Rev. Ralph Wiltgen: The Rhine Flows Into the Tiber: A History of Vatican II

[Stone]

THE THIRD SESSION
September 14 to November 21, 1964

BLACK WEEK


The liberals had four major reasons for dissatisfaction with Pope Paul VI during the final week of the third session. First, there was his insistence on a Preliminary Explanatory Note on collegiality, which was officially communicated to the general assembly on Monday, November 16, 1964.

Then there was his decision regarding the vote on religious liberty, scheduled for the Thursday of that week. A third reason was his last-minute action on the schema on ecumenism. And finally there was his unexpected announcement on Saturday, November 21, the closing day of the third session, on the application of the title “Mother of the Church to the Virgin Mary. The Dutch quickly invented a graphic term for this period of the Council’s history: “Black Week.” ]

The story of the Explanatory Note has already been told. To understand the conflict about the schema on religious liberty it is necessary to go back to September 23,1964, when discussion on the topic began. The discussion continued for three full meetings and part of a fourth, and then the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity set to work revising the text.

It completed its work by the end of October, and then passed the text on to the Theological Commission, which examined and approved it on November 9. The conservative elements on the Theological Commission were accused of having deliberately dragged their feet, so that there would be no time left for a vote before the end of the third session. The text was printed and distributed to the Council Fathers on Tuesday, November 17. The vote was announced for Thursday.

The revised schema was contained in a booklet together with a report by Bishop De Smedt of Bruges, scheduled to be read on Thursday, which began, “The text which we present for your vote today differs greatly from the text which was discussed in the hall.” The International Group of Fathers, gathered for their regular weekly meeting, studied the revised schema and came to a number of startling conclusions:

First, that the former text of 271 lines had been expanded to cover 556 lines. Secondly, that only 75 of the 556 lines had been taken from the former text. Thirdly, that the structure of the argumentation was different; the presentation of the question was different; the basic principles had been altered; and major paragraphs in Articles 2, 3, 8, 12 and 14 were completely new.

For these reasons, the International Group considered the text equivalent to a new schema, and believed that the procedure to be followed was that contained in Article 30, Section 2, of the Council’s Rules of Procedure, .which provided that schemas “must be distributed in such a way that Council Fathers have a suitable period of time to take counsel, to come to a mature judgment and to determine how they will vote.” Since there was to be another General Congregation on Wednesday morning and the voting was to take place on Thursday, there was not really sufficient time available for a responsible and thorough examination of a schema which was practically new. Moreover, the Council Fathers were already overloaded during this particular week, since they were discussing schemas on seminary training, Christian education and matrimony, and had to cast ten important ballots on schemas on the Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches and ecumenism.

The group therefore decided to draw up a letter to the Council Presidency, calling attention to Article 30, Section 2, of the Rules of Procedure, and asking for a delay in the vote. Over one hundred signatures were collected. The letter was dated Wednesday, November 18, and was delivered to the Council Presidency early that morning. Similar petitions were submitted by other groups. Cardinal Tisserant, Dean of the Cardinal Presidents, took up the matter with the Cardinal Moderators, who requested the Secretary General to read out one of the appeals and to announce that the matter would be settled by a vote of the general assembly. The Secretary General said that a preliminary vote would be taken the following day to decide whether to proceed to a vote on the schema. “This has been decided by the Dean of the Cardinal Presidents and by the Cardinal Moderators,” he explained.

Bishop Carli, of Segni, Italy, one of those who had signed the International Group’s letter requesting more time for study of the schema, appealed to Francesco Cardinal Roberti, Chairman of the Administrative tribunal, against the decision of Cardinal Tisserant and the four Moderators. That decision, he wrote, “appears illegal to the undersigned because of lack of form and lack of substance. 1. It is lacking in form because the
decision was not taken collegially by the Council Presidency, but only by the Cardinal President together with the Moderators. 2. It is lacking in substance, because the assembly cannot be asked to decide whether or not specific articles in the Rules of Procedure issued by the Supreme Pontiff should or should not be observed. Either the petition of the more than 100 Fathers was unfounded, in which case the Council Presidency should declare it unacceptable, giving its reasons; or it was well founded, in which case no one, except the Supreme Pontiff, is entitled to ignore it.”

