Jefferson Nicolas

Professor Bryan Polk

RL ST 125W
July 17, 2018

Change and Aggiornamento by John XXIII

In the 19th century, at the end of the second meeting of the council by the initiated by

Pope John XXIII, which had almost lost its meaning, time was spent attempting to celebrate the

centenary when the Council of Trent was being concluded. The main agenda for the disbandment

of this council was as after more than eighteen years of servitude and the need for change and

adaptation to modern means of living, came the shift of the traditional history to bring about a

revolution surrounding Christianity. This went down in history as the council of reformation.

This council, which came to an end in 1563, went down in history as the council that was against

reformation and so the Pope called for the development of a Second Vatican Council, citing the

need for “the church to open windows to let in some fresh air.”, The proceedings, later referred

to as aggiornamento, is Italian for ‘bringing up to date’. A number of factors can be cited as

proving the need for aggiornamento and its subsequent reflection in the degree to which the

Vatican II brought the Catholic Church up to date.

The Pope’s foundation of applying the principle of aggiornamento to the Catholic Church

was a progressive decision; one with the potential to change the church indefinitely, whether

good or bad. It is obvious that in virtually every institution which is intent on remaining relevant,

and as an active part in the lives of people be making changes every so often, ensuring

adaptations are made to suit the needs of the organization in relation to the environment
(O'Malley, John 342). It is evident the change had already been initiated even before the Council

opened its doors. In particular, the changes in the law that came about after WWII that was

pioneered by Pius XII, changes that took place in the liturgy, in addition to one of the more

controversial regarding the restoration of the night vigil of Easter.

Within the church was a mechanism enacted for the purposes of proposing more changes

while ensuring the deliberate coordination of proposal were being put into place as needed.

There was the existence of the Curia, as well as the Pope who had a level of established authority

strong enough that any who had opposition had little to no ability to actively resist. As a result,

the Vatican made it clear the Pope had universal supremacy that enabled them to practice under

their own jurisdiction, emphasizing the importance and significance of the introduction of such a

concept as aggiornamento. According to (Seidler, John 850),studies revealed in that period there

was no institution comparable to the Catholic Church during the first half of the 20th Century,

indicating how powerful of a system it was and how influential those in the system could be.

Even prior to the opening of the council, in October of 1962, the public was not informed

of Pope John XXII’s ideas of aggiornamento. This is because he had, himself, associated the

council to two alternative proposals. The first instance was where he suggested the reform on the

code of canon law, with the other being one that touched on the synod of the churches of Rome

in which the diocesan bishop was the successor of St Peter (Espelage, Art 232). This, of course,

being divisive and perceived differently between a number of groups. This move seemed to be a

calculated strategy that focuses more on alarming people rather than encouraging them while

inducing fear that the Vatican II was starting to become able to control the church, especially the

consequent disillusionment.
 Reflection of the Pope’s tactics can be seen in the prolonged discourse with which he

concluded the inaugural festivities, despite it being evident that most of his congregations were

worn out after having to endure one long and particularly tedious service, explaining why they

were especially responsive (Bourdeaux, Michael 463). In his words, he mentioned that Cardinal

Montini, who was the individual next in line to take over the office of the Pope, as well as the

head guidance and council, were more of teaching figures who had a lot of love for the world.

Therefore, other than ordering the protection of the bastions, which were threatened, the Pope

instead made a suggestion that the Council would carry out their acts differently. The Council

was not supposed to follow the same path as the prior generations, but instead rendering the

eternal truth present to the individuals who were present during this period with special

consideration to the modern mentalities as well as for the purposes of studies and research

(O'Malley, John 342). In the Pope’s ideology, the church was to be made present to the whole

world where the progress established would not escape the reach of the providence of God. This

means that the Council had the role of proving themselves relevant through finding fresher ways

of showing their truth. From this, it is evident that the Pope in one way or another did indeed

preach the move to embrace modernity. He even went ahead to mention that there was enough

room for some hope, especially in this seventieth decade of the 20th century (Clague, Julie 198).

He further removed himself from the dissent that included prophets who believed that the age

that people were in was worse than the past generations. The negative and old prophets held to

their beliefs that people had not learned anything from history, yet history is what the basis of

present day life is.

Aggiornamento can be seen in the scenario where the Curia was not only able, but also

willing to move towards adaptations in areas such as the administration of the church, as well as
life in general. This is because earlier on they had begun practicing it and was subsequently

implemented. However, it appears that the Council in that period was conducting studies on the

issue of adapting to modern ways of life in Catholic faith. One way of approaching this topic is

through a biological metaphor. Animal and plant species happen to be biologically different

having quite a vast number of verities existing in the planet’s different ecologies (Lynch,

Andrew 86). This is because they have modified their basic structures and this is a trait that is

seen to cut across all the different groups of species. The adaptations and differences found

present among the different species is a move by the organisms to be able to cope with different

situations. There is a time that comes for the continuation of the different species where the need

for more rapid and radical change is crucial to survival. The word species, according to (James

Kroger 18), is defined as a deliberate and intelligent solution to a problem in a specified ecology.

