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In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, the
Catholic Community at Stanford, the Religious Studies Department, and Stanford
Continuing Studies co-sponsored a one-time course on this landmark event. Open
to undergrads, grads, Continuing Studies students, and the general public, this
course consistently yielded a full lecture hall. The thoughtful course design, in which
a different theologian lectured each week on an aspect of the Council and led a ques-
tion and answer panel, provided both active discourse and personal reflection. My
experience in spring quarter’s course
Vatican II: Catholicism meets Modernity
was
informative, exciting, overwhelming, and even a little scary. Despite being a “cra-
dle Catholic,” I enrolled knowing my institutional and historical knowledge of the
Church was spotty and frankly embarrassing. I was thrilled, therefore, for this op-
portunity to expand my knowledge in a deeply meaningful and instructive approach
to this monumental Church reform.
What struck me most in being introduced to Vatican II was the inevitable genera-
tion gap between those who experienced the pre-conciliar Church and Mass and
those who did not. Conversations over the years with my relatives who preceded the
change reveal boredom and a lack of engagement in the mass. Retrospectively, I now
realize that the distance parishioners felt owed to attending Mass in a language they
couldn’t understand—Latin!
Sacrosanctum Concilium
, the name given specific liturgical reforms, suddenly held
personal meaning. This was the first time I connected the Council, a previously mys-
terious entity, to my own life. Church for me is the complete opposite of my relatives’
childhood boredom because the mass was specifically redesigned to embrace its constituents and incorporate them into one
unified community.
The liturgy represents the fundamental bridge between the terrestrial community of believers and the divinity in which we
believe. Moreover, the liturgy is perhaps the most unifying aspect of the modern Church. Despite language and cultural
barriers, a Catholic can attend mass anywhere in the world and follow along because of the baseline framework constituted
by the liturgy. It can be said that the liturgy is the practical manifestation of Catholicism’s universality.
Sacrosanctum Con-
cilium’
s purpose is revolutionary in that it earmarks adaptation and change to the demands of modernity as central to the
Church’s mission. It promotes this change in the most visible way possible: through the liturgy, which is publically celebrated
at mass every day. Hence, Vatican II turned the altar around to face parishioners, introduced the vernacular, and redefined
communal participation to be full and active. Liturgical change was but one theme raised by the course.
Aside from the wealth of knowledge I gained, the most important aspect of the Vatican II course was the sense of empower-
ment it gave me through a more enlightened understanding of my faith. The opportunity to debate across a spectrum of
generations some of the Church’s fundamental modern problems—like the role of the laity and inter-religious dialogue—
was equally illuminating. Many of these issues have unfolded in unresolved, complex shades of gray which demand honest
discussions among Catholics now more than ever. Especially given the recent papal transition, this course showed me the
necessity of “ressourcement”—returning to the sources—to discern the appropriate future of our church and to cultivate a
compatible binary of religiosity and spirituality amenable to all believers.
I would like to thank Fr. Paul Crowley, the Catholic Community at Stanford, the Rosemary Hewlett Fund of the Religious
Studies Department, and Stanford Continuing Studies for the hard work and dedication put into making this course possible.
Amy is an Urban Studies major who is part of the ESTEEM program as well as a member of the Catholic Leadership Team.
Amy is pictured with friend Sheila Onyiah. Sheila is a member of the 10 pm mass choir and also is part of the ESTEEM pro-
gram. She majored in Human Biology and is now a second year co-term in Mechanical Engineering.
Aside from
the wealth of
knowledge
I gained, the
most important
aspect of
the Vatican II
course was
the sense of
empowerment
it gave me
through a more
enlightened
understanding
of my faith.
