« La vraie réception de Vatican II n'a pas encore commencé ». Joseph Ratzinger, Révélation et autorité de Vatican II

Abstract

One of the actors from Vatican II who still plays a major role in the Church today, is without any doubt Joseph Ratzinger. He has been an active theologian, "advisor" and peritus in the Council, afterwards being named cardinal-prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and, since 2005, the Sovereign Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. In our contribution, we will investigate in what way the event of the Council, its texts, but also its subsequent reception, have influenced the theology of Joseph Ratzinger, especially in regard to the constitution Dei Verbum, i.e. the question of the authority of Revelation, Tradition and magisterial hermeneutics. From this perspective, we will comment on some of his famous expressions, among others: "the real reception of Vatican II has not yet begun", and also, "it is the dogmatic constitutions which have to serve as reading keys for the other documents", and not the other way around (as in Gaudium et spes, Nostra Aetate, etc.). This engagement with his theology will also lead us to a tentative evaluation of the contemporary discussion of the reception of Vatican II and the question of authority.