Editing Gaudium et spes (section)

== Overview ==

The Dogmatic Constitution, {{Lang|la|Gaudium et spes}}, was addressed "not only to the sons of the Church and to all who invoke the name of Christ, but to the whole of humanity" as part of the Second Council's effort to appeal to the larger considerations of the Catholic Church.<ref name=":022"/>

Whereas the previous [[First Vatican Council|Vatican Council]] in 1869–70 had tried to defend the role of the church in an increasingly secular world, the Second Vatican Council focused on examining the role of the Church in the modern world.<ref name=":13"/>

{{Lang|la|Gaudium et spes}} was adopted after ''[[Lumen Gentium]]'', the Constitution on the Church, and it reflects the ecclesiological approach of that text. ''Gaudium'' recognized and encouraged the laity to take on "his or her own distinctive role" in the modern world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gaudium et spes |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> In recent years, Church leaders, such as Cardinal Francis Arinze, have since clarified this to mean that laity should work to make themselves competent in their own profession, and observe laws proper to "each discipline".<ref>{{Cite web |last=NOD |date=2013-02-05 |title=Vatican Insider Cardinal Arinze Expounds on Role of the Laity in Today's World |url=https://www.christendom.edu/2013/02/05/vatican-insider-cardinal-arinze-expounds-on-role-of-the-laity-in-todays-world/#:~:text=In%20Gaudiem%20et%20Spes,%20the,the%20Cardinal%20following%20his%20talk. |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Christendom College |language=en-US}}</ref> The decree was debated at length and approved by much the largest and most international council in the history of the Church.<ref>Tanner, Norman. ''The Church and the Modern World'', Paulist Press, 2005</ref>

The ecumenical constitution created by the Second Vatican Council focused on the role of the church within the modern world.<ref name=":13"/> It was the last document promulgated during the Second Vatican Council and the first church document to place the church within the significance of the world.<ref name=":13" /> {{Lang|la|Gaudium et spes}} illustrated the church is aware of problems within the world and its responsibilities toward them.<ref name=":13" /> While world problems are a focus of the text, it also brings to light the human person and their orientation toward God as well as the mission of the church itself.<ref name=":13" /> The mission of the Church needed to recognize the realities of secularization and pluralism.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} Bishop [[Christopher Butler (bishop)|Christopher Butler]] points out that a key principle behind the "audacious change" in this and in several earlier outward-looking documents of the council was that the Church is "Christ himself using us as his instruments to bring salvation to all", and in charity we must "presume that those who differ from us… are nevertheless [people] of good will".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bishop Christopher Butler writes|url=http://vatican2voice.org/3butlerwrites/aggiorna.htm}}</ref> As a whole, {{Lang|la|Gaudium et spes}} represented an inner looking of the Church on itself so that it may take responsibility and comment on issues affecting the world.<ref name=":44"/>

Such issues of responsibilities in the world are highlighted by the cardinals of the council such as [[Leo Joseph Suenens]] of Belgium, who urged the council to take on social responsibility for war, poverty, and Third World suffering. This stance was supported by other prominent clergy members including [[Pope Paul VI|Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini of Milan, who became Pope Paul VI]], and Cardinal Lercaro of Bologna.<ref name="Rosica">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160629181950/https://zenit.org/articles/gaudium-et-spes-at-50 Rosica CSB, Thomas. "Gaudium et Spes at 50", ''Zenit'', 20 July 2015]</ref> Additionally, [[Thomas Rosica]] points out that the Council Fathers "... were men who had experienced two world wars, the horror of the Holocaust, the onset of the nuclear weaponry, the hostility of communism, the awesome and only partially understood impact of science and technology."<ref name="Rosica" /> In the Introduction it states: "the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel."{{sfn|Gaudium et Spes|loc=§4}}

[[Marie-Dominique Chenu]], professor of the [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas|Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'']] was influential in the composition of {{Lang|la|Gaudium et spes}},<ref>Walter Principe, "Chenu, M.D" in Harper Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism. Edited by Richard McBrien, 1995</ref> as was [[Louis-Joseph Lebret]]. "The problem of poverty and of overcoming it through a healthy economy, respectful of the primary value of the person, allows for a vast discussion on political ethics in {{Lang|la|Gaudium et spes}}."<ref name=Rosica/> In the end, the "council exhorts Christians, as citizens of two cities, to strive to discharge their earthly duties conscientiously and in response to the Gospel spirit".{{sfn|Gaudium et Spes|loc=§43}}