Reign of God is to permeate all
aspects of human life and society
Shift: from church as an end in itself
to church as a servant of the Reign of God
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GS, 40-42
Part One, Chapter IV
summary of the basis of the churchssocial mission
37
F S ifi T k
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Four Specific Tasksof the Churchs Proper Missionto defend human dignity
to promote human rights
to cultivate the unity of the humanfamily
to make clear the meaning of humanlife
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R l ti f th Ch h t th
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Relation of the Church to theReign of God
the church is not equivalent to the Reign ofGod
related, however, in two waysthe Reign of God transcends every political
authoritytherefore, the religious mission is to critique political
ideology
the Reign of God relates to diverse dimensions ofsocial and economic realitytherefore, the religious mission is related to the right
ordering of the social and economic order
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S f Shift i Ch h
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Summary of Shifts in ChurchTeaching
Methodology
from deductive to inductive
Historical Consciousness
from ahistorical to an historicalapproach
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Evolutionary not static view of reality
GS, 5: The human race is moving from amore static view of things to one which is
more dynamic and evolutionary, givingrise to new combinations of problemswhich call for new analyses andsyntheses.
Modernity
From rejection of modernity toengagement with its strengths
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Shifts (contd)
The world
from the world as Godless to the world asthe place of Gods redeeming activity
Natural Law parallel to the inductive/more historical
approach
Notion of the human person a move away from an eternal nature of
the human person, to one historicallysituated
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Church and State
from achieving Christendom to theChurch as leaven, as prophetic witness
Conscience War
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Marriage: from contract to covenant
previous legalistic framework
contract
shift to a personalist frameworkintimate partnership and covenant
the ends of marriage
not only reproduction and the rearing ofchildren
also conjugal love
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Other Docs the social mission
(1) Decree on LaityLaity have a twofold roleto work for evangelization
to renew the temporal order
PresuppositionChrists work of redemption is primarily related to the
salvation of the human being
but involves the renewal of the whole temporal order(AA, 5-7)
a shift in the theology of grace: from extrinsic tointrinsic
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(2) Decree on the Churchs Missionary Activityto work for Christs redemption includes the right
ordering of social and economic affairs
the churchs missionary activity involvescollaborating with all peoples
for eliminating hunger, disease, ignorance
for establishing peace and justice and human workingconditions for workers (AG, 12)
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Some Weaknesses and Open
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Some Weaknesses and OpenQuestions
overly optimistic about progresstoo 60s
not enough emphasis on evil and the
effects of original sin
ecological crisis not mentioned
in fact, a perpetuation of some of the
mentality causing it
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Little attention is given in the document toenvironmental pollution, the depletion of non-renewable resources, and general environmentalexploitation. The council fathers language
concerning nature and the relation of humankind tonature is rather disturbing. Humanity shouldconsolidate its control over creation (9), subject tohimself the earth and all that it contains (34),subdue the earth (57), and hold increasingdomination over nature (63) The council fathersseem oblivious both to the environmental problemsalready evident in the world and the impact offraming the human/nature relationship in terms of
domination. (Lois Ann Lorentzen)48
Issues taken off the agenda
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Issues taken off the agendaby Paul VI
divorce
mixed marriages
birth control
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