The document was not drafted before the council met, but arose from the floor of the council and was one of the last to be promulgated. This document alone embodies the spirit that arose from the bishops, who for the first time saw people at the heart of the church. The previous Vatican Council in 1869-1870 had tried to defend the role of the church in an increasingly secular world. This council sought the church to embrace this world and praised many of the good things in the world outside. One of the cardinals, Leo Joseph Suenens of Belgium urged the council to take on social responsibility for Third World suffering, International peace and war, and the poor.
Pope John XXIII, who was deathly ill at the time, was forced to watch the proceedings on closed circuit television. He was too sick to attend, and died within months. He is said to have accepted that finally the fathers understood what this council was for.
Contents
The numbers given correspond to section numbers within the text.
- Preface (1-3)
- Introduction: The Situation of Men in the Modern World (4-10)
- Part 1: The Church and Man's Calling (11-45)
- The Dignity of the Human Person (12-22)
- The Community of Mankind (23-32)
- Man's Activity Throughout the World (33-39)
- The Role of the Church in the Modern World (40-45)
- Part 2: Some Problems of Special Urgency (46-93)
- Fostering the Nobility of Marriage and the Family (47-52)
- The Proper Development of Culture (53-62)
- The Circumstances of Culture in the World Today (54-56)
- Some Principles for the Proper Development of Culture (57-59)
- Some More Urgent Duties of Christians in Regard to Culture (60-62)
- Economic and Social Life (63-72)
- Economic Development (64 - 66)
- Certain Principles Governing Socio-Economic Life as a Whole (67-72)
- The Life of the Political Community (73-76)
- The Fostering of Peace and the Promotion of a Community of Nations (77-93)
- The Avoidance of War (79-82)
- Setting Up an International Community (83-93)
Criticism
It has been criticized as over-optimistic, even from the floor of the council. It is said to play into the hands of the 'world' and the devil himself.
The ongoing question that arose from Gaudium et Spes is: how can the church be credible in a secular world? In the commentaries of the document, Pope Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) called certain parts of Gaudium et Spes "downright Pelagian," particularly in the treatment of free will in article 17. He is not wholly negative in his judgment about Gaudium et Spes, however, and praises the discussion of atheism in articles 19-21 as “balanced and well-founded.”
External links
- Full Text (English) Vatican Archives
- From Ratzinger to Benedict by Avery Cardinal Dulles, Article in Feb 2006 edition of First Things magazine
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday July 11, 2008 at 09:24:48 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
The document was not drafted before the council met, but arose from the floor of the council and was one of the last to be promulgated. This document alone embodies the spirit that arose from the bishops, who for the first time saw people at the heart of the church. The previous Vatican Council in 1869-1870 had tried to defend the role of the church in an increasingly secular world. This council sought the church to embrace this world and praised many of the good things in the world outside. One of the cardinals, Leo Joseph Suenens of Belgium urged the council to take on social responsibility for Third World suffering, International peace and war, and the poor.
Pope John XXIII, who was deathly ill at the time, was forced to watch the proceedings on closed circuit television. He was too sick to attend, and died within months. He is said to have accepted that finally the fathers understood what this council was for.
Contents
The numbers given correspond to section numbers within the text.
- Preface (1-3)
- Introduction: The Situation of Men in the Modern World (4-10)
- Part 1: The Church and Man's Calling (11-45)
- The Dignity of the Human Person (12-22)
- The Community of Mankind (23-32)
- Man's Activity Throughout the World (33-39)
- The Role of the Church in the Modern World (40-45)
- Part 2: Some Problems of Special Urgency (46-93)
- Fostering the Nobility of Marriage and the Family (47-52)
- The Proper Development of Culture (53-62)
- The Circumstances of Culture in the World Today (54-56)
- Some Principles for the Proper Development of Culture (57-59)
- Some More Urgent Duties of Christians in Regard to Culture (60-62)
- Economic and Social Life (63-72)
- Economic Development (64 - 66)
- Certain Principles Governing Socio-Economic Life as a Whole (67-72)
- The Life of the Political Community (73-76)
- The Fostering of Peace and the Promotion of a Community of Nations (77-93)
- The Avoidance of War (79-82)
- Setting Up an International Community (83-93)
Criticism
It has been criticized as over-optimistic, even from the floor of the council. It is said to play into the hands of the 'world' and the devil himself.
The ongoing question that arose from Gaudium et Spes is: how can the church be credible in a secular world? In the commentaries of the document, Pope Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) called certain parts of Gaudium et Spes "downright Pelagian," particularly in the treatment of free will in article 17. He is not wholly negative in his judgment about Gaudium et Spes, however, and praises the discussion of atheism in articles 19-21 as “balanced and well-founded.”
External links
- Full Text (English) Vatican Archives
- From Ratzinger to Benedict by Avery Cardinal Dulles, Article in Feb 2006 edition of First Things magazine
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday July 11, 2008 at 09:24:48 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
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