The Second Vatican Council and the Theological Authority of Sacrosanctum Concilium as a Constitution

CHRISTIAN D. WASHBURN The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity The University of Saint Thomas Saint Paul, Minnesota

RECENTLY A few historians and theologians have proposed a new theory concerning the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council, arguing that Sacrosanctum Concilium is a hermeneutical key for understanding the other documents of the Council, a proposal that is as intriguing as it is attractive.1 These authors seem to specify the way in which this is a key when they assert that Sacrosanctum Concilium is not only the chronological starting-point but also the theological starting-point.2 The difficulty with this new thesis is that its proponents are imprecise in identifying the exact way in which Sacrosanctum Concilium should be seen as being a key or as having theological priority. This essay will attempt to determine more precisely the ways in which Sacrosanctum Concilium should be seen as being a key or having theological priority. To this end, I will trace the development of the text of Sacrosanctum Concilium with respect to what the Council intended to accomplish with the liturgical constitution. The

1 Massimo Faggioli, "Sacrosanctum Concilium and the Meaning of Vatican II," Theological Studies 71, no. 2 (2010): 437-452; Faggioli, Vatican II: The Battle for Meaning (New York: Paulist, 2012), 104; Faggioli, True Reform: Liturgy and Ecclesiology in Sacrosanctum Concilium (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2012), 19; Gerald O'Collins, "Sacrosanctum Concilium as a Hermeneutical Key for Vatican II," in The Second Vatican Council: Message and Meaning (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014), 57-88. 2 O'Collins, "Hermeneutical Key," 88; Faggioli, True Reform, 10.

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The Second Vatican Council and the Theological Authority of Sacrosanctum Concilium as a Constitution

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