2023-05-10 16:06:52
The Council of French Bishops. Vatican II (1959-1965)
the Christian Sorrel
CLD Editions, 336 pages, €28
“If the Council is, in its design and in its end, the work of the Holy Spirit, it is, in its tenants and in all its actions, the work of men”, wrote Father Antoine Wenger in his diary in November 1965, at the end of the fourth session of Vatican II. It is precisely at “man’s work” that Christian Sorrel, as a historian, is interested in this work.
A hole in the historiography
By studying the Conciliar Assembly from the point of view of the French episcopate, the professor of contemporary history at the University of Lyon 2 fills a hole in the historiography of Vatican II. “The history of the Council written from the mid-1980s, under the impetus of the Institute of Religious Sciences in Bologna, focused primarily on the progress of the sessions held in Rome each autumn from 1962 to 1965, not to national or continental situations”, he notes in his introduction. Hence his project “to specify the position of the national episcopate (French) in the Roman Assembly, but also to link it to the perception of the event by society and the faithful”by exploring sources not or little exploited until now: local or central funds, journals of experts or bishops, etc.
Christian Sorrel begins by drawing up an inventory of the Church in France before the Council. His situation is then hardly brilliant. Litigation accumulates: condemnation of intellectuals or publications, censorship of the writings of Abbé Oraison “who intends to refound Catholic morality on the doctrine of Freud”Algerian crisis, affair of the Catholic City…
Unprepared bishops
“From file to file, despite the strengthening of its structures, the French episcopate is struggling to achieve its objectives of asserting doctrinal authority and promoting the unity of the faithful in the face of tensions exacerbated by current events”, notes Christian Sorrel. Relations are also not looking good with the Roman Curia, which is accused of acting on various issues without consultation with the bishops concerned.
Moreover, the episcopate is far from forming a homogeneous body. The expectations with regard to the Council are very varied. Asked during the preparatory phase (1959-1962) what questions they would like to see addressed, the bishops expressed desires that covered a very wide range. Moreover, “they are hardly prepared to take on the collective work that the event requires over time”, judge the historian. But they will progress, “as shown by the episcopal journals, which give at least partial access to the daily experience of conciliar Rome, an experience made up of work, travel and encounters”.
Behind the scenes of the conciliar event
It is the exploitation of these newspapers that makes the originality of this work. They are full of first-hand information, not only on what happens in the conciliar aula and the interest of the various interventions, but on the subject of the liturgy, the places and the quality of the accommodation, the times of relaxation of the bishops, their discovery of Rome, the links they maintain with their diocese to inform them of the progress of the work… Personal notes also have the advantage of delivering subjective assessments, so to speak without filter, following a celebration, a meeting or work session.
All these elements allow Christian Sorrel to reconstruct, session after session, and week after week, the life of the Council, including with all that is played behind the scenes in terms of contacts, meetings, games of influence, communication outside. French prelates excel in this type of activity and in fact play an essential role in the links with the other episcopates, as when it is necessary to draw up lists of names likely to integrate the various conciliar commissions while the conciliar fathers who come from the world whole do not know each other.
A fascinating work, which casts a new light on the Council and gives keys to understanding the origin of the tensions which continue to cross French Catholicism.
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