When most people refer to the Vatican Councils, they are usually thinking about the last two great Ecumenical Councils of the Roman Catholic Church. Depending on whom you talk to, there have been either seven or twenty-one of these councils held over the years.
Both Protestants and Catholics agree that there were seven great councils held between 325 ce and 787 ce: the councils of Nicea I (325), Constantinople I (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople II (553), Constantinople III (680-681), and Nicea II (787). These were the meetings that managed to hammer out so much of what is considered to be "orthodox" Christian belief.
The Roman Catholic Church adds fourteen more official councils to this list. The last two of these are called Vatican Councils.
Vatican I met in 1869 and 1870. Its primary function was to deal with concerns about what was then called "modernism." Probably the most famous result of this council was its ruling that when the pope spoke ex cathedra, that is, "when in discharge of the office of pastor and doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal Church," he spoke with the authority of papal infallibility. Up to then it had been assumed that all bishops, including the bishop of Rome, the pope, was under the rule of the whole church. But not after this. Now the power of infallibility rested in the papal office. When God spoke through the pope, the whole Catholic Church had to obey. (It comes as a surprise to many people that this famous doctrine is less than 150 years old.)
The council also passed resolutions regarding things like pantheism, materialism, and atheism. To no one's surprise, it condemned them all. It went on to talk about the new idea of evolution, reaffirming the role of God as Creator, and spoke out against "modernism" in general, calling it a "cancer in its ranks."
Vatican II was held from 1962 to 1965. That was the council that "modernized" the church. Latin was almost totally replaced by the vernacular. The extent of lay participation in worship was increased. Greater friendliness with non-Catholic religions was encouraged and a greater concern for social involvement begun. The altar was moved out from the wall so the priest now faced the congregation. Guitars were heard more and more. "Folk masses" became popular. "Dialogue sermons" became all the rage. Right in the middle of the homily, an antagonist would stand up in the midst of the congregation and question something, speaking for the people. Of course, the whole episode was carefully scripted, so the priest eventually managed to "convince" his opponent and, by doing so, win over the congregation. Everyone knew what was going on, but congregants enjoyed it just the same.
There were, of course, strenuous objections to all this.
"The Father looks like he's doing a cooking demonstration. It's not Mass anymore!"
"If God had wanted the service to be in English, He wouldn't have written the Bible in Latin!"
"I just don't feel like it's church anymore!"
Others said the church had changed forever and folks just had to deal with it. Time seemed to be on their side.
But a strange current has moved through Vatican waters since the early seventies. There are those who think the tide may be turning back toward old-style Catholicism. The present pope has proved to be very conservative. Loud, strident voices can be heard on both sides of the debate.
What will happen still remains to be seen. Liberal American Catholicism is a very different religion from that practiced in other countries. What does the future hold, especially since the great clergy sexual-molestation scandals of 2002 and 2003? The future is very much in doubt.
Sources: Radical Faith. http: //homepages.which.net/~radical.faith/. September 14, 2003.
