The Society of Men is the title of volume 28 of The Council Notebooks, written by Gianni Cardinale (a Vatican expert for Avvenire). Starting from Gaudium et spes, the author offers a fascinating reflection on the Church’s analysis of the world sixty years ago, and on how and in what way this reflection continues to be fresh and relevant.
The society in which the Council was born
The Second Vatican Council was born and developed in a particular social climate. Fifteen years had passed since the end of the Second World War, and we were in the midst of a nuclear escalation. Technological development was advancing at an astonishing pace. At the same time, people increasingly perceived a gap between the Church’s preaching and the way society lived and thought.
Social issues such as world hunger, social inequalities, and demographic questions were particularly pressing, as were economic issues. Secularization was growing. Christianity was visibly beginning to decline, especially in the West.
Faced with this situation, John XXIII realized that the Church needed a decisive step forward. And he called a Council.
The Council’s objective
The Council’s objective is clear: to make the Church’s teaching understandable to modern people, in a spirit of joy, rejecting the pessimistic analyses of those whom the Pope calls “prophets of doom.” John XXIII explains this in his opening speech: “It is necessary that this certain and unchanging doctrine, to which faithful assent must be given, be explored and presented in accordance with what is required by our times. For the substance of the faith, that is, the truths contained in our venerable doctrine, is one thing; the way in which they are expressed is another, while always preserving the same meaning and significance.”
A Council that is still alive
Sixty years have passed since the celebration of the Second Vatican Council, yet its content remains alive. Certainly, times have changed; scientific progress, for example, has advanced even more powerfully, but the fundamental need to spread the Good News in a joyful and appealing way to people today has remained unchanged.
Christian revelation continues to be a fundamental support for promoting communion among people and, at the same time, guides us toward a deeper understanding of the laws governing social life, written by the Creator into the spiritual and moral nature of human beings.
A vocation not to be abandoned
Human society, or rather, “the community of human beings,” as the Council defines it, finds its deepest essence in the communal nature it possesses. It is this communal vocation that we must respond to in order to grasp God’s plan and discover the interdependence between the individual and society. An interdependence that cannot disregard the fundamental equality of all human beings and the unavoidable task of pursuing social justice by moving beyond individualistic ethics. These are all concepts that, since the Council, the Church has continued to explore, deepen, and update through fruitful dialogue with the world. In recent years, the entire teaching of the Popes has expressed this desire to respond adequately to the demands brought about by new social challenges, while always remaining faithful to Revelation. In particular, we remember the commitment of Pope Francis, who through the encyclicals Laudato si’ and Fratelli tutti has opened the world to a different perspective on the ecological “question” and coexistence among human beings.
In our world, rich in beauty but also full of contradictions, the Church’s voice continues to be one of hope, joy, and truth!
