RapidsTrib: Vatican II = less emphasis on the Church hierarchy

St John Neumann,
Bishop of Philadelphia

Note: This is part of a December Daily Tribune series about local faith communities.

Catholicism is the oldest remaining form of Christianity, but it was only one of many during the first few centuries of the common era. The early denominations had sometimes stark differences in beliefs, including disagreements about the divinity of Jesus, said Shanny Luft, an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

"There were massive varieties of Christianity in the first, second, third and fourth centuries,"[Gnostics and Arians] said Luft, who teaches courses on the history of Christianity and the Bible's New Testament. "What happened is the more powerful bishops in the church had an influence in the (church's) direction." [That's a moronic way to put it. ]

One of the most significant changes for the church came as the result of the Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II, movement of the mid-20th century -- something that made the Catholic faith much more accessible to the common person and began to ease tensions with other religions, Luft said.  [Uhhh]

"It changed the actual experience of going to church from doing it in Latin to doing it in English," he said. "It also put more emphasis on the community of Catholics and less emphasis on the hierarchy." [DING DING DING, We have a Winner!  Has Luft ever read the 16 documents?  I doubt it.]

It altered the relationship between Catholics and Jews by absolving modern Jews from having to shoulder the responsibility for Jesus' crucifixion, Luft said, calling the change a success for both liberal Catholics and other religions. 

Despite the opposition some Catholics had to Pope Benedict XVI recently meeting with Muslim leaders, [Fr. John] Swing praised the pontiff's efforts, saying a dialogue can only decrease the erroneous notion that all Muslims are terrorists.

"My heart goes out to (Muslims) because I think right now, they're being maligned because of all the atrocities that are being associated with them," said Swing, who studied in Israel for four months during the early 1980s. "My experience there is I found the Muslims to be a very devout people."  [I don't think anyone is questioning whether Muslims are devout or not.  Devout Muslims have done some ...bad things.   Does he mean peaceful?]

"I think we have a wonderful ecumenical spirit in our community; we work together well," he said. "That can do nothing but be pleasing to God."

He dismissed the notion, however, that the two religions worship the same deity, saying the three-in-one God of Christianity includes the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Read the whole thing at Wisconsin Rapids Tribune