In conclusion, Bishop Carli asserted his view that the reasons given in the original petition were still valid, since Council Fathers were entitled not to proceed to a vote on a text which was substantially new without first discussing it in the Council hall and having enough time to determine how to vote. “Therefore the undersigned requests that this Most Excellent Tribunal intervene to ensure observance of the Rules of
Procedure.”

Bishop Carli handed this letter to Cardinal Roberti early on Thursday morning, November 19. A short while later, Cardinal Tisserant rose in his place and read out the following statement on behalf of the Council Presidency. “After giving the matter mature consideration, it appears to the Council Presidency that this matter, which touches the Rules of Procedure of the Council, cannot be decided by a vote of the general assembly. Therefore the same Council Presidency has decided that the report [on the schema] is to be read, but that the votes will not be taken during this session of the Council. Those Fathers who wish to present their views in writing may do so up to January 31,1965.”

Cardinal Meyer, one of the twelve Council Presidents, made no attempt to hide his great surprise and deep displeasure at the announcement. Had he been unaware that it was to be made ? He had been one of the greatest protagonists of the declaration on religious freedom, and had eagerly looked forward to its adoption. Bishop Francis Reh, Rector of the North American College in Rome, and two periti, Monsignor John Quinn of Chicago and Father Frederick McManus of Washington, D.C., hurried over to confer with him. After a brief consultation, they decided upon the wording of a special petition to be circulated immediately. It was the famous “Instanter, instantius, instantissime” petition to the Holy Father consisting of only one sentence: “Reverently but insistently, more insistently, most insistently, we request that the vote on the declaration on religious freedom be allowed to take place before the end of this Council session, lest the confidence of the Christian and non-Christian world be lost.” Angry bishops meanwhile poured from their stalls and formed excited groups. Copies of the petition passed rapidly from hand to hand. Never had there been such a furious signing of names, such confusion, such agitation. Never had there been such wild and harsh words as in this moment of panic when it seemed that a cherished Council document might be tabled forever.

The signed petitions were quickly collected and given to Cardinal Meyer, who had meanwhile been joined by Cardinals Ritter and Leger. Together they left the Council hall while the meeting was still in progress, and went to see the Pope, begging him to overrule the decision announced by Cardinal Tisserant, so that the long awaited vote might still take place that morning.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Dopfner, the Moderator for the day, followed the directive announced by Cardinal Tisserant and called upon Bishop De Smedt to read his report. The bishop admitted that the structure of the schema had been changed, and that in general it was much different from what it had been before. “All tins, however, has not changed the substance of our exposition,” he said. “Therefore we offer you today the same doctrine but, as we hope, expressed more concisely, clearly, accurately and prudently. He pointed out that the text had been unanimously approved by the members of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, and that more than two thirds of the Theological Commission had also given their approval.

Bishop De Smedt succeeded in stirring his audience. He was wildly applauded five times during his speech, and for several minutes afterwards.

The thunderous applause at the end rose and fell in three distinct waves. Never had a speaker in the Council hall received such enthusiastic applause. Cardinal Dopfner understandably protracted the meeting beyond the usual time, but when, by 12:44 pm no word had come from the Pope, he brought the meeting to a close.

The press carried stories about a “massive revolt” led by American bishops; and various figures were cited—from 500 to 1500—for the signatures to the petition addressed to the Pope. NCWC News Service, the U.S. Bishops news agency, quoted an unnamed American bishop as stating that perhaps 1000 signatures from bishops from all over the world had been collected.” When an exact count was made for publication after the dose of the session, the number was found to be actually 441.

