We have celebrated the 50th anniversay of the death of Pope John XXIII (1881-1963), surely the most important Pope of the XX Century.  To him is owed the renewal of the Catholic Church, which attempted to define her place in the modern world. On January 25, 1959, without telling anyone, he declared to the astonished Cardinals gathered in the Benedictine Abby of Saint Paul, outside the city, that he was going to call an Ecumenical Council. On his own he had undertaken a critical analysis of the situation of the world and of the Church, and had realized that we were in a new historical phase: in the modern world, with its science, technical advances, liberties and rights. The Church had to position herself positively within this emerging reality. The attitude that existed then was one of distrust and condemnation. The Pope understood that this behavior was leading the Church towards isolation, and a destructive stagnation.
He repeated the old saying: vox temporis vox Dei (“the voice of the time is God’s voice”). This does not mean, he said, “that all in the world as it is now is the word of God. It means that everything carries a message of God, if it is good, we should follow it, if it is bad, we should change it”.
Thus Vatican Council II took place in Rome (1962-1965).  The Pope opened it, but he died before it ended, (1963). His spirit, however, marked the whole event , with repercussions that are felt to the present.
There were two principal themes: aggiornamento and pastoral council. Aggiornamento means saying yes to the new, yes to bringing the Church up-to-date, in terms of her language, her structure and her form of presenting herself to the world. Pastoral Council was intended to express an open relationship with the people and with the world, one of dialogue, of acceptance and fraternity. Consequently there was nothing about condemning modernity and the “Nouvelle Théologie” as previously had been stridently done. Instead of doctrines, there was dialogue, mutual learning and interchange.
Perhaps this statement by John XXIII summarizes his spirit: “The life of the Christian is not a collection of antiquities. It is not about visiting a museum or an academy of the past. That, without doubt, can be useful —as is a visit to an old monument— but it is not enough. To live is to progress, drawing the best from the practices and experiences of the past, to always go forward on the path Our Lord is showing us”.
In fact, the Council brought the Church into the modern world, participating in its avatars and its accomplishments. The Church in Latin America soon realized that the modern world not only exists, but that there also exists an underworld of which little had been spoken in the Council. In Medellín (1969) and in Puebla (1979) it was recognized that the mission of the Church in this underworld of poverty and oppression had to be promoting social justice and liberation.
50 years have now passed since the Council. The world and underworld have changed a lot. New challenges have appeared: economic-financial globalization and the consequent planetary consciousness, the dissolution of the Soviet Empire, new forms of social communication (Internet, social networks and others) that have unified the world, the erosion of bio-diversity, an awareness of the limits of the Earth and the possibility of the extermination of the human species, and with it, the extinction of the human planetary project.
We cannot address this new and threatening reality within the categories of Vatican Council  II. Everything points to the need for a new Ecumenical Council. Now it is not about calling in only the bishops of the Catholic Church. With the dangers we will have to face, all of Christendom, with its Churches, is threatened.  If we want to save the life of the planet, we need to take seriously the alliance between the Churches, religions, and techno-science, proposed by the great biologist E. Wilson. (cf. The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth, [La creación, Salvemos la vida en la Tierra, 2006]). How can the religious forces contribute so that we may still have a future? Everything is premised on the survival of life on Earth.  Otherwise, everything disappears and nothing makes sense. Christians must forget their differences and their polemics, and unite for this life-saving mission.
Pope Francis has the capacity to bring together all Christian expressions, men and women, backed by learned persons of renown, including the non-religious, to identify the type of collaboration we can offer, in line with the new consciousness of respect, veneration, of caring for all eco-systems, compassion, solidarity, shared sobriety and responsibility without restrictions, because we all are inter-dependent.
With his way of being and thinking, Pope Francis awakens in all of us the cordial, sensible and spiritual reason. Together with the intellectual reason, we will protect and care, care for and love this unique Common House that the universe and God have bestowed on us. Only in this way will we guarantee our continued presence on the Eart
Free translation from the Spanish sent by
Melina Alfaro, [email protected],
done at REFUGIO DEL RIO GRANDE, Texas, EE.UU.