50th Anniversary of Vatican II - CCI International Conference in India

Theme: Vatican 2+50: A Cardijn Perspective

 

Cardijn Community International (CCI) is holding an International Conference in India in December 2015 to commemorate the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council.

 

It may be recalled that the project 'Vatican 2+50: A Cardijn Perspective' was launched at a conference in Manila in October 2012 to re-examine the spirit and decisions of Vatican II in the light of Cardinal Cardijn's perspectives.

 

Social Teachings of the Church and Lay Participation were chosen as the two specific areas for study.

 

Where and When

The International Conference will be held in Joe Beach Conference Centre, Mamallapuram, Chengalpattu district, India - near Chennai city from Thursday 5th to Sunday 8th December 2015.

 

Joe Beach is a beautiful sea-side resort offering all the comforts besides a calm and serene atmosphere. Weather in December will range from 18 to 20 degrees C.

 

Visit www.joebeach.in to view the scenic beauty of the venue.

 

Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) will be inaugurating the conference on 5th December 2015 in the evening.

 

Cardijn Community India which is co-hosting the conference is in communication with the Papal Nuncio in India to be the Chief Guest at the Valedictory on the 8th December 2015.

 

Who can participate

CCI members, members of Cardijn movements, student organisations and lay movements, religious and individuals interested in the topic

 

Registration

Registration fee (towards accommodation for 4 nights and conference registration): US $ 120- only.

Cardijn Community India is meeting all other expenses including food.

You can register at: vatican2plus50@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Vatican 2 + 50: A Cardijn Perspective - Manila Conference

Cardijn with Pat Keegan and Bartolo Perez

To mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, CCI will hold a conference on the theme "Vatican 2 + 50: A Cardijn Perspective" to be held at the Pius XII Centre, Manila from 11-14 October 2012.

The aim of the conference will be to launch a three year project by CCI to study the spirit and teachings of Vatican II and their implementation, particularly in relating to Catholic social teaching and the lay apostolate.

This will be done from the perspective of the spirituality and methodology of the late Cardinal Joseph Cardijn, founder of the Young Christian Workers (YCW) movement as well as a Council Father at Vatican II.

In the lead up to the conference, CCI will also launch a preparatory enquiry to begin the process of evaluating how far the spirit and teachings of Vatican II with regard to social teachings and lay participation have been promoted, understood and implemented.

Preparation for the event will also focus in particular on the two conciliar documents: Gaudium et Spes, Pastoral Constitution On the Church In the Modern World, and
Apostolicam Actuositatem, Decree On the Apostolate of the Laity.

Joseph Cardijn took part in the Council first as a consultant to the Commission on Lay Apostolate from 1962-65 and later as a Council Father in the Fourth Session of the Council after he was made a bishop and cardinal by Pope Paul VI.

"Cardijn gave three speeches on the floor of the Council on the themes: Religious Freedom, Young People and the Developing World, and Workers in the World," noted CCI President Stefan Gigacz. "He also prepared two more speeches on the Lay Apostolate and the Life and Ministry of the Priest that he was unable to deliver orally."

"We hope also to work on these six themes that Cardijn emphasised over the next three years of our project," Mr Gigacz added.

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Fr Komonchak on the history of Vatican II

Well known historian Fr Joseph A. Komonchak has made available a number of essays providing some of the background to Vatican II.


Background to Vatican II – 1


Vatican II: The more remote background

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South Africa's Hope and Joy Network

Hope and Joy Network: This is a network launched by Southern African church organisations including the Jesuit Institute, Redemptorist Publications, LCCL and most major men’s and women’s congregations, SA Council of Priests, CPLO, Catholic Institute of Education/ CSO, SVdP, Knights of da Gama, St Anne’s Sodality, Catholic Women’s League, Catholic Women’s Association, Catholic Bible College/ Foundation, Engaged Encounter, St Augustine’s College, St John Vianney Seminary, Radio Veritas , ‘The Southern Cross’, various diocesan papers, ‘Trefoil’, Metanoia Media, Mariannhill Press, Durban – Youth Ministry, Paulines bookshops, Maronite Mission.

The aim is to build an adult education network "to revive the Church’s long tradition of popular education and provide inspiring resources" on Catholic social teaching and practice.

LINK

Hope and Joy Network

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A guide to reading up on Vatican II

"I had reason and occasion to educate myself about Vatican II during the past year and a half while working on a book, and I found it a tremendously affirming, stimulating, and inspiring exercise," writes Ken Trainor at US Catholic.