On Friday, November 20, at the last business meeting of the third session, Cardinal Tisserant once again addressed the general assembly: “Venerable Fathers,” he said, “many Fathers were greatly distressed because the voting on the schema of the declaration on religious freedom did not take place, and they earnestly requested the Supreme Pontiff to provide that the voting might somehow take place before the end of this session.” The Cardinal then explained that the rest of his statement was being made on the Pope’s authority. “Let these Fathers know that the postponement of the vote was granted by the Council Presidency because this was required by the Rules of Procedure governing the Council. An additional reason for the postponement was a certain respect for the liberty of other Council Fathers who have very much at heart a proper, profound and careful examination of a schema of such great importance. Therefore the schema of the declaration on religious freedom will be treated at the next session of the Council and, if possible, before all other schemas.”

Unfortunately Cardinal Meyer, who had championed the schema so ardently, would not be present at the next session; he died from a brain tumor five months before the fourth session began.

Another way in which Pope Paul became unpopular with the liberals during Black Week was through his last-minute action on the schema on ecumenism. Although a total of 421 different qualifications had been submitted by the Council Fathers in the balloting, only 26 of these had been incorporated in the schema by the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity. Council Fathers whose qualifications had not been adopted appealed to the Pope, presenting forty further amendments, and stating that they would be unable to support the document unless those amendments were accepted.

Since Pope Paul was particularly interested in having as few negative votes as possible cast in the vote on ecumenism, he asked Cardinal Bea to examine the proposed changes together with other qualified representatives of his Secretariat, and suggested that it would be well if some of those changes were adopted, since that would probably win greater support for the schema.

Among the amendments were many which, if adopted, would nave altered the orientation and even the substance of the schema. These Cardinal Bea and his associates ignored. They adopted only nineteen, which were reproduced and distributed to the Council Fathers on November 19. That day the Secretary General announced that the vote on the schema on ecumenism as a whole would take place the following day. Then he continued: “In addition to the amendments already introduced in the text in accordance with qualifications made by Council Fathers, the following amendments have been introduced to give the text greater clarity. This was done by the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, which in this way adopted the kind suggestions that had been authoritatively presented. He then read the text of the nineteen amendments.

The announcement could not have come at a more inopportune time. The atmosphere in the Council hall was already tense as a result of the postponement of the vote on religious freedom. The new announcement aroused tempers again. The liberals correctly interpreted both measures as victories for the conservatives, and resented the fact that the Pope had apparently become their patron. This attitude was reflected by the press, which blackened the public image of the Pope. Nevertheless, the schema on ecumenism, as amended at the Pope’s request, was approved by a vote of 2054 to 64.

On Saturday morning, November 21, 1964, the closing day of the third session, the Council Fathers took their places in the Council hall in a none too happy frame of mind. “Evidence of the tension and frustration was most dramatically obvious,” wrote Mr. Donald Quinn in a front-page story in the St. Louis Review. “As Pope Paul was carried into St. Peter’s on his sedia gestatoria [portable throne], he passed between the two rows of 2100 stonily silent bishops. No applause from the bishops’ stalls greeted him. Even as the Pope made a simple blessing sign, only one in ten of the bishops crossed themselves. Newsmen witnessing the scene double-checked with each other about what they were seeing.”

A solemn Mass of concelebration was offered by the Pope and twenty-four Council Fathers representing sees with national shrines in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then the voting took place. The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, containing the much discussed chapter on collegiality, was adopted by 2151 votes to 5. The Decree on Eastern Catholic Churches was adopted by 2110 votes to 39. And the Decree on Ecumenism, with the last-minute changes referred to above, was adopted by 2I 37 votes to 11. After the results of each ballot were announced, there was sustained applause. And after each document was promulgated by the Pope, there was again enthusiastic applause.

But the enthusiasm was to be chilled for some Council Fathers by an unexpected announcement in the Pope’s closing address.

