'Gaudium Et Spes'
“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.” One of the final documents to be completed by the Second Vatican Council, the Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on the final day of the Council, Dec. 7, 1965. This constitution was particularly unique among the major documents because it was not a part of the original plans for the Council, but came about solely from conversations among the bishops “on the floor.”
Despite being completed so late, in many ways Gaudium et Spes can be read as the key to the whole Council because it is here that the main themes discussed in other documents are fleshed out within the context of making the Church accessible to modern culture – the aggiornamento called for by John XXIII when he opened the Council. Indeed, it became a key document in the following decades, as John Paul II – who himself played a strong part in writing the text as a bishop – quoted it in nearly everything he wrote as pope (how fitting, then, that John XXIII, who gave us the gift of the Council, and John Paul II, whose papacy was in many ways a continuing commentary on its application, will be canonized together at the end of this Year of Faith!).
The constitution begins with commentary on the rapid changes that the world had undergone in the decades leading up to the Council: global interdependence; progress in technology and communication; the resulting cultural and social problems; war; and increasing global awareness of hunger, poverty, and illiteracy. The main body of the document follows, divided into two parts: the first a broad look at the Church’s role in this ever-changing and increasingly less Christian society, and the second a call to action toward specific problems in the modern world.
Part One amounts to a theological anthropology: a study of the meaning of human life that is rooted in Christ and communion with others. Key parts to this section include a defense of the importance of individual conscience, which is an intensely personal venue for communion with God, as well as a call for believers to “prove the fruitfulness of faith” to the growing number of atheists in the world by living lives of justice and love (#21).
At the center is the relationship of the Church and the Christian to the larger world. By living truly Christ-centered lives, Christians show that it is in the person of Christ that all people – even non-believers – can find the answers to their deepest questions about the meaning of life: “The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light….Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear” (#22).
It is essential to human nature that the revelation of this mystery is not a purely individual phenomenon, but is found in our relations with others: a person “cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself” (#24). The constitution goes on to show that this self-gift means that the Christian mission is to fully engage society, and to work with all people in building a civilization of love that respects human life and fundamental rights.
From here, the constitution discusses the Church’s ability to be of great service to secular institutions in ways consistent with her mission, as well as how Christians must address progress in science, technology and other fields, while still serving God: “all human activity…must be purified and perfected by the power of Christ’s cross and resurrection” (#37).
The first part of Gaudium et Spes strongly asserts the ways in which the Christian faith is relevant to all peoples at all times. Next week, we will examine the second part of this important constitution that continues to shape the Church today.
