Gaudium et Spes

1
Gaudium et Spes  Pastoral Constitution on the
Church in the Modern WorldSecond Vatican
Council, 1965
2
The Presiders of Vatican II (1962-1965)
Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini
Pope Paul VI (1963-1978)
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli Pope John XXIII
(1958-1963)
3
Future Popes Present at Vatican II

• Paul VI (1963-1978)
• John Paul I (1978)
• John Paul II (1978-2005)
• Benedict XVI (2005-Present)

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Effects of Vatican II

• Revised Liturgy
• Stronger Emphasis on Ecumenism
• New approach to the World itself

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The 16 Documents of Vatican II

• 9 Decrees
• Ad Gentes (Mission Activity)
• Apostolicam Actuositatem (Lay People)
• Christus Dominus (Bishops in the Church)
• Inter Mirifica (Social Communication)
• Optatam Totius (Priestly Training)
• Orientalium Ecclesiarum (Eastern Churches)
• Perfectae Caritatis (Renewal of Religious Life)
• Presbyterorum Ordinis (Life of Priests)
• Unitatis Redintegratio (Ecumenism)

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The 16 Documents of Vatican II

• 3 Declarations
• Dignitatis Humanae (Religious Freedom)
• Gravissimum Educationis (Christian Education)
• Nostra Aetate (Relations with Non-Christians)

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The 16 Documents of Vatican II

• 4 Constitutions
• Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine
  Revelation)
• Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the
  Church)
• Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the
  Church in the Modern World)
• Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on Sacred
  Liturgy)

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The 16 Documents of Vatican II

• 4 Constitutions
• Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine
  Revelation)
• Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the
  Church)
• Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the
  Church in the Modern World)
• Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on Sacred
  Liturgy)

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Gaudium et Spes

• It is an overview of the Churchs teachings about
  humanitys relationship to society, especially in
  reference to economics, poverty, social justice,
  culture, science and technology, and ecumenism.
• This document was not drafted prior to the
  Council, but arose from the floor of the Council
  and was one of the last to be promulgated (on
  December 7, 1965 the last day of the Council).
• It was approved by a vote of 2,307 to 75.
• The words Gaudium et Spes are Latin for Joy and
  Hope, and as is customary with Catholic
  documents, the title is taken from its first
  sentence which sets the tone of its emphasis.

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• The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of
  the people of our time, especially those who are
  poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the
  grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as
  well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to
  find an echo in their hearts. (1)

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GS Major Areas of Concern

• Human Dignity
• Common Good
• Signs of the Times
• Public Responsibility
• Respect for Families
• Right of Culture
• Justice and Development
• Peace

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Part 1

• The Church and the Human Vocation
• I) The Dignity of the Human Person
• II) The Human Community
• III) Humanitys Activity in the Universe
• IV) Role of the Church in the Modern World

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Part 1

• The Church
  and the Human Vocation
• I) The Dignity of the Human Person
• Created in the image of God.
• Human person consists of a body and soul
  composite.
• Intelligent. Able to know and love their
  Creator.
• Stewardship. Set by God over all earthly
  creatures to rule and make use of them in a
  manner which glorifies God.
• Free Will. Part of human nature to pursue good
  and avoid evil.
• The Mystery of death.
• The problem with atheism.

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Part 1

• 
  The Church and the Human Vocation
• II) The Human Community
• The fact that human beings are social by nature
  indicates that the betterment of the person and
  the improvement of society depend on each other.
  (25)
• The council lays stress on respect for the human
  person everybody should look upon his or her
  neighbor (without any exception) as another self,
  bearing in mind especially their neighbors life
  and the means needed for a dignified way of life,
  lest they follow the example of the rich man who
  ignored Lazarus, who was poor. (27)
• The varieties of crime are numerous all
  offenses against life itself, such as murder,
  genocide, abortion, euthanasia and willful
  suicide all violations of the integrity of the
  human person, such as mutilation, physical and
  mental torture, undue psychological pressures
  all offenses against human dignity, such as
  subhuman living conditions, arbitrary
  imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution,
  the selling of women and children, degrading work
  conditions where people are treated as mere tools
  for profit rather than free and responsible
  persons all these and the like are criminal
  they poison civilization and they debase the
  perpetrators more than the victims and militate
  against the honor of the Creator. (27)
• While there are just differences between people,
  their equal dignity as persons demands that we
  strive for fairer and more humane conditions.
  Excessive economic and social disparity between
  individuals and peoples of the one human race is
  a source of scandal and militates against social
  justice, equity, human dignity, as well as social
  and international peace. (29)

