The Theology of Renewal for His Church
The Logic of Vatican II’s Renewal in Paul VI’s Encyclical Ecclesiam Suam and Its Reception in John Paul II and Benedict XVI
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
Almost sixty years after Vatican II, the question of its interpretation is as lively as ever. While numerous theologies of renewal are advanced, conspicuously absent is any serious erudition of the text taken by Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI as the hermeneutical key to understanding the Council's goal and method, namely, Paul VI's encyclical, Ecclesiam Suam. This study corrects this inattention and proposes that Pope Paul's "logic of renewal" is so profoundly a dimension of divine revelation and of the Church's life that it is not just one theology of renewal among many, but the theology of renewal. It is thus the key to understanding the Council's authentic pastoral character. The "logic of renewal" sets personal, spiritual metanoia as the center path of renewal, preceded by the path of doctrinal penetration, which assures that renewal is faithful to God, and complemented by the path of reinvigorated mission, which is the fruit of conversion. As the first post-Christendom ecumenical council, Vatican II addressed the question: What does it mean to be the Church of Christ at this point in history? Its answer: Become what you are! Convert into a more perfect realization of your own mystery, vocation, and mission.
Douglas Bushman is Director of Formation and Mission at the Church of St. Joseph in West St. Paul, Minnesota. He is past director of graduate programs in pastoral theology at the University of Dallas and Ave Maria University, and for thirty years he taught courses on Vatican II, St. John Paul II, pastoral theology, and the New Evangelization.
“Bushman’s proposal to read Vatican II through the lens of Pope Paul VI’s Ecclesiam Suam is inspired! Indeed, now that he has proposed it, it is hard to imagine why no one has done this before. This book is a breakthrough not only for the interpretation of Vatican II but also for insight into the particular mode and extraordinary power of Pope John Paul II’s reception and implementation of Vatican II.”
—Matthew Levering, Mundelein Seminary
“Distilling a pastoral wisdom born of decades of teaching pastoral theology in the light of Vatican II, Bushman studies the three paths of the church outlined by Saint Paul VI in Ecclesiam Suam: doctrinal penetration, personal and ecclesial renewal, and pastoral dialogue with the contemporary world. These paths are presented as the ‘hermeneutical key’ for the interpretation of the goals of the Second Vatican Council and its implementation in the life of the church.”
—Lawrence Feingold, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
“Ecclesiam Suam is one of the most important documents for understanding the ecclesiology of Vatican II. Many scholars, though, have neglected its significance. Bushman makes up for this deficiency by showing how Paul VI’s plan for ecclesial renewal—rooted in a call to deeper conversion, holiness, and mission—informed the efforts of John Paul II and Benedict XVI to implement the authentic teachings of the council.”
—Robert L. Fastiggi, Sacred Heart Major Seminary
“Bushman addresses an issue of continuing urgency in post-Vatican II theology: namely, harmonious development of, or deviation and rupture with, Catholic tradition. Since the Second Vatican Council, this question has refused to go away in a hermeneutic of Vatican II documents. Bushman turns to Pope Paul VI’s 1964 encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, offering a new understanding and hence a new starting point for informed debate about this question and hence for the most important ecclesial event of the twentieth century.”
—Eduardo Echeverria, Sacred Heart Major Seminary
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