The year before, at the close of the second session, Pope Paul had told the Council Bathers that he hoped for the “unanimous and loving acknowledgment of the place, privileged above all others, which the Mother of God occupies in the Holy Church... . After Christ, her place in the Church is the most exalted, and also the one closest to us, and so we can honor her with the title Mother of the Church’ to her glory and to our benefit.”

But the bestowal of this title had met with opposition. Some episcopal conferences, such as those from German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, had objected to the title, and Bishop Mendez Arceo of Mexico had spoken out against it on the Council floor. Cardinal Wyszynski of Poland, however, had announced that he and all the bishops of Poland had sent the Pope a special request for this tide. And the International Group of Fathers had collected signatures for a petition to the Pope which read, “At the forthcoming third session, may the Blessed Virgin Mary be proclaimed Mother of the Church by the Council, that is, by Your Holiness, as head,
together with the Fathers, as members.” There had been other petitions to the same effect.


The Theological Commission, however, without ever putting the matter to a vote, on its own authority had removed the title from the chapter on the Blessed Virgin in the schema on the Church. The title had previously been inserted on instructions from the Coordinating Commission. (Those instructions, according to one competent authority. Father Balic, might well have been issued at the desire of Pope John XXIII.)

On Wednesday, November 18, 1964, in the midst of Black Week, Pope Paul made a statement at a public audience which went largely unnoticed. We are happy to announce to you,” he said, “that we shall close this session of the Ecumenical Council ... by joyfully bestowing on Our Lady the title due to her, Mother of the Church.”

At the public meeting on Saturday, November 21, the last day of the session, Pope Paul said in his concluding address that the close relations existing between Mary and the Church, “so clearly established in today’s Conciliar Constitution,” caused him to feel that this was “the most solemn and appropriate moment to fulfill a wish to which we referred at the end of the preceding session. . .. Very many Council Fathers,” continued Pope Paul, “have made this wish their own, pressing for an explicit declaration during this Council of the role as Mother which the Virgin exercises over the Christian people. To achieve this aim, we have considered it opportune to consecrate, at this public meeting itself, a title in honor of the Virgin which has been suggested by various parts of the Catholic world. It is particularly dear to us because it sums up, in an admirable synthesis, the privileged position recognized by this Council for the Virgin in the Holy Church.

Therefore, for the glory of the Virgin Mary and for our own consolation, we proclaim the Most Holy Mary as Mother of the Church, that is to say, of all the People of God, of the faithful as well as the pastors [bishops], who call her their most loving Mother. And we wish that from now on the Virgin should be still more honored and invoked by the entire Christian people by this most dear title.”

The standing ovation which greeted this announcement signified the warm assent of the Council Fathers. The Pope was interrupted seven times by applause during his address; the applause increased in intensity as the address continued. He announced that he would make use of the long discussed episcopal synod, and that the reorganization of the Roman Curia was undergoing careful study. He also announced his intention of sending a special mission in the near future to Fatima, in Portugal, to carry a golden rose to the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. “In this manner,” he said, “we intend to entrust to the care of this Heavenly Mother the entire human family, with its problems and worries, with its lawful aspirations and ardent hopes.” This gesture was considered a partial reply to 510 heads of dioceses, archdioceses and patriarchates from seventy-six countries who had petitioned Pope Paul to consecrate the entire world during the Council to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as requested by Our Lady of Fatima.

The signatures of these prelates had been delivered to the Holy Father on February 3, 1964, by Archbishop Sigaud of Diamantina, Brazil. But the bishops of Germany and France, as well as Cardinal Bea, were known to be opposed to such a consecration, and it did not take place.

While many Council Fathers were reassured by the proceedings of the public meeting, for others the last week of the third session remained Black Week. When the leading peritus of the Dutch hierarchy, Father Schiilebeeckx, returned to Holland after the Council, he was appalled to find the press and the country so antagonistic to the Pope because of the events of Black Week. He immediately published an article in defense of the Pope in De Bazuin, a religious weekly published in Amsterdam. As a result, the antagonism was directed toward him. He retorted with another article in De Bazuin (January 23, 1965), giving the background of the Preliminary Explanatory Note appended to the chapter on collegiality in the schema on the Church.