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Part 1

• The Church
  and the Human Vocation
• II) The Human Community
• The social order and its development must
  constantly yield to the good of the person, since
  the order of things must be subordinate to the
  order of persons and not the other way around, as
  the Lord suggested when He said that the Sabbath
  was made for men and women and not men and women
  for the Sabbath. The social order requires
  constant improvement it must be founded in
  truth, built on justice, and enlivened by love
  it should grow in freedom towards a more humane
  equilibrium. If these objectives are to be
  attained there will first have to be a renewal of
  attitudes and far-reaching social changes. (26)
• The pace of change is so far-reaching and rapid
  nowadays that it is imperative that no one, out
  of indifference to the course of events or
  because of inertia, would indulge in a merely
  individualistic morality. The best way to
  fulfill ones obligations of justice and love is
  to contribute to the common good according to
  ones means and the needs of others, and also to
  promote and help public and private organizations
  devoted to bettering the conditions of life.
  (30)

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Part 1

• The Church and the
  Human Vocation
• III) Humanitys Activity in the Universe
• Science and Technology are good things and should
  be pursued, but only if ordered to the good.
• People are of greater value for what they are
  than for what they have. Technical progress is
  of less value than advances toward greater
  justice, wider kinship and a more humane social
  environment. Technical progress may supply the
  material for human advance but it is powerless to
  achieve it. (35)

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Part 1

• The Church and the Human Vocation
• Role of the Church in the Modern World
• Does the Church have a role in the modern
  world?????

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You Betcha!
You Betcha!
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• In every age, the Church carries the
  responsibility of reading the signs of the times
  and of interpreting them in the light of the
  Gospel, if it is to carry out its task. In
  language intelligible to every generation, it
  should be able to answer the ever recurring
  questions which people ask about the meaning of
  this present life and of the life to come, and
  how one is related to the other. (4)

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Part 1

• Church and the Human Vocation
• IV) Role of the Church in the Modern World
• In pursuing its own salvific purpose not only
  does the Church communicate divine life to
  humanity but in a certain sense it casts the
  reflected light of that divine life over all the
  earth, notably in the way it heals and elevates
  the dignity of the human person, in the way it
  consolidates society, and endows peoples daily
  activity with a deeper sense and meaning. The
  Church, then, believes that through each of its
  members and its community as a whole it can help
  to make the human family and its history still
  more human. (40)
• Thus the Church, at once a visible organization
  and a spiritual community, travels the same
  journey as all of humanity and shares the same
  earthly lot with the world it is to be a leaven
  and, as it were, the soul of human society in its
  renewal by Christ and transformation into the
  family of God. (40)

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Part 1

• The Church and the Human Vocation
• IV) Role of the Church in the Modern World
• What the Church offers to Individuals
• To follow Christ the perfect human is to become
  more human oneself. (41)
• The Church answers the question why we are all
  here.
• God alone satisfies the deepest cravings of the
  human heart. Things of this world can only offer
  temporary happiness.

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Part 1

• The Church and the Human
  Vocation
• IV) Role of the Church in the Modern World
• What the Church offers to Society
• By its nature and mission the Church is
  universal in that it is not committed to any one
  culture or to any political, economic, or social
  system. (42)
• The Churchs purpose and mission is religious.
  It is not properly a political, economic, or
  social system, however, it does have a voice
  regarding how these systems are ordered.
• The Church is the glue that bonds these systems
  together (provided they are ordered to the good).
• Every political, economic, and social system has
  their good and bad points.
• The Church is a standard by which these systems
  are measured.

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Part 1

• The Church
  and the Human Vocation
• IV) Role of the Church in the Modern World
• What the members of the Church offer
• It is a mistake to think that, because we have
  here no lasting city, but seek the city which is
  to come, we are entitled to evade our earthly
  responsibilities this is to forget that because
  of our faith we are all the more bound to fulfill
  these responsibilities according to ones
  vocation. (43)
• Christians who shirk their temporal duties shirk
  their duties towards his neighbor, neglect God
  Himself, and endanger their eternal salvation.
  (43)
• These actions on the part of all Christians are
  not merely nice things to do, but are in fact
  required of all of us.
• This also puts in perspective the fact that we as
  individuals make up the Church.
• No one is permitted to identify his or her own
  opinions with Church authority.
• Church is not blind to the discrepancy of the
  message it proclaims and errors made as a result
  of human weakness by those to whom the Gospel has
  been entrusted.