"With the 50th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II looming next year (October 11, 2012), everyone has just enough time to rediscover this long-ignored and/or taken-for-granted council.

"In fact, I urge all Catholics--conservative, moderate and progressive--to read up on this amazing convocation, called by many the most important religious event of the 20th century. I think you’ll find it has much to say to us still, not just in the documents themselves, but in the actions that produced those documents. There is much, much more to the story of Vatican II than the documents themselves, though more conservative Catholics will try to tell you otherwise," Trainor argues pointing to a list of valuable books for reading up on Vatican II.

FULL ARTICLE

One man's guide to reading on Vatican II (US Catholic)

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Pope John's secretary recalls the 'four pillars' of Vatican II

Recalling the announcement of Vatican II by Pope John XXIII, Bishop Loris Capovilla, who was the pontiff's personal secretary, has outlined what he calls "the four pillars" of the Council.

“We know today more than ever who we are and where we are going (Lumen Gentium), what language we should speak and what message we should convey (Dei verbum), how much and how hard we should pray (Sacrosanctum concilium), what attitude we should adopt towards the problems and tragedies of contemporary humanity (Gaudium et spes),” Bishop Capovilla, 95, said on the 52nd anniversary of the announcement of the Council, CNA reports.

“These are the four pillars that sustain the building of renewed pastoral ministry and encourage us to listen to God’s voice, to speak to God as his children, and that oblige us to dialogue with all the components of the human family,” he concluded.

Bishop Loris Capovilla also described how the media announced the Council before Pope John had a chance to inform the cardinals, according to an article published Jan. 25 by L’Osservatore Romano.

He noted that the then-Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Domenico Tardini, wrote the following on his calendar for Jan. 20, 1959: “Important audience. Yesterday afternoon His Holiness spent time in reflection and set in stone the agenda for his pontificate. He came up with three ideas: a Roman Synod, an Ecumenical Council (Vatican II) and an update of the Code of Canon Law. He wants to announce these three things next Sunday to the cardinals after the ceremony for the feast of St. Paul.”

Bishop Capovilla said on that Sunday, Jan. 25, 1959, the Pope got up and prayed, but after celebrating Mass, “He remained kneeling longer than usual.”

He then went to the ceremony for the feast of St Paul at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. The ceremony ran longer than scheduled, and before he could announce the convening of Vatican II, the press embargo on the announcement expired. The council was then “broadcast by the media before the Pope could communicate it to the cardinals,” the article said.

The Pope still addressed the Roman Curia, “with trembling and a bit of excitement,” about his plans to hold “a twofold celebration: a diocesan synod for the city and an ecumenical council for the universal Church.”

Bishop Capovilla said the council was given three clear directives: to promote interior renewal among Catholics, to raise awareness among Christians of the reality of the Church and of the tasks she is charged with carrying out, and to call on bishops, with their priests and the laity, to assume responsibility for the salvation of all mankind.

The bishop said that 52 years after announcing the council and 46 years after its conclusion in 1965, four Popes have continually emphasized that it was “an event willed by God” and led by “an old man who rejuvenated the Church” at a time when many thought John XXIII was going to be a “transitional Pope.”

“If Vatican II has not yet achieved its goals, this means that our conversion is a task yet to be fulfilled,” he added.


SOURCE

Personal secretary of John XXIII recounts Vatican II announcement (Catholic News Agency)

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What future for Vatican 2?

Thomas Worcester, S.J., a Professor of History at the College of the Holy Cross, and a specialist in religious and cultural history, recalls the impact of Vatican II in a piece for the Huffington Post.

For Catholics in the U.S. and elsewhere another significant anniversary is on the horizon: that of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council in 1962. How it is remembered -- or not remembered -- may be very important for the Catholic Church in the coming decades. Do this in remembrance of me: Catholic worship is centered on ritual remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Absolutely central to Catholic practice is this remembrance, and Catholics are also a people of tradition: we say that we value what has been handed on over the centuries, from the early church to today. Anniversaries offer a special way in which traditions may be once again received and celebrated.

Public anniversaries are distinguished from family and personal events such as birthdays or anniversaries of marriage or ordination. But even the public anniversaries are also experienced in individual and personal ways. Seen in the light of 2,000 years of Christianity, Vatican II remains quite a recent event, within the lifetimes of older Catholics. Those in their mid-fifties or older will have personal memories of the Council -- at least of how it was reported by the press -- and of its aftermath, and these memories may be revivified by the 50th anniversary.

- Thomas Worcester SJ

FULL ARTICLE

What future for Vatican II? (Huffington Post)

PHOTO

Loyola University Chicago

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