EDITORIAL

Vatican II: In Memory and Hope was the theme of the theological forum sponsored by Australian Catholic University (ACU) and the Forum of Australian Catholic Institutes of Theology (FACIT) in Melbourne, 11th - 14th October 2002, to commemorate forty years since the start of the Council. Many articles appearing in this inaugural edition of the Australian EJournal of Theology are derived from scholarly presentations at this conference.

Keen eyes and minds will recognise that memory and hope are not only key themes of Christian life in a general sense. They are also central categories in the practical - political programs of such theologians as Johan Baptist Metz and Jürgen Moltmann. Whatever else the Council represents, it was a political event that continues to reshape the Catholic - Christian mind and imagination. And, like all political events, it has proven to be a cause célèbre for differing interpretations, power struggles, polite and impolite exchanges ranging from the nature of revelation, structure of the Church, mission of the laity, autonomy of the world, regard for freedom and conscience, call to social justice, approach to other faiths, to name but a few. Not memory and hope, but memories and hopes of a pluralistic, often divisive, kind.

As various authors remind us, Vatican II is unfinished, incomplete, still in progress. Peter Price discerns that, forty years on, we find ourselves in an "awkward, uncomfortable place" in which the hoped-for fruits of our 'liberation' are far from achieved! Tony Kelly's challenge: "Let's start again!" As Church and people we are, of course, always starting again. To quote T.S.Eliot, "our ends are always our beginnings." Perhaps this is the rub for a Church which has slowly moved to consider itself as neither a beginning nor an end, but as an imperfect means, a fragile symbol, a somewhat broken sacrament of something--and Someone--far greater.

In any event, commentators on Vatican II recognise that the ambiguities of being Church today are rehearsed rather than resolved in the Council Documents. Brendan Byrne refers to the two-fold vision of the Council: one opens itself to the world and endorses the world's value on its own terms (Rahner and Metz); the other proposes a return to biblical and patristic sources as a way of chastening and captivating the world (von Balthasar and the latter Ratzinger). The world - Church dynamic sees itself played out in ecclesiastical politics with all players courting Vatican II as their authority. Issues of reception and interpretation are acute.

The theologians who spoke at the Vatican II conference and are represented here focus on different texts and diverse contexts for receiving and interpreting the call of the Gospel, the power of the Word and the gift of the Spirit. As theologians, they are keenly aware that the Council Documents do not and cannot, by themselves, answer all life's riddles - not even the ecclesiastical ones. Imbued with historical consciousness, they know memory can play tricks and hopes may be facile. What is important is the manner in which current interpretations address current issues and challenges.

A number of presentations deal explicitly with the Church's structures of power which sometimes mediate, but often obstruct, reforms which originated with the Council. This is a key theme of Veronica Lawson's stirring opening address which is also a narrative reflection on a bumpy forty - year path of the Council's reception and non-reception. The Church's theoretical and political commitment to collegial reform, including the overturning of clericalism, is addressed by a number of contributors (Brian Gleeson, Anthony Gooley, Peter Price). Practical theologians will be pleased to see that a number of positive - practical suggestions are made for implementing collegial reform.

The debate on lay participation in the Church's mission is taken up by Neil Ormerod who finds that post-Vatican II talk of "lay ministries" may in fact weaken rather than strengthen the Council's foundational insight. Other contributions also suggest evidence of some post-Vatican II "watering down" of insights into the Church's ecumenical mission (David Pascoe), call to interfaith dialogue (Gerard Hall), liturgical reform (Gerard Moore) and biblical renewal (Brendan Byrne). There is at least significant ambiguity with regard to the Council vis-à-vis more recent magisterial statements.

A number of presentations help us situate the Council historically. Gerald Gleeson comments that Vatican II was in some way "Newman's Council." Liturgists will learn from Russell Hardiman that Vatican II reforms reach back to the time of Trent. They will then learn from Gerard Moore that post Vatican II "reform of the reform" has witnessed both progression and regression in its implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy.

The Council's 'optimistic' document on the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World is discussed at length by Tony Kelly and John Ozolins. Kerri Hide leads us to a mystical appropriation of the key doctrinal document, The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. Gerald Gleeson, in his reflection on the Council's call for a renewal of Catholic Moral Theology, provides us with an ongoing account of magisterial documents with special reference to Pope John Paul's encyclical, Veritatis Splendor.

Not all articles in this inaugural edition of this ejournal were part of the conference on Vatican II. Nonetheless, one can draw points of connection. Professor Ferguson's scholarly article on "Baptism in the Patristic Period" is a case in point. In an ecumenical gesture, Professor Ferguson states: "The Roman Catholic church recently adopted a revised liturgy for baptism that takes seriously the faith and practice of the early church as the norm for the administration of baptism. Other denominations would do well to do likewise." Catholic liturgists take heart!

Another patristic connection is provided by Damien Casey whose study of Irenaeus, "the first to systematically reflect upon the nature of the Church as 'catholic'," is surely timely. There are further if more tenuous connections to Vatican II in an array of other articles dealing with Scriptural renewal (Alan Moss and Michael G. Michael), social justice (Kevin Liew), the problem of universals (Matthew del Nevo), nature and art (Robert Tilley) and biblical fundamentalism (Matthew Ogilvie).

The EJournal also carries a book review: Richard Holloway, "Doubts and Loves: What is Left of Christianity?" by Yuri Koszarycz. For the poets among us, Bet Green's stirring poem "Dresden Bell" commemorates the anniversary of the bombing of Dresden - seen, no doubt, through the eyes of more recent bombings in such places as Bali and Iraq.

Finally, may I say that this attractive inaugural edition of the Australian EJournal of Theology owes its birth to the dedication and expertise of Yuri Koszarycz who pioneered the successful three-volume Theology@McAuley. The prior journal was a first for Australian theology. The Australian EJournal of Theology is its rightful heir. Like its predecessor, AEJT will be a twice-a-year event. Although sponsored by the Schools of Theology at Australian Catholic University, it is our hope that contributors and readers will be representative of all Australian institutes of theological education.

Gerard Hall s.m.
Head, McAuley at Banyo School of Theology

15th August 2003