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Part 2

• Some More Urgent
  Problems
• V) The Dignity of Marriage and the Family
• VI) Proper Development of Culture
• VII) Economic and Social Life
• VIII) The Political Community
• IX) Fostering of Peace and Establishment of a
  Community of Nations

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Part 2

• Some More Urgent
  Problems
• The Dignity of Marriage and the Family
• The well-being of the individual person and of
  both human and Christian society is closely bound
  up with the healthy state of the community of
  marriage and the family. (47)
• God Himself is the author of marriage and has
  endowed it with specific values and purposes
  the procreation and education of children.
• The family is a microcosm of society as a whole.
• If family values degenerate, societal values will
  follow suit.
• If family members do not treat each other with
  dignity, why would we expect our actions in
  society to be different?
• Just as a family works together to solve problems
  and bear trials, society as a whole should do the
  same.

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Part 2

• Some More Urgent
  Problems
• Proper Development of Culture
• Culture is defined in a general sense as those
  things that entail the development and refining
  of humanitys diverse mental and physical
  attributes. Culture comes about as men and women
  seek to perfect their bodily and spiritual
  qualities. Using labor and knowledge, men and
  women try to bring the world under their control
  (subdue it) and by improving customs and
  institutions, they render human life both in the
  family and in the community more human.
• Culture is the whole network of relationships
  that make up the world in which we live, and it
  is the only route to true humanity.

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Part 2

• Some More
  Urgent Problems
• Proper Development of Culture
• Positive Aspects
• Tremendous expansion of natural and human
  sciences (including social sciences).
• Increase of technology.
• Advances in communication.
• Industrialization, urbanization, and other
  factors which promote community living create new
  mass cultures which give birth to new patterns
  of thinking, acting, and use of leisure.
• The goal that must always be kept in sight is
  that human culture must evolve in such a way as
  to develop the whole human person harmoniously
  and integrally, and aid in helping everyone
  fulfill the tasks to which they are called.
  Special emphasis should be placed toward
  Christians who are united in communion at the
  heart of the human family.
• Culture must be subordinated to the integral
  development of the human person, to the good of
  the community and of the whole of humanity.
  (59)

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Part 2

• Some More
  Urgent Problems
• Proper Development of Culture
• Challenges
• With improvements in science and technology, the
  Church must be able to address the moral
  implications of these developments. They must be
  in accord with the natural law.
• GS also calls for the laity to receive adequate
  theological formation to be applied to the study
  and development of culture in their own state in
  life.
• With science and technological improvements,
  humanity can realize a higher understanding of
  truth, but a danger exists in thinking God is no
  longer needed.
• It is important to realize these improvements are
  a means to an end and not an end in themselves.
• The pursuit of these disciplines are a good
  thing, but they must be understood before they
  can be ordered to the good. This should be
  accomplished utilizing an authentically set of
  Christian values tempered with humility and
  courage.

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Part 2

• Some More Urgent
  Problems
• Economic and Social Life
• In the sphere of economics and social life, too,
  the dignity and vocation of the human person as
  well as the welfare of society as a whole have to
  be respected and fostered for people are the
  source, the focus and the aim of all economic and
  social life. (63)
• At the very time when economic progress,
  provided it is directed and organized in a
  reasonable and human way, could do so much to
  reduce social inequities, it serves all too often
  only to aggravate them in some places it even
  leads to a decline in the situation of the
  underprivileged and to contempt for the poor.
  (63)
• Luxury and misery exist side by side.
• The growing contrast between the more
  economically advanced countries and the rest of
  the world may well endanger world peace.

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Part 2

• Some More
  Urgent Problems
• Economic and Social Life
• The ultimate and basic purpose of economic
  production does not consist merely in producing
  more goods, nor in profit or prestige economic
  production is meant to be at the service of
  humanity in its totality, taking into account
  peoples material needs and the requirements of
  their intellectual, moral, spiritual, and
  religious life it is intended to benefit all
  individuals and groups of people of whatever race
  or from whatever part of the world. Therefore,
  economic activity is to be carried out in
  accordance with techniques and methods belonging
  to the moral order, so that Gods design for
  humanity may be carried out. (64)
• Note how the 3 highlighted words correspond to
  the three temptations of Christ in the desert.
• Economic development should be under the peoples
  control and not left to the judgment of a few
  individuals or groups. The largest group of
  people possible should have an active share in
  directing that development.

