Review of 2nd Vatican Council Called by Pope : Special Bishops’ Synod Will Meet in November

In a surprising move, Pope John Paul II on Friday called for an extraordinary general conference of Roman Catholic bishops to meet next fall and review the Second Vatican Council, which led to major reforms in the church 20 years ago.

Speaking from the same altar at the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls where the late Pope John XXIII first summoned the modernizing council exactly 26 years before, John Paul called for the extraordinary synod to meet from Nov. 25 to Dec. 8 this year.

Although the conservative, Polish-born pontiff has hinted in the past that he is not comfortable with all of the results of the council, it was uncertain Friday whether he intends to seek a re-thinking of any of the council’s changes at the fall synod.

Week of Prayer

The surprise announcement at the conclusion of a Mass ending a week of prayer for Christian unity came late Friday evening, hours after Vatican offices were closed, and most churchmen were unavailable for comment or guidance concerning the Pope’s intentions.

However, one longtime Vatican observer pointed out that the short time allowed for the synod--only two weeks--did not suggest a major move against the reforms of Vatican II, as the council is often called, but rather a relatively brief review of their relevance today and in the coming years.

In announcing the extraordinary synod--only the second called by a Pope since 1967--the pontiff said, “The church of today desires to proceed on the way to the third millennium of history . . . following the way traced by the Second Vatican Council and always listening to what the spirit says to the churches.”

He also said that he called the meeting “above all to re-live in some way the extraordinary atmosphere” of Vatican II and “to exchange and discuss in greater depth experiences and news as to the application of the council at the level of the universal church and of particular churches; to encourage the further study and the constant inclusion of Vatican II in the life of the church and in the light of new demands.”

Unforeseen in 1960s

The last phrase suggested to some observers here that John Paul might intend to seek at least the beginnings of changes in light of church currents that were unforeseen when the bishops and experts of Vatican II worked from October, 1962, to December, 1965.

One of the major reforms and probably the best known of Vatican II, for example, was its abrupt departure from traditional liturgy, dropping the Latin Mass in favor of the vernacular of individual Catholic language groups and shortening its form.

The loss of the old Mass was mourned by many traditionalists in the church and bitterly opposed by some, notably rebel Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre of Switzerland and his followers. The council ruling was partially alleviated by John Paul last October when he increased the number of instances in which the pre-Vatican II Latin form could be followed, a move that narrowed the breach between the Lefebvre group and the Vatican.

Family Values

But John Paul’s conservatism has mainly been expressed in areas that were not major preoccupations of Vatican II. These include traditional family values and controversial areas such as divorce, abortion and birth control. As a leading participant in Vatican II when he was archbishop of Krakow, Poland, John Paul has never publicly rejected or even criticized the 16 major documents that the council produced, even though he has expressed disapproval of clergymen who he thinks have taken council reforms further than was intended.

The council documents, for example, stressed the plight of the poor and their need for peace and justice, which may have stimulated present trends toward so-called “liberation theology” among churchmen in the Third World. While remaining personally devoted to what he speaks of as “the preferential option for the poor,” John Paul has denounced elements of Marxism that have crept into the new theology and has launched a major campaign against theologians who use Marxist analysis and promote class war in their writings and preachings.

The pontiff also has repeatedly ordered clergymen to steer clear of active participation in politics, particularly the holding of public office, an option some felt was opened to them by Vatican II.

‘Crisis of Authority’

In his announcement of the extraordinary synod, John Paul said that “some bishops from the Eastern churches will participate and the presidents of all the episcopal conferences of the five continents.”

Inclusion of bishops of the Eastern Rite churches struck a nostalgic note, since observers from the Eastern churches were invited to Vatican II and a major document of the council dealt with their reunion with Rome. The council also issued liberalizing decrees on the church’s relations with other Christian bodies and with non-Christians, including a statement against anti-Semitism.

Commenting on the Pope’s announcement, conservative Catholic layman Michael Novak of Washington, D.C., said that he sees the synod as having been prompted by “a crisis of authority” in the international church, especially “of deadly threat from seductive Marxist analysis and action in Latin America, Asia and Africa.”

“The Pope has warned in recent months that many interpretations given to Vatican II in recent years have been false,” said Novak, resident fellow of the American Enterprise Institute. Novak was vice chairman of a lay group of Catholics who issued their own free enterprise-emphasis study paper before the release last November of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ first draft of a pastoral letter critical of aspects of the American economic system.

Theologian David Tracy of the University of Chicago Divinity School said that the synod “could be a very valuable session or it could turn out to be ominous.”

“I personally hope it could an opportunity for continuing the reforms of the council,” Father Tracy said.

Now 46, Tracy was a student in Rome at the time of Vatican II. He acknowledged the basic difference in how liberals and conservatives refer to the event and speculated that one subject of the forthcoming synod will be the issue of how to interpret the council.

The pontiff’s announcement came on the eve of his departure from Rome for a 12-day visit to Latin America.