In the off chance that the environment will experience certain change that is beyond a certain

limit, the extreme nature renders the species to be useless leading to mutation or extinction. In

case the process of evolution takes place, the organism resulting from this procedure is a solution

to the problem.

Of course the Catholic Church is definitely not a variety of species. Not only are people

able to thrive in improved systems but also are the ones who come up with such improved

systems. The most relatable shift as seen in history that saw the emergence of new specie is as

seen in the bible where God’s Son transformed and assumed a human body into an improved

version that was a representation of hypostatic union that existed between man and divinity

(Lynch, Andrew 85). This can be seen as a novel solution that came to solve the problems of

human living. This act alone did not diminish man; instead, it enlightened him to be more aware

of himself. In a similar manner, Aggiornamento was emerging as a final and unique process that
went down to change the course of history for the better. Although the nature of the church does

not grant it to evolve and change completely into something different, it is a state of mind

designed to aid widespread acceptance. This is seen where man will become able to come up

with new ways of dealing with problems and gain further insight, however not the type that leads

to highly noticeable observable differences. These new ways of dealing with problems means

looking for discrimination and telling what is the immutable existence of this church while

eliminating the parts which appear to be vulnerable. Therefore, the Curia would have to assess

the observable differences and the accumulation of the findings used for learning and adaptation.

Then the Council thought of the chance of implementing radical solutions. It is for this reason

that a claim is made that Pope John XXIII initiated a new Pentecost. To answer the question of

the necessity of aggiornamento, the answer provided by the essay is that the environment

changes over time and as such the church is required to periodically shift to the new ways of

functioning (Carter, Elizabeth 178). This is done through constituting the church in order to fit

into the modern world. The human race in contemporary times is seen to be going through a new

age in history and this means that rapid changes in the dynamics of the way systems work across

the globe.

The aggiornamento was the beginning of the historic three-year meeting that aimed at

changing the way in which the largest Christian group, the Catholics, viewed the world. The

meeting was in a way designed to provide an assessment of the role of the church in the world

that keeps changing and the council had the intention of bringing in some fresh air (Bourdeaux,

Michael 463). The positive effect was felt everywhere as the priests began to practice mass in the

local languages where people lived. As such, this had positive outcome as the church, especially
Catholic, came to dominate the world as the most prevalent and widespread. The impact was felt

to the point where it was being compared to when the sun comes up to disrupt the night.

During this time, humans stumbled into a new age of thinking. Researchers have noted

that the changes taking place happened in rapid and quick succession across the world. This is

most definitely triggered by the intelligence and creative energies of mankind, with the resulting

change affecting the decisions of human beings such that they act in a manner that respects the

thinking of other individuals. Therefore, people can come to speak of a cultural as well as a

social transformation in a positive way as it improves the systems in place. People often are

tasked with the challenge of continuous development in a general effort to become better

(Seidler, John 851). The church in itself cannot perish because the older civilizations have the

nature of taking refuge in backwater existence although it may have no further relevance, only to

historians. When looking back at what the church was before 1962, it becomes clear that people

are then able to see what it was like in the past and what may have been. .

To sum everything up, the paper covers the need for aggiornamento and the way in which the

second Vatican did indeed lead to the development and growth and refreshing the Catholic

Church. In the 19th century at the end of the second meeting of the council by the Vatican that

had been initiated by Pope John XXIII, which had almost lost its meaning, spent some time

attempting to celebrate the centenary. The Pope was indeed the person who initiated

aggiornamento with the idea in mind to update the Catholic Church. Aggiornamento can be seen

in the scenario where the Curia was not only able, but also willing to move towards adaptations

in areas such as the administration of the church as well as life in general.

 It is for this reason that a claim was made that Pope John XXIII initiated a new Pentecost.

To answer the question of the necessity of aggiornamento, the answer provided by the essay is

that the environment changes over time and as such the church is required to periodically shift to

the new ways of functioning. The construct that represents religion and the church can be said to

be outward looking and not conservative or introspective because of its nature of being

indomitable and adventurous. This begs the question “What else can she be?” As St Augustine

once taught people on the topic of charity and issues of Christian love. This refers to the quality

that in most cases pushes people to pursue immediate horizons and moving further into areas in

which they had been previously lacking.

 References

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