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Part 2

• Some More
  Urgent Problems
• Economic and Social Life
• We must denounce as false those doctrines which
  stand in the way of all reform on the pretext of
  a false notion of freedom, as well as those which
  subordinate the basic rights of individuals and
  of groups to the collective organization of
  production. (65)
• True freedom is the power to do what is right
  according to our nature.
• All people have the right and duty to contribute,
  according to their ability, to the progress and
  development of their own community and this fact
  must be recognized by civil authority.
• The common good is seriously endangered by
  those who hoard their resources unproductively
  and by those who, apart from the personal right
  to emigrate, deprive their community of much
  needed material and spiritual assistance. (65)
• Lk 1215-20 You fool, this night your life will
  be demanded of you and the things you have
  prepared, to whom will they belong?

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Part 2

• Some More Urgent Problems
• Economic and Social Life
• No one, especially public authorities, should
  treat workers simply as mere instruments of
  production, but as persons. (66)
• Ensure sufficient suitable employment is
  available.
• Opportunities for appropriate technical and
  professional training should be provided.
• Safeguards should be put in place to protect the
  livelihood and human dignity of those who through
  age or ill health are seriously disadvantaged.
• Allowed to be partners in the work of bringing
  Gods creation to perfection.

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Part 2

• Some More Urgent
  Problems
• Economic and Social Life
• We believe by faith that through the homage of
  work offered to God, humanity is associated with
  the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, whose labor
  with His hands at Nazareth greatly added to the
  dignity of work. (67)
• It is every persons duty to work loyally.
• Everyone has the right to work.
• Everyone has the right to a living wage.
• Everyone should be allowed sufficient time for
  rest and leisure to cultivate their family,
  cultural, social, and religious life.
• Work should be organized in such a way that no
  worker or groups of workers are exploited. So
  called laws of economics are no excuse for this.
• Employees ought to have a say in the decision
  making process whether it be in person or through
  representation.

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Part 2

• Some More Urgent
  Problems
• Economic and Social Life
• Property and other forms of private ownership of
  external goods contribute to self-expression and
  provide people with the opportunity of exercising
  a role in society and in the economy it is very
  important, then, to facilitate access to some
  ownership of external goods on the part of
  individuals and communities. (71)
• Ownership of private property should be
  considered an extension of human freedom.
• By its nature, private property has a social
  aspect to it which is based on the law of the
  common destination of earthly goods.
• If this social quality is overlooked, property
  often becomes an occasion of a passionate desire
  for wealth and greed. As a result, opponents of
  this concept can easily find a pretext for
  challenging this right.

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Part 2

• Some More
  Urgent Problems
• The Political Community
• A clearer awareness of human dignity has given
  rise in various parts of the world to a movement
  to establish a politico-juridical order which
  will provide better protection for the rights of
  women and men in public life. (73)
• The right of free assembly and association.
• The right to express ones opinions.
• The right to profess ones religion both
  publically and privately.
• There is no better way to establish political
  life on a truly human basis than by encouraging
  an interior sense of justice, of good will and of
  service to the common good, and by consolidating
  peoples basic convictions as to the true nature
  of the political community and the aim, proper
  exercise, and the limits of public authority.
  (73)

36
Part 2

• Some More
  Urgent Problems
• The Political Community
• The common good embraces the sum total of all
  those conditions of social life which enable
  individuals, families, and organizations to
  achieve complete and effective fulfillment.
  (74)
• The people who go to make up the political
  community are many and varied quite rightly,
  then, they may have widely differing points of
  view. Therefore, lest the political community be
  jeopardized because all individuals follow their
  own opinion, an authority is needed to guide the
  energies of all towards the common good. (74)
• This authority cannot act mechanically or
  tyrannically, but must act as a moral force based
  on freedom and a sense of responsibility.
• When citizens are oppressed by a public authority
  which oversteps its competence, they should not
  fail to do whatever is objectively demanded of
  them by the common good, however, they should
  also defend their rights and the rights of others
  against these abuses, but do so in compliance
  with the natural law and the law of the Gospel.

