Oscar Romero and Post Vatican II Church Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oscar Romero and Post Vatican II Church - Essay Example Prior to these sessions, mass were conducted in a way that priests turned their backs to the congregation, modern forms were not accepted, masses were conducted in Latin language only, and sacraments were not updated or simplified. The council introduced new documents which saw landmark transformation of the Catholic Church. (http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0505787.htm). Alters were altered, and priests were made to face the congregation, priesthood and religious life were renewed, liturgy was modernized, lay Catholics participation in church affairs was enhanced, Catholic church opened dialogue with other churches and non-Christians and the church was recognized as ‘the people of God’. Way was given for people around the world to conduct masses in their vernacular language. All these changes were not immediate. This saw the church began a long and contentious process of every aspect of the Catholic Church. The council regarded this transformation as a way of opening dialogue with the modern world and facing modern challenges that were inevitable. It is believed that were it, not for these changes introduced by the Vatican II council, the church would be a small minority in the modern world. These transformations brought modern-day men and women nearer to the gospel and made the gospel important to them which was not the case before. One of the goals of the council documents was to enlighten the modern believers to see the world as an opportunity to announce the gospel and not a threat to the gospel. Prior to this, many catholic believers viewed the modern world as a threat to the gospel and existence of the church. These transformations greatly changed the spiritual view of the church. Another ongoing spiritual task since the inception of these transformations has been to enlighten the young generations not to see the Vatican as an ancient history of the church