As early as the second session, wrote Father Schiilebeeckx, he had told a peritus on the Theological Commission that he was sorry to see in the schema what appeared to be the moderate liberal view on collegiality; he personally was in favor of the extreme liberal view. The peritus had replied, “We are stating this in a diplomatic manner, but after the Council we shall draw the conclusions implicit in it.” Father Schiilebeeckx had called such tactics “unfair.” During the last month of the third session, he wrote, bishops and theologians had continued to speak of collegiality “in a sense which was not expressed anywhere in the schema.” He pointed out that the minority had understood well that the vague phraseology of the schema would be interpreted after the Council in the strongest sense. The minority, he explained, had not been against collegiality as literally formulated in the text, but had been opposed “to that orientation full of hope
which the majority of the Theological Commission wished to convey through the text... The majority, he said, had resorted to a deliberately vague and excessively diplomatic parlance, and he recalled that even Father Congar had much earlier objected to a conciliar text’s being deliberately ambiguous.

Father Schiilebeeckx maintained that a conciliar text on collegiality must be unequivocal, expressing clearly either the moderate or the extreme liberal view. Pope Paul had therefore had no alternative but to issue a Preliminary Explanatory Note. Without it, Father Schiilebeeckx insisted, an ambiguous text would have been approved. With this expose, he destroyed the basis for the greatest grievance against the Pope.

Another liberal theologian at the Council, Father John Courtney Murray, S.J., the leading American peritus on religious freedom, told a vast audience at Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C., shortly after the end of the third session, that the postponement of the vote on religious freedom had been a “wise” decision. He also admitted that the action taken by the Council Presidency had been technically correct, since extensive revision had actually turned the document into a “substantially new text.”

Again a liberal had vindicated the Pope of charges leveled against him during Black Week.

As for the nineteen changes introduced in the schema on ecumenism at the Pope’s request, Cardinal Bea wrote later that, on calm consideration, they revealed no grounds for alarm. He pointed out that the original panic
had resulted from an incorrect translation of the Latin text of one of the nineteen amendments. The incorrect translation had read that the separated brethren, in reading the Bible, sought God “as though he were speaking to them in Christ.” Understandably, it caused surprise in Catholic circles and widespread alarm among the separated brethren. But when the matter was clarified by Cardinal Bea, who insisted that the only correct
translation was that the separated brethren “seek God as he speaks to them in Christ,” the grounds for alarm were removed. Once more, Pope Paul was justified.

The St. Louis Review voiced the complaints of certain bishops and periti in telling its readers that “the granting of the title, Mother of the Church, to Mary by the Pope’s words on Saturday was in direct contradiction to the will of the majority of the Fathers.” Cardinal Bea, commenting on charges like this, simply pointed out that the question as to whether Our Lady should be given this title had never been voted on in the Council. “By what right, then,” he asked, “can one pretend to know something about the presumed majority opinion of the Council?” Although some had spoken against this title on the Council floor, he explained, the positions taken in Council interventions, being limited in number, were “not a reliable indication at all for knowing the majority opinion of the Council Fathers.”

In taking this action, the Pope did not even contradict the will of the majority in the Theological Commission. To do so, he would have had to place the title back into the schema after the Theological Commission had removed it. This he did not do. What took place that closing day of the third session was a twofold exercise of supreme authority in the Catholic Church. In the first exercise of this authority, Pope Paul conformed himself to his College of Bishops and promulgated the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, which included the new tide for Our Lady in an “equivalent” manner. When this action was completed, the Pope used his own supreme personal authority to state in an explicit manner what he, together with his College of Bishops, had a few minutes ear Her stated in an implicit or “equivalent” manner.

So perhaps Black Week had not been so black after all.