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Part 2

• Some More
  Urgent Problems
• The Political Community
• All citizens ought to be aware of their right
  and duty to promote the common good by casting
  their votes. (75)
• Citizens should render to the state whatever
  material and personal services are required for
  the common good. (Render unto Caesar).
• Government should not place obstacles in the way
  of family, cultural or social groups.
• Citizens should be wary of giving too much power
  to public authority, and should not make untimely
  and exaggerated demands in exchange for favors
  and subsidies.
• Christians must be conscious of their specific
  and proper role in the political community they
  should be a shining example by their sense of
  responsibility and their dedication to the common
  good they should show in practice how authority
  can be reconciled with freedom, personal
  initiative with solidarity and the needs of the
  social framework as a whole, and the advantages
  of unity with the benefits of diversity. (75)

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Part 2

• Some More
  Urgent Problems
• The Political Community
• The Church, by reason of her role and
  competence, is not identified with any political
  community nor is it tied to any political system.
  It is at once the sign and the safeguard of the
  transcendental dimension of the human person.
  (76)
• This sign pertains to individuals within the
  Church, but especially to bishops, priests and
  deacons who make up the hierarchy.
• But at all times and in all places, the Church
  should be genuinely free to preach the faith, to
  proclaim its teaching about society, to carry out
  its task among people without hindrance, and to
  pass moral judgments even in matters relating to
  politics, whenever the fundamental human rights
  or the salvation of souls requires it. (76)
• This would include issuing statements on the
  issues for upcoming elections.

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Part 2

• Some More
  Urgent Problems
• Fostering of Peace and Establishment of a
  Community of Nations
• Humanity has gradually come closer together and
  is everywhere more conscious of its own unity
  but it will not succeed in accomplishing the task
  awaiting it, that is, the establishment of a
  truly human world for all over the entire earth,
  unless all devote themselves to the cause of true
  peace with renewed vigor. (77)
• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be
  called children of God. Mt 59
• Peace is not merely an absence of war, but is
  more appropriately called the effect of
  righteousness (Is 3217).
• Peace is the fruit of that right ordering of
  things that God infused into human society.
• Peace will never be achieved once and for all,
  but must be worked on continuously and
  unceasingly.
• Peace will not be achieved until the welfare of
  humanity is safeguarded and people are free to
  share with each other the riches of their minds
  and talents in a spirit of mutual trust.
• Peace is the fruit of love and flows from love of
  God and neighbor.

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Part 2

• Some More Urgent
  Problems
• Fostering of Peace and Establishment of a
  Community of Nations
• To the extent that people are sinners, the
  threat of war hangs over them and will so
  continue until the coming of Christ but insofar
  as they can vanquish sin by coming together in
  charity, violence itself will be vanquished and
  they will make these words come true They shall
  beat their swords into ploughshares, and their
  spears into pruning hooks nation shall not lift
  up sword against nation, neither shall they learn
  war any more. (78)
• Nonviolent and conscientious objections are
  legitimate.
• Every nation is entitled to a just defense, but
  wars to conquer and/or enslave other nations can
  not be allowed.
• Participation in armed services is permissible,
  but not blind obedience to orders that violate
  the natural law.
• The arms race is one of the greatest curses on
  the human race and the harm it inflicts on the
  poor is more than can be endured. (81)
• No act of war in heavily populated areas is
  permissible.
• Deterrence is not an effective method of avoiding
  war.
• Every person has a right and duty to work toward
  disarmament and peace.

41
Part 2

• Some More
  Urgent Problems
• Fostering of Peace and Establishment of a
  Community of Nations
• If peace is to be established, the first
  condition is to root out those causes of discord
  between people which lead to wars, especially
  injustice. (83)
• Discord caused by excessive economic
  inequalities.
• Also by a desire for power and a contempt for
  people.
• Envy, distrust, pride, and other selfish passions
  also lead to discord.
• If these are to be remedied or prevented and if
  unlimited recourse to violence is to be
  restrained, it is of the greatest importance that
  international bodies work more effectively and
  more resolutely to coordinate their efforts. And
  finally, people should work unsparingly to set up
  bodies to promote peace. (83)
• Greater international cooperation is needed in
  economic matters.
• Elimination of profiteering, nationalistic
  ambitions, desire for political domination,
  schemes of military strategy, and intrigues for
  spreading and imposing ideologies.
• Cooperation will come about only if people and
  nations forgo their own prejudices and
  demonstrate their willingness to enter sincere
  dialogue.
• Ecumenical cooperation is encouraged and
  necessary to achieve justice.
• The Church, by imparting the divine and natural
  law, makes a contribution toward world peace and
  helps to foster communion among peoples and
  nations.

42
Conclusion

• Since God the Father is the beginning and end of
  all things, we are all called to be brothers and
  sisters we ought to work together without
  violence and without deceit to build up the world
  in a spirit of genuine peace. (92)
• By this all will know that you are my disciples,
  if you have love for one another. (Jn 1335)