Summons from Rome

The Latin parchment document of the papal bull began in the traditional way: "John, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God." Thus, on Christmas morning, Pope John XXIII was to convoke Vatican Council II--potentially an event in Roman Catholic history on the order of the Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople or Trent.

Vatican officials have been busy with preparations ever since Pope John said in January 1959 that he intended to call the church's first council since Vatican Council I in 1869-70, and the 20th since Nicaea in 325. As a start, every Catholic bishop in the world was asked what topics the council should consider; the 2,150 replies (called postulata) have been compiled into a secret, 20-volume report from which the agenda will be drawn. Decisions on that agenda will be made, according to majority vote, by more than 2,000 cardinals, archbishops, bishops, abbots and Eastern Rite Patriarchs, assisted by 300 or so of the church's best theologians. All discussion will be in Latin, although, as a concession to the 20th century, speeches will be simultaneously translated into other, modern languages.

Early councils were primarily concerned with combating heresy and defining the truths that form the credo of most believing Christians; Trent and most of the medieval councils placed greater emphasis on tightening church discipline. Pope John's new council, frankly aimed at "modernizing" the church, will have plenty to do in both discipline and dogma. The Vatican Council of 1869-70, even though it was the first churchwide convocation in more than 300 years, did little more than define papal infallibility before it broke up at the onset of the Franco-Prussian War. Thus, in its present battle against the secular world, the flesh and the devil, Roman Catholicism lumbers along on a centuries-old collection of codes, rites and practices, many of which hinder rather than help its missionary objectives in the modern world. Among the significant issues that the council must face:

. THE ROLE OF THE BISHOPS. One doctrinal question left undefined by the First Vatican Council was the authority of the bishops. An ecumenical council, over which the Pope presides, is by church tradition as infallible in defining questions of faith and morals as the Pope himself; some theologians expect that the council will formalize this belief in a definition that would please Orthodox Metropolitans, who believe that infallibility rests solely with the church rather than with the Bishop of Rome. Non-Italian bishops will press for an internationalization of the Roman Curia and for greater freedom for themselves to adapt church practices to the needs of their flocks. Missionary diocesans, for example, believe that most Indians, who take off their shoes to enter temples, would find Catholicism more acceptable if priests said the Mass barefoot or in stocking feet.

. LITURGICAL REFORM. Despite Pope John's recent announcement that he prefers to see Latin remain as the church's principal liturgical language (TIME, Dec. 22), bishops from Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, France and mission countries want Rome to permit the use of the vernacular in the Mass. Patriarchs from Eastern Rite churches--many of which have liturgies that are heavily latinized--want to remove Western influence from the ceremonies used in worship. On behalf of their priests, Western bishops have asked for a breviary in the vernacular.

. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. Theologians at one famed Catholic institution in Europe have requested that the council "publicly and solemnly proclaim that the Catholic faith cannot be forced on anyone, and that it cannot be preserved by any political or social coercion or by any means that do violence to a man's conscience." Some U.S. theologians fear that the council may not go as far as church "liberals" wish. "The conservatives want religious liberty in Russia, certainly," says one. "But they don't want it in Spain."

. CHURCH DISCIPLINE. The council is expected to revise the already lax rules that govern fasts and Friday abstinence from meat. The canon laws that govern the antiquated Index of Forbidden Books will be brought up to date; some bishops have asked that the Index be abolished. The council may recommend that greater attention be paid to science and modern teaching methods in seminaries. Canon law relating to impediments to marriage will probably be reformed--although the church is likely to make a strong reaffirmation of its stand against artificial birth control. Presumably, the council will take a stand against sins peculiar to the century, such as dangerous driving, income tax evasion.

Perhaps nothing will concern the council more than the question of Christian unity. As the Pope has already indicated. Protestant and Orthodox churches will be invited to send observers to the council--a visible reminder of the oft-expressed papal hope that all, some day, will be one. No one expects that the great obstacles to church unity will be removed by the council. But Vatican officials are confident that the prayerful work of the bishops will lead at least to greater cooperation of Roman Catholicism with "the separated brethren," and thus to a start on the long road to Christianity's ultimate union.

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