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Yves Congar
Yves Congar is best described as an ecumenist. Ecumenism by definition is the principles or practice of promoting cooperation or better understanding among different religious faiths. Congar was an active ecumenist all throughout his life and worked constantly for this issue.Wyth Wyatt Yves Marie-Joseph Congar was born in Ardennes, France on April 13,1904. He studied in Rheims and at the Institut Catholique in Paris until 1925, when he joined his Dominican Order. Continuing his studies in theology at the Dominican Stadium of Saulchoir he received his doctorate. The night before he was ordained on July 25 1930 he felt that he was being called to minister to the separation between the various Christian groups. He began teaching fundamental theology classes as well as ecclesiology at Le Saulchoir and still found the time to write Divided Christendom (1937). This work discussed how Catholics should more fully participate in the ecumenical movement that existed during the time as well as examining the distinct differences between Catholics and other Christian groups. This work caused great unrest to the Church but Congar ended up evading Rome's eye because he was drafted into the French army for World War II. As a medical orderly he was captured and remained a prisoner of war for five years. After returning to France he resumed teaching and wrote True and False Reform in the Church, which he wrote to address the feelings of the people of France for a renewal of the Church. In 1952 this work and all its translations were forbidden by Rome. Vatican II accepted most of the ideas presented in this work, but because of his controversial works he was ordered to leave his teaching position at Le Saulchoir. Congar remained in exile, moving to Jerusalem, Rome, and Cambridge until 1956 when Archbishop Weber got him a teaching job at Strasbourg. The tension finally let up on Congar with the election of Pope John XXIII in 1958. Pope John specifically appointed Congar to the theological commission that was to prepare texts for the bishops to consider during the Second Vatican Council. While doing this he sent in sixteen pages of suggested changes to the agenda to make it more focused on the real world. These suggestions went largely unheard until Pope John presented the bishops with a very different idea than everyone expected and the council took a very unexpected but positive turn. The original idea that the only ecumenism needed would be that everyone would return to the church was thrown out the window and it became one of the top goals for Vatican II. During the council Congar kept the council-journal which covers the summer 1960 through December 8, 1965. The journal contains his actions throughout the entire council, things that were true, things that were rumored to have been true, and it even contained entrances about the death of his mother which at first he felt inappropriate but decided that it was people like her that had been praying for the council. At his request it was not published until the year two thousand because of his very truthful demeanor. It is in this journal that we read about his true. happiness in being with the observers of Vatican II who were of different faiths. He expresses this by saying “it will take generations to nurture the seeds of understanding miraculously sown. Ecumenical dialogue is at its beginning.” It was during the second session that they discussed the schema on ecumenism and he wrote that it was a “historic day” and “a moment of growth.” The third session saw the documents approved that meant the most to Congar, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church and the Decree on Ecumenism. As we see the end of the council Congar is recognized for contributing to Lumen Gentium (The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation), Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World), Unitatis Redintegratio (Decree on Ecumenism), Ad Gentes (Decree on the Missions), Presbyterorum Ordinis (Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests), Digaitatis Humanae (Declaration on Religious Freedom), Nostra Aetate (Declaration on Non-Christian Religions). When the council adjourned Congar had in reality made a huge contribution to the Church, but all he had to say for it was “Servi inutiles sumus. We are useless servants.” After the Council Congar kept writing and also engaged in debated about the decisions that emerged from Vatican II. He wrote The Ecclesiology of the High Middle Ages in 1968 and The Church of Saint Augustine and the Modern Age in 1970 which were based on the history of ecclesiology. Overall he wrote 1400 works that remained scattered today. On November 26, 1994 he was appointed cardinal deacon by Pope John Paul II, but at that time he was ninety years old. When appointed cardinal his only response was, “I've sever sought anything, other than to place myself wherever God wants me to serve him.” After leading such an incredibly amazing life, Yves Congar died on June 22,1995 in Paris, France, having suffered for years from a rare neurological disorder. Yves Congar, “Diversity Has Always Been Accepted in the Unity of Faith”
Abstract by Wyth Wyatt Congar begins by explaining that there will obviously be differences between local churches because of the different cultures. As Christians our job is to conform to the Church we are in so long as it is not “against the faith nor against good morals” (29). A large difference we find is between the Eastern and Western Church, with the East never accepting the authority of the Pope. Congar noted that the importance is to not break communion over differences because these differences are a quality that gives the Church beauty. Pope John Paul II has since affirmed the statement because the diversity is a quality itself. The mistake made when this argument is thought of is that unity means uniformity but a “unity of faith calls for unity of discipline” is however not the accepted issue. Congar says for this to work that the spirit of love must be at work and diversity is “at the service of all groups, to help each one give better expression to the gifts which it has received from the Spirit of God” (33). He uses this chapter as a time travel to show how many times there has been opposition to this concept, and where and how we ended up with the attitude we have today. A prime example of this is at the end of the council on December 7 we see a declaration of the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople “to consign to oblivion the mutual excommunications that split East and West in the eleventh century.” This statement fully symbolizes what Congar is trying to get across, to readers, that diversity is okay because the Spirit of God is with us all and guides us in different ways. Lastly, when we take a look at the documents coming from Vatican II we see that idea very much reflected in the wording. An Yves Congar Bibliography
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